Some Grim Predications

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

I still think that Vance will be President within 18 months of the inauguration.  Trump's clearly a demented, unhinged, fool who always had a defective narcissistic personality made worse by his declining mental status.  It's really impossible to ignore at this point, although the damage he does will be lasting.  Vance can't act immediately, as Trump put in sycophants and lackeys in his cabinet, but it's increasingly clear to non Maga Republicans that Trump's unhinged.  

Indeed, Vance acting quicker than 18 months, maybe even with in the first six months, is becoming an increasing likelihood. The nation will breath a sigh of relief no matter what Vance is like, as he isn't Trump, and by that time all the dirty work of firing government employees will have been done.

But I also think I can, at this point, see some other things happening with a high degree of probability, all of which depend to some degree on what Vance ultimately does, that will result from his administration, or occur during it. Some will surprise his supporters.  Here's what I think we're going to see, which the assumption being we're within the 18 month window, or perhaps that I'm wrong on that.  Indeed, if I'm wrong, the likelihood of these predictions goes up.

Note that predicting these events isn't the same as cheering them on, or hoping for them, or even remotely wishing for them. What I hope and pray is that God deliver the United States and grant to it what is his will.  I don't wish harm or disaster on anyone.  I think, at the end of the day, that Donald Trump is a demented old fool who deserves pity,  the nation that has chosen him as the Chief Executive is suffering from a sort of foolish dementia itself, and that all the proof that ever needs to be given on why people shouldn't be allowed to get massively rich has been given.

70% Chance

How solitary sits the city, 

once filled with people.

She who was great among the nations

is now like a widow.

Once a princess among the provinces,

now a toiling slave.

 Lamentations.

I'd give the following about a 70% chance of occurring.

Get ready for massive gun control (and worse).

Symbol of the Freedom Caucus, um, Nazi Germany's Sturmabteilung.

Eh?  With the NRA in Donny's pocket.

Yep.

The reason for this is pretty obvious.  Trump has no natural affinity for firearms, although apparently his son Eric does.  Trump's love for the NRA was because they loved him more than they loved their country, or anything else.  The NRA was and is his tool.  The NRA can thank Wayne LaPierre's leadership for that.*

But we're about to see some massive violence in American society, which gets to a couple of other predictions

Mass shootings, and by that I mean real ones, not ones where five people are shot up in a gang fight, are probably likely to break out here soon on an increased scale.  Political violence is about to occur.  You can't release 1,000 Brownshirts into society and not have violence break out and you can't routinely insult up to half the nation before somebody gets mad.

And sooner or later, some of that is going to be directed at Trump himself.

Of course, it already has. There's been two attempted assassinations of Trump already.  That's not going to stop, it will occur again.  

I'm not wishing that on him, or anyone else, but only a fool could deny that it might occur, or indeed that it will occur.  The level of tension is too high in the country for this not to start playing out, and Trump is making it worse on a daily basis.

The last President this hated was Abraham Lincoln, who was perhaps ironically hated by the same people who are MAGA today.  That's the last time the country was this divided, and that division resulted in John Wilkes Booth killing Lincoln.  Trump isn't comparable to Lincoln in any fashion, his own demented imagination aside, except for the level of hatred they both engender, and interestingly from the same classes.  It was probably nearly inevitable that somebody would take a shot at Lincoln, and it likely is the same in regard to Trump.

And frankly, like Booth going after Lincoln, the general trends fit the pattern, as do the sorts of personalities involved.

Leon Czolgosz

Leon Czolgosz killed William McKinley, whom Trump suddenly discovered, as Czolgosz was an angry unemployed anarchist and a member of a despised minority.  

We're about to see a dip in the economy, which I'd guess will be a massive recession, and there are going to be a lot of angry unemployed around.  For that matter, there are about to be a bunch of angry unemployed former Federal (and State) employees and we seemingly have a problem with angry semi employed veterans around right now.

Charles Whitman. . . he doesn't look like an unhinged killer, does he?

An angry radicalized veteran is what Lee Harvey Oswald was.  Charles Whitman was also a veteran. Indeed, they'd both been Marines. The country has spent the last several decades absolutely idolizing veterans to the point where we've seen at least three mass killing performed by them and barely took notice of that fact.  With the war in Afghanistan causing thousands of head injuries and a devotion to servicemen that's so profound that we excused their refusal to get vaccinated and have ignored service member presence at the January 6 insurrection, we're really setting ourselves up, something that's been amplified by the AR15 Effect.

And we're also in the process of making entire foreign and ethnic populations angry.  Palestinians who naively hoped for a less pro Israel administration now have a kook who proposes to take over Gaza and make it into a sort of Club Med.  Canadians openly boo the Star Spangled Banner at sporting events now every time they're held.  A hockey game in Montreal this past week showed at least one American hockey player nearly in tears.  The United States is experiencing a level of contempt not leveled at it since the height of the Cold War, when Communists nations and their fellow travelers displayed it.  And Trump has made vague threats against Iran, which has never had a problem with murdering people.

Shirhan Sirhan.

Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was a Palestinian who had formerly adored Bobby Kennedy, we might wish to remember.  The current goofball Secretary of Health and Human Services' father was running for the Presidency at the time he was murdered for his support of Israel.  That was at a time when the Muslim population of the United States, and the immigrant Middle Eastern population, was quite small in comparison to what it is today.  And Kennedy hadn't betrayed the misbegotten trust of an Islamic population the way Trump has.  Nor did Kennedy accuse anyone of eating cats and dogs, or create an environment in which Native Americans now carry their IDs out of fear of being expelled from their own country for looking too brown.

Truman's would be killers were members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, and we don't even usually think of the Puerto Ricans being all that angry.

Funny, by the way, with all the talk of adding a state, Trump doesn't mention Puerto Rico. . . I wonder why that is?

And added to that, Trump's targeted Mexican drug cartels.  For years some have been convinced that John F. Kennedy was "Paddy Wacked" by the Mafia or by Irish American mobsters working for the Mafia.  It seems to lack any real credibility, but if the mob had reasons to go after Kennedy, whose father had connections with bootleggers, who was going after them, surely the Mexican mobs have just as great of incentive, and frankly are much more violent.

Finally, and one that is admittedly unlikely, there are growing rumblings about a military strike on Trump.

Just the other day I saw an officer post an item which, while veiled, clearly argued that his fellow officers needed to be prepared to disobey illegal orders, basically like the members of the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York just did.  Okay, that's one thing. But then this past week I saw outright cries, from civilians, that the military oath to protect the country from foreign and domestic enemies applies to Trump, as he's a domestic, and maybe, a foreign enemy.

He may in fact be a foreign enemy, I'd note.  We've raised it here before, but now Time's raising it.

It is perfectly possible that Trump is a knowing Russian agent, in which case there's some sort of duty for somebody to do something, if not actually what's being urged.  On this we might note that the Army kept the Venona Files for decades before anyone knew it, and didn't really trust Franklin Roosevelt to know the truth about what was in it.  The Venona Files revealed that the U.S. Army was aware that people like Alger Hiss were Soviet spies, they just didn't feel they could get any traction on it, and for that matter Whitaker  Chamber's efforts to enlighted FDR outright failed.  The point is that the service, if Trump is a paid or compromised Russian agent, may very well know it, but be afraid at this point to act on it.  I wouldn't blame them for being afraid.

But, if that's the case, and of course we don't know that it is, it's worth noting that officers will act independently if they feel they have no choice or are obligated to.  That's what nearly caused the US and the USSR to nearly go to war over Berlin.  The officer in charge lacked clear instructions and was headed to war with the Soviets on one occasion when JFK was President before the clear instructions came in.  If the Service is stilling around with information that Trump is simply a Russian tool, and to an outside observer there's plenty of circumstantial evidence that he may very well be, it's not impossible that the service, or the CIA, might actually act.

Of course, the fact that Trump is still living is pretty good evidence that neither the military or the CIA actually have anything of this type on him or he'd already be dead.  If they had something, they probably would have done something by now.

On this topic, however, we might recall France.

France's politics became enormously polarized before World War Two, much like are own are, right now.  World War Two made the French far right ascendant.  Petain would have recognized the Project 2025 crowd pretty easily.  The Second World War put the French far right sort of in the trash can, from which its never emerged, but French politics didn't return to normal for decades.  One of the thing that occured in that context is that France fought two bitter colonial wars, one in Indochina and another in Algeria, in the decade following the Second World War.

DeGaulle's decision to pull out of Algeria lead to an internal anti DeGaulle movement inside of the French Army itself, the Organisation armée secrète.  The OAS not only opposed DeGaulle's decision to leave Algeria, it tried to kill him numerous times.  One such fictional attempt is the plot of the excellent book Day of the Jackal, which has been made into a movie twice.

The OAS was bitter about leaving Algeria, and not really happy about what happened in Indochina.  Of course, Algeria was an overseas department of France, so giving it up is sort of loosely analogous to leaving American Samoa or perhaps Puerto Rico, so the analay is strained.

Having said that, it was Donald Trump, not Joe Biden, who surrendered to the Taliban, something that Trump's deluded followers were easily distracted from, including those followers who served in Afghanistan.  But the fact remains we shed blood and then left, and now have a large population of veterans who served there.

And Trump is imperiling our relationship with Taiwan.  "Losing" China in the 1940s, is what caused the Republican Party of that era to be shaken out of its foreign policy slumber and lead directly to the McCarthy Era, which saw the first expressions of something resembling what we're now seeing, point being, if we "lose" Taiwan, it's going to shake something up.

And Trump's course seems likely to lead us from withdrawing to an 85 year commitment to the security of Europe.

None of this means a military coup or an internal strike on the Presidency is going to  happen, but all of it does put the overall violent situation that Trump has fostered into a very strange position.  Men who have spent 30 years dedicated to defending the West might not really take it that well if they're told to cozy up to a side they know to be the enemy.

What would happen if the military actually acted in this fashion?  I think we'd see far right riots for about a week, and that's about it.  Most of the far right is a pack of paper tigers.  Faced with a military action, or an action by a limited number of servicemen, they'll just accept it as the right thing to do and claim they were for it all along.

Back to civilian actors.

If all this seems far fetched, I've already seen two barely veiled calls for assassination on Blue Sky or Twitter.  People outright hoping somebody will kill Trump.  During the Super Bowl I heard several people either outright note what an assassination opportunity it was, or in the words of one person "what a John Wilkes Booth moment."

So where does this lead, if it happens?

If Trump survives the next attempt, he'll slap down an executive order banning wide classes of long arms and handguns, as well as orders massively curtailing civil liberties.  My guess is that most semi automatic long arms will be outright banned.  If Trump asks Congress to do it, the Democrats are already all in, and the dog like GOP will do exactly what Trump wants.  He'll probably simply ban handguns as well.

And, as noted, he'll curtail civil liberties.  In that sense, such a thing would be a gift to him.

And there's a good chance he'll do that when the next big mass shooting occurs.  It's probably already being worked out.

And what's the risk to him?  It's not like the NRA is going to suddenly turn its back on somebody they fanatically worshipped.  Hitler, to a degree, turned on the SA, but they didn't turn on him.  The NRA will roll over like a dog and come out for whatever he asks for.

If Trump doesn't survive, mass violence will break out in the Populist Storm Trooper camp who will blame the murder on the fantastical "deep state". They already believe they're freedom's vanguard in this fashion.  J. D. Vance will use the event to declare an emergency and then he'll do the same thing.  That will last for about a week, as noted, until Vance declares all is well.

Indeed, William McKinley, whom Trump so adores, provides an example.  McKinley's Vice President was  Theodore Roosevelt, who many in the  GOP feared as a dangerous radical.  Roosevelt wasted no time making the government his own.  The  Trumpite lackeys and Elon Musk will be shown the door, and we'll have National Conservatism, like it or not, and whether or not anyone voted for it.

The upcoming marginalization of Evangelical Christianity.

It's overdue anyhow. 

The theological underpinnings of Evangelical Christianity are too thin to withstand any sort of examination by anyone who cares to do it and a Christian religion that basically holds that anything you can do is okay, as long as you do it with a member of the opposite sex, is not very Christian.  But the linking of the anti democratic populist far right with Evangelical Christianity will be something that it can't endure when things blow up in this Administration's face, and that is going to happen.

Mike Johnson with his smarmy smile, and Trump closed eyed as if he is in deep thought will be what people remember when they lose their jobs and have no place to go.  Health and Wealth Christianity, which is contrary to the Gospel, won't have a long shelf life when you are poor and sick and somebody on television is yelling at you.  People who voted for Trump as he was "Godly" won't remember that when they're lining up for assistance that isn't there, and Musk has gone on to have five more children with three more concubines.

When the bloom is off the rose of populism, Evangelical Christianity is going to tank.

The bad thing, I suppose, is that a lot of people leaving it will just leave religion altogether.

We'll have troops coming home in body bags within a year.

I don't know from where, or when, but we will. This administration is too reckless not to get troops killed, and when inflation creeps up over 7%, which is only months away, it'll need a distraction.  Nothing distracts like war.

Trump has found plenty of countries to pick on.  My overall guess, however, is that he'll pick on one that seems like it can't do much, or he'll pick a fight with Iran, which really can.  A war against Iran is one that we frankly can't win, as wars end when the people you attack decide they're over.  The Iranians are never going to agree that we beat them.

If I'm right, the irony will be that there will be dead Americans coming home for decades, and frankly they'll be blood right here on our shores.  Iran has no problem with waging a terror campaign right here, and that will itself spark a bunch of civil repression here in the US.

The United States will return to democracy, but we'll be irreparably harmed.

The populists had and continue to have a real point about rule by unelected officials. There's been complaints about that for decades. The complainers didn't understand what they were complaining about, which was the rise of a large Federal government from 1932 on, and ironically a lot of the complainers will be the fist to suffer as agencies shrink.  When people in the Trump camp can't get Medicaid, and a lot of them are receiving it, or drive on pothole filled highways, they'll be getting exactly what they deserve.

But only 50% of the country was in the Trump camp during the election and only a fraction of them are hardcore.  The country will come back.

But it won't be the same.  Much of the damage will be permanent and those who voted for it should be reminded of it every year for the rest of their lives.

People believed that Trump was going to take on government waste, and some still believe it.  Mostly he's just cutting.  Trump and Musk are very wealthy men born into wealth.  For them, people suffering economic deprivation is an abstraction.  

The US will be eclipsed as a major power

Flag of the European Union, which may be about to eclipse us as a the Western power people listen to.

The US really entered the world stage with  World War One.  Under Trump, we're stepping off.

That is in fact what a lot of people want, they just don't want comes next.  The world now will be a bipolar one, with the European Community standing for what the US did, and China being its main opponent (but read below).  We'll dance to their tune.  People who thought that Trump was going to make America great again will find that it has become just a second rate power with none, and I mean none, of the claimed things that were going to be achieved, achieved.

There's always been an element of this in American thought.  There were those who were opposed to even getting ready for the Second World War.  The US entered World War One when German ambitions began to hurt us to the extent we could ignore them.  After World War Two the GOP went isolationist again rapidly until it began to hurt us pretty quickly.

Going isolationist again will hurt us, and quickly.  I think, as noted, it'll get us in a major war with China, Russia and South Korea.  The difference this time is that we're hated worldwide. We'll fight a lot of that on our own, and badly.

If there's an upside to this, and I don't really think that there is, it appears to be that Europe is going to resume its traditional role as the dominant Western force.  Americans, for the first time in decades, are going to have to get used to being also rans.  In fact, in this context, it might be for the first time in US history where we basically have a seat at the children's table and nobody pays that much attention to us as we're not adults.  In a way, that's a lesson that we failed to learn somewhere and its time to learn it. Time to grow up.

If that's correct, and it seems likely that the National Conservatives are panicking it is, as they're sending Musk and Vance to try to lecture Europeans, it'll mean that much of the the external things National Conservatives are working on won't matter.  The US view on climate change, won't matter.  US tax policies, won't matter.  

We'll basically be like what Brazil current is, in regard to the rest of the world.

On a related item, within a few years of Trump's death, which will be soon anyway you look at it, he'll be such a despised figure in American history that his grave will be a frequent target of vandalism.  The government won't really bother, after a time, to guard it.  He'll be held in contempt, including by those who now fanatically worship him.  Americans will regard those who voted for him as contemptible fools, including the majority of people who voted for him, who won't admit that they did so.

50% Chance

Let all their evil come before you

and deal with them

As you have so ruthlessly dealt with me

for all my rebellions.

My groans are many,

my heart is sick.

Lamentations.

Some more remote possibilities, but not all that remote

We'll be in a type of world war.

Chinese poster from 1971. The Chinese have long memories.  Americans have the memories of gnats.

And I don't mean figuratively, I mean actually.

Somewhere around here is a post that predicted, at the time it was posted, that we would be at war with China within, I thought, about five years.  We aren't at that mark yet. 

China wants Taiwan and have been openly planning to invade it for years.  The Biden Administration was fairly openly planning on the defense of Taiwan.  Japan and the Philippines expect it to occur as well.

Trump is now punishing Taiwan economically, and China is going to move to get it.  The Chinese are not dumb, and my guess is that they don't figure that Trump will be around long either.  

North Korean Army poster.  North Korea is desperate, and it undoubtedly regards Trump as a complete doofus.

Trump's a demented doofus who is destroying the American government.  This would be the ideal time for China to act.  And if they do, and I think they will, North Korea will attack South Korea shortly thereafter.  Whatever has gone on or is occuring in Eastern Europe, Russia will launch a massive fully mobilized campaign against Ukraine, and maybe the Balkans and Poland.  You can easily see a scenario where China attacks Taiwan and North Korea attacks South Korea later that same week, and Russia has a major offensive occuring within a month.

Russian poster equating the Russian invasion of Ukraine with the Soviet victory in World War Two.

Indeed, if I led China, and the morals of the Chinese leadership, I'd do it. The balance of risks is on their sides, and will even be more on their sides after Elon Musk takes the meat cleaver to the military.

What will Trump do?  Probably babble and vacillate.  He'll yap for about a week on the basis that world leaders listen to him.  After a week, the situation will be grave for Taiwan and we'll be in an all out war in South Korea.  We'll act then, but we'll have lost a week which means when we do, we're going to take a naval pounding.

Trump, it might be noted, didn't answer his country's call when it came in Vietnam.  Musk managed not to be conscripted into the South African Army by migrating to Canada.

I think our chances of winning such a war are very slim.

A war like that isn't avoidable and we'll get in it.  Probably with Vance as head of state as Trump's escorted out the door babbling.

Trump's going to defy the courts

Napoleon, who claimed he was acting to save the country and went on to get a lot of people killed.  Don quoted him just the other day in what is likely a prelude to ignoring the courts.  Napoleon ended up in exile and was likely murdered by poisoning.

This is pretty obvious and will happen soon.

The thing is, this won't go well, and will prove to be one of those things he'll move away from quickly.  Courts have a lot more power than they did in times past and they really aren't afraid of Trump.  Once Federal Marshall start slapping people in prison or impounding assets, things will change.

40%  Chance

Trump's revealed to be an active Russian asset.

Whitaker Chambers warned for years the US government had been penetrated by Soviet agents and was widely derided. Turns out, he was right.  Chambers also did not expect democracy to be able to prevail against Communism.

There's no doubt that Trump is a Russian asset.  Indeed, there's no doubt that he's working out great for Russia, the question still remains why.

There has always been something really odd here that people just haven't been able to pin down.  He could just love Russia because he does, but he could be dancing to their tune as  they have something on him.

If the Russians do have something on him, things can only be kept secret so long. Trump has a lot of enemies including people he now thinks are his friends. What does Musk know that hte rest of us don't?  

What does the CIA and the military, or MI6?

And what does Putin?

When Putin dies, and he's an old man himself, things could suddenly change in Russia and the information open up.  Or somebody else could reveal  it.  If it breaks open, MAGA will deny it.  Indeed, there are still Democrats who pretend Alger Hiss, Harry Dexter  White, and the Rosenbergs weren't working for the Soviets.  But with enough evidence, famously fickle American public opinion can turn, and suddenly.

What Trump holds on politicos opens up.

There are somethings in the political world that are frankly just too weird right now not to have a backstory.

It can't possibly be the case that every Republican in Congress does what Trump wants as they love him.  Not hardly.  And it can't be that they all do it as they feel its for their long time gain with the voters.

Politics have always been dirty and people carry secrets around with them.  William G. Harding was screwing his assistant in the White House and had a prior mistress who was probably a World War One German spy.  Franklin Roosevelt carried on a very long lasting affair.  John F. Kennedy had the morals of an alley cat and bedded Mimi Alford in the White House when she was still a teen, or barely out of her teens.

Some of the people in Congress are compromised somehow.  Some probably have received money illegally, some from illegal sources, and Trump knows about it.  Some probably have turgid affairs with minors, non spouses, and members of the same sex that would kill their careers if it was revealed and Trump or his minions know about that.  My guess is that in the next couple of years we should brace ourselves for lots of these stories, with lots of recognizable names.

A new conservative party will emerge

Emblem of the Progressive Party which nearly replaced the GOP.

It is, quite frankly, a perfect time for one.

There's been attempts at this for years, but now the time is ripe, as there isn't one.  The Republican Party isn't a conservative party at all, it's a populist party. The National Conservative element of it isn't either, it's a Francoist contingent.  

This has happened in the US before. The GOP itself came about when the Whigs collapsed.  And the Progressives made a good run at the GOP for several years in a row.  Had Taft bailed out of the his race with Roosevelt, there's be no Republican Party today, and frankly the Democrats would be the conservative party.

The elements of it are already there. Quite a few Republicans who had been figures lately in the GOP and backed out remain there and are active.  Some Republican members of Congress, such as Lisa Murkowski, consistently talk out of both sides of their mouths about Trump.  Some more cowardly Republicans in high office will privately voice the opinion that he's bat shit crazy, and then go on to support him in public.

All it really takes is enough people with conservative views to actually unite, which is easier said than done.  Having said that, intelligent conservatives are disgusted by much of which is branded as conservatism today, and yet can take advantage of Elon Musk and his band of meat cleaver juveniles to do much of their dirty work for them.

None of these are pleasant

Winston Churchill noted that in the 1930s he felt like a "voice crying in the wilderness" about the dangers of Hitler.  He didn't want World War Two to come, he was trying to do what he could to get ready for it or prevent it.

I feel the same way here.  None of these are things I wish to happen.  I'm pretty certain that some of them shall.

Ironically, all of them are avoidable, but only with great difficulty at this point. The people surrounding Trump are, by and large, small minded and unhinged.  He doesn't like to hear from people who don't agree with him, which makes him a weak person.  Intelligent people, which I do not feel Trump is, can listen to different views and weigh them.  He can't.

Given that, really avoiding these outcomes would require somebody to act now.  If there's somebody close to Trump who can give him the dope slap, which appears unlikely, that might be a means.  More likely, however, it will require something external.

The most obvious external thing would be invoking the 25th Amendment.  That would require, as a practical matter, a vote of 2/3s of both houses, which is almost impossible to imagine right now.  If things go very badly over the next two years, however, it's a possibility.  A much bigger possibility, I'd note, is that Vance boots Trump out in a little under 18 months, but if I'm right about much of this, it'll be too late to avert disaster by then.

That's a possibility, however, which if I were the Chinese I'd weigh.  Which is why, if I led China, I'd attack Taiwan within the year.

There's a small chance that disaster can be averted if the Democrats, which move at the speed of the Baby Boomers, can get their act together and launch an all out assault on the GOP.  So far, they're not doing it.  Some of that will have to be at the state level.  California and New York basically have the ability to cripple the Federal government if they wish to, and both are really Democratic states.  

Remember, LORD, what has happened to us,

pay attention, and see our disgrace:

Our heritage is turned over to strangers,

our homes, to foreigners.a

We have become orphans, without fathers;

our mothers are like widows.

We pay money to drink our own water,

our own wood comes at a price.

With a yoke on our necks, we are driven;

we are worn out, but allowed no rest.

We extended a hand to Egypt and Assyria,

to satisfy our need of bread.

Our ancestors, who sinned, are no more;

but now we bear their guilt.

Servants rule over us,

with no one to tear us from their hands.

We risk our lives just to get bread,

exposed to the desert heat;

Our skin heats up like an oven,

from the searing blasts of famine.c

Women are raped in Zion,

young women in the cities of Judah;

Princes have been hanged by them,

elders shown no respect.

Young men carry millstones,

boys stagger under loads of wood;

The elders have abandoned the gate,

the young men their music.

The joy of our hearts has ceased,

dancing has turned into mourning;

The crown has fallen from our head:

woe to us that we sinned!

Because of this our hearts grow sick,

at this our eyes grow dim:

Because of Mount Zion, lying desolate,

and the jackals roaming there!

But you, LORD, are enthroned forever;

your throne stands from age to age.

*Why have you utterly forgotten us,

forsaken us for so long?

Bring us back to you, LORD, that we may return:

renew our days as of old.

For now you have indeed rejected us

and utterly turned your wrath against us.

Lamentations 

I hope I'm wrong about all of this.

Footnotes

*LaPierre is yet another hawkish boomer who managed not to serve in Vietnam, first due to a student, and then due to a medical, deferment. He's also another Catholic raised person who divorced and remarried, a betrayal of what Catholics believe.

Why do I note this?

I'm finding more and more that people who can set aside serious religious vows can set aside anything.

Related threads:

Some election predictions.

Labels: 2020s, 2024, 2024 Election, 2026, J. D. Vance, Joseph Biden, Kamala Harris, Lying, National Conservatism, Predictions

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The Harrying. The opening days of the Trump interregnum

“Freedom is a fragile thing, and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction.

Ronald Reagan. 

Bob Dylan's 115th Dream (Take 2, Complete)

A song, now strangely, for our age.

January 21, 2025

We don't hope to follow Trump's actions on a continual basis.  It's not the purpose of this blog.  But we've always considered contemporary events to some extent, and these are extraordinary times.

We might hope, but don't expect, that we'll return to a sense of normalcy any time soon, or any time during the interregnum.  Indeed, we likely never will completely. Whether this actually sets a new path for the country, in which case its truly in a period of irreparable decline, or rests the meter for a new era upon Trump's death, removal, or end of term (which we might hope will not be challenged) is a matter that nobody can see at the present time.

1.  Vivek Ramaswamy learns he's not white and can't play in the populist pool.

One of the two doggy commissioners, Vivek Ramaswamy, learned from Anne Coulter that he's just a dirty Indian with no place in populist hearts took notice of that and has decided to run for Governor of Ohio.

At the pseudoinauguration, fwiw, some of the populist crowd learned that J. D. Vance's wife is similarly tainted and kept wondering why she was looking at him.

2.  First day executive orders.

Trump signed a bunch of executive orders, as expected, but interestingly not as many as actually anticipated.  

Some of these are dumb.  One, renaming Denali, is dumb, racist and insulting to Native Alaskans.  At least one is an illegal violation of Trump's oath of office, that being the birth right citizenship order as all who are "natural born" in the US are citizens by right and he can't order that it be legally ignored.  Another ignores the provisions of a treaty were are a party too and is therefore null and void, to the extent that they aren't all null and void due to the ineffectiveness of Trump's accession.

A couple, it should be noted, are downright frightening.  Trump's taking over the military, and the signals are he intends to use it.

And he of course pardoned his January 6 confederates.

• Reinstating the name Mount McKinley

This is frankly stupid and insulting to Native Alaskans.  If there's any consolation, at least Trump was apparently uanware that the Russians called the mountain Bolshaya Gora. Given his status as a Russian asset (I didn't say paid, just that he's an asset to the Russians, which he fairly clearly has been), and a Putin fanboy, well. . 

• Renaming Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America

This isn't going to happen and is at street level fascism in its aiming to the lowest common Maga denominator.

• Designating Cartels as foreign terrorist organizations

We're going into Mexico.  Make no mistake about it.

And we're going to use our own troops, disastrously, for policing for the first time since Reconstruction.

• Ending diversity, inclusion, and equity hiring in the federal government
• Temporary withdrawal of all areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing

If oil leasing is good, why is wind leasing bad?

• Revocation of any active or current security clearances held by the former intelligence officials involved with "inappropriate political coordination with the 2020 Biden presidential campaign" and John R. Bolton

Revenge order.

• Granting pardons for January 6 rioters

The insurrectionist purporting to pardon his troops.

• Reevaluating United States foreign aid
• Declaring a national energy emergency

There isn't a national energy emergency and we're drilling for oil at market capacity right now.  This is another dumb order, or a propogandist one for people who have failed to grasp the economic realities of this.

• Restoring accountability for career senior executives

Revenge order.

• Promoting beautiful federal civic architecture

Okay, I kind of like this idea.

• Restoring the death penalty in the US

In my view, the death penalty is immoral in general.

• Securing the United State's borders

Again, raids into Mexico, here we come.

• United States citizenship does not automatically extend to those born in the United States

It does due to the Constitution.  This will be legally challenged and tossed out in short order.

• Realignment of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program
• Unleashing America's affordable and reliable energy and natural resources

Again, this is a double helping of horse shit between two cow pie buns.  

• Clarifying the military's role in protecting the US borders

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  (a)  As Chief Executive and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, I have no more solemn responsibility than protecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.  The protection of a nation’s territorial integrity and national boundaries is paramount for its security.

(b)  The Armed Forces of the United States have played a long and well-established role in securing our borders against threats of invasion, against unlawful forays by foreign nationals into the United States, and against other transnational criminal activities that violate our laws and threaten the peace, harmony, and tranquility of the Nation.  These threats have taken a variety of forms over our Nation’s history, but the Armed Forces have consistently played an integral role in protecting the sovereignty of the United States.

(c)  Threats against our Nation’s sovereignty continue today, and it is essential that the Armed Forces staunchly continue to participate in the defense of our territorial integrity and sovereignty.  A National Emergency currently exists along the southern border of the United States.  Unchecked unlawful mass migration and the unimpeded flow of opiates across our borders continue to endanger the safety and security of the American people and encourage further lawlessness.  Accordingly, through this order, I am acting in accordance with my solemn duty to protect and defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.

Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of the United States to ensure that the Armed Forces of the United States prioritize the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States along our national borders.

Sec. 3.  Implementation.  The Secretary of Defense shall: 

(a)  No later than 10 days from the effective date of this order, deliver to the President a revision to the Unified Command Plan that assigns United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) the mission to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.

(b)  On the effective date of this order, add the following requirements to the Contingency Planning Guidance and Guidance for the Employment of the Force:

(i)    A Level 3 planning requirement for USNORTHCOM to seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities, with a commander’s estimate due to the Secretary of Defense within 30 days of the effective date of this order.

(ii)   A campaign planning requirement for USNORTHCOM to provide steady-state southern border security, seal the border, and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security of the United States by repelling forms of invasion, including unlawful mass migration, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, and other criminal activities.

(iii)  Continuous assessments of all available options to protect the sovereign territory of the United States from mass unlawful entry and impingement on our national sovereignty and security by foreign nations and transnational criminal organizations.

Sec. 4.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

No "forever wars"?  We're about to be one in Mexico in short order, most likely. 

• 'America First' trade policy that benefits American workers, manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses
• Resolving the backlog of security clearances for Executive Office of the President
• Restoring accountability to policy-influence positions within the federal workforce
• Withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization

Why do we hate the WHO?

• Delaying TikTok ban for 75 days

Funny how Trump was for this, and then against it.

• Putting America First in international environmental agreements

The environment is global.  America First has nothing to do with it.

Note the backers of stuff like this will be dead before the the bill comes due.

• Deliver emergency price relief to the American people

This is a rampaging absurdity and won't achieve anything.

• Hiring freeze for federal civilian employees (does not apply to military personnel of the armed forces or to positions related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety)
• Regulatory freeze pending review
• Restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship

It wasn't restricted in the first place.

• Recissions of dozens of executive orders and actions from Biden administration
• Ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government
• Only two sexes, male and female, to be recognized by the federal government

Some current "male" GOP politicians are going to have to use the little girls room now, as they clearly lack testicular fortitude.

• Putting American and its interests first in foreign policy
• Protecting US citizens from terrorist attacks and threats

We've been here before:

• Tapping into the vast natural resources, energy, and seafood in Alaska

Seafood harvesting in Alaska is imperiled due to climate change, which many of the rest of these policies flat out ignore.

•  Ensuring the federal government carries out United State's immigration laws
• Pulling the US from the Paris Agreement

This can't be done in this fashion, and shouldn't be done at all.

• Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States

Has anyone found the Woodrow Wilson stamp?

• Pulling the US out of the global corporate tax deal secured by Biden
• Organization of the National Security Council and subcommittee
• Department of Government Efficiency to implement the president's DOGE Agenda
• Routing more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of California

Another horseshit one based on a baloney concept of recent events.

3.  Tariffs

Trump is declaring a trade war on Mexico and Canada and imposing a 25% tariff on those countries on February 1.

Double digit inflation, here we come. . . should these actually be imposed.

Cont:

Abandoning Afghanistan. . . again.

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Nearly 1,660 Afghans cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the U.S., including family members of active-duty U.S. military personnel, are having their flights canceled under President Donald Trump's order suspending U.S. refugee programs, a U.S. official and a leading refugee resettlement advocate said on Monday.

Cont:

U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan has been relieved of her command. She was under fire for various matters as it was, most specifically sexual abuse at the Coast Guard Academy.

January 22, 2025

Twenty-two states sued the Federal Government over Donald Trump's illegal executive order attempting to wipe out birth right citizenship.

The states will prevail on their suit, after millions of dollars are wasted by the DOGE would be chief executive.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that the CBP One app would no longer be used to admit migrants after facilitating entry for almost 1 million people since January 2023.  It was working in the morning before it shut off.

One of the police unions, the Fraternal Order of Police, that had backed Trump condemned his pardon of January 6 insurrectionist.

Crimes against law enforcement are not just attacks on individuals or public safety —they are attacks on society and undermine the rule of law. Allowing those convicted of these crimes to be released early diminishes accountability and devalues the sacrifices made by courageous law enforcement officers and their families.

When perpetrators of crimes, especially serious crimes, are not held fully accountable, it sends a dangerous message that the consequences for attacking law enforcement are not severe, potentially emboldening others to commit similar acts of violence.

Well, union, it wasn't like leopards were going to eat your face, right?

If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned, and there's a little bit of a gray area there.

J. D. Vance.

Well, J. D., apparently as long as you are an insurrectionist for Trump, there's no gray area.

I'll note, once again, that prospective pardons, for anyone, are meaningless.  So charges can in fact be filed against the non convicted insurrectionist after Trump leaves office next year, or when the current interregnum is over.

The Senate Whip posted that the Senate would work all weekend to get Trump's nominees appointed, which is laughable in a country where lots of people work all weekend.  Big deal.

The Trump interregnum ordered federal diversity, equity and inclusion employees to be placed on paid leave no later than Wednesday and for DEI offices to be closed down.

January 23, 2025

Trump:

FEMA is gonna be a whole big discussion very shortly, because I'd rather see the states takes care of their own problems.

Okay, Louisiana and Wyoming, you FEMA harlots, guess you'll have to pay your own freight.

Not like Leopards are going to eat your face.

cont:

Since Mr. Hegseth’s nomination last November, I have met with him and carefully reviewed his writings, various reports, and other pertinent materials. I closely followed his hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee and gathered substantial feedback from organizations, veterans, and Alaskans. After thorough evaluation, I must conclude that I cannot in good conscience support his nomination for Secretary of Defense. I did not make this decision lightly; I take my constitutional responsibility to provide advice and consent with the utmost seriousness.

I commend Pete Hegseth’s service to our nation, including leading troops in combat and advocating for our veterans. However, these accomplishments do not alleviate my significant concerns regarding his nomination. Managing the Department of Defense requires vast experience and expertise as the department is one of the most complex and powerful organizations in the world, and Mr. Hegseth’s prior roles in his career do not demonstrate to me that he is prepared for such immense responsibility. His leadership of two veteran organizations was marked with accusations of financial mismanagement and problems with the workplace culture he fostered.

Although he has recently revised his statements on women in combat since being nominated, I remain concerned about the message that confirming Mr. Hegseth sends to women currently serving and those aspiring to join. Women have served our nation with distinction, overcoming immense obstacles to excel in combat and leadership roles, and they deserve to know that their leader honors and values their commitment to our nation.

While the allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking do nothing to quiet my concerns, the past behaviors Mr. Hegseth has admitted to, including infidelity on multiple occasions, demonstrate a lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces. These behaviors starkly contrast the values and discipline expected of servicemembers. Men and women in uniform are held accountable for such actions, and they deserve leaders who uphold these same standards.

Above all, I believe that character is the defining trait required of the Secretary of Defense, and must be prioritized without compromise. The leader of the Department of Defense must demonstrate and model the standards of behavior and character we expect of all servicemembers, and Mr. Hegseth’s nomination to the role poses significant concerns that I cannot overlook. Given the global security environment we’re operating in, it is critical that we confirm a Secretary of Defense, however, I regret that I am unable to support Mr. Hegseth.

 Sen. Lisa Murkowski

cont:

Judge Coughenour, upon blocking Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order:

I've been on the bench for over 4 decades. I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order.

cont:

DECLASSIFICATION OF RECORDS CONCERNING THE ASSASSINATIONS OF PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY, AND THE REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

EXECUTIVE ORDER

January 23, 2025

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1.  Policy and Purpose.  More than 50 years after the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Federal Government has not released to the public all of its records related to those events.  Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth.  It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.

The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 required all records related to the assassination of President Kennedy to be publicly disclosed in full by October 26, 2017, unless the President certifies that:  (i) continued postponement is made necessary by an identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or conduct of foreign relations; and (ii) the identifiable harm is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure.  President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, section 5(g)(2)(D), Public Law 102-526, 106 Stat. 3443, 3448–49, codified at 44 U.S.C. 2107 note.

I previously accepted proposed redactions from executive departments and agencies (agencies) in 2017 and 2018, but ordered the continued re-evaluation of those remaining redactions.  See Temporary Certification for Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 82 Fed. Reg. 50,307–08 (Oct. 31, 2017); Certification for Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 83 Fed. Reg. 19, 157–58 (Apr. 26, 2018).  In the Presidential Memorandum of April 26, 2018, I also ordered agencies to re-review each of those redactions over the next 3 years and disclose information that no longer warrants continued withholding under the standard set forth in section 5(g)(2)(D) of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992.

President Biden issued subsequent certifications with respect to these records in 2021, 2022, and 2023, which gave agencies additional time to review the records and withhold information from public disclosure.  See Temporary Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 86 Fed. Reg. 59,599 (Oct. 22, 2021); Certifications Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 87 Fed. Reg. 77,967 (Dec. 15, 2022); Certification Regarding Disclosure of Information in Certain Records Related to the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 88 Fed. Reg. 43,247 (June 30, 2023).

I have now determined that the continued redaction and withholding of information from records pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest and the release of these records is long overdue.  And although no Act of Congress directs the release of information pertaining to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have determined that the release of all records in the Federal Government’s possession pertaining to each of those assassinations is also in the public interest.

     Sec. 2.  Declassification and Disclosure.  (a)  Within 15 days of the date of this order, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel to the President, present a plan to the President for the full and complete release of records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

     (b)  Within 45 days of the date of this order, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel to the President, review records related to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and present a plan to the President for the full and complete release of these records.

     Sec. 3.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

     (b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

     (c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    January 23, 2025.

January 23, 2025, cont

John Ratcliffe was confirmed as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on a vote of 74 to 25.

House Republicans are going to form a new January 6 Committee to white wash the insurrection

Some deluded Congressman from drafted a Constitutional Amendment to allow Trump to seek a third term (which actually would be a second term, as he isn't qualified for a second term right now).

What a complete tool.

January 24, 2025

Trump has been removing secret service protection for members of his first administration who failed to stay loyal.

The White House website has been redesigned to look like the introduction to a cheesy game.

January 25, 2025

Hegseth was confirmed by Vice President Vance casting a tie breaker vote.

That's really remarkable.

Where that leaves him is interesting.  He's now a Vance captive for the upcoming removal of Trump.

cont:

Trump fired around 15 independent inspector generals last night, by email, which is illegal given that thirty days notice is required.

January 26, 2025

Christy Noem was confirmed as Secretary for Homeland Security.  This isn't really a surprise and hit happened a couple of days ago.

Frankly, this is an agency that ought to go.  It was a post 9/11 agency given an unfortunate Naziesque name that isn't really needed.  The US government never started called the United States the Vaterland, um sorry, the Motherland, oops, the Homeland, until after 9/11.

cont:

Columbia refused to accept U.S. military flights carrying Columbian deportees.

I don't blame it for refusing military flights.  Would we accept military flights?

So now we're slapping 25%, going to 50%, tariffs on Columbian goods.

27% of US coffee comes from Columbia.

Double digit inflation, here we come.

And runs on coffee?  Yep.  I'm buying some coffee tomorrow, I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Oh, on that, the price of coffee went up today.

Coffee

346.67

1.53

0.44%

5.19%

85.44%

Jan/24

Things we get from Columbia.

January 27, 2028

Columbian amazingly backed down and the tariffs are off.

This episode is being pointed out as proof of the genius of Trump's bullying strategy, and it did work here.  It's also likely to be his Rhineland moment that way, the thing that silences critics, convinces the doubting, and sets the state for a later diaster.

FWIW, apparently repatriation flights actually aren't new, and ICE isn't actually arresting more people than before.  What's new is the use of military flights, apparently, and the publicizing of what ICE is doing.

On the weekend shows the GOP guest repeated emphasized that ICE lacks funding to carry out Trump's immigration promises, which must really be the case given the repeated emphasis on it.  They clearly want Congress to appropriate more money for ICE or they'll end up blaming Congress for the immigration promise failing.

Honduras gave notice that if its migrants in the US are mistreated, it may reverse its long policy of hosting US military forces gratis.  

January 28, 2028

Trump signed a series of military related executive orders yesterday.

The first was to built a US "Iron Dome" missile protection system.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including my authority as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  The threat of attack by ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missiles, and other advanced aerial attacks, remains the most catastrophic threat facing the United States.

President Ronald Reagan endeavored to build an effective defense against nuclear attacks, and while this program resulted in many technological advances, it was canceled before its goal could be realized.  And since the United States withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002 and initiated development of limited homeland missile defense, official United States homeland missile defense policy has remained only to stay ahead of rogue-nation threats and accidental or unauthorized missile launches.

Over the past 40 years, rather than lessening, the threat from next-generation strategic weapons has become more intense and complex with the development by peer and near-peer adversaries of next-generation delivery systems and their own homeland integrated air and missile defense capabilities.

Sec. 2.  Policy.  To further the goal of peace through strength, it is the policy of the United States that: 

     (a)  The United States will provide for the common defense of its citizens and the Nation by deploying and maintaining a next-generation missile defense shield; 

     (b)  The United States will deter — and defend its citizens and critical infrastructure against — any foreign aerial attack on the Homeland; and

     (c)  The United States will guarantee its secure second-strike capability. 

Sec. 3.  Implementation.  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall: 

     (a)  Submit to the President a reference architecture, capabilities-based requirements, and an implementation plan for the next-generation missile defense shield.  The architecture shall include, at a minimum, plans for: 

(i)     Defense of the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks from peer, near-peer, and rogue adversaries; 

(ii)    Acceleration of the deployment of the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor layer;  

(iii)   Development and deployment of proliferated space-based interceptors capable of boost-phase intercept;  

(iv)    Deployment of underlayer and terminal-phase intercept capabilities postured to defeat a countervalue attack; 

(v)     Development and deployment of a custody layer of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture;  

(vi)    Development and deployment of capabilities to defeat missile attacks prior to launch and in the boost phase; 

(vii)   Development and deployment of a secure supply chain for all components with next-generation security and resilience features; and

(viii)  Development and deployment of non-kinetic capabilities to augment the kinetic defeat of ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks;

     (b)  Review relevant authorities and organization of the Department of Defense to develop and deploy capabilities at the necessary speed to implement this directive;

     (c)  Jointly with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, submit to the President a plan to fund this directive, allowing sufficient time for consideration by the President before finalization of the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget; and

     (d)  In cooperation with United States Strategic Command and United States Northern Command, submit to the President: 

(i)   An updated assessment of the strategic missile threat to the Homeland; and

(ii)  A prioritized set of locations to progressively defend against a countervalue attack by nuclear adversaries. 

Sec. 4.  Allied and Theater Missile Defense Review.  The United States continues to cooperate on missile defense with its allies and partners to aid in the defense of ally populations and troops and of forward-deployed United States troops.  Following the submission to the President of the next-generation missile defense reference architecture under section 3(a) of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall direct a review of theater missile defense posture and initiatives to identify ways in which the United States and its allies and partners can: 

     (a)  Increase bilateral and multilateral cooperation on missile defense technology development, capabilities, and operations;

     (b)  Improve theater missile defenses of forward-deployed United States troops and allied territories, troops, and populations; and

     (c)  Increase and accelerate the provision of United States missile defense capabilities to allies and partners.

Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

     (b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

     (c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    January 27, 2028

A couple of things.

"Iron Dome" is actually an Israeli variant of the Patriot missile defense system, so this doesn't really make sense.

I know what is being suggested, but the terminology shows a lack of grasp on where we are at on this.  What this really aims for is something Ronald Reagan proposed and Congress shut down in the early 1980s.  This will require Congressional funding, so as it an order, it expresses a policy direction, and not much else.

Here's the next one.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, and to ensure the readiness and effectiveness of our Armed Forces, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  The United States military has a clear mission:  to protect the American people and our homeland as the world’s most lethal and effective fighting force.  Success in this existential mission requires a singular focus on developing the requisite warrior ethos, and the pursuit of military excellence cannot be diluted to accommodate political agendas or other ideologies harmful to unit cohesion. 

Recently, however, the Armed Forces have been afflicted with radical gender ideology to appease activists unconcerned with the requirements of military service like physical and mental health, selflessness, and unit cohesion.  Longstanding Department of Defense (DoD) policy (DoD Instruction (DoDI) 6130.03) provides that it is the policy of the DoD to ensure that service members are “[f]ree of medical conditions or physical defects that may reasonably be expected to require excessive time lost from duty for necessary treatment or hospitalization.”  As a result, many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty, from conditions that require substantial medication or medical treatment to bipolar and related disorders, eating disorders, suicidality, and prior psychiatric hospitalization.

Consistent with the military mission and longstanding DoD policy, expressing a false “gender identity” divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.  Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.  A man’s assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member. 

For the sake of our Nation and the patriotic Americans who volunteer to serve it, military service must be reserved for those mentally and physically fit for duty.  The Armed Forces must adhere to high mental and physical health standards to ensure our military can deploy, fight, and win, including in austere conditions and without the benefit of routine medical treatment or special provisions.

Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of the United States Government to establish high standards for troop readiness, lethality, cohesion, honesty, humility, uniformity, and integrity.  This policy is inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria.  This policy is also inconsistent with shifting pronoun usage or use of pronouns that inaccurately reflect an individual’s sex.

Sec. 3.  Definitions.  The definitions in the Executive Order of January 20, 2025 (Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government) shall apply to this order.

Sec. 4.  Implementation.  (a)  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense (Secretary) shall update DoDI 6130.03 Volume 1 (Medical Standards for Military Service: Appointment, Enlistment, or Induction (May 6, 2018), Incorporating Change 5 of May 28, 2024) and DoDI 6130.03 Volume 2 (Medical Standards for Military Service: Retention (September 4, 2020), Incorporating Change 1 of June 6, 2022) to reflect the purpose and policy of this Order.

(b)  The Secretary shall promptly issue directives for DoD to end invented and identification-based pronoun usage to best achieve the policy outlined in section 2 of this order.

(c)  Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall:

(i)   identify all additional steps and issue guidance necessary to fully implement this order; and 

(ii)  submit to the President through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs a report that summarizes these steps.

(d)  Absent extraordinary operational necessity, the Armed Forces shall neither allow males to use or share sleeping, changing, or bathing facilities designated for females, nor allow females to use or share sleeping, changing, or bathing facilities designated for males.

(e)  Within 30 days of the issuance of the respective updates, directives, and guidance under subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall, with respect to the Coast Guard, issue updates, directives, and guidance consistent with the updates, directives, and guidance issued under subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section.

Sec. 5.  Implementing the Revocation of Executive Order 14004.  (a)  Pursuant to the Executive Order of January 20, 2025 (Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions), Executive Order 14004 of January 25, 2021 (Enabling All Qualified Americans To Serve Their Country in Uniform), has been revoked.  Accordingly, all policies, directives, and guidance issued pursuant to Executive Order 14004 shall be rescinded to the extent inconsistent with the provisions of this order. 

(b)  The Secretary and, with respect to the Coast Guard, the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall take all necessary steps to implement the revocations described in subsection (a) of this section and ensure that all military departments and services fully comply with the provisions of this order.

Sec. 6.  Severability.  If any provision of this order, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this order and the application of its provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

Sec. 7.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)    the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)   the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    January 27, 2025.

This one actually only prevents males from using female facilities, and vice versa.  In this sense, it appears to be more limited in what's claimed, which is a prohibition on "transgendered" servicemen from military service, but it would seem to effectively require them to acknowledge their actual gender.

I don't believe that transgenderism is a real thing, and as mentioned here before, I'm not in favor of women in combat either (which this doesn't address).  So, here's a rare example of a Trump order that I support, but it doesn't actually do all that much.  Just no using the lady's loo and no hot racking with members of the opposite sex.

It might be noted, that the last thing might actually be a step towards limiting women's roles in the military.

 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  As Chief Executive and as Commander in Chief, I am committed to meritocracy and to the elimination of race-based and sex-based discrimination within the Armed Forces of the United States.  No individual or group within our Armed Forces should be preferred or disadvantaged on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, color, or creed.

Unfortunately, in recent years civilian and uniformed leadership alike have implemented Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs and their attendant race and sex preferences within the Armed Forces.  These actions undermine leadership, merit, and unit cohesion, thereby eroding lethality and force readiness.  They also violate Americans’ consciences by engaging in invidious race and sex discrimination.

Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of my Administration that the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security with regard to the United States Coast Guard (USCG), and every element of the Armed Forces should operate free from any preference based on race or sex.

Sec. 3.  Definitions.  (a)  A “DEI office” means an office, division, job, or other unit of an institution established for the purpose of:

(i)   influencing hiring or employment practices at the institution with respect to race, sex, color, or ethnicity, other than through the use of color-blind and sex-neutral hiring processes; or

(ii)  promoting differential treatment of or providing special benefits to individuals on the basis of race, sex, color, or ethnicity.

(b)  The term “gender ideology” has the meaning given to that term in section 2(f) of the Executive Order of January 20, 2025, (Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government).

(c)  The term “divisive concepts” has the meaning given to that term in section 2(a) of Executive Order 13950 of September 22, 2020 (Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping).

Sec. 4.  Abolishing the DEI Bureaucracy.  The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall abolish every DEI office within the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security with regard to the USCG, respectively, including any vestiges of DEI offices, such as sub-offices, programs, elements, or initiatives established to promote a race-based preferences system that subverts meritocracy, perpetuates unconstitutional discrimination, and promotes divisive concepts or gender ideology.

Sec. 5.  Department of Defense Internal Review.  The Secretary of Defense shall conduct an internal review that documents actions taken in pursuit of DEI initiatives, including all instances of race and sex discrimination and activities designed to promote a race- or sex-based preferences system.  The report shall be delivered to the Secretary of Defense within 90 days of the date of this order.

Sec. 6.  Protecting American Values.  (a)  The Department of Defense and the Armed Forces, including any educational institution operated or controlled thereby, are prohibited from promoting, advancing, or otherwise inculcating the following un-American, divisive, discriminatory, radical, extremist, and irrational theories:

(i)    “divisive concepts,” as defined in section 3(c) of this order, and “race or sex stereotyping,” or “race or sex scapegoating” as both terms are defined in section 2 of Executive Order 13950, as amended;

(ii)   that America’s founding documents are racist or sexist; and

(iii)  “gender ideology,” as defined in section 3(b) of this order.

(b)  The Department of Defense and the Armed Forces shall not hire employees, contractors, or consultants to teach the theories set forth in subsection (a) of this section.

(c)  The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall carefully review the leadership, curriculum, and instructors of the United States Service Academies and other defense academic institutions associated with their respective Departments to ensure alignment with this order.  In addition, these institutions shall be required to teach that America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history.

Sec. 7.  Implementation.  (a)  The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue detailed guidance for the implementation of this order to their respective departments within 30 days of the date of this order.

(b)  Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit a report through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy documenting the progress of their respective Departments in implementing this order, and any recommendations for action to fulfill the objectives of this order.

Sec. 8.  Severability.  If any provision of this order, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this order and the application of its provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby. 

Sec. 9.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    January 27, 2025.

This is an anti DEI provision, but worth noting, it's text could be required to prohibit banning women from combat, which I think should be done, and which the new Secretary of Defense, whom I don't support, at one time suggested he thought should be done.

And finally:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose and Policy.  On August 24, 2021, the Secretary of Defense mandated that all service members receive the COVID-19 vaccine.  The Secretary of Defense later rescinded the mandate on January 10, 2023.  The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members.  Further, the military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received.  Federal Government redress of any wrongful dismissals is overdue. 

Sec. 2.  Redress.  Consistent with the policies announced in section 1 of this order, the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of Homeland Security, as appropriate, shall take all necessary action permitted by law to:

(a)  make reinstatement available to all members of the military (active and reserve) who were discharged solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and who request to be reinstated;

(b)  enable those service members reinstated under this section to revert to their former rank and receive full back pay, benefits, bonus payments, or compensation; and

(c)  allow any service members who provide a written and sworn attestation that they voluntarily left the service or allowed their service to lapse according to appropriate procedures, rather than be vaccinated under the vaccine mandate, to return to service with no impact on their service status, rank, or pay.

Sec. 3.  Additional Agency Responsibilities.  (a)  Nothing in this order precludes disciplinary or administrative action for conduct that is proscribed by chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U.S.C. 801-946a).

(b)  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall report to the President through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs on their progress in implementing this order.

Sec. 4.  Severability.  If any provision of this order, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this order and the application of its provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

Sec. 5.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

    January 27, 2025.

More populist anti scientism. 

Vaccinating soldiers by order goes back to George Washington ordering the same for the Continental Army. Servicemembers who refused to get vaccines were duped by anti scientific propaganda and myth and should have been court martialed for refusing a lawful order.

January 29, 2025

Trump's integrum offered buy outs of Federal employees' positions save for the military and the Post Office.

Trump is clearly attempting to destroy the Federal workforce.  Mass firings will follow.  This comports with a belief in the far right (our Congressman expressed it) that the Federal workforce needs mass replacement and to be made all highly temporary.

It also comports with the insane view that there's a secret "Deep State" that operates the United States.  By firing everyone, he'll get the deep state.

I frankly doubt that this is Trump's views.  He's not a deep enough thinker to come up with any of this. Rather, the Project 2025 folks are driving the bus.

Hegseth removed Milley's personal protection, proving right away that he was just a toady after all.

A Federal Court blocked Trump's funding freeze.

The U.S. Space Farce base in Aurora, Colorado, the Buckley Space Farce Base has given permission to ICE to detain immigrants there.

Senate Democrats blocked attempted sanctions against the International Criminal Court.

cont:

Governor Gordon Updates Fire-impacted Communities on Status of Funding for Wildfire Recovery and Restoration

“I have grave concerns about loans.” - Governor Mark Gordon

 

CHEYENNE, WYO – Governor Mark Gordon visited with hundreds of affected landowners, local elected officials, emergency responders, and the public in Sheridan, Gillette, and Wheatland on Monday to outline his $130 million supplemental budget request for wildfire restoration and recovery efforts. During his visits, the Governor heard loud and clear from the 200+ attendees – landowners need grants, not loans, to help rebuild from the historic impacts of the 2024 fire season.

The Governor’s original $130 million budget recommendation, currently before the Wyoming Legislature, is to assist in restoring landscapes and serves as a backstop to the current federal, state, and insurance programs. It would be administered by the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resources Trust Fund (WWNRT). 

The Governor’s proposal was put forward to the Joint Appropriations Committee, where the Committee slashed funding to $100 million and transformed it to a loan program, administered through the Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI) with 2% interest. That proposal heads to the Wyoming House of Representatives and the Senate for debate and amendments.

“I have grave concerns about a loan program for fire restoration and recovery. I understand the Legislature’s intent with the proposal, but there is a lack of understanding of the circumstances on the ground,” Governor Gordon said. “We need a program that is flexible and responsive to your needs. A loan program does not do that.”

The Governor identified several issues with a loan program, the first of which is when borrowing money from the State of Wyoming, the state must have first mortgage rights, and banks must subordinate other loans. 

“No one should want to complicate existing loans, compromise operating loans or take banks out of the scenario,” Governor Gordon told attendees. “A loan program is impractical, could take landowners out of other loans, and overextend you. That would be just as bad as the fire the first time.”

Bob Budd, director of the WWNRT, joined the Governor to discuss the need for grants for thoughtfully treating terrestrial invasive species, like cheatgrass, Medusahead and ventenata.

“You can’t go to a Weed and Pest District and ask them to treat invasive grasses on a loan,” Director Budd said. “There is a public benefit to restoring native rangeland – for wildlife, for agriculture, and for future fire prevention.”

Jennifer Doering, OSLI Assistant Director of Administrative Services, added to the discussion with information regarding  Wyoming’s Mineral Royalty Grant (MRG) Program. This funding is available to local governments to alleviate emergency situations and support essential public services. The Governor has requested $20 million in additional funds to this account, distributed through the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB).

The Governor discussed the possibility of the Legislature moving toward a split program, with a portion of dollars going toward grants and another portion for loans. 

“We could see the Legislature move toward a loan program for infrastructure on a case-by-case basis where appropriate, and grants for invasive treatments which demonstrate broad public benefit,” Governor Gordon said. “Loans are just not likely to be practical for wide-scale projects like those we have in front of us.”

The Wyoming Grants Management Office has resources available to landowners who are navigating federal assistance and other programs for wildfire recovery. A step-by-step guide can help point affected landowners to a place to start and how to work through available options. The Governor's grant program proposal is intended to provide a backstop once landowners have exhausted federal resources first. 

The Supplemental Budget is projected to proceed to the House and Senate as early as Friday for beginning debate. 

-END-

So now we have Republicans noting that we didn't expect leopards to eat our face, after voting for the Leopards Won't Eat My Face Party.

It does not appear that we intend to embrace the suck.

cont:

The interregnum rescinded its freeze on grants.

January 31, 2025

This one is shameful beyond all measure:

This is, frankly, shameful in the extreme:

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

SUBJECT:       Immediate Assessment of Aviation Safety

On January 29, 2025, a commercial aircraft and a military helicopter horrifically collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.  American families today woke up without their loved ones after what should have been a routine trip, and the entire Nation mourns the loss of the victims.

This shocking event follows problematic and likely illegal decisions during the Obama and Biden Administrations that minimized merit and competence in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).  The Obama Administration implemented a biographical questionnaire at the FAA to shift the hiring focus away from objective aptitude.  During my first term, my Administration raised standards to achieve the highest standards of safety and excellence.  But the Biden Administration egregiously rejected merit-based hiring, requiring all executive departments and agencies to implement dangerous “diversity equity and inclusion” tactics, and specifically recruiting individuals with “severe intellectual” disabilities in the FAA.   

On my second day in office, I ordered an immediate return to merit-based recruitment, hiring, and promotion, elevating safety and ability as the paramount standard.  Yesterday’s devastating accident tragically underscores the need to elevate safety and competence as the priority of the FAA. 

Consistent with the Presidential Memorandum of January 21, 2025 (Keeping Americans Safe in Aviation), I am further ordering the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (Administrator) to review all hiring decisions and changes to safety protocols made during the prior 4 years, and to take such corrective action as necessary to achieve uncompromised aviation safety, including the replacement of any individuals who do not meet qualification standards.  This review shall include a systematic assessment of any deterioration in hiring standards and aviation safety standards and protocols during the Biden Administration.

Consistent with the Presidential Memorandum of January 21, 2025, the Secretary and the Administrator shall take all actions necessary to reverse concerning safety and personnel trends during the prior 4 years, instill an unwavering commitment to aviation safety, and ensure that all Americans fly with peace of mind.

Shameful.

Trump is pitting people against each other on racist grounds.  He's an embarrassment to the country.

This one is grandstanding:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  My Administration has fought and will continue to fight anti-Semitism in the United States and around the world.  On December 11, 2019, I issued Executive Order 13899, my first Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism, finding that students, in particular, faced anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on university and college campuses.  Executive Order 13899 provided interpretive assistance on the enforcement of the Nation’s civil rights laws to ensure that they would protect American Jews to the same extent to which all other American citizens are protected.  The prior administration effectively nullified Executive Order 13899 by failing to give the terms of the order full force and effect throughout the Government.  This order reaffirms Executive Order 13899 and directs additional measures to advance the policy thereof in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attacks of October 7, 2023, against the people of Israel.  These attacks unleashed an unprecedented wave of vile anti-Semitic discrimination, vandalism, and violence against our citizens, especially in our schools and on our campuses.  Jewish students have faced an unrelenting barrage of discrimination; denial of access to campus common areas and facilities, including libraries and classrooms; and intimidation, harassment, and physical threats and assault.  A joint report by the House Committees on Education and the Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Judiciary, Oversight and Accountability, Veterans’ Affairs, and Ways and Means calls the Federal Government’s failure to fight anti-Semitism and protect Jewish students “astounding.”  This failure is unacceptable and ends today.

Sec. 2.  Policy.  It shall be the policy of the United States to combat anti-Semitism vigorously, using all available and appropriate legal tools, to prosecute, remove, or otherwise hold to account the perpetrators of unlawful anti-Semitic harassment and violence.

Sec. 3.  Additional Measures to Combat Campus Anti-Semitism.  (a)  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the head of each executive department or agency (agency) shall submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, identifying all civil and criminal authorities or actions within the jurisdiction of that agency, beyond those already implemented under Executive Order 13899, that might be used to curb or combat anti-Semitism, and containing an inventory and analysis of all pending administrative complaints, as of the date of the report, against or involving institutions of higher education alleging civil-rights violations related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus anti-Semitism.

(b)  The report submitted by the Attorney General under this section shall additionally include an inventory and an analysis of all court cases, as of the date of the report, against or involving institutions of higher education alleging civil-rights violations related to or arising from post-October 7, 2023, campus anti-Semitism and indicate whether the Attorney General intends to or has taken any action with respect to such matters, including filing statements of interest or intervention.

(c)  The Attorney General is encouraged to employ appropriate civil-rights enforcement authorities, such as 18 U.S.C. 241, to combat anti-Semitism. 

(d)  The report submitted by the Secretary of Education under this section shall additionally include an inventory and an analysis of all Title VI complaints and administrative actions, including in K-12 education, related to anti-Semitism — pending or resolved after October 7, 2023 — within the Department’s Office for Civil Rights.

(e)  In addition to identifying relevant authorities to curb or combat anti-Semitism generally required by this section, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with each other, shall include in their reports recommendations for familiarizing institutions of higher education with the grounds for inadmissibility under 8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(3) so that such institutions may monitor for and report activities by alien students and staff relevant to those grounds and for ensuring that such reports about aliens lead, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to investigations and, if warranted, actions to remove such aliens.

Sec. 4.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

This one established a concentration camp:

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY

SUBJECT:       Expanding Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to Full Capacity

I hereby direct the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to take all appropriate actions to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to full capacity to provide additional detention space for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States, and to address attendant immigration enforcement needs identified by the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.

This memorandum is issued in order to halt the border invasion, dismantle criminal cartels, and restore national sovereignty.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

Culture wars:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: 

Section 1.  Purpose and Policy.  Parents trust America’s schools to provide their children with a rigorous education and to instill a patriotic admiration for our incredible Nation and the values for which we stand.  

In recent years, however, parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight.  Such an environment operates as an echo chamber, in which students are forced to accept these ideologies without question or critical examination.  In many cases, innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics.  In other instances, young men and women are made to question whether they were born in the wrong body and whether to view their parents and their reality as enemies to be blamed.  These practices not only erode critical thinking but also sow division, confusion, and distrust, which undermine the very foundations of personal identity and family unity.

Imprinting anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies on our Nation’s children not only violates longstanding anti-discrimination civil rights law in many cases, but usurps basic parental authority.  For example, steering students toward surgical and chemical mutilation without parental consent or involvement or allowing males access to private spaces designated for females may contravene Federal laws that protect parental rights, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), and sex-based equality and opportunity, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX).  Similarly, demanding acquiescence to “White Privilege” or “unconscious bias,” actually promotes racial discrimination and undermines national unity.

My Administration will enforce the law to ensure that recipients of Federal funds providing K-12 education comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination in various contexts and protecting parental rights, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.; Title IX, 20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.; FERPA, 20 U.S.C. 1232g; and the PPRA, 20 U.S.C. 1232h.

Sec. 2.  Definitions.  As used herein:

(a)  The definitions in the Executive Order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” (January 20, 2025) shall apply to this order.

(b)  “Discriminatory equity ideology” means an ideology that treats individuals as members of preferred or disfavored groups, rather than as individuals, and minimizes agency, merit, and capability in favor of immoral generalizations, including that: 

(i)     Members of one race, color, sex, or national origin are morally or inherently superior to members of another race, color, sex, or national origin; 

(ii)    An individual, by virtue of the individual’s race, color, sex, or national origin, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously; 

(iii)   An individual’s moral character or status as privileged, oppressing, or oppressed is primarily determined by the individual’s race, color, sex, or national origin; 

(iv)    Members of one race, color, sex, or national origin cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to their race, color, sex, or national origin; 

(v)     An individual, by virtue of the individual’s race, color, sex, or national origin, bears responsibility for, should feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress because of, should be discriminated against, blamed, or stereotyped for, or should receive adverse treatment because of actions committed in the past by other members of the same race, color, sex, or national origin, in which the individual played no part; 

(vi)    An individual, by virtue of the individual’s race, color, sex, or national origin, should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment to achieve diversity, equity, or inclusion; 

(vii)   Virtues such as merit, excellence, hard work, fairness, neutrality, objectivity, and racial colorblindness are racist or sexist or were created by members of a particular race, color, sex, or national origin to oppress members of another race, color, sex, or national origin; or

(viii)  the United States is fundamentally racist, sexist, or otherwise discriminatory.

(c)  “Educational service agency” (ESA) has the meaning given in 20 U.S.C. 1401(5), and the terms “elementary school,” “local educational agency” (LEA), “secondary school,” and “state educational agency” (SEA) have the meanings given in 34 C.F.R. 77.1(c).

(d)  “Patriotic education” means a presentation of the history of America grounded in: 

(i)    an accurate, honest, unifying, inspiring, and ennobling characterization of America’s founding and foundational principles; 

(ii)   a clear examination of how the United States has admirably grown closer to its noble principles throughout its history; 

(iii)  the concept that commitment to America’s aspirations is beneficial and justified; and

(iv)   the concept that celebration of America’s greatness and history is proper.

(e)  “Social transition” means the process of adopting a “gender identity” or “gender marker” that differs from a person’s sex.  This process can include psychological or psychiatric counseling or treatment by a school counselor or other provider; modifying a person’s name (e.g., “Jane” to “James”) or pronouns (e.g., “him” to “her”); calling a child “nonbinary”; use of intimate facilities and accommodations such as bathrooms or locker rooms  specifically designated for persons of the opposite sex; and participating in school athletic competitions or other extracurricular activities specifically designated for persons of the opposite sex.  “Social transition” does not include chemical or surgical mutilation.

Sec. 3.  Ending Indoctrination Strategy.  (a)  Within 90 days of the date of this order, to advise the President in formulating future policy, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall provide an Ending Indoctrination Strategy to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, containing recommendations and a plan for:

(i)   eliminating Federal funding or support for illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology; and

(ii)  protecting parental rights, pursuant to FERPA, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, and the PPRA, 20 U.S.C. 1232h, with respect to any K-12 policies or conduct implicated by the purpose and policy of this order.

(b)  The Ending Indoctrination Strategy submitted under subsection (a) of this section shall contain a summary and analysis of the following:

(i)    All Federal funding sources and streams, including grants or contracts, that directly or indirectly support or subsidize the instruction, advancement, or promotion of gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology:

(A)  in K-12 curriculum, instruction, programs, or activities; or 

(B)  in K-12 teacher education, certification, licensing, employment, or training; 

(ii)   Each agency’s process to prevent or rescind Federal funds, to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, from being used by an ESA, SEA, LEA, elementary school, or secondary school to directly or indirectly support or subsidize the instruction, advancement, or promotion of gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology in: 

(A)  K-12 curriculum, instruction, programs, or activities; or 

(B)  K-12 teacher certification, licensing, employment, or training; 

(iii)  Each agency’s process to prevent or rescind Federal funds, to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, from being used by an ESA, SEA, LEA, elementary school, or secondary school to directly or indirectly support or subsidize the social transition of a minor student, including through school staff or teachers or through deliberately concealing the minor’s social transition from the minor’s parents.

(iv)   Each agency’s process to prevent or rescind Federal funds, to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, from being used by an ESA, SEA, LEA, elementary school, or secondary school to directly or indirectly support or subsidize:

(A)  interference with a parent’s Federal statutory right to information regarding school curriculum, records, physical examinations, surveys, and other matters under the PPRA or FERPA; or 

(B)  a violation of Title VI or Title IX; and

(v)    A summary and analysis of all relevant agency enforcement tools to advance the policies of this order.

    (c)  The Attorney General shall coordinate with State attorneys general and local district attorneys in their efforts to enforce the law and file appropriate actions against K-12 teachers and school officials who violate the law by:

(i)    sexually exploiting minors; 

(ii)   unlawfully practicing medicine by offering diagnoses and treatment without the requisite license; or

(iii)  otherwise unlawfully facilitating the social transition of a minor student.

(d)  The Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy shall regularly convene the heads of the agencies tasked with submitting the Ending Indoctrination Strategy under subsection (a) of this section to confer regarding their findings, areas for additional investigation, the modification or implementation of their respective recommendations, and such other policy initiatives or matters as the President may direct.

Sec. 4.  Reestablishing the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission and Promoting Patriotic Education.  (a)  The President’s Advisory 1776 Commission (“1776 Commission”), which was created by Executive Order 13958 of November 2, 2020, to promote patriotic education, but was terminated by President Biden in Executive Order 13985 of January 20, 2021, is hereby reestablished.  The purpose of the 1776 Commission is to promote patriotic education and advance the purposes stated in section 1 of Executive Order 13958, as well as to advise and promote the work of the White House Task Force on Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday (“Task Force 250”) and the United States Semiquincentennial Commission in their efforts to provide a grand celebration worthy of the momentous occasion of the 250th anniversary of American Independence on July 4, 2026.

(b)  Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education shall establish the 1776 Commission in the Department of Education.

(c)  The 1776 Commission shall be composed of not more than 20 members, who shall be appointed by the President for a term of 2 years.  The 1776 Commission shall be made up of individuals from outside the Federal Government with relevant experience or subject-matter expertise.  

(d)  The 1776 Commission shall have a Chair or Co-Chairs, at the President’s discretion, and a Vice Chair, who shall be designated by the President from among the Commission’s members.  An Executive Director, designated by the Secretary of Education in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, shall coordinate the work of the 1776 Commission.  The Chair (or Co-Chairs) and Vice Chair shall work with the Executive Director to convene regular meetings of the 1776 Commission, determine its agenda, and direct its work, consistent with this order.

(e)  The 1776 Commission shall:

(i)    facilitate the development and implementation of a “Presidential 1776 Award” to recognize student knowledge of the American founding, including knowledge about the Founders, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitutional Convention, and the great soldiers and battles of the American Revolutionary War;

(ii)   in coordination with the White House Office of Public Liaison, coordinate bi-weekly lectures regarding the 250th anniversary of American Independence that are grounded in patriotic education principles, which shall be broadcast to the Nation throughout calendar year 2026; 

(iii)  upon request, advise executive departments and agencies regarding their efforts to ensure patriotic education is appropriately provided to the public at national parks, battlefields, monuments, museums, installations, landmarks, cemeteries, and other places important to the American founding and American history, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law; 

(iv)   upon request, offer advice and recommendations to, and support the work of Task Force 250 and the United States Semiquincentennial Commission regarding their plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American Independence; and

(v)    facilitate, advise upon, and promote private and civic activities nationwide to increase public knowledge of and support patriotic education surrounding the 250th anniversary of American Independence, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.

(f)  The Department of Education shall provide funding and administrative support for the 1776 Commission, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(g)  Members of the 1776 Commission shall serve without compensation but, as approved by the Department of Education, shall be reimbursed for travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons serving intermittently in the Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707).

(h)  Insofar as chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Advisory Committee Act), may apply to the 1776 Commission, any functions of the President under that Act, except that of reporting to the Congress, shall be performed by the Secretary of Education, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Administrator of General Services.

(i)  The 1776 Commission shall terminate 2 years from the date of this order, unless extended by the President. 

Sec. 5.  Additional Patriotic Education Measures.  (a)  All relevant agencies shall monitor compliance with section 111(b) of title I of Division J of Public Law 108-447, which provides that “[e]ach educational institution that receives Federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution,” including by verifying compliance with each educational institution that receives Federal funds.  All relevant agencies shall take action, as appropriate, to enhance compliance with that law. 

(b)  All relevant agencies shall prioritize Federal resources, consistent with applicable law, to promote patriotic education, including through the following programs:

(i)    the Department of Education’s American History and Civics Academies and American History and Civics Education-National Activities programs; 

(ii)   the Department of Defense’s National Defense Education Program and Pilot Program on Enhanced Civics Education; and

(iii)  the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and Fulbright, U.S. Speaker, and International Visitor Leadership programs, as well as the American Spaces network.

Sec. 6.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: 

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or 

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

And;

 By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to improve the education, well-being, and future success of America’s most prized resource, her young citizens, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Purpose.  Parents want and deserve the best education for their children.  But too many children do not thrive in their assigned, government-run K-12 school.  According to this year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading, and 72 percent were below proficient in math.  Moreover, geographically based school assignments exacerbate the cost of housing in districts with preferred schools, straining the finances of millions of American families sacrificing for their children’s futures. 

When our public education system fails such a large segment of society, it hinders our national competitiveness and devastates families and communities.  For this reason, more than a dozen States have enacted universal K-12 scholarship programs, allowing families — rather than the government — to choose the best educational setting for their children.  These States have highlighted the most promising avenue for education reform:  educational choice for families and competition for residentially assigned, government-run public schools.  The growing body of rigorous research demonstrates that well-designed education-freedom programs improve student achievement and cause nearby public schools to improve their performance. 

Sec. 2.  Policy.  It is the policy of my Administration to support parents in choosing and directing the upbringing and education of their children. 

Sec. 3.  Guidance on Supporting State-based K-12 Educational Choice.  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Education shall issue guidance regarding how States can use Federal formula funds to support K-12 educational choice initiatives.

Sec. 4.  Encouraging Education Freedom through Discretionary Grant Programs.  (a)  The Secretary of Education shall include education freedom as a priority in discretionary grant programs, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law. 

(b)  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Education shall review their respective discretionary grant programs and each submit a plan to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, that identifies, evaluates, and makes recommendations regarding using relevant discretionary grant programs to expand education freedom for America’s families and teachers. 

Sec. 5.  Expanding Opportunities for Low-Income, Working Families.  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall issue guidance regarding whether and how States receiving block grants for families and children from the Department, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDGB), can use them to expand educational choice and support families who choose educational alternatives to governmental entities, including private and faith-based options.

Sec. 6.  Helping Military Families.  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall review any available mechanisms under which military-connected families may use funds from the Department of Defense to attend schools of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools, and submit a plan to the President describing such mechanisms and the steps that would be necessary to implement them beginning in the 2025-26 school year.

Sec. 7.  Helping Children Eligible for Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Schools.  Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior shall review any available mechanisms under which families of students eligible to attend BIE schools may use their Federal funding for educational options of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools, and submit a plan to the President describing such mechanisms and the steps that would be necessary to implement them for the 2025-26 school year.  The Secretary shall report on the current performance of BIE schools and identify educational options in nearby areas.  

Sec. 8.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)   the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)  the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

The only one of these that was worthwhile:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1.  Policy and Purpose.  Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions.  This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation’s history, and it must end.

Countless children soon regret that they have been mutilated and begin to grasp the horrifying tragedy that they will never be able to conceive children of their own or nurture their children through breastfeeding.  Moreover, these vulnerable youths’ medical bills may rise throughout their lifetimes, as they are often trapped with lifelong medical complications, a losing war with their own bodies, and, tragically, sterilization.

Accordingly, it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called “transition” of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.

Sec. 2.  Definitions.  For the purposes of this order:

(a)  The term “child” or “children” means an individual or individuals under 19 years of age.

(b)  The term “pediatric” means relating to the medical care of a child.

(c)  The phrase “chemical and surgical mutilation” means the use of puberty blockers, including GnRH agonists and other interventions, to delay the onset or progression of normally timed puberty in an individual who does not identify as his or her sex; the use of sex hormones, such as androgen blockers, estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone, to align an individual’s physical appearance with an identity that differs from his or her sex; and surgical procedures that attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance to align with an identity that differs from his or her sex or that attempt to alter or remove an individual’s sexual organs to minimize or destroy their natural biological functions.  This phrase sometimes is referred to as “gender affirming care.”

Sec. 3.  Ending Reliance on Junk Science.  (a)  The blatant harm done to children by chemical and surgical mutilation cloaks itself in medical necessity, spurred by guidance from the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), which lacks scientific integrity.  In light of the scientific concerns with the WPATH guidance:

(i)   agencies shall rescind or amend all policies that rely on WPATH guidance, including WPATH’s “Standards of Care Version 8”; and 

(ii)  within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) shall publish a review of the existing literature on best practices for promoting the health of children who assert gender dysphoria, rapid-onset gender dysphoria, or other identity-based confusion.

(b)  The Secretary of HHS, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall use all available methods to increase the quality of data to guide practices for improving the health of minors with gender dysphoria, rapid-onset gender dysphoria, or other identity-based confusion, or who otherwise seek chemical or surgical mutilation.

Sec. 4.  Defunding Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.  The head of each executive department or agency (agency) that provides research or education grants to medical institutions, including medical schools and hospitals, shall, consistent with applicable law and in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, immediately take appropriate steps to ensure that institutions receiving Federal research or education grants end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.

Sec. 5.  Additional Directives to the Secretary of HHS.  (a)  The Secretary of HHS shall, consistent with applicable law, take all appropriate actions to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children, including regulatory and sub-regulatory actions, which may involve the following laws, programs, issues, or documents:

(i)    Medicare or Medicaid conditions of participation or conditions for coverage;

(ii)   clinical-abuse or inappropriate-use assessments relevant to State Medicaid programs;

(iii)  mandatory drug use reviews;

(iv)   section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act;

(v)    quality, safety, and oversight memoranda;

(vi)   essential health benefits requirements; and

(vii)  the Eleventh Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and other federally funded manuals, including the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.

(b)  The Secretary of HHS shall promptly withdraw HHS’s March 2, 2022, guidance document titled “HHS Notice and Guidance on Gender Affirming Care, Civil Rights and Patient Privacy” and, in consultation with the Attorney General, issue new guidance protecting whistleblowers who take action related to ensuring compliance with this order.

Sec. 6.  TRICARE.  The Department of Defense provides health insurance, through TRICARE, to nearly 2 million individuals under the age of 18.  As appropriate and consistent with applicable law, the Secretary of Defense shall commence a rulemaking or sub-regulatory action to exclude chemical and surgical mutilation of children from TRICARE coverage and amend the TRICARE provider handbook to exclude chemical and surgical mutilation of children.

Sec. 7.  Requirements for Insurance Carriers.  The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, shall:

(a)  include provisions in the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) programs call letter for the 2026 Plan Year specifying that eligible carriers, including the Foreign Service Benefit Plan, will exclude coverage for pediatric transgender surgeries or hormone treatments; and

(b)  negotiate to obtain appropriate corresponding reductions in FEHB and PSHB premiums.

Sec. 8.  Directives to the Department of Justice.  The Attorney General shall:

(a)  review Department of Justice enforcement of section 116 of title 18, United States Code, and prioritize enforcement of protections against female genital mutilation;

(b) convene States’ Attorneys General and other law enforcement officers to coordinate the enforcement of laws against female genital mutilation across all American States and Territories; 

(c)  prioritize investigations and take appropriate action to end deception of consumers, fraud, and violations of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by any entity that may be misleading the public about long-term side effects of chemical and surgical mutilation;

(d)  in consultation with the Congress, work to draft, propose, and promote legislation to enact a private right of action for children and the parents of children whose healthy body parts have been damaged by medical professionals practicing chemical and surgical mutilation, which should include a lengthy statute of limitations; and

(e)  prioritize investigations and take appropriate action to end child-abusive practices by so-called sanctuary States that facilitate stripping custody from parents who support the healthy development of their own children, including by considering the application of the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act and recognized constitutional rights.

Sec. 9.  Enforcing Adequate Progress.  Within 60 days of the date of this order, the heads of agencies with responsibilities under this order shall submit a single, combined report to the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, detailing progress in implementing this order and a timeline for future action.  The Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy shall regularly convene the heads of agencies with responsibilities under this order (or their designees) to coordinate and prepare for this submission.

Sec. 10.  Severability.  If any provision of this order, or the application of any provision to any person or circumstances, is held to be invalid, the remainder of this order and the application of any of its other provisions to any other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

Sec. 11.  General Provisions.  (a)  Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i)    the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii)   the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)  This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)  This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.