Week 1
America in Reverse: The First Week of 2025’s Alarming Policy Rollbacks
Covering policy changes from January 20 to January 26, 2025, this blog analyzes the first week of alarming executive orders shaping the new administration.In January 2025, the U.S. government made drastic policy changes through executive orders that roll back protections for public health, civil rights, and the environment. These actions directly harm vulnerable communities, undermine scientific progress, and weaken the country’s role in global leadership. These policies are expected to face significant legal challenges and strong opposition from experts, advocates, and affected communities.
Read more about the executive actions featured in this week’s Case of the Mondays blog by clicking on each of the sections below.
Executive Order: Withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization
Date Issued: Monday, January 20, 2025
Agencies Impacted: Department of State, Department of Health and Human Services
The U.S. government’s withdrawal from the WHO immediately weakens global efforts to fight infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and Ebola. Without U.S. funding and cooperation, disease monitoring and vaccine distribution will suffer, putting millions at risk. Public health experts warn that this move will cost lives, increase the spread of preventable illnesses, and leave the U.S. unprepared for future pandemics. This decision prioritizes political isolationism over public health, making the country more vulnerable to global health threats.
Read more about the executive action directly from the White House.Executive Order: Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements
Date Issued: Monday, January 20, 2025
Agencies Impacted: Department of State, Environmental Protection Agency
By abandoning international climate commitments, the U.S. is actively accelerating climate change. The country is one of the world’s largest polluters, and its failure to meet emissions goals directly contributes to worsening hurricanes, wildfires, and rising sea levels. This decision caters to fossil fuel companies while ignoring scientific consensus and public demand for climate action. Rolling back environmental protections will increase pollution, disproportionately harming low-income communities and communities of color.
Read more about the executive action directly from the White House.Executive Order: Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness
Date Issued: Monday, January 20, 2025
Agencies Impacted:Department of the Interior
Reinstating names associated with slavery and oppression is a direct attack on racial justice efforts. This order erases the progress made by communities working to acknowledge and address America’s racist history. It sends a clear message that the government prioritizes nostalgia for white supremacy over historical accuracy and inclusivity. Restoring these names glorifies figures who upheld racist policies and rejects efforts to create a more just society.
Read more about the executive action directly from the White House.Executive Order: Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government
Date Issued: Monday, January 20, 2025
Agencies Impacted: Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education
This order systematically strips transgender people of their rights, denying them access to healthcare, education, and legal protections. It forces schools to discriminate against transgender students, banning them from sports and public spaces that align with their gender identity. The policy emboldens discrimination, increases the risk of violence, and worsens mental health outcomes for transgender youth. Civil rights groups are preparing legal challenges to prevent this rollback from further endangering transgender individuals.
Read more about the executive action directly from the White House.Executive Order: Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity
Date Issued: Tuesday, January 21, 2025
Agencies Impacted: Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives will increase racial and gender discrimination in workplaces and schools. These programs exist to correct systemic biases that have historically excluded marginalized groups. Ending them ensures that hiring and education opportunities remain tilted in favor of privileged groups, widening racial and economic inequalities. The government is actively dismantling progress toward workplace fairness, making it harder for women and people of color to advance in their careers.
Read more about the executive action directly from the White House.Executive Order: Enforcing the Hyde Amendment
Date Issued: Friday, January 24, 2025
Agencies Impacted: Department of Health and Human Services
By enforcing the Hyde Amendment, the government is cutting off abortion access for low-income individuals, disproportionately affecting people of color. This policy forces people to carry unwanted or unsafe pregnancies, increasing maternal mortality rates. Experts warn that this order is an aggressive attack on reproductive rights, pushing the country closer to a total abortion ban. Restricting abortion access does not stop abortions—it only makes them more dangerous and inaccessible to those who need them most.
Read more about the executive action directly from the White House.Executive Order: Emergency Measures to Provide Water Resources in California and Improve Disaster Response in Certain Areas
Date Issued: Friday, January 24, 2025
Agencies Impacted: Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of the Interior
This order prioritizes corporate agricultural interests over the needs of communities suffering from drought. While federal aid is necessary, this policy directs resources toward large agribusinesses instead of ensuring water access for families and ecosystems. Environmentalists warn that this approach ignores long-term sustainability, worsening water shortages for future generations. Without meaningful conservation policies, this action serves only as a temporary bandage for a deepening crisis caused by climate change and overuse.
Read more about the executive action directly from the White House.Executive Order: Council to Assess the Federal Emergency Management Agency
Date Issued: Friday, January 24, 2025
Agencies Impacted: Federal Emergency Management Agency
The so-called "review" of FEMA is a thinly veiled attempt to justify budget cuts and privatization of disaster relief. Instead of improving response times and aid distribution, this order threatens to leave vulnerable communities without essential resources after climate disasters. FEMA’s failures in past emergencies, such as Hurricane Katrina, have shown that cutting funds or outsourcing relief efforts will cost lives. This action prioritizes corporate profits over disaster preparedness, leaving communities at greater risk.
Read more about the executive action directly from the White House.These executive orders represent an alarming shift toward policies that harm public health, the environment, and civil rights. They prioritize corporate profits, nationalist ideology, and discrimination over science, equity, and human rights. The opposition to these actions is growing, with legal challenges, protests, and advocacy efforts aimed at reversing these harmful decisions. The long-term consequences of these policies will be devastating if left unchecked, making it more important than ever to fight for justice and accountability.
What are your thoughts?
- How will leaving the WHO impact global disease control? Should health policy be driven by science or politics?
- What are the consequences of abandoning global climate commitments? How can communities push for action?
- Should renaming places tied to oppression be seen as justice or unnecessary revision? How should history be handled?
- Do DEI rollbacks promote fairness or reinforce systemic barriers? What does “merit” really mean in an unequal system?