COMPASS: America is So Back

January 21st, 2025

Good afternoon from Capitol Hill.

Donald Trump is once again the President of the United States. This weekend, an estimated 250,000 supporters traveled to Washington to witness this historic event. Due to weather predictions of subfreezing temperatures and snow the evening before, portions of the inauguration festivities, including the swearing-in ceremony and the parade, were moved inside to be held at the Capitol rotunda and the Capital One Arena. 

During his victory rally on Sunday, Trump pledged to usher in a “brand new day” for Americans and to “act with historic speed and strength and fix every single crisis facing our country.” He shared his plans to issue executive orders addressing the immigration crisis and DEI mandates and promised to visit California to assess the damages and demand reforms to the failed water policies.

Trump is ready to get to work on day one, and according to a senior administrative official, the president will revoke dozens of Joe Biden’s executive orders and plans to issue over 200 executive orders. The Trump administration expects Congress to act with the same sense of urgency and energy to work together and pass legislation that will solidify these policies. Stephen Miller, in his new role as White House deputy chief of staff, briefed members of Congress on the policies to be implemented and discussed what should be addressed through the reconciliation process to help support ICE and cut funding to sanctuary states and cities. 

There is still an ongoing debate as to whether the reconciliation should be negotiated using one or two vehicles. Speaker Johnson and House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith favor one bill, which would include border security, tax reform, energy policy, and raising the debt ceiling. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senator Rick Scott, and Rep. Andy Harris support two, the first with border and energy provisions and the second with tax reform. 

There are those who argue that one bill would save time and prevent the members from tiring of negotiating on important priorities. They believe that the likelihood of passing two substantial packages by the spring is low. The argument for two packages is that it increases the leverage conservatives have to negotiate with moderates to vote for including funding for critical initiatives such as mass deportation and the border wall, among other priorities, by leveraging tax reforms they want, like SALT deductions, in the second package. 

As Congress debated legislation to protect the border and fund the government, Biden, in one last desperate attempt to pander to his leftist base before he left office, issued a vague and constitutionally incorrect statement calling the Equal Rights Amendment the 28th Amendment of the United States. This is not possible since the potential for this to become an amendment passed in 1982. Headlines highlighted the administration’s ineptitude in issuing this statement, which could have misled people into believing that this was now the law of the land. 

The Latest From Around The Conservative Movement

One More Thing

A Memo from a Senior DHS Official Sets the Scene for Trump’s New Immigration Policy.

Array