🦅 Executive Branch |
White House |
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On April 24, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued a memorandum directing the Attorney General, working with the Secretary of the Treasury, to investigate reports that some online fundraising platforms may have helped people break the law by making political donations in someone else’s name or by foreign nationals giving money illegally to U.S. election campaigns. The memo refers to federal laws that ban these actions and points to a recent House investigation showing that one platform, ActBlue, found 22 major fraud cases, nearly half involving foreign connections, and 237 suspicious donations from foreign internet addresses in just one month during the 2024 campaign. This action affects political candidates, fundraising platforms, and anyone involved in campaign donations. It matters because the President says these activities could harm the fairness of U.S. elections, so the government is ordered to use all legal powers to look into these claims and report back within 180 days. Read full document →
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On April 24, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order aimed at speeding up and improving how the United States explores and uses valuable minerals found on the ocean floor, both inside U.S. waters and in international areas. This order directs several government departments, including Commerce, Interior, Defense, and Energy, to create faster and clearer rules for companies to get permits to search for and collect these minerals, which are important for making things like electronics, batteries, and defense equipment. It also calls for better mapping of the ocean floor, stronger partnerships with other countries, and support for building U.S. factories to process these minerals. The order says these steps should happen quickly, with some reports and plans due within 60 days, and aims to reduce reliance on foreign sources, especially China, for these critical materials. However, the order also states it must follow existing laws and does not create new legal rights for anyone. This action affects U.S. companies involved in mining and processing ocean minerals, government agencies managing ocean resources, and international partners interested in seabed development. It matters because the government says these minerals are key to national security and economic growth, though the actual environmental and economic impacts will depend on how the policies are carried out. Read full document →
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On April 24, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order changing the rules for new federal workers during their first year on the job, called the probationary period. The order says that before these workers become permanent employees, their agencies must officially decide and say in writing that keeping them is good for the government. This affects people hired into federal jobs who are still being tested to see if they do their work well. The order replaces older rules that the White House says made it too hard for agencies to remove workers who do not perform well. It requires agencies to review and decide on each new worker’s status at least 30 days before the probation ends, with the new rules starting fully 90 days after the order. The White House says this will help keep the federal workforce efficient and high-quality, but it is not clear how this will change actual hiring or firing practices in practice. Read full document →
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