POLITICO

President Donald Trump has spent his first days using his executive authority to rewrite American policy and undo a string of decisions made by former president Barack Obama. Here’s a running list of the new president’s executive actions:

1. Providing “relief” from the Affordable Care Act
Trump’s first executive order on Inauguration Day involved “minimizing the economic burden” of the Affordable Care Act. This order allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the heads of other departments and agencies to waive or delay the implementation of any ACA provisions that would impose a financial burden or any state or a regulatory burden on any individuals.

2. Freezing all regulations
Trump froze all pending regulations until they are approved directly by his administration or by an agency led by Trump appointees. The action, given in a memorandum from White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, delays all regulations with the exception of health, safety, financial or national security matters allowed by the Office of Management and Budget director.

3. Reinstating the “Mexico City” abortion policy
The president reinstated the so-called “Mexico City Policy”, which blocks the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund foreign non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortions. It was established by former president Ronald Reagan and has been rescinded by Democratic presidents and reinstated by Republican presidents ever since.

National Security Adviser Michael Flynn promised to follow in the footsteps of Colin Powell by considering views from across the government, in a welcome memo sent to National Security Council staff Monday.

"When Colin Powell became assistant to the president for national security affairs to President Reagan, he told the secretaries of State and Defense and other principals that he worked for them," Flynn wrote. "In that spirit, I promise that our team will adhere to a disciplined process that will be of the highest standards."

The memo was addressed to each of the cabinet departments included within the NSC and asked that they consider NSC staff "a resource and never hesitate to reach out to us if we can be of assistance to you or your teams."

But the memo was striking in its reference to Powell, the former secretary of State who called Flynn a "right wing nutty" in a hacked e-mail sent to his son that was leaked last fall.

The White House has faced criticism over an executive order on Saturday that organizes its National Security Council and added White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon to it. The order includes the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence only "where issues pertaining to their responsibilities and expertise are to be discussed" by the NSC.

President Donald Trump fired the nation's acting attorney general Monday night after she refused to defend an executive order he issued last week restricting immigration in the name of national security.

In an act of high political drama just ten days after taking office, Trump replaced Obama administration appointee Sally Yates with the U.S. Attorney in Alexandria, Va., Dana Boente.

"The acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States. This order was approved as to form and legality by the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel," a White House statement said. "Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration."

Yates, who was the No. 2 official at the department before Trump's swearing-in and has been running the department since that time at Trump's request, sent a memo Monday saying she doubts the wisdom and the legality of the directive blocking immigration from seven majority-Muslim countries.

"My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts. In addition, I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right," Yates wrote in a memo released by the department earlier Monday.

"At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the Executive Order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the Executive Order is lawful," the acting Justice Department head said. "For as long as I am the Acting Attorney General, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the Executive Order, unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so."

Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly will meet with House lawmakers Tuesday afternoon after members on both sides of the aisle expressed concerns about President Trump’s refugee ban, which unleashed chaos at airports and mass confusion on Capitol Hill over the weekend.

More than a dozen chief House lawmakers are invited to the meeting, according to multiple Democratic sources. Invitees include House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and several other lawmakers who lead committees with ties to the refugee ban.

House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), Intel ranking member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas), Homeland ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss), Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), Judiciary ranking member John Conyers (D-Mich.), Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), and Appropriations ranking member Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) are also invited.

The acting head of the Justice Department — a holdover from the Obama administration — has instructed department lawyers not to defend the executive order from President Donald Trump that restricts immigration in the name of national security.

“Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who was the No. 2 official at the department before Trump’s swearing in and has been running the department since that time sent a memo saying she doubts the wisdom and the legality of the directive,” POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein reports.

Yates’ memo comes amid nationwide protests to Trump’s action, which happened late Friday. A slew of Republicans have criticized or opposed Trump’s action. On Monday, former President Barack Obama chimed in, putting his support behind protesters.

Yates questioned the legality of Trump’s action: “I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution’s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right. At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the Executive Order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the Executive Order is lawful."

Trump and the White House have not yet reacted to Yates’ memo, but, as Gerstein notes, it clearly puts her at risk of being immediately fired. But for now it leaves the administration with no legal representation in various lawsuits aimed at stopping the order.

The White House’s controversial statement marking Holocaust Remembrance Day—which excluded any mention of Jews—was written by Trump aide Boris Epshteyn, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The White House has been defending the statement amid a storm of criticism from Republicans like Sen. Susan Collins and conservative Jewish groups like the Zionist Organization of America, which is generally supportive of Trump but released a statement expressing “our chagrin and deep pain” that the White House message omitted “any mention of anti-Semitism and the six million Jews who were targeted and murdered by the German Nazi regime and others.”

On Monday, press secretary Sean Spicer defended the statement again during the daily press briefing, noting that it was written by a senior member of the team who was Jewish. But he did not reveal who wrote the statement. “The statement was written with the help of an individual who is both Jewish and the descendent of Holocaust survivors,” Spicer said at the press briefing on Monday.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will co-chair a newly-formed outside group that is devoted to promoting President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Gingrich said in an interview he would help to oversee Great America Alliance, an independent, pro-Trump political nonprofit. It will also be co-chaired by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who, like Gingrich, was an early and outspoken Trump supporter.

The organization will advocate for Trump’s policy priorities, including his Supreme Court pick, which Trump says he will announce Tuesday evening.

“My interest is in communicating the things that he wants to get done,” Gingrich said. He pointed to economic and infrastructure as two areas where the group would focus some of its efforts. “We can be pretty effective,” he said.

Great America Alliance is one of several outside groups that will support Trump’s policies. Another group that formally launched on Monday, America First, will be overseen by two senior Trump campaign aides, Brad Parscale and Nick Ayers. A third organization, 45Committee, has begun airing TV commercials that promote Trump’s cabinet picks.

TRUMP’S SCHEDULE:

9:00 a.m.: President Donald Trump will hold a “breakfast and listening session” with small business leaders in the Roosevelt Room.

10:30 a.m.: Trump will sign an executive order in the Oval Office.

11:30 a.m.: Trump and chief of staff Reince Priebus will meet in the Oval Office.

12:30 p.m.: Trump will have lunch with Vice President Mike Pence in the presidential dining room.

1:30 p.m.: Trump will hold a series of Oval Office meetings in the afternoon, beginning at 1:30 with Andrew Bremberg, director of the domestic policy council. He will then meet with presidential personnel at 2:30 and with the national economic council at 4 p.m.

OTHER HAPPENINGS: Pence is hosting a breakfast for Jordan’s King Abdullah II at 8 a.m. and Sean Spicer will brief the press at 1:30 p.m.

Several of Donald Trump’s hires at the Education Department have used Twitter and Facebook to share their unfiltered opinions about African-Americans, transgender people and “fat chicks,” a POLITICO review of social media accounts shows.

Derrick Bolen, a former campaign worker, once tweeted: “Walking to class and this black girl goes shout out to all my niggas #ImWhite.”

Teresa UnRue, a former field organizer for the Trump campaign, shared a video on Facebook of an African-American man eating fried chicken and wondering aloud why other African-Americans are mad about slavery when “Y'all weren't no damn slaves."

"Had me crack'n up!! Thank you!" UnRue wrote.

A third hire and former campaign worker, Kevin Eck, tweeted about an all-black cast for “The Wiz Live!” on NBC. “There sure would be quite an uproar if it was an all-white cast.” He later posted his apology.

The social media posts and histories of these workers have prompted questions about how thoroughly the Trump administration is vetting political appointees as it races to stand up a new government. To date, it has filled only a tiny percentage of the jobs that require Senate confirmation and even fewer of the nearly 4,000 political appointees spread throughout the federal government — an estimated 150 of which are in Education. Until those appointees are on board, the fledgling administration is hamstrung in its ability to carry out the president’s vision. Moving too quickly, though, can bring its own problems.