House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Thursday that congressional Republicans would work to codify President Donald Trump’s executive orders into law in order to prevent future presidents from “unwinding” his agenda.
Trump has signed 108 executive actions in his first four weeks in office, including 73 executive orders, 23 proclamations, and 12 memorandums. During his appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the House Speaker revealed that Congress would organize these orders into a systematic code to safeguard them from being overturned by future administrations. “The president [has] 300 executive actions already, and we’re going to codify so much of what he’s doing so the next team can’t unwind it,” Johnson said.
On his first day in office, Trump signed 11 executive orders related to the border crisis, which included declaring a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, revoking birthright citizenship for children born to illegal immigrants, reinstating the previously revoked Remain in Mexico policy, and ending catch and release. Other orders directed the Office of Management and Budget to end diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, instructed federal agencies to recognize only two sexes, and withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord.
Trump also established the Department of Government Efficiency to investigate and eliminate wasteful spending by downsizing federal agencies. The new agency reported on Monday that it saved the federal government $55 million, dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development for spending on left-wing causes, and fired four employees from the Federal Employment Management Agency after discovering they spent $59 million of taxpayer money on housing illegal immigrants in luxury hotels, the Daily Caller noted.
Additionally, the president signed an executive order on February 5 to ban men from competing in women’s sports. This order reversed the Department of Education’s proposed actions under former President Joe Biden to expand Title IX protections to include gender identity.
Earlier this week, Trump emphasized that his administration was “just getting started” on Wednesday after the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, allegedly “saved” what he claimed were tens of billions of dollars. Trump discussed DOGE’s progress and other topics during an evening appearance at the FII Priority Summit, a Saudi Arabia-backed event that attracts a mix of global tech executives and financiers, held in Miami.
“In less than a single month, the Department of Government Efficiency has already saved over 55 — this is just a short period of time — $55 billion, and we’re just getting started,” Trump said of his effort to cut wasteful spending. Trump stated that this endeavor will help reduce waste, lower inflation, decrease interest rates and payments, and boost the stock market. “We will rapidly grow our economy by dramatically shrinking the federal government,” he added, per the Daily Wire.
