NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / World

The bills introduced under President Donald Trump we've been distracted from

news.com.au
17 Mar, 2017 04:16 AM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

President Donald Trump is blasting a court for halting what he's calling a "watered-down version" of his travel ban.

Donald Trump is a master of distraction.

Ask anyone what the US President has been up to since he was installed as the President of the United States in January and you'll likely be delivered recollections of inflammatory tweets and minor scandals, and that travel ban he was so keen to boast about.

The big stories about Mr Trump this week have been around his beef with rapper Snoop Dogg over his new music video and his apparent falling out with fast food giant McDonald's.

And while we've been caught up in Mr Trump's celebrity arguments, his opinion on the latest series of the reality show he once starred in and how his daughter's fashion line is going, about 2000 bills have been quietly introduced to US Congress.

From his Twitter feed, it may not seem like Trump is particularly busy with presidential duties, but he's trailing records for the number of executive orders he's signed and the number of bills that have been tabled in the early days of his leadership.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Here are some of the major changes to America that have been under way since Trump took charge.

TERMINATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

This bill is one of the few that has garnered a bit of attention.

Introduced amid the haze of an insulting tweet from the President about Hollywood heavyweight turned Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the bill to scrap the EPA would wind back measures put in place by former president Richard Nixon in 1970 to address pollution issues in American cities.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

While it's unlikely the bill to annihilate the entire department would pass, it's looking like the President will move to diminish it to about two thirds of its size.

Trump's proposed first budget would cut the agency by 31 per cent and eliminate more than 3200 jobs.

"The President wants a smaller EPA. He thinks they overreach," said White House budget director Mick Mulvaney. "You can't drain the swamp and leave all the people in it." The EPA budget would drop to $5.7 billion from its current $8.1 billion.

A separate bill that has environmental groups concerned proposes to repeal regulations that say you can't kill certain wildlife for sport.

Discover more

World

White House defends budget cuts

17 Mar 04:00 PM
World

Trump refuses to shake Merkel's hand

17 Mar 07:51 PM
World

Trump to supersize US military

17 Mar 08:18 PM
World

Germany fires back at US

19 Mar 05:05 PM

An executive order already put in place by Trump has also concerned environmental groups who worry the order could put other regulations introduced to protect natural resources at risk.

The order states that for every regulation the executive branch proposes, two must be identified to repeal, and it's feared environmental measures would be targeted.

GETTING RID OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

A bill before Congress has proposed to do away with the nation's education department.

In the first week of March, while the press was preoccupied with questions over Trump's ties to Russia, bill HR 899 - designed to get rid of the department by the end of next year - was introduced by the Republican party.

It's based around an idea that education policy should fall within the remit of state and local governments, but fails to provide details around what will happen to federal funding of schools.

You'd think this would be a move the nation's Education Secretary wouldn't be thrilled about, but Betsy DeVos, who scored the job under Trump, has said she'd be happy to be out of the job in the unlikely event the bill was passed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It would be fine with me to have myself worked out of a job," she told Axios.

"But I'm not sure that there will be a champion movement in Congress to do that."

Another bill in the in House, HR 610, is concerned with distributing federal funds "for elementary and secondary education in the form of vouchers for eligible students and to repeal a certain rule relating to nutrition standards in school".

PUNISHING ABORTION PROVIDERS

There are currently several bills before Congress that would deliver harsh consequences to those who perform abortions.

In HR 354, the proposal to defend Planned parenthood, it proposed stripping the national family planning network of its federal funding unless clinics can prove they will not offer abortions.

There are exceptions - in cases of rape, incest or life threatening conditions termination may be allowed - but otherwise the clinics would lose government support for one year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act proposes to see criminal penalties applied to people who perform abortions. If this Act was introduced, violations cold result in up to five years' jail time.

A third bill, introduced way back in January declared "each human life begins with fertilisation, cloning, or its equivalent". This would not only essentially outlaw abortion, but impact assisted reproduction as well, as a fertilised egg, even if it hasn't been implanted inside a woman's uterus, would be considered a person and could not be put at risk or disposed of.

CREATING A NATIONAL RIGHT-TO-WORK ACT

The bill sounds like an positive, employment-boosting measure, but unionists are arguing it's anything but.

Presenting the bill, Iowa Congressman Steve King said the bill would work to protect workers and create jobs.

But Democrats claim the legislation has one purpose: "to undermined the capacity of unions to protect workers and defend them". And unions believe it will lead to lower wages and less secure jobs.

PUNISHING REBELLIOUS STATES

Some cities, Los Angeles and New York included, are so unhappy with the orders Trump has already put in place they've promised to ignore them.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A bill concerned with "mobilising against sanctuary cities" will punish those that defy the President's tough deportation orders.

Under the bill, a state or local government would be stripped of federal funding for one year if it "restricts or prohibits a government entity or official from: (1) sending to or receiving from the responsible federal immigration agency information regarding an individual's citizenship or immigration status, or (2) maintaining or exchanging information about an individual's status."

A bill doesn't make a law, until it's passed through both houses and agreed upon, so it's not certain that these measures will find their way into US legislation.

But, Trump and his government is not holding back moving to make change. It's something we should really be keeping an eye on.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from World

World

Iranian missile strikes on Israeli regions leave 23 injured

22 Jun 08:13 AM
World

Iran warns of 'dangerous consequences' after US strikes on nuclear sites

22 Jun 06:33 AM
Premium
World

Trump's high-stakes gamble on Iran's nuclear sites

22 Jun 05:43 AM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from World

Iranian missile strikes on Israeli regions leave 23 injured

Iranian missile strikes on Israeli regions leave 23 injured

22 Jun 08:13 AM

Iranian missiles hit Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Ness Ziona on Sunday morning.

Iran warns of 'dangerous consequences' after US strikes on nuclear sites

Iran warns of 'dangerous consequences' after US strikes on nuclear sites

22 Jun 06:33 AM
Premium
Trump's high-stakes gamble on Iran's nuclear sites

Trump's high-stakes gamble on Iran's nuclear sites

22 Jun 05:43 AM
Kiwi man charged after cocaine blocks found in suitcase at Sydney Airport

Kiwi man charged after cocaine blocks found in suitcase at Sydney Airport

22 Jun 04:16 AM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP