President Donald Trump on Monday established a “Department of Government Efficiency,” declared a national energy emergency and reinstated a policy to make it easier to fire federal employees.
Trump’s moves to overhaul the federal government and boost fossil fuel production came as the president signed a flurry of executive orders Monday inside the Oval Office. They mirror Trump’s promises on the campaign trail, where he vowed to slash government regulations and “drill, baby, drill.”
The executive orders signed at the White House on Monday evening included an order geared toward boosting energy production in Alaska, the reinstatement of a policy making it easier to fire federal employees and a broad directive aimed at “unleashing American energy,” among others, touching on offshore wind, California fish and environmental justice jobs.
Earlier Monday, Trump signed another series of orders to freeze Biden-era regulations, impose a federal hiring freeze and force federal employees to work full time from their offices.
Here are some of the orders Trump signed Monday from the White House:
DOGE details revealed
Trump officially launched the “Department of Government Efficiency,” his promised attempt to scale back regulations and downsize the federal workforce.
The order signed Monday offered the first public announcement detailing how DOGE is set to operate inside the federal government. Trump previously announced that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would lead the operation, but Ramaswamy is reportedly leaving the effort to run for governor of Ohio.
The effort will further the “President’s DOGE Agenda, by modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity,” the order says, signaling a smaller scope than the sweeping government-downsizing effort Musk and Ramaswamy outlined in November.
The president renamed the existing United States Digital Service as the United States DOGE Service (USDS). It will be housed in the executive office of the president.
A USDS administrator working in the White House will coordinate with DOGE teams of at least four employees inside each agency, the order says.
Firing federal employees
Trump signed an order to reinstate his previous administration’s effort to make it easier to fire some federal employees who influence policy.
The order says it would reinstate Trump’s policy making it easier to fire some federal employees using a classification called Schedule F. The Biden administration moved quickly to undo that policy.
“Accountability is essential for all Federal employees, but it is especially important for those who are in policy-influencing positions,” the Trump order says.
‘Unleashing American energy’
The president signed a sweeping executive order broadly reversing Biden administration energy policies.
The lengthy document knocks down a series of Biden climate and environmental policies, declares it U.S. policy to “encourage energy exploration and production on Federal lands and waters” and aims to “eliminate the ‘electric vehicle (EV) mandate’ and promote true consumer choice.”
Trump ordered an immediate review of all agency actions “that impose an undue burden” on domestic energy production.
The president directed agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds” appropriated through two of Biden’s signature climate and infrastructure laws, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
He also directed any activities or programs associated with Biden’s American Climate Corps program to “be terminated immediately.”
National ‘emergency’
Trump became the first president to declare a “national energy emergency,” in a bid to unlock additional executive powers to achieve his energy goals.
“The policies of the previous administration have driven our Nation into a national emergency, where a precariously inadequate and intermittent energy supply, and an increasingly unreliable grid, require swift and decisive action,” the order says.
The extensive order directs agency leaders to use “any lawful emergency authorities available to them, as well as all other lawful authorities they may possess, to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands.”
Alaska energy
An Alaska-focused executive order aims to “expedite the permitting and leasing of energy and natural resource projects in Alaska,” including by prioritizing the “development of Alaska’s LNG potential.”
Trump’s order also aims to unleash drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That move has been a priority for Trump, but oil production in the region won’t come easy.
Renaming the Gulf of Mexico, Denali
Trump signed an order directing the Interior secretary to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and to change the name of Denali — a mountain in Alaska — back to Mount McKinley.
Trump announced earlier this month that he wanted to dub the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,” although the rest of the world wouldn’t have to recognize the name change.
The Obama administration in 2015 renamed Alaska’s Mount McKinley to Denali, and Trump has said he wanted to change it back, setting up a potential clash with Alaska lawmakers.
Pause on offshore wind leases
The president ordered a pause in offshore wind leasing pending a review of the federal government’s leasing and permitting practices for wind projects.
Trump is a longtime critic of wind energy and the White House announced Monday that the Trump administration would “end leasing to massive wind farms that degrade our natural landscapes and fail to serve American energy consumers.”
‘People over fish’
In a jab at California politicians, Trump directed federal agencies to “to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to other parts of the state for use by the people there who desperately need a reliable water supply.”
He titled his memorandum, “Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California.”
California’s water supply has become a flash point in recent weeks as wildfires have devastated parts of the state.
Cutting environmental justice positions
Trump signed an order to eliminate Biden administration diversity, equity, and inclusion — or DEI — programs in government.
The president directed federal agencies to “terminate, to the maximum extent allowed by law, all DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions,” all “equity-related” grants or contracts and all DEI or DEIA performance requirements for employees, contractors, or grantees.