Here are the most recent laws enacted by President Trump:
S. 84: A bill to provide for an exception to a limitation against appointment of persons as Secretary of Defense within seven years of relief from active duty as a regular commissioned officer of the Armed Forces.
Summary: The bill was introduced by Senate Armed Services Committee Chair John McCain (R-AZ). The legislation doesn’t do away with the “seven years out” requirement. It just creates a one-time waiver for Mattis specifically. (Technically the legislation refers to “the first person appointed… as Secretary of Defense after the date of the enactment of this Act,” but in practice everybody knows that’s clearly referring to Mattis.)
H.R. 72: GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017
Summary: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent government agency that analyzes and investigates federal expenditures. They often produce reports known as “blue books” that analyze congressional spending policies and make recommendations, as well as perform policy analyses and audit federal agencies.
The law is short. Its primary change allows the GAO to obtain federal agency records, for purposes of audit or investigation. And if an agency or department still refuses to cooperate, the law makes it easier for the GAO to file a civil action in court to obtain the records or documents.
The law also allows the GAO access to the federal National Directory of New Hires, which it had been blocked from accessing for years. A press release from the Republican Senate lead sponsor noted that this new access could improve GAO oversight over federal programs including unemployment insurance, student loans, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program often popularly referred to as “food stamps.”
Those three programs often draw the ire of Republicans, but Congress members generally support the GAO across party lines because it helps to fulfill checks and balances between branches of government
H.J.Res. 41: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of a rule submitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to “Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers”.
Summary: The law repeals an Obama-era rule requiring publicly traded companies to disclose payments by “resource extraction issuers” — such as those for oil, minerals, and natural gas — during the negotiation of the business contracts if those payments exceed $100,000 in a year.
The rule was issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which originally proposed it in 2012. The rule was vacated by a court in 2013, since the rule did not provide an exemption for companies legally prohibited from releasing such public reports. This slightly modified version of the rule was enacted in 2016.
The law repeals a portion of section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the financial reform legislation passed by Democrats and signed by President Obama in 2010. Republicans also want to repeal or significantly dismantle the Dodd-Frank Act in general, and may succeed during this Congress, but for now they’re taking a more piecemeal approach. Trump also signed executive orders rolling back some Dodd-Frank rules.
Public Law 115–4 was originally introduced in Congress as H.J. Res. 41 by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI2), a member of the House Financial Services Committee and chair of the Capital Markets Subcommittee.
H.J.Res. 38: Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of the Interior known as the Stream Protection Rule.
Summary: This joint resolution nullifies the Stream Protection Rule finalized by the Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement on December 20, 2016. The rule addresses the impacts of surface coal mining operations on surface water, groundwater, and the productivity of mining operation sites.
H.R. 255: Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act
Summary: (Sec. 3) This bill amends the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunities Act to authorize the National Science Foundation to encourage its entrepreneurial programs to recruit and support women to extend their focus beyond the laboratory and into the commercial world.
H.R. 321: Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act
Summary: Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act
(Sec. 3) This bill directs the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to encourage women and girls to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), pursue careers in aerospace, and further advance the nation’s space science and exploration efforts through support of the following initiatives:
NASA GIRLS and NASA BOYS; Aspire to Inspire; and Summer Institute in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Research. (Sec. 4) NASA shall submit to Congress a specified plan on how NASA can best facilitate and support both current and retired astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators, including early career female astronauts, scientists, engineers, and innovators, to engage with K-12 female STEM students and inspire the next generation of women to consider participating in STEM fields and to pursue careers in aerospace.
H.J.Res. 40: Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Social Security Administration relating to Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007.
Summary: This joint resolution nullifies the “Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007” rule finalized by the Social Security Administration on December 19, 2016. The rule implements a plan to provide to the National Instant Criminal History Background Check System the name of an individual who meets certain criteria, including that benefit payments are made through a representative payee because the individual is determined to be mentally incapable of managing them. (Current law prohibits firearm sale or transfer to and purchase or possession by a person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective.)
References:
“Bills and Resolutions.” GovTrack.us. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.