Since our last post on January 25, President Trump has issued eight more Executive Orders and Presidential Memoranda (collectively “executive actions”):

 

2/3

• Presidential Memorandum on Fiduciary Duty Rule
  • Directs the Department of Labor to halt implementation of the “fiduciary duty” rule for additional review, which was set to take effect on April 10.  The fiduciary duty rule was designed to ensure that financial advisors hired to help with retirement planning and assets acted in the best interest of the client, avoided conflicts of interest when possible, and was transparent about his or her compensation and fees.

• Presidential Executive Order on Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System
  • Sets "Core Principles" of financial regulation aimed at easing regulations on the financial industry. The order directs the Treasury Secretary to conduct a review of financial system regulations including the Dodd-Frank reform act (the banking industry rules passed after the 2008 financial crisis). The order also directs the Treasury Secretary to file a report within 120 days on possible regulatory changes or legislative recommendations.

 

1/30

• Presidential Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs
  • The order intends to zero-out regulatory costs by eliminating two regulations for every one implemented. The order requires that the costs associated with a new regulation must be offset by the elimination of existing costs associated with at least two prior regulations. The order goes into effect immediately and requires the cost of all regulations in fiscal year 2017, which ends September 30, to equal zero.

 

1/28

• Executive Order: Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees
  • Requires appointees to every executive agency to sign an ethics pledge saying they will never lobby for a foreign government and that they will not lobby for five years after they leave government service.

• Presidential Memorandum Organization of the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council
  • Reorganizes the National Security Council to establish Steve Bannon, President Trump’s chief strategist, as a regular attendee, and disinvited the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence to attend only when necessary.

• Presidential Memorandum on Plan to Defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
  • Directs the Administration to develop a comprehensive plan to defeat ISIS within 30 days.

 

1/27

• Presidential Memorandum on Rebuilding the U.S. Armed Forces
  • Directs Defense Secretary James Mattis to conduct a readiness review of the U.S. military and Ballistic Missile Defense System, and submit his recommendations to "rebuild" the armed forces.

• Executive Order: Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States
  • Temporarily bars people from majority-Muslim Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days, and Syrians from entering until otherwise directed. Most of the order has been stayed nationwide by federal judges in several states. As a result, the Department of Homeland Security "has suspended any and all actions implementing the affected sections of the Executive Order.”