Tag

#executive-order

Presidential directives that carry the force of law. Tagged incidents involve executive orders that violate constitutional limits, international obligations, or that circumvent congressional authority.

2 incidents

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

Second-Term Transgender Military Ban: Executive Order 14183

The second-term ban was broader and more immediately disruptive than the first-term version. Executive Order 14183 directed the Secretary of Defense to update medical standards within 60 days and to issue implementing guidance within 30 days, mandating that transgender service members serve in their birth sex or face discharge. Service members who had been receiving hormone therapy and other gender-affirming medical care under a Biden-era policy would have that care immediately terminated. Legal challenges were filed promptly; district courts issued preliminary injunctions in March 2025, and in May 2025 the Supreme Court stayed one of them. Estimates of the number affected range from the 4,240 service members the Pentagon said in December 2024 had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria to advocacy estimates of about 15,000 transgender service members.

Grade 3 of 5: Serious Rights Violation

Muslim Travel Ban: Executive Orders 13769, 13780, and Presidential Proclamation 9645

Trump signed an initial travel ban on January 27, 2017, halting entry from seven Muslim-majority countries and suspending the refugee program. After courts blocked it, the administration issued revised versions that scaled back explicit language while preserving the core country-specific restrictions. The Supreme Court allowed a third version to take full effect in December 2017.