While citizens of America are filling out their NCAA brackets, President Donald Trump has been establishing and revising more executive orders.
On Mar. 6, Trump signed an executive order banning citizens of Libya, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from entering the United States. Trumps’ original Traven Ban Order included those 6 countries along with Iraq, but the revised order no longer includes Iraq. The order was revised to hopefully avoid the tumult and protests that engulfed the nation’s airports after he had signed his first immigration directive on Jan. 27.
The new order continued to impose a 90-day ban and exempts permanent residents and current visa holders. In addition, the order reversed an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria, replacing it with a 120-day freeze that requires review and renewal according to The New York Times
The new order retains central elements of the old one, cutting the number of refugees admitted to the United States each year from 50,000 from 110,000. Trump is leaving open the possibility of expanding the ban or putting Iraq back on the list if Iraq’s leaders fail to comply with the agreement they made.
Trump has sent strong signals that he intends to fight the health law since becoming President. The order gives various ways the Trump administration could fight the parts of the health law until new legislation occurs such as writing new regulations and exercising discretion.
The simplest route for the Trump administration to weaken the health law would be to stop defending a lawsuit brought by the House of Representatives. The lawsuit states that the Obama administration lacked the authority to pay certain subsides according to The New York Times
Another important area of discretion has to do with exemptions to the law’s unpopular individual mandate to obtain insurance. Under the law, all Americans who are able to afford it are expected to acquire it, unless they have experienced a hardship that would be it impossible to do so.
The law requires citizens to provide documentation of their hardship, such as bankruptcy or eviction. The Trump administration could create a way to make it easier to claim hardship and make buying insurance not a requirement.
For updates on Trump’s presidency, follow him on twitter @realDonaldTrump.
The McNicholas Milestone 