President Trump has issued dozens of Executive Orders (EOs) in the first two weeks of his second term. Many of the EOs have concerning implications for scientific research and all levels of education central to the FABBS mission. While this administration has presented EOs as having absolute authority across the federal government, they cannot expand legal requirements or prohibitions beyond existing statues or regulations, nor conflict with those laws. As a result, we are already seeing legal challenges in federal courts. In some cases, EOs are in direct opposition to legislation and agency authorizations passed by bipartisan Congresses. Therefore, it is challenging to report the implications of the orders.
FABBS is paying particularly close attention to several categories of EOs: Management of the federal government and workforce, equity and civil rights, and the repeal of prior administration actions as they relate to science.
Federal Government and Workforce
The Trump administration is working to move certain federal employees into a civil service classification that would allow the administration to have more direct political control. Trump has also frozen most federal hiring and regulatory actions pending a government-wide review. While not unprecedented, these orders are farther reaching and in conjunction with numerous other orders, including a requirement that employees work in-person on a full-time basis “as soon as practicable,” that, together, present as suspicion and retribution to federal employees. FABBS and our members interact daily with our federal colleagues and have experienced, time and again, that they are among the brightest, hardest working, and most dedicated individuals who have chosen career paths to serve the well-being of our country, and beyond.
Equity and Civil Rights
The EO Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity is intended to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and initiatives beyond the federal government, trying to influence major corporations, institutions of higher education, and the medical industry – far beyond the reach of the federal government. The confusing and ambiguous nature of the order, not to mention its direct contrast to authorization language, will likely lead to legal challenges. Much of the impact will be determined by how the EOs are interpreted, executed, and enforced by federal agencies that were directed to terminate all DEI programs, policies, positions, and equity-related grants and contracts “to the maximum extent allowed by law.” FABBS is particularly concerned about the guidance to federal employees to report on their fellow employees who continue to advance programs related to DEI.
Repeal of Prior Administration Actions
The EO Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions rescinds roughly 80 EOs and Presidential Memos (PMs) on a wide range of topics from Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, to Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census, and Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis, to name a few.
Biden EOs and reports can now be found on the National Archives website.