Today's reversal of Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is just one of many actions this year by President Donald Trump to erase President Barack Obama's legacy.
Not all executive orders signed by Trump are aimed at reversing Obama’s directives; conversely, not all reversals of Obama-era directives have been through executive order. Legislation and action by Trump administration heads are responsible for many changes being made.
That said, Trump has been energetic in his use of executive order compared to previous presidents. Obama issued 277 executive orders in his eight years in office, an average of 35 per year, whereas Trump had signed 42 in his first 200 days, with more following, according to Business Insider.
Following are some examples of Obama-era policies reversed by Trump. A more comprehensive list of various Obama era directives can be found on the Washington Post website.
- Sept. 5: Trump rescinds the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
- Aug. 29: Trump reversed a rule requiring large companies to report worker pay by race and gender in order to decrease the wage gap through greater pay transparency. (Chicago Tribune)
- Aug. 28: Trump reversed an order banning the transfer of some surplus military equipment to police departments.
- Aug. 25: Trump signed an order banning transgender troops to serve in the US military, reversing Obama-era reforms.
- Aug. 15: Trump rescinded a flood-risk rule in response to climate change. The rule was intended to insure safer placement of roads, bridges and other infrastructure out of new areas prone to flooding because of sea level rise and increased precipitation. Trump reversed the rule to speed up the approval process for projects.
- July 3: The Trump administration contested a Obama administration rule qualifying more people to get overtime pay by doubling the minimum salary a worker must make to qualify for a management exemption to $47,000. (Los Angeles Times)
- June 16: Trump outlined a hard-line policy on Cuba, in direct opposition to Obama’s efforts to foster friendlier relations with the communist government of President Raul Castro. (Washington Post)
- June 1: Trump ‘quits’ the Paris Climate Treaty, adopted by Obama in an executive order last year. (New York Times)
- May 14: Senate voted to repeal Obama-era regulation that restricted drug-testing for job seekers receiving unemployment benefits. (Politico)
- April 28: Trump signed an executive order aimed at expanding offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, Atlantic, and possibly Pacific Ocean, scrapping another facet of Obama’s environmental legacy. (Washington Post)
- April 27: Trump directed the Interior Department to reconsider safety regulations for offshore drilling put in place after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The executive order was intended to roll back Obama administration attempts to ban drilling off the southeastern Atlantic and Alaskan coasts. (New York Times)
- April 26: Trump signed an executive order giving the Interior Department the power to whittle down or abolish some national monuments, which would effectively reverse Obama’s creation and expansion of national monuments during his term of office.(NPR)
- April 13: Trump revokes an Obama administration rule protecting funding for Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide legal abortions. (NPR)
- March 28: Trump rescinded Obama’s clean energy plans, which put a cap on greenhouse gas emissions by power plants. (New York Times)
- March 27: Trump rescinded Obama’s 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces meant to apply 14 labor and civil rights laws to federal contractors, who now will no longer have to provide documentation of their workplace practices. (Forbes)
- March 27: Trump signed bills overturning two Obama-era education regulations, including required programs training new teachers and the Every Student Succeeds Act intended to hold schools accountable for student performance.(Washington Post)
- Feb. 28: Trump rolled back Obama’s Clean Water Rule, intended to increase the scope of waterways regulated for pollutants.(Washington Post)
- Feb. 23: The Trump administration withdrew protection for transgender students to use the bathrooms and facilities corresponding to their gender identity. (CNN)
- Jan. 23: Trump withdrew from the trans-pacific Partnership, a trade deal between the US and countries on the Pacific Rim. (Washington Post)
- Jan. 20: Trump signed his first executive order seeking prompt repeal of the Affordable Care Act – which to date has not happened. (New York Times)