We made it. We survived the first year of a Donald Trump presidency.
The year wasn’t without its challenges: the Muslim ban, numerous attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and early morning Twitter rants. While constituents were able to hold off full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration has slowly rolled back many of the Obama-era regulations.
It’s unclear if the Trump administration believes these regulations are unnecessary or frankly if they’re being repealed simply because they were created under Obama.
Whatever the case, Americans are bearing witness to the repeal of some of the most impactful regulations of our time. Here are the eight most important regulations President Trump has repealed and how it may affect you.
Trump Repeals Rule To Block Gun Sales To Certain Mentally Ill People:
Getting any type of a gun control legislation passed is nearly impossible. But the Obama administration was able to obtain a policy that would have required the Social Security Administration to provide the records of a number of mentally ill beneficiaries to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The NRA opposed this law, and with their influence on the Trump Administration, it’s not hard to see why this rule was repealed in February.
Flood Standards For Infrastructure Projects Repealed:
This year saw a record number of hurricanes, floods and tornados. Puerto Rico is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Maria. Right before the devastation in August, President Trump rolled back an order that would guarantee infrastructure projects, including roads and bridges that would be designed to survive rising sea levels and other effects of climate change. With deteriorating infrastructure across the country, these standards would be imperative.
The Rollback Of Internet-Privacy Rules:
While Trump can’t take all the blame for this ruling (ahem, Republicans), he certainly signed it into resolution. Trump killed a set of rules adopted by the FCC that would force your internet service provider (ISP) to ask you before it collected your personal information. If you find yourself receiving more unsolicited phone calls than usual, you know exactly who to blame.
Obama-Era Workplace Protections Repealed:
In 2014, President Obama signed the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order to ensure that federal companies would comply with 14 labor and civil rights laws. The law was put in place after an internal investigation found companies with violations were being awarded millions in contracts. Part of this order included paycheck transparency and a ban on forced arbitration clauses for sexual harassment, assault or discrimination clauses. It certainly seems like a ruling anyone would like to uphold. But on March 27, President Trump revoked that ruling.
Trump Repeals SEC Regulation:
By now, we know how Trump feels about working with foreign governments. So it wasn’t surprising when Trump repealed an anti-corruption rule that would require oil, gas and mining companies to disclose any payments to foreign governments, created in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. This repeal was the first time a sitting president was able to rescind a predecessor’s regulations.
Trumps EPA Repeals Carbon Emissions Rule:
The Trump Administration disappointed allies with the decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement. But this decision from the Environmental Protection Agency was even more confusing. Scott Pruitt, chief of the EPA signed an order to repeal the Clean Power Plan, a policy that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Even the air is unsafe from de-regulation.
EPA Repeals Obama Water Rule:
At least the water is safe right? Wrong. In June of 2017, President Trump repealed the 2015 waters of the United States regulation. The proposal originally extended the reach of the government over small waterways for pollution control purposes. The Trump administration repealed the order stating they were returning power back to the states and the nation’s farmers.
Trump Repeals Rule That Allowed H1-B Visa Holder’s Spouses To Work:
Just this month, the Trump administration repealed a rule that allowed H-4 visa holders whose spouses were awaiting Green Cards to work in the United States. Ninety percent of the H-4 visas were issued to women.