January 22

Trump signs executive order initiating Houthi redesignation as Foreign Terrorist Organization

Trump signs Executive Order 14175 initiating the process to redesignate Ansar Allah (Houthis) as an FTO, directing Secretary Rubio to submit a formal recommendation within 30 days. This signals the second-term administration's intention to escalate pressure on Iran's proxy forces.

Trump reinstates Schedule F as EO 14171, threatening expert independence across the federal government

President Trump reinstated the Schedule F reclassification rule as Executive Order 14171 on his second day in office, directing OPM and agency heads to identify positions involving policy implementation, advice, or advocacy for immediate reclassification into the excepted service. Career scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency, statisticians at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, economists at the Congressional Budget Office, and analysts at intelligence agencies all faced potential reclassification. Because excepted-service employees can be removed without the procedural protections that apply to competitive-service civil servants, Schedule F functioned as a standing threat to expert independence across the federal government. Unions representing federal workers immediately filed legal challenges and multiple courts issued temporary restraining orders, but the reclassification process moved forward in parallel with the DOGE-led workforce reduction campaign.

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Trump appoints political ally Michael Banks as Border Patrol chief, breaking career precedent

President Trump named Michael Banks as Border Patrol chief on January 22, 2025, the day after his inauguration, selecting a political ally who had served as Texas Governor Greg Abbott border czar since 2023 rather than promoting from within the career Border Patrol ranks. Banks had previously served in mid-level Border Patrol roles before leaving federal service for Texas. The appointment broke decades of precedent in which the Border Patrol chief position had been filled by career agency officials.

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Federal judges rebuke Trump's Jan. 6 pardons and block DOJ expansion attempts

Multiple federal judges pushed back against the Trump administration's blanket pardons of January 6 defendants, with judges questioning the scope and legality of pardons for those convicted of violent offenses. Some judges declined to immediately dismiss pending cases, and courts blocked DOJ attempts to expand prosecutorial authority beyond what the pardon orders specified. Legal scholars called the judicial resistance a significant check on executive pardon power.

Trump pardons DC police officers Sutton and Zabavsky convicted in fatal chase

Trump pardoned Metropolitan Police Officer Terence Sutton Jr. and Lieutenant Andrew Zabavsky on January 22, 2025. Both were convicted in the 2020 death of 20-year-old Karon Hylton-Brown during a high-speed moped chase and cover-up: Sutton received 66 months for second-degree murder; Zabavsky received 48 months for conspiracy to obstruct justice. The pardons restored their law enforcement credentials and both were reinstated to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Supreme Court votes 5-4 to let Border Patrol cut Texas razor wire along the Rio Grande

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 on January 22, 2024, to block Texas's emergency stay request and restore a lower court order letting Border Patrol agents remove the razor wire Texas strung along the Rio Grande. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson, Barrett, and Gorsuch formed the majority; Justices Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh, and Roberts dissented. Abbott refused to comply and kept Texas National Guard troops in Shelby Park, setting up a constitutional standoff over whether states can physically obstruct federal immigration enforcement that remained unresolved through the 2024 election.

Biden revokes Schedule F via Executive Order 14003

President Biden signed Executive Order 14003 ("Protecting the Federal Workforce") revoking Schedule F on his third day in office. The order also reversed Trump-era restrictions on federal employee unions. OPM Director nominee Kiran Ahuja later issued guidance ensuring no positions could be moved into Schedule F.

Biden signs executive order on ethics and government efficiency

President Biden signs Executive Order 13990 on ethics commitments by executive branch personnel, establishing new ethics rules for executive branch employees. The order bans appointees from working on issues they lobbied for in the previous two years, bans gifts from lobbyists, and requires an ethics pledge from all appointees. The action aims to restore public trust in government and reduce the influence of special interests in federal decision-making following the Trump administration.

Biden Revokes Schedule F via Executive Order 14003

President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14003 on January 22, 2021 — his first full day in office — revoking Trump's Schedule F order and directing agencies to restore civil service protections for any employees already reclassified. OPM Director nominee Kiran Ahuja, backed by a coalition of federal employee unions, had urged the reversal as a top personnel priority. The Biden administration also directed OPM to initiate rulemaking to make merit system protections more difficult to circumvent by future executive orders.

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Biden revokes Schedule F on day two, restoring civil service protections for federal workers

President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14003, Protecting the Federal Workforce, on January 22, 2021 — his second full day in office — revoking Trump's Schedule F order and directing all agencies to suspend or rescind any steps taken to implement the reclassification. The move restored civil service protections for the career federal workforce and signaled that Biden viewed an independent civil service as essential to government functioning. Because no employees had actually been transferred to Schedule F during the Trump administration's final weeks, the revocation was largely preventive. Biden's order also directed agencies to refrain from creating positions in the excepted service without merit-based hiring procedures.

Senate confirms Lloyd Austin as Defense Secretary

The Senate confirms Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense by a vote of 93-2, making him the first African American to hold the position. Austin, a retired four-star Army general who previously served as Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, requires a congressional waiver to serve since he has been retired from military service for less than seven years. He takes office as the military reviews its strategy and priorities.

Trump retweets a white genocide account, amplifying white supremacist content to millions

On January 22, 2016, presidential candidate Donald Trump retweets a post from a Twitter account with the handle @WhiteGenocideTM — a self-identified white supremacist account promoting the "white genocide" conspiracy theory, which holds that immigration, multiculturalism, and interracial relationships are a coordinated plot to eliminate white people. The retweet is not an isolated incident: Media Matters and Politico document that Trump retweets accounts with white supremacist content on multiple occasions during the 2016 primary, including accounts with profile images of Adolf Hitler and Neo-Nazi usernames. When asked about the retweets, Trump's spokesperson calls them mistakes or says Trump does not research every account he retweets. Civil rights groups and political analysts note the pattern is too consistent to be accidental and that the accounts Trump amplifies are among the most prominent white supremacist voices on the platform.

Supreme Court rules 7-2 in Roe v. Wade that the 14th Amendment's liberty clause protects a woman's right to abortion, establishing the trimester framework for state regulation

The Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on January 22, 1973, that the 14th Amendment's due process clause protected a woman's right to choose abortion as part of the constitutional right of privacy established in Griswold. Justice Blackmun's majority opinion created a trimester framework: states could not regulate abortion in the first trimester; could regulate to protect maternal health in the second; and could prohibit abortion in the third except to preserve the life or health of the mother. Justices White and Rehnquist dissented — White called it "an exercise of raw judicial power." The ruling invalidated abortion restrictions in 46 states and made the United States one of the world's most permissive abortion law jurisdictions.

The OAS suspends Cuba and deepens its isolation in the Western Hemisphere

The Organization of American States suspends Cuba, increasing Havana's diplomatic isolation in the Americas. The move reinforces Cuba's reliance on the Soviet Union. It also shows that the conflict around Cuba is regional as well as bilateral.