Ask & Answer | President Trump’s first day in office, what it means for education, and a bishop’s request for mercy

On Jan. 17, Trump announced via social media that he nominated Penny Schwinn to be deputy secretary of education, a position that also has to be confirmed. Schwinn was Tennessee’s education commissioner from 2019 to 2023. Education Week’s headline said, “Trump Names Experienced Educator as His Pick for Deputy Education Secretary.”

Until McMahon and Schwinn are confirmed, Trump named Denise Carter as acting secretary of the department in this presidential action. This Education Week article says, “Acting department leaders must come from within the agency they’re leading and can generally serve up to 210 days under federal law.”

Education Week also notes that Trump announced the selection of Eric Bledsoe to serve as a special assistant to the president for domestic policy, focusing primarily on education. Bledsoe, according to the article, was previously a senior director of civics at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

The 48 presidential actions on day one

Here is where you can find all of the presidential actions in reverse chronological order. The following actions will impact students, educators, and schools.

Trump’s ‘America First Priorities’

This briefing and statement — the first news posted on the White House site on Jan. 20. — says Trump will “secure our border and protect American communities,” including suspending refugee resettlement and deploying the Armed Forces, including the National Guard.

It also says, “The President will establish male and female as biological reality and protect women from radical gender ideology.”

In his inaugural address, Trump said, “And we have an education system that teaches our children to be ashamed of themselves — in many cases, to hate our country despite the love that we try so desperately to provide to them. All of this will change starting today, and it will change very quickly.” 

The presidential actions discussed below implement these priorities, among others.

Birthright citizenship and other actions impacting immigration

This presidential action, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” says the United States going forward will not recognize birthright citizenship for children born here whose parents are undocumented. The action says it “shall apply only to persons who are born within the United States after 30 days from the date of this order.” According to this New York Times article, it could impact 150,000 children a year.

The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

The presidential action says, “the Fourteenth Amendment has never been interpreted to extend citizenship universally to everyone born within the United States. The Fourteenth Amendment has always excluded from birthright citizenship persons who were born in the United States but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’” 

The presidential action describes application in the following circumstances:

1. if a “person’s mother was unlawfully present in the United States and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth,” and
2. “when that person’s mother’s presence in the United States at the time of said person’s birth was lawful but temporary (such as, but not limited to, visiting the United States under the auspices of the Visa Waiver Program or visiting on a student, work, or tourist visa) and the father was not a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident at the time of said person’s birth.”

Two lawsuits, one in Massachusetts and one in Washington, were filed in federal district court, and 22 states have already joined the lawsuits, including North Carolina.

Here are the presidential actions declaring a national emergency at the southern border, clarifying the role of the armed forces in border security, and suspending the refugee admission program.

On Jan. 21, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expanded its law enforcement in this statement, rescinding guidelines that had been in place since 2011 protecting “sensitive areas,” which were defined to include preschool, primary or secondary school, vocational or trade school, or college or university.

According to the Charlotte Observer, a committee of the board of education of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools — where students have 175 different countries of origin and speak 146 native languages — may take the impact of the DHS policy change up as early as Friday.

LGBTQIA+ students

This presidential action, titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government,” says, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.”

According to reporting from the New York Times, the federal government will no longer recognize gender identity, and, “The order effectively defines transgender Americans out of existence.”

The action says the following must be rescinded or rescinded in part:

(i)    “The White House Toolkit on Transgender Equality”;

(ii)   the Department of Education’s guidance documents including:

(A)  “2024 Title IX Regulations: Pointers for Implementation” (July 2024);

(B)  “U.S. Department of Education Toolkit: Creating Inclusive and Nondiscriminatory School Environments for LGBTQI+ Students”;

(C)  “U.S. Department of Education Supporting LGBTQI+ Youth and Families in School” (June 21, 2023);

(D)  “Departamento de Educación de EE.UU.  Apoyar a los jóvenes y familias LGBTQI+ en la escuela” (June 21, 2023);

(E)  “Supporting Intersex Students: A Resource for Students, Families, and Educators” (October 2021);

(F)  “Supporting Transgender Youth in School” (June 2021);

(G)  “Letter to Educators on Title IX’s 49th Anniversary” (June 23, 2021);

(H)  “Confronting Anti-LGBTQI+ Harassment in Schools: A Resource for Students and Families” (June 2021);

(I)  “Enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 With Respect to Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Light of Bostock v. Clayton County” (June 22, 2021);

(J)  “Education in a Pandemic: The Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 on America’s Students” (June 9, 2021); and

(K)  “Back-to-School Message for Transgender Students from the U.S. Depts of Justice, Education, and HHS” (Aug. 17, 2021);

(iii)  the Attorney General’s Memorandum of March 26, 2021 entitled “Application of Bostock v. Clayton County to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972″; and

(iv)  the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace” (April 29, 2024). 

On diversity, equity, and inclusion in federal government

This presidential action, titled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing,” deems diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in federal government “illegal and immoral” and brings to an end equity action plans in federal agencies.

Rescission of previous executive orders

Here is where you can find the executive orders of former President Joe Biden that Trump has rescinded.

At the inaugural prayer service, a request for mercy

According to the New York Times, during the inaugural prayer service, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, the leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, addressed Trump, who was sitting in the front row of the church.

“I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” said Bishop Budde, “There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives. And the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they — they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”

You can watch the New York Times video here.

Mebane Rash

Mebane Rash is the CEO and editor-in-chief of EducationNC.