Welcome to the Monday, Jan. 20, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Donald Trump (R) to be sworn-in as the 47th president
Donald Trump (R) to be sworn-in as the 47th president
It’s Inauguration Day—President-elect Donald Trump (R) will take the oath of office as the 47th president.
Today is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan (R) signed legislation into law designating the third Monday in January as a national holiday to honor King’s life and legacy. Since then, the holiday has coincided with three presidential inaugurations: President Bill Clinton’s (D) inauguration in 1997, President Barack Obama’s (D) inauguration in 2013, and Trump’s inauguration this year.
The ceremony was scheduled to take place on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol building, but—due to the weather forecast—it will now happen inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda at noon EST. The last time a presidential inauguration happened indoors was in 1985.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh will swear in Vice President-elect J.D. Vance (R) first, and then Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath of office for Trump.
Trump’s inauguration marks the second time in U.S. history that a president will serve a second, non-consecutive term. The only other time this happened was in 1883, when President Grover Cleveland (D) returned to office for a second, non-consecutive term.
In addition to taking the oath of office, Trump will deliver an inaugural address. Presidents use their inaugural address as an opportunity to present their vision and goals for the nation. To read Trump’s 2017 inaugural address, click here.
In today’s Daily Brew, we’ll review a series of resources we offer to help you stay updated on the new administration.
- Cabinet confirmation process
- Executive orders
- Key legislation
- Judicial nominations
- Pardons
Confirmation of Trump’s Cabinet
After his swearing-in, Trump will visit the U.S. Senate to sign nomination documents for Cabinet nominees. Though the nominations are formally signed today, the confirmation process has already begun. The first confirmation hearing for Trump’s Cabinet happened on Jan. 14 for Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth.
Ballotpedia publishes articles on each confirmation process. You can read more about Trump’s other Cabinet nominations here.
Looking back at Trump’s first term in office, the U.S. Senate confirmed two Cabinet nominees on Inauguration Day: John Kelly for Secretary of Homeland Security and James Mattis for Secretary of Defense. The U.S. Senate confirmed the last of the main 15 Cabinet nominees in Trump’s first term on April 27, 2017—97 days after Inauguration Day. The vote was for Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Tom Price. Click here to read about the confirmation process for Trump’s first-term Cabinet.
Day one (and beyond) executive orders
Trump’s Inauguration Day schedule includes time for an Oval Office signing ceremony, where he will sign a number of executive orders and take other executive actions. According to Axios‘ Stef W. Kight, Trump may sign as many as 100 executive orders today.
We covered Trump’s day-one executive orders on a recent episode of On the Ballot, which you can listen to here. We’ll cover all of Trump’s executive orders in his second term, and you will be able to find that coverage here. We will publish individual articles for each executive order and roundup articles to detail the various executive orders by topic.
On Inauguration Day in 2017, Trump signed one executive order regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In his first 100 days in office, Trump signed 33 executive orders. Trump issued an average of 55 executive orders per year, the highest average among all the presidents who have served since 1981. Click here to read more about historical executive orders.
Key legislation
Once Trump takes the oath of office, there will be a Republican trifecta in the federal government. The U.S. Congress is expected to seek to pass key elements of Trump’s policy agenda on subjects like taxes and immigration through the budget reconciliation process.
Budget reconciliation is a legislative process that the U.S. Senate can use to pass Trump’s policy priorities regardless of the slim 53-vote majority that Republicans hold in the U.S. Senate. It requires a simple 51-vote majority, bypassing the U.S. Senate’s usual 60-vote supermajority requirement. Click here to read answers to frequently asked questions about the budget reconciliation process.
Trump signed one reconciliation bill into law during his first term in office: the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He signed the bill into law on Dec. 22, 2017—almost one year after his inauguration. Since 1981, presidents have signed a total of 20 reconciliation bills into law. The U.S. Congress passed an additional four reconciliation bills that were not signed into law. Clinton vetoed three of those bills, and Obama vetoed one. You can read more about the historical uses of budget reconciliation here.
Federal judicial appointments
After he takes office, Trump can nominate federal judges. As of Jan. 14, 39 of the 890 Article III judicial positions were vacant. We’ll be following judicial nominations in Trump’s second presidential term here.
During his first term in office, Trump made 234 judicial appointments, the second most of any president in their first term since 1981. As of Jan. 14, President Joe Biden (D) made the most judicial appointments during his first term with 235. Click here to read more about historical presidential judicial appointments.
Pardons
After assuming office, Trump will be able to pardon individuals convicted of committing a federal crime. Trump has said he would consider pardoning individuals who breached the U.S. Capitol during the electoral vote count on Jan. 6, 2021.
The U.S. Constitution imposes two major limits on the power of executive clemency:
- Clemency is limited to federal offenses. That means the president cannot pardon individuals for civil or state offenses.
- The president may not use this power to intervene in impeachment proceedings.
You can find more information on executive clemency and presidential pardons here.
Trump is the most recent president to issue a pardon during their first year in office. In 2017, he pardoned former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio (R), who was found guilty of criminal contempt for disregarding a 2011 court order. President George H.W. Bush issued nine pardons in 1989, and Reagan issued two in 1981.
