President Trump’s Inauguration & Nomination Hearings Surface Policy Focuses
Posted by Ryan Fitzgerald on January 21, 2025

On Monday, Donald J. Trump was sworn-in as the 47th President of the United States, for his second term in office, on a cold day in Washington, DC. Following a long day of tradition and official proceedings, our nation witnessed the peaceful transition of power as President Biden’s term of office came to a close and President-elect Trump was sworn back into office.
Due to the extreme cold, President Trump’s Inauguration was moved inside for the 2nd time in history, which required the Inaugural Commission to shift gears with its plans in 72 hours. In lieu of the large-scale outdoor Inaugural speech and the parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, President Trump gave his speech inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and then spoke to supporters inside the Capitol Visitors Center and at a large indoor event at the arena that is home to the Washington Wizards and Capitals.
At the conclusion of the large gathering, following his remarks, President Trump took the opportunity to publicly sign nine Executive Orders that showcase the policy focus and determination that will likely highlight the newly minted Administration. President Trump returned to the White House, following the rally, where he signed seventeen additional Executive Orders, before making appearances at several Inaugural Balls that were held Monday evening. A sampling of the Executive Orders that were executed on President Trump’s first day in office included the following policy directives:
- Revoking approximately 78 Executive Actions of the Biden Administration that ranged across the policy spectrum from advancing the fight on climate change to replacing Trump’s original ban on transgender troops serving in the military.
- Freeze on all administrative and regulatory actions – allowing the new leadership of each agency the opportunity review any policy before it goes into place.
- Temporary federal hiring freeze, excluding military, immigration, or homeland security positions, but specifically outlining a halt to any additional hiring at the IRS.
- Terminating remote work programs for Federal employees and requiring them to return to full-time in-person work, while providing agency heads with the ability to make allowances as needed.
- Declaring an Emergency at the Southern Border and outlining that an “invasion” has taken place into the U.S., which expands powers of Homeland Security and provides for the use of the U.S. military, if needed.
- Ending birthright citizenship of children born in the United States to immigrants or temporary workers who lack legal, permanent immigration status.
- Declaring an emergency to expand natural resources production, while scrapping Biden Administration actions that promoted the transition to electric vehicles, wind, and solar power.
- A specific order targeted toward Alaska would support the immediate increase in production of oil, gas and critical minerals, while removing the Biden restrictions on exporting liquefied natural gas.
- Elimination of government diversity programs, and the termination of all federal offices and positions related to diversity, equity and inclusion as well as environmental justice.
- An order outlining that the U.S. Government would only officially recognize two sexes (male and female), which would be defined based on the reproduction cells at conception.
- U.S. Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization.
- A proclamation was also signed commuting the sentences of 14 individuals charged with major crimes and providing pardons to most individuals prosecuted for the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Many of these Executive Orders are fraught with controversy and are already facing legal challenges, but the GoWest Team will closely monitor the actions taken by the Administration and ensure you are informed on issues that directly impact credit union operations.
Treasury Secretary Nominee Scott Bessent’s Hearing Outlines Policy Issues
Last Thursday, Scott Bessent, President Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Treasury had his nomination hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. The committee hearing led by Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), both from our GoWest region, outlined numerous practical questions for the nominee and how he would run the Treasury Department, including his perspective on tariffs, the debt limit, tougher sanctions on Russia, and enumerable other issues.
During that hearing, there were three specific issues that were part of the dialogue, not specifically from the nominee, but from members of the Senate Finance Committee that may have an impact for GoWest credit unions. During questioning, Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) pressed Bessent on whether he would support a campaign comment outlined by President Trump where he mused about putting a cap on credit card interest rates at 10%. The nominee was non-committal on his support of this policy concept, but said he would be discussing several policy matters with President Trump once he was in office, if his nomination is confirmed. Senator Sanders pressed further stating he would be introducing legislation that would cap total credit card interest rates at 10%, and he would be looking for the Secretary’s support once it was introduced. Once again, Mr. Bessent did not comment on being supportive of that concept policy, and we will closely follow this debate and policy discussion as the 119th Congress gets ramped up and fully rolling.
An additional issue that was presented during questioning was the importance of the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) and the hope to sustain and shore-up the program, which was discussed by Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) and Chairman Mike Crapo, who co-lead the CDFI Caucus in the U.S. Senate. Mr. Bessent outlined that he recognizes the importance of the CDFI program and the positive impacts it had made in many communities across the country. Senator Warner and Bessent also exchanged points around a concept of establishing a secondary market in order to provide a steady source of funds for the program, which Bessent said he would review, but said he was generally supportive of the concept. Senators Warner and Crapo had previously introduced this secondary market legislation in the 118th Congress, and we would expect them to reintroduce the legislation in this Congress.
Finally, the Treasury nominee outlined his support to return Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from government conservatorship but is not willing to outline how that should be accomplished or what direct steps he would take to help in that process. Bessent outlined to Senators, “the conservatorships have persisted for more than 15 years, and no conservatorship should be indefinite,” in an 81-page response to questions of Senators that he provided back to the Senate Finance Committee for the record. He outlined that the conservatorship should be ended, but he did not outline how it should be completed, but that “…any actions pursued should be carefully designed and executed.”
Bessent’s nomination was approved out of the Senate Finance Committee, and we expect that his nomination will be approved by the full Senate in the coming days. The GoWest Advocacy team will continue to monitor crucial issues as the Trump Administration begins to fully formulate them and ensure that you are fully aware of important credit union issues.
Posted in Advocacy on the Move, Federal Advocacy.