And just like that, Donald Trump is once again the president of the United States, ushering the country into new and uncharted waters with a flurry of executive actions in keeping with his campaign promise to be a "dictator" on "day one." From efforts to erase transgender people from federal recognition to denying the constitutional right to birthright citizenship for immigrants, the administration is quickly setting the stage for the next four years. 

Rafi Schwartz
The Week Digital

It took just hours for the first lawsuit to be filed against President Donald Trump's executive order directing federal agencies to deny citizenship to children born in this country as guaranteed under the 14th Amendment unless one parent is a citizen or green card holder. The order is an expression of a "once-fringe belief" that children of undocumented immigrants have "no right to U.S. citizenship and are part of a conspiracy (rooted in racism) to replace white Americans," said Axios. 

While the Supreme Court has "never directly ruled on the issue," it did affirm in the late 1800s that a "man born in San Francisco to parents who were both from China was a U.S. citizen," said NBC News. In the first of what's expected to be multiple suits against Trump's order, plaintiffs argue that the decree "exceeds the president's authority and runs afoul of the Constitution and federal statute." As of now, said Politico, it's "unclear whether the courts will conclude Trump has any power to address the issue without an act of Congress to back him up."

As part of his flurry of day-one executive actions, Trump on Monday "declared that the federal government would no longer recognize transgender people," said Advocate. The "sweeping" directive "defines sex as strictly male or female based on the 'immutable biological reality of sex' characteristics at birth." 

Trump's orders featured a "mix of administrative measures," including "changing government forms to include only two genders" and claims "dismissing the validity of gender identity entirely," said The New York Times. They also "prohibit taxpayer funds from being used for gender-affirming care and to prevent transgender women from being held in women's prisons or detention centers," said Axios.

All of the orders are "following through on promises he made on the campaign trail," said the BBC. While the administration can issue its orders and directives, it will "still take time before those things actually become law, if they ever actually go into effect," said LGBTQ legislation researcher Logan Casey to The 19th.

With Trump now officially back in office, Democrats are "diminished, without a clear leader or discernible path forward for their party," said The Washington Post. The party is suffering from the lack of the "vast grassroots activism that rose in opposition" to the president's first term. Democrats are "stuck somewhere between discombobulation and despair" even as "prescriptions for a comeback abound," said Time. 

Democratic leaders must now "rebuild their trust with the American people," after having "lost favor (and elections) because they don't know what they stand for or who they represent," said Liz Peek at Fox News. The vision articulated by Trump during his inauguration address is a "relatively popular one," said political consultant Douglas Schoen at The Hill. Democrats "would be wise to find a way to work with the president to enact much of it." 

"For all their major concerns about Trump," Democrats seem to be "beginning to find some common ground with the incoming president," said David Rothkopf at The Daily Beast. They "could, at least, find some silver lining within the storm clouds they associate with his presidency."

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