Tracking every rollback, reversal, and overreach — and the path back to the America we know.
On October 4, 2018, the Trump administration issued Presidential Determination 2018-24135, setting the refugee admission ceiling for fiscal year 2019 at 18,000 individuals. This represents a reduction from the 45,000 ceiling established for fiscal year 2018. The determination directly reduced the number of refugees admitted to the United States in the 2019 fiscal year.
On May 16, 2018, President Trump signed a memorandum delegating authorities granted under Section 1244(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. This delegation authorized officials within the executive branch to exercise specific powers related to national defense matters without requiring presidential sign-off on each decision. The confirmed effect was to streamline defense-related administrative and operational decisions within designated federal agencies.
On February 20, 2018, President Trump signed a memorandum delegating authorities under Section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018. This memorandum transferred specified powers granted by Congress to executive branch officials. The delegation authorized designated officials to exercise authorities related to national defense matters without requiring additional presidential approval for each action.
On February 9, 2018, President Trump signed a memorandum delegating certain functions and authorities under Section 1235 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 to specified executive branch officials. The memorandum transferred decision-making authority over particular defense-related matters to designated department heads. The direct impact on Americans includes changes to how certain defense authorization functions are administered within the executive branch.
On February 5, 2018, President Trump signed a memorandum delegating certain functions and authorities under Section 1238 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 to specified executive branch officials. The memorandum transferred decision-making authority over matters covered under that section to designated agency heads. The confirmed direct impact includes altered chain of command for specific defense-related decisions previously requiring presidential action.
On September 29, 2017, President Trump signed Presidential Determination 2017-23140 setting the refugee admission ceiling for Fiscal Year 2018 at 45,000 individuals. This reduced the FY2017 ceiling of 110,000 by more than half. The determination directly reduced the number of refugees admitted to the United States during the fiscal year, from approximately 50,000 admitted in FY2017 to 22,491 admitted in FY2018.
On September 13, 2017, President Trump signed a presidential determination designating countries as major drug transit or major illicit drug producing countries for fiscal year 2018 under the Foreign Assistance Act. This determination identifies nations whose governments are not cooperating adequately with U.S. drug enforcement efforts, potentially affecting U.S. foreign aid, trade benefits, and diplomatic relations with those countries. The direct impact on Americans includes potential changes to drug enforcement cooperation with designated countries and possible effects on U.S. trade and aid policy with those nations.
On May 23, 2017, the Trump administration signed a sequestration order pursuant to Section 251A of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act. The order authorized automatic spending cuts across federal agencies for fiscal year 2018. The sequestration reduced discretionary spending allocations to agencies including defense, education, health, and social services.