Trump’s First 100 Days: TPP Withdrawal, Federal Hiring Freeze and the Mexico City Policy
Day four by the numbers:
Promise Kept: Trans-Pacific Partnership Withdrawal
On the fourth official day of his presidency, President Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.Since the trade deal was never ratified by Congress, Ohioans shouldn’t expect anything coming from this executive order except maybe some optimism for the future since Trump has argued that the trade deal is bad for American workers. Trump’s view was reinforced by many Democrats who opposed the deal as well, most notably Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Confused by the bipartisanship on this move? Don’t expect to be able to see any clear indications across party lines. Ohio’s Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown spoke out in favor of the president’s move to withdraw, while Republican Gov. John Kasich was actually tasked with helping move the deal through Congress by President Obama.Meanwhile, foreign response to the move has been less than enthusiastic.
Historians will look back at US cancellation of #TPP as a major milestone in America's retreat from global leadership. Big winner: China.
— Roland Paris (@rolandparis) January 23, 2017
Next on Trump’s 100 day to-do list is renegotiating NAFTA, which is what TPP had already done, and that took seven years to negotiate.
Fed Hiring Freeze
Trump signed another executive order immediately freezing all hiring of federal workers alongside freezing all pay raises. This isn’t anything shocking and has been done before by former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office found that, at best, it had no effect on employment levels and at worst it increased costs by disrupting federal agencies.This is on par with what Trump has pledged to the American voter in his 100-day plan.