Reversals
Timeline
| 2018.01.19 | The Trump administration announced it is rescinding guidance from the Obama administration that made it harder for states to defund Planned Parenthood. thehill.com (See also Women, Health Care) |
| 2018.01.21 | If the Environmental Protection Agency does not implement restrictions on pesticides (including chlorpyrifos, which hampers the development of children's brains) advocated in a recent National Marine Fisheries Services report, environmental activists and commercial fisheries hoping to preserve Pacific Northwest stocks of “salmon, sturgeon, orca and other endangered species” may file lawsuits. gizmodo.com (See also Environment, Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt) This was a reversal of a Barack Obama-era initiative to ban chlorpyrifos, but changed after a meeting between Scott Pruitt and Andrew Liveris, the then-head of its manufacturer, Dow Chemical. |
| 2018.01.22 | Through an executive order, Montana Governor Steve Bullock declared that any internet service provider with a state government contract cannot block or charge more for faster delivery of websites, two core aspects of net neutrality, to any customer in the state. nytimes.com (See also Net Neutrality) |
| 2018.01.24 | Instead of helping consumers (as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), Mick Mulvaney, who has accepted donations from payday lenders, is now delaying the implementation of payday lending rules. npr.org (See also Mick Mulvaney, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest) |
| 2018.01.25 | Donald Trump ordered the firing last June of Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation, but ultimately backed down after the White House counsel threatened to resign rather than carry out the directive. nytimes.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior, Legal Issues, Trump Relationship with Russia) |
| 2018.02.01 | Four years after the United States pledged to help the world fight infectious-disease epidemics such as Ebola, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is dramatically downsizing its epidemic prevention activities, reducing it's budget by 80% in 39 out of 49 countries because money is running out. washingtonpost.com (See also Foreign Policy, Assaults on Government) |
| 2018.02.04 | Mick Mulvaney, head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has pulled back from a full-scale probe of how Equifax Inc failed to protect the personal data of millions of consumers, after hackers stole personal information from approximately 143 million Americans. reuters.com (See also Mick Mulvaney, Assaults on Government) |
| 2018.02.13 | A second U.S. judge on Tuesday blocked Donald Trump’s decision to end a program that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children from deportation, ruling that DACA cannot end in March as the Republican administration had planned. reuters.com (See also Immigration, Legal Issues) |
| 2018.02.13 | The White House changed its story on Tuesday about how it handled allegations of spousal abuse against Rob Porter, the staff secretary who resigned in disgrace, conceding that the F.B.I. told White House career officials last summer about problems in Mr. Porter’s background check, but members of President Trump’s team said top advisers in the West Wing were kept in the dark. nytimes.com (See also Resignations and Dismissals, False Statements) |
| 2018.02.20 | During his first six months in office, Donald Trump frequently told the story of how he spontaneously came up with an idea to force energy companies to build pipelines with American-made steel and pipes, but in the six months since a deadline for the plan passed, Trump has dropped the idea from his stump speech and rarely mentions the plan, going "radio silent." cnbc.com (See also Jobs, Domestic Policy) |
| 2018.03.01 | The top lobbyist for the National Rifle Association claimed late Thursday that Donald Trump had already retreated from his surprising support a day earlier for gun control measures after a meeting with N.R.A. officials and Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office. nytimes.com (See also False Statements, Mike Pence) |
| 2018.03.08 | A week after his inauguration, Donald Trump signed an executive order that bars former lobbyists, lawyers and others from participating in any matter they lobbied or otherwise worked on for private clients within two years before going to work for the government, but records show Trump's top lawyer has issued at least 24 ethics waivers to key administration officials at the White House and executive branch agencies. cnbc.com (See also Hypocrisy, Corruption, Conflicts of Interest, Don McGahn) |
| 2018.03.25 | Donald Trump has decided not to hire two lawyers previously announced as new additions to his legal team, leaving him with a shrinking stable of lawyers as the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III enters an intense phase. nytimes.com (See also Legal Issues, Resignations and Dismissals) |
| 2018.03.28 | Thousands of teachers had their grants taken away and turned into loans, despite meeting the program's teaching requirements, sometimes for minor errors in paperwork, by the Department of Education. npr.org (See also Department of Education, Betsy DeVos) |
| 2018.03.29 | EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt plans to sign a declaration by Sunday that the Obama administration’s vehicle efficiency rules for 2022 through 2025 are “not appropriate” and must be revised. reuters.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change, Environment) |
| 2018.04.02 | The Trump administration announced Monday afternoon that Obama-era rules to reduce climate pollution from cars and trucks have got to go because they are too strict. buzzfeed.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency, Climate Change, Environment) It’s the latest example of the Trump administration gutting environmental and climate rules. |
| 2018.04.02 | The Trump administration wants to limit a federal consumer regulator’s ability to independently oversee financial firms by placing the agency under congressional and White House oversight, thus further reining in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. wsj.com (See also Mick Mulvaney, Domestic Policy, Corruption) |
| 2018.04.03 | Scott Pruitt bypassed the White House to give big raises to his favorite aides. theatlantic.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency, Corruption) The EPA chief used an obscure provision last month to increase the salaries of a pair of staffers by tens of thousands of dollars, despite the White House declining to approve the raises. |
| 2018.04.04 | After Donald Trump moved to impose tariffs on exports to China, he reversed course once China retaliated, saying that it was only a threat, with the White House saying that the tariffs might never happen. nytimes.com (See also China, Economy) |
| 2018.04.04 | After asking for an immediate withdrawal from Syria, Donald Trump backed off after commanders told him they still needed time to complete their mission. nytimes.com (See also Syria, Foreign Policy) |
| 2018.04.12 | A regretful Donald Trump wants to roll back spending in a massive omnibus bill he signed into law, but Republicans who helped craft the legislation are in open revolt. politico.com (See also Mick Mulvaney, Economy) |
| 2018.04.12 | Donald Trump ordered top administration officials Thursday to look at rejoining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the sprawling trade pact he rejected three days after taking office. washingtonpost.com (See also Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership) |
| 2018.04.16 | Donald Trump rejected a fresh round of sanctions set to be imposed against Russia, a course change that underscored the schism between the president and his national security team, including the president’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, who had already announced that the administration would place sanctions on Russian companies found to be assisting Syria’s chemical weapons program. nytimes.com (See also Russia, Trump Relationship with Russia, Nikki Haley) |
| 2018.04.19 | A federal judge in D.C. ruled Thursday that the Trump administration's cuts to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, ending their five year grants in 2018 rather than in 2020, were unlawful. thehill.com (See also Legal Activity, Women, Department of Health and Human Services) |
| 2018.04.22 | Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt met in his office last year with a veteran Washington lobbyist tied to the bargain-priced condo where Pruitt was living, despite Pruitt and lobbyist Steven Hart previously denying Hart had conducted any recent business with EPA. theguardian.com (See also Scott Pruitt, Environmental Protection Agency, False Statements) |