Thursday, March 28, 2024

Halfway to 100 Days: Is Trump Still on Track?

Today marks Day 50 of the Trump presidency; yes, it has really been 50 days since Donald Trump took the oath of office and formally moved into the White House.

Today also marks the halfway point in the symbolically important first 100 days of President Trump’s term. During his candidacy last year, Trump released a “Contract with the American Voter,” wherein he listed 17 specific actions he promised to take by Day 100. With 50 days now gone, and 50 more to go, how close is Trump to completing that list?

Let’s take a look:

1.) Propose a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress.

Did he do it yet? No.

2.) Hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce the federal workforce through attrition.

Did he do it yet? Yes. “Except the military…”

3.) Require that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated.

Did he do it yet? Yes, Trump signed this order on January 30th.

4.) Impose a five-year ban on White House and Congressional officials becoming lobbyists after they leave government service, and impose a lifetime ban on White House officials lobbying on behalf of a foreign government.

Did he do it yet? Yes. On January 28th, President Trump instituted both of these bans.

5.) Impose a complete ban on foreign lobbyists raising money for American elections.

Did he do it yet? No.

6.) Announce his intention to renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from the deal under Article 2025; and announce the US’ withdrawal from TPP.

Did he do it yet? Yes. On January 23rd President Trump signed an executive order to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership and expressed his intention to renegotiate NAFTA on the same day.

7.) Direct the Secretary of the Treasury to label China a currency manipulator.

Did he do it yet? Not yet. He may still do so, but there is some doubt given that it has not yet happened.

8.) Direct the Secretary of Commerce and US Trade Representative to identify all foreign trading abuses that unfairly impact American workers and direct them to use every tool under American and international law to end those abuses immediately.

Did he do it yet? Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has taken some actions, but none that seem to fulfill (or partly fulfill) this commitment.

9.) Lift the restrictions on the production of $50 trillion dollars’ worth of job-producing American energy reserves, including shale, oil, natural gas and clean coal.

Did he do it yet? No.

10.) Lift the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward.

Did he do it yet? Yes (at least in part), particularly giving focus to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines.

11.) Cancel billions in payments to UN climate change programs and use the money to fix America’s water and environmental infrastructure.

Did he do it yet? No.

12.) Cancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum, and order issued by President Obama.

Did he do it yet? In progress? Certain actions that President Trump has taken can be seen to counteract Obama’s executive actions.

13.) Begin the process of selecting a replacement for Justice Scalia.

Did he do it yet? Neil. Gorsuch. Yes. February 1st.

14.) Cancel all federal funding to sanctuary cities.

Did he do it yet? Yes. January 25th.

15.) Begin removing the more than two million criminal illegal immigrants from the country and cancel visas to foreign countries that won’t take them back.

Did he do it yet? Yes, on January 25th in the same executive order mentioned just above.

16.) Suspend immigration from terror-prone regions where vetting cannot safely occur. Institute “extreme vetting.”

Did he do it yet? Yes, in two executive orders, one building off of another.

17.) Introduce the following acts:

  • Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act
    • Did he do it yet? No. Despite various statements by the President and his subordinates, no significant action has yet surfaced.
  • End the Offshoring Act
    • Did he do it yet? No. Although a 20 percent tariff on Mexican goods has been proposed, and a border adjustment tax is a potential part of a Congressional GOP tax plan, no significant action has yet been taken.
  • American Energy and Infrastructure Act
    • Did he do it yet? No, no action yet.
  • School Choice and Education Opportunity Act
  • Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act
  • Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act
    • Did he do it yet? No.
  • End Illegal Immigration Act
    • Did he do it yet? No, though he has directed funding for the border wall with Mexico and continued deportations, as reviewed above.
  • Restoring Community Safety Act
    • Did he do it yet? Yes. President Trump has signed an order for this purpose.
  • Restoring National Security Act
    • Did he do it yet? President Trump has proposed a $54 billion increase in defense spending; directed funding for the border wall; imposed “extreme vetting.” However, some portions of this pledged act remain unfulfilled.
  • Clean Up Corruption in Washington Act
    • Did he do it yet? No.

Final score at Day 50 of the Trump presidency? Twelve for 28, give or take a few depending on how an observer may interpret certain actions by the president and his surrogates. For a halfway point in the first 100 days, that’s not half bad.

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore

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