Here are some of the things GOP candidates have promised to do on Day 1 in the White House


Presidential candidates love to promise a packed schedule for their very first day in office, and this year's crop is no exception. Harper Neidig and Kyle Plantz at The Hill have rounded up Republican candidates' many ambitious plans for the beginning of their hypothetical presidencies, including Donald Trump's intention to locate and deport in a single day every undocumented immigrant nationwide whom he decides is one of "the bad ones."
Sen. Rand Paul has promised to immediately halt NSA mass surveillance, while Sen. Lindsey Graham pledges to have a drink with congressional Democrats in the name of bipartisanship. But perhaps the most active Day One plans belong to Sen. Ted Cruz:
Cruz has promised a busy first day on the job. He said he'd first "rescind every single illegal and unconstitutional executive action" that Obama has issued.Cruz has also vowed to order the IRS and the Justice Department to end the “persecution of religious liberty.” He would tear up the Iran nuclear agreement and move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Cruz has also promised to launch a DOJ investigation into Planned Parenthood. [The Hill]
President Obama, during his 2008 campaign, pledged that he would use his first day in office to start ending American military engagement in Iraq.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
Trump hits Africa, Middle East with new travel ban
Speed Read The travel ban bars visitors from 12 countries and restricts entry from seven
-
Elon Musk slams Trump's 'pork-filled' signature bill
speed read 'Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong,' Musk posted on X
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge