Executive orders - August 10 to August 16

Strengthening social security??? Restoring law and order in D.C.??? More deregulation for his buddies. Chickened out of China tariffs again.

Perhaps he should be called 'Chicken Chump'. His policies are the opposite of being good for the people. He has far more support than he deserves.

90th Anniversary of the Social Security Act - signed by FDR. "I recommit to always defending Social Security". Yeah, right. "To further strengthen Social Security, my Administration is aggressively rooting out all fraud, waste, and abuse that rob our Federal programs of resources" - no mention of making it more sustainable by raising the cap, for example. "I... hereby proclaim August 14, 2025, as the 90th Anniversary of the Social Security Act." So if he had not made this proclamation, this would not have been the 90th anniversary?

Revocation of Executive Order on Competition (Executive Order 14036 of July 9, 2021 (Promoting Competition in the American Economy)) - it encouraged stronger enforcement of antitrust law. Surprise, surprise!

Enabling Competition in the Commercial Space Industry - "Americans are more prosperous because of the space research and development occurring here", so why is funding being cut? "the Federal Government will streamline commercial license and permit approvals for United States-based operators" - bad news for those put at greater risk by deregulation. "use all available authorities to eliminate or expedite the Department of Transportation’s environmental reviews for, and other obstacles to the granting of, launch and reentry licenses and permits." Also deregulates spaceport building. "This reckless order puts people and wildlife at risk from private companies launching giant rockets that often explode and wreak devastation on surrounding areas," said Jared Margolis, senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Ensuring American Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Resilience by Filling the Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve - seeks to create a 6 month stockpile of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) for the most essential prescription drugs. Aims to encourage more domestic production of APIs. Unlike tariffs, which are more likely to be reversed, this may actually work. The allowed shelf life of some pharmaceutical products can be as little as one year, so six months in the reserve may be problematic.

Further Modifying Reciprocal Tariff Rates to Reflect Ongoing Discussions with The People’s Republic of China - last minute extension of the US-China trade truce for another 90 days to beginning of November 10, 2025.

Restoring Law and Order in the District of Columbia - lets the president mobilize the District of Columbia National Guard and order members to active service. He has a point - the level of criminality in and around the White House in DC has certainly increased this year, and there has been a marked increase in violence and kidnapping on the streets by masked men lately. But mobilising the National Guard is not the solution to the problem, and is only making things worse.

Declaring a Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia - Federalises the Metropolitan Police force - the mayor has to obey the Attorney General. "it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Crime is out of control in the District of Columbia" - it certainly seems to have increased over the past few days. Is this the usual Republican projection? Prior to the order, violence had been on the decrease.