64% of Trump's agenda already done, faster than Reagan
With unprecedented speed, the Trump administration has already implemented nearly two-thirds of the 334 agenda items called for by the Heritage Foundation, a pace faster than former President Reagan who embraced the conservative think tank’s legendary “Mandate for Leadership” blueprint.
Thomas Binion, director of congressional and executive branch relations at Heritage, said that Trump has implemented 64 percent of the “unique policy recommendations” from the group.
At this stage of his presidency, Reagan had completed 49 percent of the Heritage policy recommendations.
“We’re blown away,” Binion said in an interview. Trump, he said, “is very active, very conservative, and very effective.”
What’s more, he said, Trump hasn’t just focused on one agenda area, but he and his team has pushed through administrative moves on foreign policy, deregulation, immigration, tax reform and health care, moves often ignored by the media.
“It is a huge volume that his administration has worked on and it is a huge spectrum of issues,” said Binion.
His report card jibes with one from the West Wing which showed at the end of the year that the administration has scored 81 major achievements slashed at least 11 major legacy items of former President Barack Obama.
Together, the policy wins are adding up to a reelection agenda. “It is absolutely a winning agenda,” said Binion.
Trump very early in his presidency signed reelection papers and on Tuesday he began to set up his reelection team, naming is digital advisor Brad Parscale as his campaign manager.
Heritage has been a partner with Trump and his administration since the transition from the Obama administration.
Their “Mandate for Leadership” was first produced for Reagan in 1981. Reagan handed out a copy of the single book to every cabinet member. For Trump, Heritage produced five books and the president has embraced them.
“He has been very, very active,” said Binion. “He is moving the ball in the conservative direction,” he added.
In Heritage’s review of Trump’s moves so far, they highlighted these actions:
Leaving the Paris Climate Accord: In August 2017, Trump announced the U.S. was ending its funding and membership in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Repealing Net Neutrality: In December 2017, Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman proposed ending the 2015 network neutrality rules.
Reshaping National Monuments: Heritage’s recommendation to prohibit Land Acquisition (Cap and Reduce the Size of the Federal Estate) was adopted by Trump when he issued two executive orders effectively shrinking the size of national monuments in Utah.
Reinstating the Mexico City Policy: This executive order prevents taxpayer money from funding international groups involved in abortion and ending funding to the United Nations Population fund. On Jan. 23, 2017, in his first pro-life action, Trump signed an executive order today reinstating the Mexico City Policy.
Increasing Military Spending: Trump’s budget calls for a $54 billion increase in military spending to improve capacity, capability, and readiness of America’s armed forces.
Reforming Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program (TANF): The Trump administration adopted and is in favor of strengthening existing work requirements in order to receive benefits.
Allowing Development of Natural Resources: The Trump administration opened off-shore drilling and on federal lands. Executive Order 13783 directed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to commence federal land coal leasing activities.
Reforming Government Agencies: Trump tasked each of his Cabinet secretaries to prepare detailed plans on how they propose to reduce the scope and size of their respective departments while streamlining services and ensuring each department runs more efficiently and handles tax dollars appropriately.
Withdrawing from UNESCO: In October 2017, Trump announced he was putting an end to U.S. membership in the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/heritage-foundation-64-of-trumps-agenda-already-done-faster-than-reagan/article/2650141
“We’re blown away,” Binion said in an interview. Trump, he said, “is very active, very conservative, and very effective.”
What’s more, he said, Trump hasn’t just focused on one agenda area, but he and his team has pushed through administrative moves on foreign policy, deregulation, immigration, tax reform and health care, moves often ignored by the media.
“It is a huge volume that his administration has worked on and it is a huge spectrum of issues,” said Binion.
His report card jibes with one from the West Wing which showed at the end of the year that the administration has scored 81 major achievements slashed at least 11 major legacy items of former President Barack Obama.
Together, the policy wins are adding up to a reelection agenda. “It is absolutely a winning agenda,” said Binion.
Trump very early in his presidency signed reelection papers and on Tuesday he began to set up his reelection team, naming is digital advisor Brad Parscale as his campaign manager.
Heritage has been a partner with Trump and his administration since the transition from the Obama administration.
Their “Mandate for Leadership” was first produced for Reagan in 1981. Reagan handed out a copy of the single book to every cabinet member. For Trump, Heritage produced five books and the president has embraced them.“
64% huh? Well he better hurry up, we still have 36% of our money and freedoms left.
You deserve nothing of either... Here’s hoping for 100% completion rate on all his goals and objectives for our great country.
Considering he did not rid the world of ISIS within 30 days of taking office and Mexico won't pay for his wall, he will never hit 100%.
Your great country comrade, or mine?
He will and already has come closer that the previous occupant of the office of POTUS.
Not to mention that instead of draining the swamp, he filled it even more with raw sewage.
We live in separate countries?
You mean he put NYC, Chicago, LA in it?
Is there a St. Petersburg in the US?
Did you hold Obama to that same 30 day standard with his campaign promises?
At least the Campaigner-in-Chief got a questionable Nobel "Peace" Prize at the beginning of his 8 year gig. We can all see how well Obama did with Russia, NoKo, Iran, Syria, ISIS, etc -- LOL!
Did Obama say he would do it in 30 days? Nope, that is pure Trumpisms.
He never made such promises but he did sign 3 major bills into law in his first two weeks in office: ARRA, Fair Pay ("Lilly Ledbetter Act") and SCHIP reauthorization.
I live in the USA. You?
You claimed earlier that you live in Jefferson........
You remember Jefferson, the 51st state of your imagination.
"Leaving CA by staying put" and all of that wishful thinking....
Still part of the USA unlike the progressives fantasy of making California a progressive nation independent of the United States.
Then we agree, the fringe element called Calexit has even less of a chance of coming to pass
than the Jefferson/ New California dreams.
I am not holding Trump to anything as I knew he was full of shit when he made both of those promises. As far as Obama goes, that is past history.
Sometimes I hope they do succeed. Because if they left all of Jefferson and most of New California would secede from them to remain in the union as the 50th state. Then not only would we not have to be in the same state as the evil coastal urban counties, we wouldn’t even be in the same country any more. Free at last!
What I find interesting is that as soon as Hillary lost and Obama was out of office, their supporters claimed that they're both "history" when their own words have shown that the opposite is true.
I know. It is funny that after the inauguration anything Obama or Clinton said or did was off limits but for the previous 8 years it was the Bushes fault or Reagan's fault sometimes they even went to Nixon one Eisenhower to excuse their messiah
You're flailing at windmills.
Any change to California's status needs to be approved by 2/3's of the Senate and House
Before being approved by at least 38 of 50 state legislatures including CA.
It's a terribly high bar to meet
considering the few thousand Calexit or Jefferson enthusiasts.
It doesn’t require a constitutional amendment to do it. If the people of California approve it then a majority of both houses and the president signing it will suffice.
Good point!
Ahh, Google found one for you, huh? Congratulations on your latest attempt at legitimacy comrade.
Indeed.
Sounds like I hit a nerve...
More like you missed something so obvious while accusing others of not knowing it.
And you don't think he got that sentiment from Admiral Mullen or General Dempsey or one of the other JCS members ? The JCS didn't recommend the ROE?
While I can imagine Chuck Krulak growlling the same sentiments - it was more of a public policy faux paus on Obamas behalf to repeat that to the press/nation
and unknowingly throwing down the gauntlet to as yet unrealized public savagery by ISIS.
And of course the Iraqis wouldn't stand and fight,,,,,,,,,what a sshithole - everyone underestimates the ME, even the Russians.
The oligarchy is real. Sinclair Broadcasting will cement the deal.
A lot of guns out there. Oligarchies do not like the peasants to be armed. I imagine the conservatives are ready for the 'back door' to be opened on gun confiscation.
And make no mistake, it will be the new Landed Gentry who will disarm their new Serfs. Just like in Russia the country will be ruled by a cadre of very rich families with one leading family that they all report to. Like a Mafia or like an old Monarchy and the rest will be little more then property. The funny part is that Trump supporters do not even know that they are actually helping to bring it about.
Indeed. Someone posted that 'We should get on The Trump train or get left behind.' I have a feeling that 'the train' is going to run out of track.
Liberals will never take the guns. The conservatives will. They will have to. Gated communities will have a whole new meaning.
But, I think 'the train' is going to run out of rail. Putin can't save it.
Yep. The NRA spread fear mongering about Obama taking our guns just to sell more guns and ammo. Never happened.
This liberal has always been much more worried about far right wing fascists trying to disarm We the People.
Trump and the right wing spent their time trying to scare people into thinking that Barack Obama was going to take their guns away when he never tried pr even had any plans to, but the idiots bought it. So they voted for this moron and right wingers in the House and Senate who just gave a HUGH permanent tax cut to the rich and a much smaller one to everyone else that will expire. After the next election of course.
Of course this blows a massive hole in the budget (didn't the GOP used to be the party of fiscal conservatism?) so now all of a sudden they are going to "worry" about this deficit and are going to try to lower it by slashing or even trying to get rid of Social Security and Medicare! They manged a two-for with their tax cut! Thy managed to steal a massive amount of our children's and grandchildren's money to pay off their contributors and at the same time blow up the budget to give themselves an excuse to go after entitlement program!
Putin is not the topic of the seed. Trump completing 64% of the items on the Heritage checklist is.
Sinclair broadcasting? What, are they the next Fox News Channel or something?
Democrats didn’t give a darn about deficits when obama was president and spending went out of control and deficits spiked. The only times democrats care about the deficits and overall debt is when they use it to oppose the only federal spending they don’t like, national defense or to oppose tax cuts for the people.
Except Putin is. Remember, 'the trump' don't know him, right?
I agree. The fact that Trump is on board with the Koch/Heritage extreme agenda is highly disturbing.
If Trump was at all mentally stable I would be much more worried.
Just finished reading "Fire and Fury" and there were no really big surprises other than Jarvanka having as much power as they do over Trump.
Weird how Wolff almost made it seem that Bannon was the "good guy" in this mess of a presidency.
You mean the man obama told he could be more flexible after he won re-election? The one obama did nothing about even though he knew exactly what he was doing? The man Obama and Hillary Let have 20% of our uranium in exchange for Clinton cash?
the Heritage foundation, ALEC, and Heartland Institute are all great American think tanks and policy idea originators. They have all done great things for America. I don’t have any connection to any of them but support the policy objectives of all three.
nah, the bush and clinton crime family is done for good... they have no comebacks in their future
So you said the subject of the seed is trumps 64%, then turn around and bring up Obama? Hypocrite much?
To derail your own seed is one thing
but to subscribe to silly conspiracies?
Typical I suppose.
In the last 5 months have you heard anything from Trey Gowdy about his investigation?
Is there still an investigation? According to Fox News yes, but in their February 2018 report they hardly mention it.....
Like all these large companies are going to have any more success disarming our population than today’s wannabe gun grabbers have assuming that companies would ever bother to try such a thing. Gun ownership is so ingrained in this society that many would voluntarily pass on with them to living on without them. Charlton Heston was right when he said “out of our cold dead hands, Mr. Gore” back in 1999 or 2000.
I'll keep my guns until every bible thumping dominionist POS is eradicated from America.
No one really cares why you have or keep a weapon. You will be possessing it for the rest of your life .
There is no oligarchy and never will be. No one will be allowed to take our guns from us. Of course that’s not the topic of the seed.
(There is no oligarchy).
So just who the hell pays you to post and seed here daily then?
Nobody. Nobody paid me at AOL or MSN or politicalforum.com or proboards. I did earn about $800.00 from newsvine earnings from the time I joined until they stole it away. Then nothing there either. Who pays you to be here? Who pays all your progressive friends who came over from the vine to be here? Why would you ask me a question you wouldn’t want asked of you as well?
Trump just today asked Feinstein for help and asked her to include assault rifle bans and age and ammo restrictions in her school safety law proposals.
He also indicated enhanced background checks, fixing NICS and banning bump stocks and other accessories.
Didn't he just say the other day, take the guns first and work out due process after?
Well yeah, but that was like yesterday and before he talked to Putin and the NRA.
It was Obama and Clinton who colluded with Putin.
Like congress is going to let that happen....
I agree. MAGA! President Trump is doing just that.
We all know that they did. You should stop 🛑
To do what? Lose? Help trump win? I think what you were trying to say is that they colluded with the UKRAINE...which is an ALLY of the USA. Trump colluded with Russia which is NOT and ally of the USA. Hint? You cannot collude with an ally. Lesson over, you're welcome.
Making something up is not giv8ng a lesson of any kind.
Apparently facts arent your thing.
Sinclair Broadcasting? Are they the new Fox News or something?
A family of neo-nazi thumpers that use their media holdings to further the rwnj political agenda as a propaganda arm of the GOtP.
If that’s what you think of them, they will indeed be. Positive force for good in the American media landscape. The harder you hate on someone or some group and have Godwin’s law invoked on you in the process, the better they truly are.
64% of Trump's agenda already done, faster than Reagan
Not everyone likes what he has done. We all don't like everything he has done or plans to do, but many do and he has accomplished more in such a short time than any President in my memory with such obstacles working against him. I think he has accomplished so much because he is doing what he ran on instead of doing exactly opposite of what he ran on like all the others.
Well since Reagan. Bush 43 pretty much did what he ran on too even if some didn’t like no child left behind or the Medicare part D rx plan. He did run on those as well as his more conservative elements. The global war on terror pretty much occupied the Bush administration shortly after his first tax cuts passed.
He has promoted more conservative actions since Reagan, although he isn't considered a Conservative.
His ideology is Trump. Trump first. Trump only. Trump always. He doesn't give a shit about anything that's not Trump.
Hey thanks for coming here. The locusts have descended upon this seed.
And he takes all the heat for it 24/7. He has done what most Conservatives would'nt dare do.
Weird how Trump fucking over America and Americans is seen as him doing a "good job".
Trump is doing a great job for working and middle class Americans and America overall. We stand with him. Good job Mr. President! 👍👏🇺🇸
first you have to explain exactly how secure borders, fair trade deals and a sovereign country is fuking us over.
so far all I have seen is trump fuking over the collectivists and the globalists
(which is exactly why we elected him)
It seems to enrage our bi coastal urban elites that the rest of America likes the job Trump is doing and that the angrier the limousine liberals get at Trump, the stronger Heartland America backs him.
yepp.. that is why he will be reelected.
traitors 41-44 will not be remembered well
meanwhile, trump is the first president in my life to actually overturn the past admins BS (this is unique)
'With unprecedented speed, the Trump administration has already implemented nearly two-thirds of the 334 agenda items called for by the Heritage Foundation, a pace faster than former President Reagan who embraced the conservative think tank’s legendary “Mandate for Leadership” blueprint.
Thomas Binion, director of congressional and executive branch relations at Heritage, said that Trump has implemented 64 percent of the “unique policy recommendations” from the group.'
Who comprises the American Heritage Society and who the fuck are they to dictate policy?
Sounds like these fuckers are slashing and burning every damned good thing President Obama put in place.
Donald Rump is such a vindictive, petty, childish, jealous piece of shit. He is so jealous of all of President Obama's accomplishments and that he is admired and respected around the world. Donald Rump - is a laughingstock and a major embarrassment around the world.
Wow....glass houses, Tessylo, glass houses.
Which means what?
Look on the bright side. Five original sentences that contain only 4 curse words and 2 anal references are a linguistic commentary improvement!
simply amazing!
It is and those tax cuts are helping the working poor, particularly women, Hispanics, African Americans. https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/the-gop-tax-cuts-are-benefitting-blacks-hispanics-and-women-most-survey-finds/
I believe they are the ones that designed the blueprints for Obamacare and Romneycare. Before disowning it.
Same "think" tank, lol...
you forgot it is also very much like Clinton care.
and yes the heritage foundation "also" looked at it.
but they were not stupid enough to pass it into law....
only the democrats are stupid enough to make it law.
The Heritage Foundation. The primary conservative think tank for about 45 years now.
More like a 'stink tank'
LOL!
And here I thought it was the Heartland Institute. Those fascists that you have shilled for over many years.
Prove it or shut up. You know that’s not true though I should seed something from them sometime just to offend you. You have been on my case since you showed up on the coc meta bringing up this crap 💩 and it needs to stop.
Calling us heartland Americans fascists is all the haters here have anymore. It’s all about arrogant condescension full of put downs of all who dare disagree with their secular progressive bi coastal ivory tower dogma.
Theocrats or Christofascists would be the more accurate term.
Comment removed for CoC violation [ph]
So, all of America from the Midwest to the plains to the mountain west to the south is all theocratic and the people “christofascists? Do you have a clue how silly that sounds?
No, just theocrats like you. Most of us midwesterners are pretty sane and support the Establishment clause. They don't share your twisted values which seem more common in places like Russia or Saudi Arabia.
Triggered!
So I seed a positive article praising what my side is doing rather than one attacking your side for its many sins and your response is no different either way. Noted.
That's all you ever post so what do you want a reward?
Trouble is that nobody knows what "your side" is. Other than most of it appears very un-American.
A far right wing fascist will always get the same response from a rational person. Stop whining.
There are no far right wing fascists on this site. Just moderate conservatives and full mainstream conservatives, Republican, Tea Party, religious and secular, libertarian, or independent that you all hate enough to label as fascist. Your labeling doesn’t make it so.
I had no idea you were into comedy......
Again just because you call any combination of Tea Party, libertarian, evangelical, free market, pro life, pro 2nd, 9th, 10th amendments, conservative, Republican a fascist doesn’t make it so. Debate the issues and drop the kind of name calling the revamped coc will no longer allow.
yepp
Unfortunately they are a group that operates purely on ideology and not reality (hence why their proposals always end up being piles of shit when actually enacted), and conservative politicians listen to them.
Lying liars and the liars that tell them.
Other than putting pen to paper to sign his fiat de jour and a couple of laws that he had almost nothing to do with (other than muddying the waters) passed by Congress, he has accomplished nothing. That is other than stealthily jamming the courts with Conservatives.
So, obama did nothing if Trump undoing what Obama did is nothing?
When the Dems had majorities in his first 2 years they actually passed quite a bit of legislation. But after that Obama was limited to what he could accomplish via executive order or otherwise within the authority of the executive branch. Nothing that could not be undone with a pen stroke, just as virtually everything Trump has done can be reversed just as easily.
So Obama did nothing then if reversing/repealing what Obama did is doing nothing?
I thought the seed was about trump?
Bull shit list from Heritage and bullshit accomplishments.
Very little in the way of "savings for taxpayers", just smoke and mirrors
Take UNESCO, the "withdrawal". We are currently 550 million in 'arrears' due to a little known provision that prevents Congress from funding any UN body that recognizes Palestine.
Trump also cited UNESCOs "anti-Israeli bias" as a factor for withdrawing from the UN group where we haven't paid our dues for 7 years or had a vote for 5 years .
More partisan BS. the policy is reversed by every Republican and Democrat Administration since Reagan - it's a political football - period.
Certainly doesn't give one the impression that UNFPA isn't "pro life". In fact the UNFPA has nothing to do with the Mexico City Policy.
Executive Order 13783 directed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to commence federal land coal leasing activities.
So far, one, (1), that's one, which is less than two, (2), pre moratorium coal lease for a possible 54 million ton site has been allowed to be completed by the Trump Admin.
No one else is interested in any leases. The major player in the industry has 3 billion tons of coal in reserves but little demand.
And the moratorium that Trump reversed?
Lol, everything that has "been done" can just as easily be undone by a new administration. The only major item that has been done was tax reform, which can be easily undone by a simple majority when the Dems eventually regain control of the presidency and both houses. All they have to do is pass the legislation the exact same way the GOP did.
everything trump had undone the left said could not be undone while obama was in... I find that kind of funny.
with one difference - we took our country back as promised and the result is the left will not getting the whitehouse back anytime soon.
Cheers
Like what? I don't think anyone ever said a new administration could not dole out executive orders and reverse the policies of the last.
Yeah okay. Because we all know that presidents with approval ratings in the 30s are deadlocks for reelection. I mean, whatever you have to tell yourself. Personally I would prefer that fat ass stay in the White House throughout his term. Odds are that the GOP loses the majority in at least one chamber this midterm cycle, and coupled with Trump's sheer stupidity and breathtaking incompetence, their agenda will go exactly nowhere for the remainder of this administration. Sometimes no action is best
The polling numbers come from..............which "Regions" of the country Again ?
Remember....the Poll's missed it BIG TIME during the election. I guess sticking to the City types for polling makes sense.
To what? The 1860's?
LOL. :)
we took our country back from the liberal / globalists. a 60+ yr plan is now in the trash can (yes we did)
did you have as much fun as I did while electing trump?
nov 8 2016 was epic
the left is going to fundamentally change America huh? ( no. they can't )
Hey, not your country any more than its mine. Grow up.
never said it was...
hint: try not to imagine words are there that are not there.
just because your ideology has been put in the trash can does not mean it is not still "our country"
the left is allowed to be here we are just going to ignore them for awhile.
when the left in this country supports secure borders, fair trade deals, more jobs, a sovereign country with less taxes and regulations they might start winning elections again.
as for the globalists? they are done in this country for 60yrs or more.... probably more.
Cool !
And while we're on the topic of Reagan (PBUH)-- here's a fascinating video I came across recently-- wherein he makes a powerful statement re: the 2nd Amendment and gun rights-- seeded on NT HERE).
Critics tap decades-old law to stall Trump bid to undo Obama regulations
by SUZY KHIMM
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump's aggressive push to reverse Obama-era policies is facing trouble in court.
In recent weeks, federal judges have blocked the administration's attempts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), postpone a rule giving low-income families broader access to housing in wealthier neighborhoods, and delay an environmental regulation requiring oil and gas companies to reduce methane leaks .
All of these Trump policy changes have hit the same stumbling block: Courts say the administration hasn't followed the proper steps in enacting them, citing a 1940s-era law that's become a key weapon in the legal battle over the president's agenda.
Under that law, the Administrative Procedure Act , federal agencies are required to provide a reasoned justification for their policy decisions and offer the public an opportunity to weigh in when they are creating new regulations, making notable changes to existing rules, or scrapping them altogether.
Trump's critics have seized upon these requirements as a mainstay of their lawsuits against his agenda, arguing not only that the policies are harmful, but also that the administration flouted the formal rule-making process in enacting them. That's created some significant setbacks and delays for Trump's agenda — and occasionally prompted the administration to reverse course altogether.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. Carolyn Kaster / APCalifornia Attorney General Xavier Becerra, one of Trump's most prominent legal adversaries, said the White House's procedural missteps reflect its inability to follow the rules.
"The Trump administration doesn't have the right to circumvent the law, and to try to arbitrarily change it," said Becerra, who helped secure the delays to the administration's moves on DACA and the Interior Department's methane rule. "It seems to be a pattern by the president and his administration to try to act outside the law."
The legal setbacks don't mean Trump's agenda is dead. Many of the biggest cases are still working their way through the courts. And some of the rulings have made it clear that the administration could still enact the policies it wants if it follows the proper steps for rule-making.
But Trump's opponents have slowed down the president, prompting sympathetic judges to rule in their favor — much as President Barack Obama’s legal opponents did during his administration.
Such an approach can help yield quicker and more favorable results for those looking to challenge federal rule-making, legal experts say.
"One reason that advocates turn to the Administrative Procedure Act is that when the violations are clear, it seems like a pretty easy way to overturn actions, without having to involve policy," said Gillian Metzger, a law professor at Columbia University.
Jonathan Adler, director of the Center for Business Law and Regulation at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, said: "It is much easier to challenge an action by identifying a procedural problem than it is to try and convince a reviewing court that it's bad policy."
"If you oppose what an administration is doing, the smart way to attack it in court is to look for the procedural irregularities," Adler said.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
Fearing the bureaucracy
From his first days in office, Trump has heralded deregulation as a top priority, and his administration has undertaken an ambitious effort to overturn Obama-era rules as swiftly as possible.
But federal regulations cannot always be quickly and easily undone, partly because of laws intended to limit executive authority and make the policymaking process deliberative, rational and democratic.
Congress passed the Administrative Procedure Act in 1946 amid the rise of communism and fascism in Europe, hoping to place checks on the vast bureaucracy created by the New Deal and " avoid dictatorship and central planning, " as one legal expert explained. Under the law, federal agencies have to provide a reasoned analysis for making policy changes to avoid "arbitrary and capricious" rule-making.
That was the requirement that the federal courts cited to uphold DACA: The Trump administration had wrongly claimed that DACA was unconstitutional, they said, and could not use faulty reasoning to end the program, even if it was within its rights to do so.
"Defendants indisputably can end the DACA program," wrote U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of New York in his decision . "The question before the court is thus ... whether they offered legally adequate reasons for doing so."
Activists, young immigrants and DACA supporters march as part of a 250-mile walk to Washington, D.C., Feb. 15, 2018. SHANNON STAPLETON / ReutersThere's also a formal process for enacting new rules or changing existing ones: They're usually subject to a notice and comment period, which requires agencies to tell the public what it wants to change, allowing the public to weigh in and then responding to the commentary.
As a result, formal rule-making is typically a lengthy, involved process that can take months or even years to complete. Trump officials, like their predecessors, have tried to find alternative ways to push through change more quickly. And the administration's critics have regularly seized upon these workarounds to challenge its policy reversals in court.
Environmental setbacks for Trump
Environmental groups have been at the forefront of the legal opposition to Trump as the administration has tried to reverse course on more than 60 environmental rules , and advocates have been quick to push back on procedural grounds.
"The agencies have been in such a rush," said Brett Hartl, government affairs director for the Center for Biological Diversity, a conservation advocacy group. "If you chose to make missteps that flagrantly violate the process, instead of being patient and deliberative, it's an unforced error."
The requirement to allow public input played a key role in Trump's latest environmental setback: In late February, a federal judge in California halted the Bureau of Land Management's delay of a rule requiring oil and gas companies to cut back on methane leaks when drilling on federal land. The Obama administration estimated the rule would reduce methane emissions by 180,000 tons per year.
In his ruling, Judge William Orrick wrote that agency had "failed to provide meaningful notice and comment to the public" by illegally limiting the scope of the feedback it would consider.
Orrick, an Obama appointee, also said that the agency had failed to put forth sufficient evidence to support its delay — a more substantive violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. "It appears that BLM is simply 'casually ignoring' all of its previous findings and arbitrarily changing course," he wrote.
It was the second time the court had thwarted the BLM's attempt to delay the rule on the grounds it had failed to follow the proper procedures. Both times, the Trump administration unsuccessfully claimed it was exempt from the notice and comment requirements, arguing that it was acting to protect small oil and gas well operators.
Adler said it's not unusual for new administrations to look for shortcuts to implement their agenda and hit some speed bumps along the way. But he believes that Trump's policy agenda has suffered at times from sloppy legal work, citing the administration's failed attempt to delay another methane regulation , which a federal court also stopped last year on procedural grounds.
“When you're trying to do this many things, and you're short-staffed, and don't have a number of people with a high level of expertise, even stuff you might otherwise be able to do becomes dodgier," Adler said.
Blowback on immigration, housing, contraception
It's not just environmental rollbacks that have faced these kind of legal setbacks. Trump's wide-ranging deregulatory agenda has prompted advocates from all corners to retool their legal strategy.
"A lot more groups — consumer, civil rights, poverty — are now thinking about and becoming experts in the APA more than ever before," said Allison Zieve, director of the Public Citizen Litigation Group, a liberal advocacy organization.
In late December, a federal judge in Washington issued an injunction to stop the Department of Housing and Urban Development, run by Secretary Ben Carson, from delaying an Obama-era rule that would make it easier for low-income families to secure housing in higher-income neighborhoods.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development-designate Ben Carson testifies during his confirmation hearing before Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill on January 12, 2017 in Washington. Alex Wong / Getty Images fileThe Trump administration said that housing authorities needed more time to adapt to the rule, and that formal notice and comment wasn't required to suspend it. But U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell, an Obama appointee, said that HUD had failed to account for its decision to forgo the notice and comment period.
"This case is not about what is good housing policy," Howell wrote in her ruling . "This case is about the rule of law."
Earlier in December, district courts in California and Pennsylvania both halted the administration's efforts to roll back the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive coverage. States and advocacy groups behind the lawsuits cited sweeping legal problems, claiming that Trump's new contraceptive rule violated the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and the Civil Rights Act, among other statutes.
But in their recent rulings, the courts focused on narrower concerns, zeroing in on the administration's decision to skip notice and comment for Trump's directive, which expands employers' ability to deny birth control coverage for religious or moral reasons.
"Plaintiffs face potentially dire public health and fiscal consequences as a result of a process as to which they had no input," wrote Judge Haywood Gilliam of the U.S. District Court in Northern California, another Obama appointee. Judge Wendy Beetlestone of the U.S. District Court in eastern Pennsylvania cited similar procedural problems, though she said Trump's contraceptive rule was illegal on other grounds as well. (The Trump administration says it had "good cause" to skip notice and comment.)
Similarly, in their lawsuit over DACA , a group of Democratic attorneys general argued that ending the program would be unconstitutional, but they also claimed that the manner in which Trump acted was illegal under the Administrative Procedure Act. And it was on procedural grounds that two federal judges ruled in the DACA supporters' favor.
"When a court is deciding whether to grant a preliminary injunction, it generally will want to act within a pretty quick time frame," said Brianne Gorod, chief counsel for the Constitutional Accountability Center, a liberal think tank and advocacy group. "If there's a blatant violation of some procedural requirement, ruling on that ground can be the easier and simpler way for the court to go."
Obama face similar setbacks
Gorod notes that conservatives used similar tactics to go after the Obama agenda with some degree of success: In 2015, a federal court in Texas initially halted the administration's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) for failing to go through notice and comment. Another Texas court blocked Obama's guidelines for transgender student' access to bathrooms for similar reasons.
But Gorod, whose organization supported Obama's moves on DAPA, points out that the most prominent cases emerged toward the end of the Obama administration, after the president had already spent years trying to enact policy through Congress and started leaning more heavily on executive authority.
President Barack Obama addresses the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's 46th annual Legislative Conference Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, Sept. 17, 2016. Yuri Gripas / Reuters fileLegal experts said the issue reflects a broader problem with Washington : Congress has been unable or unwilling to act, and presidents have increasingly stepped into the breach, prompting courts to push back to contain executive overreach.
On occasion, the legal challenges have prompted the Trump administration to backtrack entirely.
In late February, HUD said that it would reinstate the fair-housing rule that it unsuccessfully had tried to suspend. In February 2017, the Natural Resources Defense Council sued the Trump EPA for withdrawing an Obama-era regulation of mercury disposal, citing its failure to provide adequate notice and comment. The administration ultimately backtracked and restored the rule before the courts had even weighed in.
But in other cases, the battle is far from over.
The Trump administration tried unsuccessfully to get the Supreme Court to hear its DACA case, but it will continue to seek a reversal in the lower courts. And in February, the administration announced that it would formally revise the regulation for methane emissions on federal land, rather than simply delay it.
Even if their victories prove to be short-lived, liberal advocates said they're still worth fighting for.
"With procedural challenges, you're trying to get the government to follow the law," said John Walke, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "But strategically it's also to slow their agenda, to buy time, or force them back into a lengthy public process where you live to fight another day."
Why the blatant disrupt of my seed? Why did you place an entire article on my seed? Why not seed it as your own article. This is a discussion site. A paragraph quote and a link should have been sufficient to make or reinforce your point, whatever it was.
Well, I could paraphrase, but that entire article was relevant to yours. Did you read it?
Several of your liberal friends ran to mommy when I supported a seed with another whole related article and it was said this is a discussion site, use your own words. Just trying to be consistent. I really didn’t care about your post being an article in full but some of your friends get their panties in a wad over everything I do, they created a standard of not supporting or opposing a seed with another whole article.
Are you referring to the article that you kept spamming with multiple articles? That isn't the same at all. Also, you seem to be derailing this article as well. Whereas my post was completely on topic, yours aren't, and really are better suited elsewhere.
Dude. You need to stop with that crap. You whine at others for being off topic then you turn around and bring up Obama over and over again, being off topic yourself. You don't get to play by your own set of rules, then ask others to conform to a different set of rules. Learn to control your seed and play by your own rules and stop complaining when others do the same thing.