What a day!

Beyond the pageantry and the excellent inauguration speech, the most consequential thing that happened yesterday was the slew of executive orders. You've no doubt seen or heard about a bunch of them. But here are the ones we thought we'd mention, either because they are the most important or because we feel they've flown under the radar, with our commentary:

Repeal of Executive Order 13989 of January 20, 2021 (Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel). Most of the other Day One Biden-era EO rescisions have to do with DEI, or immigration, or Covid. There's countless of these and we won't take you through each one. But this one is a Biden-era EO limiting things such as lobbyist gifts and the "revolving door" by setting 2 year gaps between executive branch personnel leaving and taking some private sector jobs. We thought this was an interesting repeal.

Repeal of Executive Order 14037 of August 5, 2021 (Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks). This is the new emissions standards EO which was part of the EV mandate.

Repeal of Executive Order 14094 of April 6, 2023 (Modernizing Regulatory Review). This is great. This Biden EO raised the threshold for what constitutes a "significant regulatory action" from an annual economic impact of $100 million to $200 million, and allowed OMB and OIRA to do discretionary review of regulations that fall below the new threshold. In other words, it made it a lot easier for the Administration to pass new economically harmful regulations.

Repeal of Executive Order 14110 of October 30, 2023 (Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence). This is huge, and very important. This was a key EO that essentially sought to strangle or at least put AI under government control. The EO stated that "Artificial Intelligence policies must be consistent with my Administration's dedication to advancing equity and civil rights."

Repeal of Executive Order 14087 (Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Americans). It will be interesting to see the politics of this one. This was a Biden EO that essentially set price controls on a number of prescription drugs covered under Medicare.

EO "restoring freedom of speech and ending Federal censorship." The EO doesn't just proclaim attachment to free speech. A key provision orders the AG to investigate censorship activities by the Federal government over the past 4 years. We can't wait to learn what she finds. This one's got legs.

EO "ending the weaponization of the Federal government." The AG is to review and remediate any weaponization of the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Federal Trade Commission over the past 4 years. NID is to do the same for the intelligence community. Again, the important thing is that it's not just stopping bad things, it is also investigating the bad things that have happened under the previous Administration.

EO to require all federal departments and executive agencies to terminate remote work arrangements and require full-time in-person work. This is a big DOGE obsession. Metro's going to be more crowded!

EO directing the AG to not enforce the TikTok ban for 75 days. Is this lawless? Well, it's positively Schmittian. Are we here as a Republic? As a matter of plain fact, since DACA, we are.

EO "restoring accountability to policy-influencing positions within the Federal workforce." This is a big one. This is the one we've been waiting for. It's the Schedule F order. It starts out with a strong affirmation of the Unitary Executive: "Article II of the United States Constitution vests the President with the sole and exclusive authority over the executive branch, including the authority to manage the Federal workforce to ensure effective execution of Federal law. A critical aspect of this executive function is the responsibility to maintain professionalism and accountability within the civil service." And it reclassifies a lot of positions as Schedule F, and directs agency heads to review and identify positions that could be reclassified as Schedule F. If you haven't been keeping up, Schedule F is a classification within the excepted service of the United States federal civil service, and employees classified under Schedule F have "at-will" employment. The EO adds a new provision to the civil service regulations: "Employees in or applicants for Schedule Policy/Career positions are not required to personally or politically support the current President or the policies of the current administration. They are required to faithfully implement administration policies to the best of their ability, consistent with their constitutional oath and the vesting of executive authority solely in the President. Failure to do so is grounds for dismissal." Exactly right. Another EO directs the OPM and the OMB to issue "Performance Plans" to evaluate career civil servants in the Senior Executive Service.

EO declaring a national emergency at the Southern border. This directs National Guard deployment, construction of additional barriers, and more. As promised.

EO "unleashing American energy." This one is less exciting as it's basically a review order. So we'll know more about new energy regulations soon. Also because the White House intends to use reconciliation to pass energy legislation. A key exception, however, is a provision revoking the Carter-era EO empowering the Council on Environmental Quality to issue binding NEPA regulations.

EO on birthright citizenship. This is a big one. It directs the Federal government to not recognize US citizenship for persons born in the United States but whose parents are not citizens or lawful permanent residents. Presumably this will go to the Supreme Court and we will have jurisprudence on birthright citizenship.

DOGE. The question of what form DOGE will take is answered. The DOGE will be taken legal form as a renaming and reorganization of the US Digital Service. The head of DOGE will report to the White House Chief of Staff. "The U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization shall terminate on July 4, 2026." Here's how it will work: every agency head will have to establish within their agency a "DOGE Team" which "will typically include" a project head, an engineer (!), a HR specialist, and an attorney.

EO promoting beautiful Federal civic architecture. We had to mention this one.

EO "defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological trust to the Federal government." This one bears reading. It's beautiful. "Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being. The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system. Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself." Quite right. "It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality." It really makes for great reading.

EO terminating DEI programs in Federal departments and agencies. It also directs compiling a list of all Federal contractors and grantees with DEI programs. This pairs with another EO directing the creation of a Federal hiring plan that does not hire based on race, sex, or religion.