Executive orders: How Trump’s first 100 days could impact Pennsylvania

Once Donald Trump takes the oath of office, he’s expected to take action on a barrage of executive orders, with many outlets reporting that Trump’s team has prepared around 100 executive orders for his first day in office.

The executive orders are believed to cover a wide range of policy areas, from immigration and the economy to agriculture and energy. Below, City & State examines several of Trump’s goals for his first 100 days in office and how they could impact the Keystone State. 

Tariffs

One of Trump’s trademark talking points on the campaign trail in 2024 was his promise to impose tariffs as a means of keeping more companies in the United States, while also using tariffs as a bargaining tool to limit illegal migration and drug trafficking into the country. 

Trump has vowed to impose tariffs of up to 20% on all imported goods, as well as a separate tariff of at least 60% on all Chinese goods, according to Brookings. The think tank noted in a recent article that Trump would have broad authority to implement tariffs via executive order. “We can’t think of another economic policy issue where the executive has so much power and escapes the checks and balances that apply elsewhere to executive branch actions,” wrote  Adam Looney and Elena Patel, both fellows in economic studies at Brookings.

Trump has also pledged to create an “External Revenue Service” on his first day in office to collect tariffs and revenue from foreign nations. 

Trump’s tariffs worry those in Pennsylvania's agricultural and food sectors. Corey McCleaf of Cherry Hill Orchards told ABC 27 that the fruit industry is “very nervous” about the possible impact of tariffs, while Juan Garcia, owner of El Sol Mexican Restaurant in Hampden Township, recently told PennLive that higher costs brought by tariffs could be passed on to customers. 

Immigration and mass deportations

Trump has vowed to tackle immigration on Day 1 – and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has already contacted some commonwealth municipalities about using their prison facilities for temporary immigrant detentions, presumably a first step toward the ultimate goal of amassing the infrastructure needed to carry out mass deportations. 

A good chunk of Pennsylvania’s workforce has the potential to be caught up in the detentions – especially in the state’s $133 billion agriculture sector, which relies heavily on undocumented, migrant and temporary-visa workers to power poultry, dairy and field operations. It’s not just about deportations: Trump has also supported drastic cuts to work visas and the Temporary Protected Status program – which offers shelter to, for instance, Ukrainians and Haitians while their countries are in turmoil – and may well reinstitute Title 42, an emergency statute that restricts border crossings in response to public health concerns. 

Such measures could result in a rapid shrinkage of the state’s labor force in key industries, with potentially dramatic downstream economic impacts on productivity, wages, and prices.

A Trumped-up approach to oil and gas

Another of Trump’s common campaign refrains was “Drill, baby, drill,” an ode to his desire to increase oil and natural gas drilling nationwide. 

According to an analysis from ABC News, Trump has several options, including increasing drilling on federal lands. The Council on Foreign Relations also suggests that Trump could lift a Biden-era moratorium on new liquefied natural gas export licenses, which could have an impact on Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry. 

While more exports could benefit Pennsylvania energy companies, WESA recently spoke with PublicSource climate and environment reporter Quinn Glabicki, who told the outlet that more exports could lead to higher gas prices at home. 

Pardoning the Jan. 6 defendants

The more than 1,500 people who have been criminally charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots are likely anxiously awaiting news of a potential pardon from Trump. Supporters of then-President Donald Trump flocked from all corners of the state – from Pittsburgh and Palmyra to Harrisburg and Havertown – to Washington, D.C., for the 2021 pro-Trump rally that quickly turned into a violent insurrection. Charges levied against Pennsylvania defendants include destruction of government property, obstruction of an official proceeding, violent entry and assaulting law enforcement officers. 

Federal officials estimated that about 10,000 rioters entered the Capitol grounds, roughly 1,200 ultimately entered the Capitol building and about 250 individuals were wanted for assaulting police officers. Meanwhile, Trump has continued to push the idea of pardoning Jan. 6 offenders, saying he would seek “full pardons with an apology to many.”

The president, who has called the rioters “patriots” and “hostages,” has vowed to pardon those involved with the attack on the U.S. Capitol, and defendants have been increasingly asking judges for permission to attend Trump’s inauguration.

More than 100 Pennsylvanians are included in the list of insurrection defendant cases, many of whom will likely be watching for an executive order. 

Overhauling the education system

Trump has also vowed to make major changes to public education, including how it is funded and who gets federal support. On the campaign trail, Trump asserted that he would shut down the Department of Education, endorsed a Louisiana Law mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools and pledged to cut funding to schools with vaccine requirements and those teaching Critical Race Theory. 

Experts have repeatedly dispelled the notion that Critical Race Theory – an academic framework that posits that systemic racism is a structural part of American society – is taught at the primary or secondary school levels. So while Pennsylvania schools may not face pushback for what they teach – despite book bans becoming a hot topic in areas like Central Bucks County – some schools with vaccine requirements could see a cut in federal funding. According to the state Department of Education, the latest vaccine requirements took effect at the start of the 2017-2018 school year and require children attending school to be immunized to adequately protect against potential outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.