Summary: President Donald Trump has done a 180 on almost all of the Obama administration’s policies.
To the ire of progressives, Donald Trump is reversing course on almost all of the major policies created during his predecessor Barack Obama’s administration.
“The Trump administration has found itself in court defending a variety of new policies: the president’s travel ban, the phasing out of a program protecting young immigrants, and the revisiting of a policy that had allowed transgender individuals to serve openly in the military. But it’s also dealing with lawsuits that were in progress before the president took office — and asserting positions different from those of the Obama administration,” PBS wrote.
So what are some of Trump’s legal reversals? The following is an abridged list of some of the major issues that his Republican administration has weighed in on so far.
TRANSGENDER RIGHTS
During the Obama administration, transgender students were given protections from discrimination, and transgender people were allowed to openly serve in the military. In less than one year, Donald Trump has taken away those high school guidelines which allowed students to use the bathroom or locker room of their choice, and he has prohibited new transgender recruits from signing up in the military.
IMMIGRANT RIGHTS
Trump has announced that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program will end in a few months, and he has urged Congress to come up with a solution on what to do with the program’s almost 800,000 participants. DACA was established in 2012 by the Obama White House, and it had allowed the children of illegal immigrants to apply for visas so that they could work and go to school. Without the program, the DACA participants known as Dreamers could face deportation back to countries they had not grown up in.
TITLE IX
Trump appointed businesswoman Betsy Devos as the head of the Department of Education, and one of her platforms was to change the way rape allegations were handled on college campuses. Devos said that boys who were accused often were victimized and denied due process with the Title IX guidelines created by the Obama administration. Recently, she declared that she will make changes to the way college rape cases are handled so that they are no longer tipped in favor towards those who accuse.
GAY RIGHTS
In a case where a gay skydiving instructor sued his employer after being fired for telling a client he was gay, the Trump administration said that the instructor was not protected by discrimination laws. Attorney General Jeff Sessions argued that discrimination laws do not include sexual orientation discrimination, and this is a stance that is opposite of the Obama administration. The Trump administration has also recently sided with a Colorado bakery in a case where they had refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding and were sued for discrimination. The cake case will be seen by the Supreme Court.
The Trump administration has also recently sided with a Colorado bakery in a case where they had refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. The baker was sued for discrimination, and he fired back that he had the right to express his religious liberty. The cake case will be seen by the Supreme Court.
EMPLOYER RIGHTS
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case on whether or not employers can force employees to sign arbitration agreements dealing with wage issues or discrimination complaints. While the Obama administration was pro-employee, Trump has taken a pro-employer stance. The case will be heard by the high court on Monday, and it is particularly interesting because the National Labor Relations Board will present arguments on behalf of workers while a government lawyer will represent employers. According to PBS, this will be the first time that two government attorneys will debate each other in front of the Supreme Court.
VOTER ID LAWS
In November, the Supreme Court will hear a voter ID case from Ohio. The state removes people from the voter registry if they are inactive voters for six years and do not respond to request to confirm their address. Trump has already said he will back Ohio, who said that their process was necessary to maintain accurate records, and his critics said that this is a voter suppression tool.
- Donald Trump Chooses Neil Gorsuch to Fill Supreme Court Seat
- Trump Orders End of DACA
- Trump to Ban Transgender Military Personnel
- Betsy Devos to End Current Campus Rape Guidelines