Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attempted to walk back his past anti-vaccine and pro-abortion rights stances in his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday as he fielded questions from both sides of the aisle.

The big picture: In his hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary nominee Kennedy characterized himself as pro-vaccine, despite years of denialism, and took a Trump-aligned, leave-it-to-the-states stance on abortion.

• It was an attempt to quell the bipartisan scrutiny he is under while navigating an uncertain path to Senate confirmation. He can lose only three GOP votes if all Senate Democrats vote against him.

Here are five key moments from Kennedy's closely watched Senate hearing.

1. Kennedy doesn't say how he'd reform Medicaid

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), a doctor whose stance on Kennedy has been closely watched, repeatedly pressed the HHS nominee on how he'd reform Medicaid and how he would approach dual eligibles — people who are entitled to both Medicare and Medicaid.

• Kennedy's answers were vague — he said he'd increase "transparency" and "accountability" and transition to a "value-based system" rather than a "fee-based system."
• He said his approach to dual eligibles was to make sure the programs were "integrated."

Yes, but: In the exchange, he fumbled by saying Medicaid was "fully paid for" by the federal government.

• Medicaid, a program that provides coverage to some 72 million Americans, is funded by both states and the federal government.

2. Kennedy says he's not "anti-vaccine"

Kennedy argued in his opening statement that he is not "anti-vaccine" or "anti-industry" but rather "pro-safety."

• But while he repeatedly assured he was not against vaccines, he did not disavow his past statements.
• He defended petitioning the FDA to revoke its authorization of COVID-19 vaccines, saying the group he founded, Children's Health Defense, brought the petition after the CDC recommended COVID shots "without any scientific basis" for 6-year-old children.
• Kennedy falsely argued 6-year-olds have "basically zero risk" from COVID.

Kennedy faced a barrage of questions over his past anti-vaccine statements, with several lawmakers zooming in on accusations — including from his own cousin — that he was connected to a Samoa measles outbreak.

• The outbreak began on the heels of an accident when two babies died after nurses mixed MMR vaccine doses with a muscle relaxant. Concerns about the MMR vaccine's safety prompted the prime minister to halt the vaccination program.
• Kennedy traveled to Samoa, where he met with officials and a farmer who was later arrested for spreading vaccine misinformation, per the New York Times.
• Asked by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) if he accepted any responsibility for what happened in Samoa, Kennedy said "absolutely not."

3. RFK Jr.: "Every abortion is a tragedy"

Kennedy fielded questions about his past support for abortion rights during the hearing.

• He frequently returned to the same refrain: He agrees with Trump that "every abortion is a tragedy."
• "I agree with him that the states should control abortion," he added during questioning from Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).

He also revealed President Trump had directed him to study the safety of the abortion pill mifepristone, though the president has not yet taken a public stance on how to regulate it since taking office.

• Kennedy's response hints at how the HHS under Trump may approach medication abortion, which accounted for about two out of three abortions performed in the U.S. in 2023.

Flashback: Kennedy's exact stance on abortion access has fluctuated over the years — in 2023, he suggested he'd support a 15-week ban, but he later walked back that statement, per the Washington Post.

4. Dems question ties to anti-vax groups

One of the breakout questions from Wednesday's hearing came from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): "Are you supportive of these onesies?"

• Sanders displayed photos of two infant onesies sporting anti-vax messages sold by CHD.
• "I have no power over that organization," Kennedy said of CHD. He formally resigned as chairman in December.

Zoom out: Warren blasted Kennedy over his ties with Wisner Baum, a law firm currently leading litigation against pharmaceutical company Merck over the HPV vaccine Gardasil.

• Warren questioned whether Kennedy would continue to collect compensation from lawsuits he referred against drug companies while serving as HHS secretary and for four years after, to which Kennedy replied, "I'll certainly commit that while I'm secretary."
• According to his filings with the Office of Government Ethics, Kennedy would still receive 10% of fees awarded "in contingency fee cases referred to the firm," NPR reported.

5. RFK Jr. says he will "absolutely" support PEPFAR

Asked by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) if he'd commit to supporting the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, Kennedy said he'd "absolutely" support the program and work to strengthen it.

• In asking the question, Cornyn described PEPFAR as "one of the most successful public health programs in the world" that, if halted, would risk ceding leadership to adversaries.

Yes, but: When the Trump administration broadly paused foreign aid last week, it also meant freezing the global health program credited with saving millions of lives.

Go deeper: RFK's dueling personas take center stage

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Sen. Bill Cassidy represents Louisiana (not Idaho) and to include the correct abbreviation for Children's Health Defense.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump's controversial pick for secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), faced a barrage of questions from lawmakers at his first confirmation hearing Wednesday.

Driving the news: Kennedy seemed to struggle when Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) pushed him on what reforms he would propose for Medicaid, a program that provides coverage to some 72 million Americans.

• Kennedy described Medicaid, a state-federal program, as "fully paid for" by the federal government.
• Medicaid is funded by both states and the federal government. The program represents $1 out of every $6 spent on health care in the U.S., per a 2023 report from KFF.

Cassidy — a doctor and the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions — repeatedly prodded Kennedy on Medicaid reform, but the nominee stumbled over key facts about how Medicaid and Medicare work.

• Kennedy said there should be changes to "increase transparency" and" "increase accountability" for Medicaid. When pressed for more details, he said he did not have a"broad proposal for dismantling the program."

The big picture: Kennedy contended in his opening statement that he is not "anti-vaccine" or "anti-industry" but is rather "pro-safety."

• He was interrupted by protesters, who were removed from the hearing, prompting a warning from Senate Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).
• Ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) slammed Kennedy over "conflicting stories" about his vaccine views during questioning, pointing to past anti-vaccine comments Kennedy made on podcasts.

When pressed over his prior support for abortion rights, Kennedy said he agrees with Trump that "every abortion is a tragedy."

• He said Trump has not taken a specific stance on the abortion pill mifepristone but said the president has asked him to "study the safety" of the drug.

Kennedy's confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday began at 10am ET.

• It was the first of two hearings for Kennedy. He'll also face the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) on Thursday.
• Kennedy's confirmation is not guaranteed. Lawmakers have expressed reservations about his qualifications, past vaccine denialism and conspiracy mongering. He can lose only three Republican votes if all Senate Democrats vote against him.
• He's seemingly made efforts to soften some of his anti-vaccine views that have sparked concerns among public health experts, but some Republicans remain publicly noncommittal about his nomination.

State of play: Kennedy's hearing comes a day after his cousin urged lawmakers to reject his nomination, saying he "preys on the desperation of parents of sick children."

• Caroline Kennedy's scathing characterization of her cousin adds to the controversy the Trump ally has courted in the past: from his anti-vaccine views to a slew of bizarre stories involving his treatment of animals.

Zoom out: If confirmed, RFK Jr. could radically reshape HHS and the divisions it encompasses.

• He has said he wants to end "the FDA's war on public health" and halt its "aggressive suppression" of raw milk, hydroxychloroquine, sunshine and other things.
• His so-called MAHA movement blends some more mainstream views, like tighter regulation of food additives, with more conspiracy-driven ideas, Axios' Maya Goldman reports.

Go deeper: RFK's dueling personas take center stage

Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout with information from the hearing.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the Trump administration's temporary pause on some federal spending as Democrats sounded the alarm about programs like Medicaid going dark.

The big picture: The freeze, which a federal judge halted Tuesday, would not effect programs like Social Security, Medicare, and welfare benefits, Leavitt said.

• Leavitt told reporters the pause was to ensure "every penny that is going out the door is not conflicting with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken."
• However, that left nonprofits and organizations that rely on federal funds like Meals on Wheels scrambling to assess the freeze's impact.

Catch up quick: An Office of Management and Budget memo, sent to the heads of executive departments and agencies gave them until Feb. 10 to submit details on programs, projects or activities subject to the indefinite pause.

• It also instructed agencies to assign a senior political appointee to oversee each federal financial assistance program and ensure it "conforms to Administration priorities."
• Federal Pell Grants and direct student loans will not be impacted by the freeze, Madi Biedermann, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education, told Axios in a statement.

Yes, but: While the administrations said assistance "received directly by individuals" is in the clear, Democrats pounced to highlight the various programs affected by the freeze.

• Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) highlighted concerns from a domestic violence center that serves multiple counties, writing on X that "they may have to close their doors" without federal funding.
• Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) posted that several agencies in his region had been "completely cut off."
• Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote that his staff confirmed Medicaid portals were down in all 50 states amid the freeze. Leavitt later posted that the White House was aware of the portal outage and that no payments had been affected.
• Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the 18,000 people who rely on housing vouchers "currently do not know how their rent will be paid next month, and workers across various federally funded programs risk losing their pay."

Friction point: Trump's freeze appears to conflict with the Impoundment Control Act, a 1974 law that directs presidents to release all funds appropriated by Congress.

• Leavitt argued the freeze was "certainly within the confines of the law."
• While the law does allow presidents to delay funding under some circumstances, it doesn't allow freezing funds to decide if programs are "consistent with the president's policies," said Samuel Bagenstos, a University of Michigan professor and former General Counsel to the OMB.

What's next: Bobby Kogan, the senior director of Federal Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress who served in the Biden OMB, said to think of the freeze like a government shutdown: "It's bad immediately, and the longer it goes on, the worse it gets."

Go deeper: Democrats prepare for war with Trump over funding freeze

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed immigrant rights groups' fears that the Trump administration sees all undocumented immigrants as "criminals" and isn't just seeking to deport those who commit violent acts.

Driving the news: In her first White House briefing, Leavitt falsely labeled all 3,500 immigrants arrested for suspicion of being in the country illegally "criminals." Being in the country illegally is a civil violation, not a criminal one, and the individuals who were arrested have not been convicted of a crime.

The big picture: Asked by a reporter how many of the 3,500 immigrants arrested since Trump took office have criminal records, Leavitt said, "all of them because they illegally broke our nation's laws."

• "I know the last administration didn't see it that way, so it's a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal, but that's exactly what they are."
• Leavitt declined to say if all the undocumented immigrants had criminal records.

Reality check: There is no law making it a crime to live in the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant. Instead, the law treats it as a civil violation.

• Those detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) away from the U.S.-Mexico border have a right to a hearing with an immigration judge to determine if they can stay in the U.S. or not.
• Less than 0.5% of the 1.8 million cases in immigration courts during the past fiscal year — involving about 8,400 people — included deportation orders for alleged crimes other than entering the U.S. illegally, an Axios review of government data found.

State of play: President Trump said in his inauguration speech that his administration would quickly deport "millions and millions" of "illegal aliens" with criminal records. Those millions don't exist.

• In the past 40 years, federal officials have documented about 425,000 noncitizens with criminal convictions on the ICE's "non-detained docket."
• About 13,100 of those were convicted of homicides and are imprisoned in the U.S. They'll have deportation hearings after serving their sentences.

During the campaign, Trump falsely said undocumented immigrants were responsible for rising crime (when data showed crime was going down).

To deport millions of "criminals," Trump would have to consider all undocumented immigrants as criminals — something it appears to be doing with Leavitt's latest comments.

• Leavitt said "rapists" and "murderers" should be ICE's priority, but that doesn't mean others are off the table.

Yes, but: The federal government, since the Clinton administration, has always prioritized deporting immigrants convicted of violent crimes after they serve their sentences.

• Immigrants convicted of violent crimes can't just immediately be deported and must go through the state or federal court system.
• Very rarely does ICE allow undocumented immigrants with convictions for dangerous felonies to return to the public after serving time. Those immigrants usually go through deportation proceedings after serving their sentences.

Zoom in: Immigrants arrested in homicides accounted for less than 1% of "at-large" arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over the last six years, an Axios review found.

• At-large arrests are those made in public settings, as opposed to when ICE agents pick up someone who's already behind bars.

Between the lines: Karen Tumlin, director of the immigrant legal advocacy group Justice Action Center, predicted to Axios that the Trump administration would call all undocumented immigrants "criminals" as an excuse to separate families and go after non-violent immigrants.

• The estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are largely agricultural, construction and service workers, students and others who have no criminal backgrounds, according to legal specialists and an Axios review of federal immigration data.

Study after study has indicated that immigrants — those in the U.S. legally, and those who aren't — commit crimes at lower rates than U.S. citizens.

Further reading: Why Trump won't be deporting "millions" of criminals

President Trump signed a ban Monday once again barring transgender people from serving in the military, jeopardizing the military careers of thousands of troops.

The big picture: The first Trump administration's ban on transgender military service, which former President Biden rescinded in his early days in office, affected up to 15,000 service members.

• While there is not an exact count of transgender people in the military, up to 8,000 transgender individuals are estimated to serve on active duty, per a 2020 study published by the NIH.
• But the actual number may be greater due to the limits of self-reporting and fear of disclosure, the study noted.

Driving the news: Trump said in Monday's order the term "gender ideology" has the meaning given to it in an executive order he signed on his first day in office, which rolled back protections for transgender people.

• Last week's order that paved the way for this one specified the federal government would only recognize two sexes — male and female.

Catch up quick: Transgender people were welcomed to serve openly in the military in June 2016 when the Obama administration lifted the Pentagon's decades-long ban and said the DoD would cover medical costs for uniformed personnel seeking a gender-affirming care.

• But the policy was short-lived: Just after the Obama administration's deadline passed for the military to begin enlisting new transgender service members in July 2017, Trump tweeted that the U.S. would no longer allow transgender people to serve "in any capacity."
• After a legal battle, the Supreme Court in 2019 allowed the ban to proceed.
• The resultant DoD rule barred transgender troops and military recruits from transitioning, required most individuals to serve in their birth gender and said service members could "be discharged based on a diagnosis of gender dysphoria."

Zoom out: The order was just one of several measures Trump took Monday targeting what he characterized as "radical political theories" infiltrating the military in is inaugural speech.

• He also signed an order reinstating thousands of service members who were discharged after refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Flashback: Throughout his campaign, Trump targeted transgender people and gender-affirming, forcing the LGBTQ+ community to brace for his return.

• In a day-one executive order, Trump set the tone: The new administration stated that only two sexes, male and female, will be recognized by the federal government.

Go deeper: House votes to condemn Trump's transgender military ban

President Trump reinstated members of the military who were dismissed because they refused to receive the COVID vaccine in an executive order late Monday.

Why it matters: The order reverses the dismissals by the Biden administration, restoring thousands of service members to their previous rank and providing them with back pay and benefits.

Catch up quick: More than 8,000 service members were discharged for refusing to get vaccinated under a 2021 memorandum.

• The military's vaccine mandate was rescinded in early 2023 after it was lifted in an annual defense spending bill.

Driving the news: "The vaccine mandate was an unfair, overbroad, and completely unnecessary burden on our service members," Trump wrote in the executive order.

• "Further, the military unjustly discharged those who refused the vaccine, regardless of the years of service given to our Nation, after failing to grant many of them an exemption that they should have received. Federal Government redress of any wrongful dismissals is overdue."
• The order delivered on a promise Trump made as a candidate and reiterated during his inaugural address. He has said the discharged service members were "unjustly expelled" because of the requirement.
• The Biden administration implemented the mandate to safeguard troops from the virus and maintain military readiness amid a global pandemic. However, some Republicans argued that it was unfair.

Context: The COVID vaccine was one of many administered by the Pentagon to prevent the spread of infectious disease among service members.

• Fewer than 100 members of the military died from COVID-19, according to the Department of Defense. Over 2,700 were hospitalized.
• In the eight months after the mandate was repealed, only 43 of the thousands who were discharged due to their vaccine refusal sought to rejoin the military, CNN reported in October 2023.

Zoom out: Trump's order was one of several that the White House released Monday targeting what the president characterized in his inaugural speech as "radical political theories and social experiments" in the military.

• After revoking a Biden-era policy allowing transgender people to serve in the armed forces on his first day in office, Trump targeted trans Americans — a group the president has persistently attacked — in a new order on Monday that suggests they have "mental and physical health conditions" that are "incompatible with active duty."
• He also issued an order eliminating the military's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Go deeper: Pentagon drops COVID vaccination mandate

The travel restrictions placed on eight Jan. 6 defendants whose sentences were commuted by President Trump will not be enforced, a federal judge ordered Monday.

The big picture: The group contains some of the most notorious names charged in the attack, including Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers.

• Rhodes, who was found guilty of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the deadly riot, visited the Capitol complex on Wednesday to meet with GOP lawmakers, according to multiple reports.

Catch up quick: U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ordered Friday that Rhodes and seven of his co-defendants must get court permission to travel to Washington, D.C., or enter the U.S. Capitol.

• But Edward R. Martin, the interim U.S. Attorney for D.C., argued in a court filing that Mehta couldn't modify the terms of the defendants' release because their sentences had been commuted.

Driving the news: Mehta, an Obama-appointed judge, wrote in his Monday filing that the defendants "are no longer bound by the judicially imposed conditions of supervised release."

• He walked back his Friday order, saying it would be "improper" to modify the original sentences "post-commutation," but declined to dismiss the release terms altogether.
• Instead, Mehta ordered the terms not be enforced, writing that "the unconditional quality" of Trump's proclamation "can reasonably be read to extinguish enforcement" of the supervised release terms.
• "It is not for this court to divine why President Trump commuted Defendants' sentences, or to assess whether it was sensible to do so," he wrote, adding, "The court's sole task is to determine the act's effect."

Zoom in: The seven other defendants affected by the ruling were Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerschel and Joseph Hackett.

The big picture: Trump's day-one order issued "full, complete and unconditional pardon" to the vast majority of Jan. 6 defendants and commuted the sentences of 14 others, including the leaders of far-right extremist groups.

• Some lawmakers, experts and officers present for the Capitol riot have expressed concern that Trump's broad clemency for rioters could embolden further violence or political extremism.

Go deeper: "F--k it: Release 'em all": Why Trump embraced broad Jan. 6 pardons

President Trump on Sunday said he was imposing large tariffs and significant sanctions on Colombia after its government refused to accept two military cargo flights carrying deported Colombians.

The latest: Trump won't impose tariffs on Colombia after all — following the Latin American government's agreement to accept all of his terms, including receiving Colombians deported from the U.S., White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Sunday night.

Why it matters: The Latin American country has long been a crucial U.S. ally, even under the tenure of leftist President Gustavo Petro.

• The U.S. is Colombia's largest trade and investment partner, with over $39 billion in goods and services traded between both countries in 2022, according to the U.S. State Department.

Catch up quick: Petro ordered Colombian officials to turn away military planes carrying deportees this weekend. He said in a post on X that the U.S. cannot treat Colombian migrants like criminals and should return them on civilian flights.

• "I can't force migrants to stay in a country where they're not wanted, but that country should return them with dignity and respect toward them and also our country," Petro wrote.

Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that he was imposing emergency 25% tariffs on all goods coming into the U.S. from Colombia, a travel ban on Colombian government officials and other major financial sanctions in response to the refusal to accept the flights.

Of note: Petro said in response on X he had ordered Colombia's foreign trade minister to "raise tariffs on imports from the U.S. to 25%."

• He added: "The ministry should help direct our exports to the rest of the world, other than the U.S. Our exports must expand."

State of play: In one week, Trump wrote, the tariffs will rise to 50%.

• Beyond the travel ban and tariffs, the president said he directed his administration to revoke visas for Colombian government officials and place visa sanctions on all party and family members, as well as supporters, of the Colombian government.
• Additionally, he ordered enhanced inspections of Colombian nationals and cargo "on national security grounds."

Meanwhile, Petro has arranged for his presidential plane to help repatriate Colombians deported from the U.S., per a statement from the Colombian president's office.

• "The measure responds to the government's commitment to guarantee dignified conditions," the statement added.

What they're saying: "These measures are just the beginning," Trump wrote. "We will not allow the Colombian Government to violate its legal obligations with regard to the acceptance and return of the Criminals they forced into the United States!"

Zoom out: Trump throughout his campaign vowed to expel millions of undocumented people from the U.S. — and during his first week in office, his immigration crackdown began with a series of sweeping executive orders.

• Tom Homan, Trump's "border czar," told ABC News that the U.S. government will conduct deportation flights every day. The administration issued a new rule Tuesday that dramatically expanded expedited removal for immigrants who cannot prove they have continually lived in the U.S. for the past two years.
• The Pentagon announced Wednesday that it would send an additional 1,500 troops to the southern border as Trump declared a national emergency in the region, and the administration is working to secure more aircraft to speed up deportations.
• Two Air Force C-17 cargo planes carrying migrants removed from the U.S. landed Friday morning in Guatemala, the Associated Press reported. Another two deportation flights touched down on the same day in Honduras.
• Another flight to Brazil landed on Saturday, prompting outrage from the nation's government when those on the flight arrived in handcuffs which the foreign ministry called a "flagrant disregard" for the rights of the 88 passengers.

What we're watching: Trump's retaliatory tariffs could further increase already surging coffee prices, meaning a pricier cup of joe for American consumers, Axios' Ben Berkowitz reports.

• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Colombia is also a leading supplier of flowers to the U.S. The country provided about 37% of U.S. cut flower and nursery stock value from 2018 to 2022.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout.

President Trump entered his resurgent era on an avalanche of dozens of sweeping executive orders and proclamations, some of which had immediate impacts on immigration, the federal bureaucracy, the LGBTQ+ community and beyond.

Yes, but: Not everyone in the MAGA masses is singing the same tune.

Here's what you may have missed when newsmakers hit the airwaves this Sunday, Jan. 26.

1. Trump, Biden face pardon pushback

Monday's flurry of pardons from President Trump and former President Biden exposed a glimmer of bipartisanship on Capitol Hill — with many lawmakers agreeing both took their power too far.

• Minutes before leaving office, Biden preemptively pardoned five family members. And just after Trump took over the Oval Office, he pardoned some 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.

What they're saying: Pardoning those who beat up law enforcement officers on Jan. 6 was "a mistake," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

• "I will be consistent here, I don't like the idea of bailing people out of jail or pardoning people who burned down cities and beat up cops, whether you are Republican or a Democrat," he continued.
• Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, Graham also criticized Biden's use of pardons and suggested there should be "an effort to rein in the pardon power of the president" if perceived abuses persist.

The other side: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called for additional guardrails on the president's vast pardon power on "Fox News Sunday," highlighting legislation he introduced following Trump's Jan. 6 pardons.

• "These decisions are made in the shadows; they are a black box," he said.

Worth noting: It's not just lawmakers who would be on board with a change. Some participants in Axios' latest Engagious/Sago swing-voter focus group said Trump and Biden both went too far with their presidential pardons and that they'd back a theoretical constitutional amendment to taper presidential pardon power.

Zoom out: Both the Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the U.S., and the International Association of Chiefs of Police condemned Trump's near-total pardons of Jan. 6 rioters.

• Among the roughly 1,500 pardoned and 14 others whose sentences were commuted were individuals who attacked officers and leaders of the extremist groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

Threat level: Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) highlighted the hyper-partisan environment violent Jan. 6 rioters and members of extremist groups were released into, saying on CBS News' "Face the Nation," "None of this is making us safe."

• While he defended Biden's decision to pardon his family members in the wake of persistent threats from Trump and fears of political retribution, Crow said, "what I would like to see overall is pardon reform."
• "People need to know that the person sitting in the Oval Office has their best interests in mind at all times," Crow said, "and certainly not with Donald Trump right now can they have that feeling of trust and confidence, because ... five days into this administration, the abuse is already rampant."

2. Trump's inspectors general firings generate some shrugs

Trump's ongoing civil service shakeup saw more than a dozen inspectors general booted from their posts across the federal government Friday.

The intrigue: The terminations, as stated by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, appear to violate federal law requiring a 30-day congressional notice of intent to fire a Senate-confirmed inspector general.

• "There may be good reason the IGs were fired," Grassley said in a Saturday statement to CNN. "We need to know that if so. I'd like further explanation from President Trump. Regardless, the 30-day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to Congress."
• Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) described Trump's move as "a clear violation of law," while Blumenthal challenged his GOP colleagues to "join me in opposing these firings."
• Blumenthal added, "Elon Musk ought to be also joining because he is against wasteful spending," something watchdogs would likely monitor.

Yes, but: Graham noted that while Trump "technically" violated the law, he has "the authority" to dismiss personnel.

Zoom out: Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) echoed Graham Sunday, brushing off concerns that Trump may install loyalists in inspector general posts.

• "It's very common as new administrations come in that specifically these positions be replaced," he said.
• Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) similarly shrugged off the dismissals, telling Fox's Shannon Bream, "Ultimately, these inspectors general serve at the pleasure of the president — he wants new people in there."

Flashback: During Trump's first-term fight to purge the government and so-called "deep state" of those deemed disloyal, he targeted multiple inspectors general.

• While it is normal for political appointees to be replaced during presidential transitions, a report from the Congressional Research Service notes that the "practice has disfavored removal of IGs during presidential transitions" following sweeping action at the beginning of former President Reagan's term.
• Since 1981, the report states, "IGs have remained in their positions during each presidential transition."

3. Republicans urge Trump to rethink pulling security details for ex-officials

Trump's decision to strip security protections from former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and others could expose those individuals to threats from abroad and have a chilling effect on future officials, Cotton said Sunday.

• Beyond Pompeo, Trump revoked former national security adviser John Bolton's and former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci's security details.
• Pompeo's top aide Brian Hook also reportedly lost his security.

Context: Pompeo has criticized Trump on foreign and fiscal policy, while Bolton warned his former boss was "unfit" to be president again.

• Fauci has been open about receiving death threats. Pompeo, Bolton and Hook have faced threats from Iran.

What they're saying: "I would encourage the president to revisit the decision for those people who are being targeted by Iran as the president was targeted for assassination by Iran," Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said on "Fox News Sunday."

• The threat to those involved in the strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, once one of the Iranian regime's most powerful figures, is "persistent" and "real," Cotton said.
• "It's better to be safe than sorry," he said, "because it's not just about these men who helped President Trump carry out his policy in his first term, it's about their family and friends, innocent bystanders every time they're in public."

Zoom out: Graham seemingly agreed, telling NBC's Kristen Welker Sunday, "if there is a legitimate threat against people who have served our government from a foreign adversary, I don't want to pull that protection."

• "The last thing we want to do in this country is tell somebody, come into our government ... come up with policies to stand up to rogue nations like Iran, they come after you, we pull the rug on you," Graham said.

More from Axios' Sunday coverage:

• Vance tells Catholic Bishops to 'look in the mirror' over immigration policy concerns
• Scoop: How Trump's "black box" limits outside influences
• CIA favors COVID lab leak theory

Vice President Vance said in an interview aired Sunday that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has "not been a good partner in common-sense immigration enforcement" after the assembly condemned several of President Trump's executive orders.

Why it matters: A number of Christian organizations rebuked Trump's immigration executive orders in the days after his inauguration, noting how they violate core tenets of Christianity and endanger vulnerable populations.

• Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, the USCCB president, said in a Wednesday statement that some provisions of Trump's executive actions, including those that affect immigrants and refugees, "are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences."
• A day later, the group released a separate statement condemning the revised DHS policy that scraps prior guidance for immigration officials to avoid so-called sensitive areas, like schools and churches.
• "[N]on-emergency immigration enforcement in schools, places of worship, social service agencies, healthcare facilities, or other sensitive settings where people receive essential services would be contrary to the common good," the USCCB statement read.

Driving the news: Vance, who is Catholic, said he was "heartbroken" by the USCCB statement on CBS News' "Face the Nation."

• "I think that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to actually look in the mirror a little bit and recognize that when they receive over $100 million to help resettle illegal immigrants, are they worried about humanitarian concerns?" Vance questioned. "Or are they actually worried about their bottom line?"
• According to the USCCB website, the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Migration and Refugee Services department helps resettle around 18% of the refugees who arrive in the country each year.

State of play: Trump's executive order suspending refugee resettlement programs prompted the administration to cancel flights for incoming refugees who had already been approved, leaving thousands stranded.

• Vance argued in the interview aired Sunday that not "all of these refugees" had been "properly vetted."

Zoom out: While several clergy members and organizations have condemned Trump's executive actions through statements, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde made headlines when she asked Trump to his face to "have mercy" on immigrants and LGBTQ+ people from the Washington National Cathedral pulpit.

• The president slammed Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, as a "Radical Left hard line Trump hater" in a Wednesday Truth Social post.

Threat level: According to the USCCB's statement condemning DHS' new guidelines on sensitive spaces, the move has already had a chilling effect: "[W]e are already witnessing reticence among immigrants to engage in daily life, including sending children to school and attending religious services."

• CBS' Margaret Brennan noted the possibility of a chilling effect prompting immigrants not to send their children to school, to which Vance replied he "desperately" hopes it has a "chilling effect on illegal immigrants coming into our country."
• He added he hopes as "a devout Catholic" that the USCCB will "do better."

Go deeper: Trump's immigration crackdown met with defiance from local police

President Trump's early barrage of executive orders may seem familiar to anyone who paged through the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025.

Why it matters: The conservative organization's blueprint to expand executive power and reshape American life became a campaign trail headache that Trump tried to distance himself from. But his new administration has already seemingly taken a few pages out of it.

• As Democrats lobbed attacks over Project 2025 last year, Trump said he had "no idea who is behind" it. He also said he disagreed with some details of the blueprint, calling them "absolutely ridiculous and abysmal."
• "As President Trump has said many times, he had nothing to do with Project 2025," White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields said in a statement to Axios this week.

Reality check: Several of Trump's Cabinet and agency picks, including Brendan Carr and Russ Vought, wrote parts of Project 2025 or contributed to the text.

• Tom Homan, John Ratcliffe and Pete Hoekstra are listed among the dozens of Project 2025 contributors who aided in "development and writing."
• A review of Trump's early executive orders shows clear parallels with Project 2025 on key proposals, such as dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; loosening environmental regulations; and ending certain international agreements.

Trump orders mirror Project 2025 recommendations

Project 2025 called for rescinding a 1965 executive order signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in order to eliminate the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).

• Trump nixed Johnson's effort by signing an executive order dashing decades of diversity and affirmative action policy in the federal government, stripping the OFCCP of one of its core authorities.
• The bedrock Civil Rights order barred federal contractors from employment discrimination and required them to take affirmative action to ensure equal opportunity "based on race, color, religion, and national origin."
• Trump targeted the OFCCP in his executive order, saying it must stop promoting diversity and affirmative action.

Zoom in: Project 2025 also recommended the repeal of executive order 14020, which Biden signed to establish the White House Gender Policy Council. Trump rescinded the Biden order on day one.

• Trump also signed an executive order declaring there are "two sexes, male and female" and that "sex" is not a synonym for gender identity — echoing a section of the Heritage Foundation's plan.
• Project 2025 says the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary "should never conflate sex with gender identity or sexual orientation" in anti-discrimination policy statements and "should proudly state that men and women are biological realities."
• He also rescinded Biden-era protections allowing transgender Americans to serve in the military, a throwback to his first term that Project 2025 also called for.

Trump adopts Project 2025 energy, climate policies

Project 2025 urged the expansion of oil and gas drilling in Alaska, noting "national energy security interests in the region including rare earths, oil, and natural gas."

• Trump signed an executive order promoting the use of "Alaska's vast lands and resources" on his first day in office.

Additionally, Project 2025 echoed Trump's pledge to eliminate what he called Biden's "electric vehicle mandate," which Trump fulfilled with a day-one executive order.

• The plan also called for the repealing a Biden-era executive order promoting offshore wind energy development, which it said was "being used to advance an agenda to close vast areas of the ocean to commercial activities."
• Trump on day one paused offshore wind leasing in federal waters.

Project 2025 immigration, refugee policies

One of Trump's day one executive orders called for troops to be sent the southern border, including the National Guard.

• That mirrors Project 2025's proposal for "use of active-duty military personnel and National Guardsmen to assist in arrest operations along the border."
• Additionally, Project 2025 suggested that addressing the influx of migrants at the southern border would necessitate the "indefinite curtailment of the number of USRAP refugee admissions."
• Trump signed an order Monday suspending U.S. Refugee Admissions Program resettlements "until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States."

Paris Climate, WHO and Schedule F executive orders

Zoom out: Trump also reinstated several policies from his first term that Project 2025 wanted reinstated.

• He signed orders to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO). Project 2025 called for him to again leave the Paris agreement and withdraw from WHO.
• Project 2025 recommended reinstating Trump's Schedule F order — and it was. Trump signed an order Monday that effectively reclassifies certain federal workers as political appointees and makes it easier to fire federal employees deemed to be disloyal.

Trump executive orders not in Project 2025

Yes, but: Trump also took steps Project 2025 did not explicitly mention, like declaring an energy emergency and attempting to end birthright citizenship.

• There are scores of recommendations in the Heritage Foundation plan, like outlawing pornography, that Trump hasn't touched so far.

Go deeper: National Security Council staffers grilled about loyalty to Trump

President Trump is carrying out his pledge to give the U.S. a MAGA makeover by signing a slew of executive actions in his first week that walk back Biden-era policies and fulfill his campaign promises.

The big picture: Trump's radical expansion of executive power will dramatically change life for millions of people if the orders withstand the barrage of legal challenges that are already coming.

President Trump executive orders list 2025

What Trump's executive orders do...

Immigration executive orders

Many of Trump's first orders curtail immigration at the southern border.

• He promised mass deportations but hasn't detailed how he would implement, staff and fund such a massive, costly operation.

Trump declares national emergency at Mexico border

Trump declared an emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, vowing to deploy troops to the region, including the National Guard. He instructed the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to construct additional border barriers.

• Trump designated "certain international cartels" and organizations, such as Tren de Aragua and MS-13, as foreign terrorist organizations and announced plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target them.
• Trump suspended U.S. Refugee Admissions Program resettlements. Homeland Security will report back within 90 days whether resuming refugee entries would "be in the interests" of America.
• Nearly 1,660 Afghans cleared by the U.S. to resettle in the country, including family of active-duty U.S. military personnel, had their flights canceled following Trump's orders, Reuters reported.
• Trump aordered Homeland Security to terminate "all categorical parole programs that are contrary" to U.S. policies established in his orders, including those for refugees fleeing Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Remain in Mexico policy

Trump reinstated the "Remain in Mexico" policy, ending a program that released asylum seekers into the U.S. while their cases were considered.

• The U.S. Customs and Border Protection website said appointments made through the CBP One app at certain border crossings had been canceled on Jan. 20. Hours later, Trump nixed the program.
• Trump empowered officials to "repeal, repatriate, or remove any alien engaged in the invasion" of the southern border.

Trump birthright citizenship executive order

One of his boldest moves was an attempt to end birthright citizenship for those born to undocumented immigrants, which is protected by the U.S. Constitution. The order faces legal challenges.

• Trump ordered agencies (starting 30 days after the Jan. 20 order) not to recognize babies as citizens if their mothers were "unlawfully present" at the time of birth and their father was not a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident.
• This applies to children born to mothers who were lawful, temporary residents and fathers who were not citizens or lawful permanent residents.

Energy and environment executive orders

Trump declared a "national energy emergency," ordering expedited, deregulated drilling.

• One order specifically targets energy production in Alaska — rescinding former President Biden's protections around the state's coastal areas.

Separately, Trump paused offshore wind leasing in federal waters.

• "[T]he heads of all other relevant agencies, shall not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects," pending a review of federal wind leasing, per the memorandum.

Paris Climate treaty

State of play: Trump signed an order withdrawing the U.S., the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter, from the Paris Climate Agreement.

• Trump had pulled out of the pact during his first term, but Biden rejoined it in a day-one order of his own.
• It takes a year to withdraw from the agreement.

Trump took aim at the Biden administration's federal procurement targets for clean power, electric vehicles and other energy goals.

• Trump directed the Energy secretary to restart application reviews for liquefied natural gas export projects, which were paused by Biden over climate change concerns.
• Trump also revoked a 2021 Biden executive order that set a goal for 50% of US vehicle sales to be electric by 2030.

Executive orders targeting DEI and transgender Americans

Trump established that it is U.S. policy "to recognize two sexes, male and female" on official documents.

• "These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality," his Jan. 20 executive order read.
• Transgender Americans were a central target of Trump's often hyperbolic and outright false campaign trail messaging.

Zoom out: He also rescinded a Biden administration provision that allowed transgender people to serve in the military.

• Trump did not immediately ban trans military personnel from serving, as he did under his first administration, but he paved the path to revive the ban.
• He signed a ban on federal funding or support for anyone under 19 for gender-affirming care on Tuesday.

Trump, as part of his crusade against what the GOP decries as "woke" culture, ordered the dismantling of government diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within 60 days.

• It eliminates policies that established several diversity initiatives, including one that widened sex discrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
• In a Jan. 21 order, Trump specifically directed the Federal Aviation Administration "to immediately return to non-discriminatory, merit-based hiring, as required by law" and rescind DEI initiatives.

Separately, Trump ordered all executive departments and agencies to terminate what he called "discriminatory and illegal" preferences, policies, programs, guidance and other provisions and to "combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities."

• In doing so, he revoked decades of executive orders, including the Equal Employment Opportunity order of 1965 signed by former President Lyndon B. Johnson.
• It calls for each agency to identify "up to nine potential civil compliance investigations of publicly traded corporations, large non-profit corporations or associations, foundations with assets of 500 million dollars or more, State and local bar and medical associations, and institutions of higher education with endowments over 1 billion dollars."

Other executive orders affecting federal workers

Trump signed several other provisions that will impact government workers.

• He required a full-time return to in-office work for federal employees and ordered a hiring freeze on government positions.
• The hiring freeze does not apply to the military or "immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety."

He reinstated his first-term Schedule F executive order, which could make it easier to fire civil servants deemed disloyal.

• The order could strip employment protections from thousands of federal employees.
• Employees are "not required to personally or politically support the current President" — but they must "faithfully implement administration policies to the best of their ability," the order said.

Jan. 6 pardons and other clemency actions

Trump pardoned the most Jan. 6 defendants (some 1,500) charged with participating in the Capitol riot and commuted the sentences of 14 others.

• Among those were leaders of extremist groups the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.
• Pardoning rioters was a prominent campaign pledge, but Trump had previously said recipients would be determined on a "case-by-case" basis.

Zoom out: Trump announced on Jan. 21 he had signed a full and unconditional pardon for Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the unlawful Silk Road marketplace who was sentenced to life in prison in 2015.

• On Wednesday, he issued a "full and unconditional pardon" to two police officers convicted for the 2020 murder of Karon Hylton-Brown, a 20-year-old Black man, in D.C.

Health executive orders: WHO, COVID and drug costs

Trump signed a Jan. 20 order pulling the U.S. from the World Health Organization, a process he started during his first term due to what the order claimed was "the organization's mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic ... and other global health crises," among other reasons.

Zoom in: Trump on Monday renstated military members who were dismissed because they refused to receive the COVID vaccine.

• The Trump administration on Jan. 22 waived requirements that green card applicants be vaccinated against COVID.
• Trump also rescinded a 2022 Biden order to lower the cost of prescription drugs.

TikTok extension, DOGE and more executive orders

Other executive orders and actions include:

• Requiring the attorney general to pursue federal death sentences and ensure states have enough drugs to administer lethal injections for executions.
• Re-designating the Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist organization;
• Ensuring government agencies do not "unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen," highlighting what Trump and his allies considered censorship under Biden.
• Ordering a review of trade practices and agreements.
• Revoking security clearances of Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, and former intelligence officials who signed a letter discrediting the Hunter Biden laptop story.
• Formally establishing the Department of Government Efficiency.
• Suspending the TikTok ban for 75 days.
• Declaring that federal buildings should "respect regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage" to "beautify public spaces and ennoble the United States."
• Renaming Denali to Mount McKinley and the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
• Federally recognizing the Lumbee Tribe.
• Declassifying files related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
• Supporting the use of digital assets, blockchain technology and other financial technology.
• Establishing a President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) composed of up to 24 members.
• Revoking existing artificial intelligence policies and directives that "act as barriers to American AI innovation" and setting a 180-day deadline to develop an AI plan.

Go deeper:

• The most notorious Jan. 6 defendants pardoned by Trump
• America's second Paris withdrawal is not like the first
• Trump's inauguration word choices give insight into Trump 2.0

Editor's note: This story was updated with additional developments.

President-elect Trump has made a litany of ambitious pledges that would gut his predecessor's legacy as soon as Day 1 in office — and he could use his newly regained executive power to take immediate action.

Why it matters: Climate initiatives, LGBTQ+ protections and student loan forgiveness are among President Biden's biggest policy achievements that are at risk once Trump retakes the Oval Office.

• Biden took a similar course when assuming office in 2021, succeeding Trump: rejoining international agreements, adjusting COVID-19 mandates, and repealing some of Trump's most controversial policies, like the so-called Muslim travel ban.

Trump plans, promises

Among Trump's paper trail of promises:

• In July, he vowed on the campaign trail to "restore the travel ban, suspend refugee admissions, stop the resettlement and keep the terrorists the hell out of our country," on Day 1.
• He repeatedly said that he'd "drill, baby, drill" within his first 24 hours.
• And within "maybe the first nine minutes," he said after his election win, he'd start "looking at" Jan. 6. He's repeatedly vowed to pardon rioters who faced charges.

Project 2025

Project 2025 could also swiftly remake U.S. society.

• For one, protections for LGBTQ+ people in the workplace, the doctor's office and elsewhere could be slashed.

Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself from the Heritage Foundation-backed plan.

• But he plucked a number of officials straight from the pages of the 900-plus-page Heritage Foundation-backed blueprint, and within a day of his victory, allies and right-wing commentators claimed that Project 2025 was the agenda all along.

Here are some of Biden's key issue areas Trump will most likely strike first:

Energy and the environment

Environmental policy became a central tenet of Biden's White House tenure. But his progress on climate change and clean energy will be vulnerable.

• Trump said earlier this month that he would "immediately" reverse Biden's ban on offshore oil and gas drilling along hundreds of millions of acres of the U.S. coastline.
• Biden's order could help limit greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming. Reversing it could do the opposite.

Reality check: Biden's memorandums implementing the policy rely on an open-ended provision in the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act — making it harder to erase than with a simple executive order.

• A provision in the act allows the president to permanently withdraw parts of the Outer Continental Shelf from the table for leasing, and it does not provide a means for another president to undo the action, Axios' Andrew Freedman reports.

Between the lines: The question of whether Trump can revoke the withdrawal status Biden ordered could trigger a legal battle, Cary Coglianese, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, told Axios.

• The U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska considered the dilemma in 2019 when Trump tried to revoke an Obama-era offshore drilling ban in parts of the Arctic. The judge ruled an act of Congress would be needed to undo the ban.
• "If this went all the way to the Supreme Court, it's anybody's guess how it would play out," Coglianese said.

Trump has also vowed to "terminate" spending on the "Green New Deal," seemingly referencing Biden's signature Inflation Reduction Act, which is not the same as the Green New Deal. The 2022 IRA marked the largest investment in addressing the impact of climate change in U.S. history.

• But some Trump allies, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, have backed preserving parts of the IRA, like some of its tax credits to make major investments in new U.S. energy.
• Trump has singled out the IRA's electric vehicle tax credit. He's also signaled plans to roll back vehicle emissions standards.

Federal employees and the "deep state"

Trump pledged in 2023 to "immediately reissue" his controversial 2020 executive order "restoring the president's authority to remove rogue bureaucrats" in the so-called "deep state."

• The first-term executive order he referenced established a new "Schedule F" employment category for federal employees, increasing the president's power to oust civil servants who historically were shielded during changing administrations.
• Trump didn't sign the order until two weeks before the 2020 election. Its vast implications for non-partisan federal employees — and the possibility to replace them with MAGA loyalists — flew under the radar.
• Biden rescinded the order shortly after he assumed office in 2021. But Trump has vowed repeatedly, as he approaches his next turn in the Oval Office, to gut the federal workforce as his Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, an unofficial advisory body, aims to slash millions in spending.

Reality check: A rule published by the Office of Personnel Management in April reinforcing worker protections could make it more difficult for Trump to make his desired changes. They could have to go through multiple steps of review, an OPM official told NPR.

• "Rescinding a rule is itself something that calls for going through a rule-making process," Coglianese explained. "And that requires developing a proposed rule, putting that proposed rule out for public comment, and then finalizing it, and then being able to withstand judicial review."

Immigration policy

Trump has promised sweeping immigration reform — some of which walks back Biden administration policies, while other parts of his plan push constitutional boundaries, like his vow to end birthright citizenship.

• His immigration crackdown will likely ride on a flurry of executive orders, in particular taking action to end Biden's parole programs.
• Axios' Stef Kight reported that the Trump White House will prioritize reinstating Title 42, a COVID-era public health policy that uses concerns about spreading illness to facilitate the swift expulsion of migrants at the border and prevents them from attaining asylum. Biden ended the policy in 2023.

Yes, but: Later in his presidency, Biden took a more hardline approach on immigration, issuing a sweeping executive order to crack down on illegal border crossings.

LGBTQ+ protections

LGBTQ+ people, in particular transgender Americans, were a target of Trump's often hyperbolic and false campaign anecdotes and promises.

• Trump vowed to roll back "on Day 1" Biden-era expansion of Title IX for LGBTQ+ students, protecting against "discrimination based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics."
• But a federal judge struck down the rule just before Trump's inauguration in a major blow to the Biden administration.

Zoom out: Project 2025 also calls for the revoking of Biden's executive order in 2021 creating the first-ever White House Gender Policy Council.

AI and tech

Trump has promised to nix Biden's sweeping executive order on artificial intelligence, a signature part of the administration's tech policy.

• The deadlines that agencies have already met may be difficult to walk back, Axios' Maria Curi reports.
• But some directives that carry deadlines after Trump's White House return, such as OMB guidance for labeling and authenticating government AI, could be at risk.

Student loan forgiveness

Biden's push to cancel student debt for millions of Americans will likely meet its demise under Trump.

• The new administration will likely pull defense of some of Biden's policies in court, leaving them to crumble under litigation.
• But rolling back the congressionally created Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which the Biden administration worked to expand access to, could be trickier.

The bottom line: Even if Trump can't feasibly push through some of his promises, Coglianese noted, "he gets credit among his base for trying."

Go deeper: Breaking down presidents' executive order powers after Trump vow

President Biden left the White House for the last time as commander-in-chief Monday morning alongside his successor (and predecessor), President-elect Trump.

Why it matters: The historic moment likely marks the end of Biden's storied political career.

• The political rivals departed the White House together to travel to Capitol Hill for Trump's swearing-in ceremony.

Flashback: This is the first time Biden and Trump have gone through many of the traditional motions during the transition of power, as Trump refused to participate in Biden's inaugural events in 2021.

State of play: Just before the two smiled and posed for photos alongside their spouses Monday, Biden issued historic preemptive pardons for former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, members of the House Jan. 6 committee and others in response to Trump's threats to investigate his political enemies.

• He's not the only one who had to bid the White House goodbye beside a political foil — Harris departed just minutes before with Vice President-elect JD Vance.
• And first ladies Jill Biden and Melania Trump also took the short trip to the Capitol side-by-side.

Go deeper: Follow Axios' live coverage of Inauguration Day.

Editor's note: This story was updated with additional photos.

President Biden issued historic preemptive pardons for former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, members of the House Jan. 6 committee and others on Monday, granting them broad immunity before President-elect Trump's White House return, multiple outlets reported.

Why it matters: He issued the blanket pardons after President-elect Trump repeatedly threatened to investigate or jail his political enemies.

• Follow Axios' live coverage of Inauguration Day.

Driving the news: Biden said in a statement Monday that the pardons should not be construed as an "acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing."

• Rather, Biden said he wished to protect the individuals from damage to their reputations or finances by "baseless and politically motivated investigations." His statement did not mention Trump by name.
• "Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country," the statement read.

The big picture: The pardons benefit people who have been the target of Trump's ire as he mounted his bid for another term in the White House.

• Fauci was, for decades, the nation's top infectious disease expert. He led the country through the COVID-19 pandemic, and was repeatedly attacked by Trump, who sought to downplay the pandemic.
• Retired U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had issued stark warnings about Trump, calling him a fascist and a "wannabe dictator."
• Among Trump's most famous opponents on the Jan. 6 select committee was former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). Her anti-Trump criticism ostracized her from much of the Republican party.
• Trump has said Cheney and other members of the Jan. 6 committee should go to jail.

State of play: Biden issued the preemptive pardons for Fauci, Milley, the members and staff who served on the Jan. 6 select committee, and the law enforcement officers who testified before the committee just hours before his term ends.

• Fauci told CNN Monday that while he had done nothing wrong, he was "grateful" to Biden for the preemptive pardon, saying he had become increasingly concerned about threats against his family.
• Former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn echoed Fauci's sentiment, saying in a statement that he was "eternally grateful" to Biden for the pardon, CNN reported.
• "I wish this pardon weren't necessary, but unfortunately, the political climate we are in now has made the need for one somewhat of a reality," Dunn added.

Cheney and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who co-chaired the select committee, issued a joint statement Monday thanking Biden for their pardons.

• "We have been pardoned today not for breaking the law but for upholding it," they said.

Zoom out: Biden had been reportedly mulling issuing a slate of preemptive pardons for weeks for individuals likely to be targeted by Trump.

• Last month, Biden controversially pardoned his son Hunter following his conviction on felony gun charges and guilty plea on felony tax charges.

Editor's note: This story was updated with reaction to Biden's pardons and additional context.

On Sunday, millions of U.S. TikTok users were sent a message less than 24 hours after the app went dark: "As a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!"

Yes, but: While Trump's vow to delay the app's divestment deadline might earn him some likes online, key GOP lawmakers who pushed for a ban over national security concerns could be a bit ticked off.

• And despite Trump's vow to issue an executive order on day one to delay the enforcement of a bipartisan law, TikTok still might be racing against the clock to strike a deal.

Here's what you may have missed when newsmakers hit the airwaves this Sunday, Jan. 19.

1. MAGA's TikTok turnaround

Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), a prominent congressional China hawk, said last year President Biden's presidential campaign should be "ashamed" for joining TikTok when federal agencies had to remove the app from their devices.

• "We know the Chinese Communist Party are using this as a data collection bonanza," he said, contending the campaign's presence on the platform as "a superhighway" for election interference.
• "I've called for a full-on ban," Waltz said at the time, calling action on TikTok "long overdue."
• Trump, who once spearheaded the effort to ban the app, eventually joined TikTok as well.

The latest: But on Sunday, Waltz, now the incoming national security adviser, said he's confident the Trump administration can "save TikTok" while protecting U.S. user data.

• That could mean "an outright sale," as is stipulated in the bipartisan law that set the stage for the app's ban, or "some mechanism of firewalls to make sure that the data is protected here on U.S. soil," Waltz said on CNN's "State of the Union."
• "So it's possible China will still own [TikTok]?" host Dana Bash asked, adding, "Isn't that totally capitulating to China?"
• Waltz replied that it's "not capitulating at all." He continued, "TikTok can continue to exist ... whether that's in American hands, owned by an American company, or whether the data and the algorithms are fully protected from Chinese interference."

Zoom out: But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told NBC's "Meet the Press" that "we will enforce the law," and Trump's vows to "save TikTok" mean the president-elect wants to see "a true divestiture."

• "It's the Chinese Communist Party and their manipulation of the algorithms," Johnson said. "They have been flooding the minds of American children with terrible messages, glorifying violence and antisemitism and even suicide and eating disorders."
• The only way to extend the deadline, Johnson said, is if there's an "actual deal" in the works. But he noted, "We don't have any confidence in ByteDance," TikTok's parent company.
• House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) noted on CNN that presenting a remedy other "than someone else purchasing TikTok who's not affiliated with the Chinese communist party" would mean there would have to be "some kind of change in the law."

Yes, but: Trump's vision may look a little different.

• "[My]y initial thought is a joint venture between the current owners and/or new owners whereby the U.S. gets a 50% ownership in a joint venture set up between the U.S. and whichever purchase we so choose," Trump wrote in his social media statement expressing his intent to issue an executive order pushing back the apps' lights-out date.
• It's clear that ByteDance does not want to sell its famous algorithm. And there is no evidence of an in-progress deal, though investor Kevin O'Leary said he's made a $20 billion offer.

What we're watching: Trump 2.0 — and perhaps, the path to TikTok 2.0 — start Monday.

• And as White House deputy national security adviser Jon Finer made clear Sunday on ABC's "This Week," the ball is in Trump's court.

2. Israel-Hamas ceasefire commences

The early hours of the Gaza ceasefire saw three female Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity after more than 470 days.

The latest: Some 800 aid trucks are set to enter Gaza today, said Brett McGurk, the lead U.S. negotiator on the hostage deal — a dramatic increase from daily averages.

• As of Friday reporting from Reuters, UNRWA data showed 523 aid trucks had entered Gaza in January.
• Janti Soeripto, the president and CEO of Save the Children, said on CBS News' "Face the Nation" that there are some 300,000 children in Gaza who are in "real acute need of malnutrition treatment."
• Her organization is also trying to reconnect more than 17,000 children separated from their families during a war that has seen more than 45,000 Palestinians killed.

What they're saying: "This was not put together in the last week," McGurk said. "This was put together really since May when President Biden laid out this framework."

• McGurk said the Biden administration has been working "seamlessly" with the incoming Trump team.
• "This is a testament to President Biden and to President Trump allowing us to work together," he said, characterizing his partnership with Trump Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as "historic."

Waltz characterized the hostage return as a "Reagan moment" for Trump, referencing the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.

• The terms of the deal were "inherited" from the Biden administration, Waltz said, but he contended "this deal would have never happened had President Trump not been elected."

The bottom line: Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the question over whether Trump deserves some credit for the deal is one "historians will have to answer moving forward."

3. Johnson: Trump isn't behind Turner's ousting

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) denied Sunday that his decision to oust Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) as the House Intelligence Committee chair was prompted by President-elect Trump.

The intrigue: Turner's ousting has generated frustration and disbelief from Republicans who fear their razor-thin majority would shrink further if the Ohio congressman decides to vote against the GOP agenda in retaliation for Johnson's actions.

What they're saying: Johnson told NBC News' Kristen Welker that "the notion that this was directed by the incumbent administration is just simply false."

Yes, but: Turner told CBS News that Johnson said "concerns from Mar-a-Lago" were among the reasons for his removal.

State of play: Johnson said he feels he can still count on Turner's vote as he's a "team player."

• The speaker added that he and Turner are "good friends, trusted friends and colleagues. He will still be one of the top leaders in the House. In fact, I reappointed him and asked him to serve again, and he graciously agreed."
• Turner will be the chairman of the U.S. delegation for NATO's Parliamentary Assembly, a position he previously held in 2011. He was president of the assembly from 2014 to 2016. He also serves on the Armed Service and Oversight and Government Reform committees.

More from Axios' Sunday coverage:

• Bannon: Billionaire CEOs have surrendered to Trump
• Arctic blast, tied to the polar vortex, spreads all the way to Southeast
• Trump's 2.0 inauguration draws more celebrities

TikTok announced it is restoring service Sunday, just hours after President-elect Trump said he would sign an executive order on his first day in office to delay enforcing the U.S. ban of the social media platform.

The big picture: The app went dark Saturday night, but by Sunday afternoon services were restored for many users, complete with a notification reading, in part, "as a result of President Trump's efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.!"

• Trump, who once spearheaded the effort to see TikTok banned, has spent weeks pushing for the app to be saved as the deadline, decided by a bipartisan law, neared.
• TikTok said in a statement that it was resuming services as Trump's Sunday post on the matter provided "the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans."

The latest: The decision to begin restoring services less than 24 hours after the app effectively shut down was made "in agreement with our service providers," the platform said in a statement on its TikTok Policy X account.

• "It's a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship," the statement read. "We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States."

Driving the news: Trump wrote in a Sunday Truth Social post that he will "issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the law's prohibitions take effect, so that we can make a deal to protect our national security."

• He added the order will also "confirm that there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order."
• Trump said he'd like the U.S. to have a "50% ownership position" in a joint venture "between the current owners and/or new owners" to save TikTok.
• "By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to [stay] up," he wrote. "Without U.S. approval, there is no TikTok."

Reality check: The law, which President Biden signed in April, required that ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, sell the app to an approved buyer by Jan. 19 to avoid being banned.

• It's unclear if Trump wants the U.S. government or a U.S. company to have 50% ownership, and how exactly he plans to circumvent the law as an executive order can't override it.
• The White House said in a statement Friday that given the timing, the "actions to implement the law simply must fall to the next Administration."
• But Republican Sen. Tom Cotton (Ark.), the chair of the Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a joint Sunday statement with Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) that there's no legal basis for any extension of the law's effective date now that it's taken effect.

Context: The divest-or-ban law does allow the president to initiate a 90-day extension, but only if there is "significant progress" toward divestiture and binding legal agreements in place to facilitate a deal.

• There is no known deal in the works for purchasing TikTok, though investor Kevin O'Leary has offered $20B.
• ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, has stood firm against the ban, arguing the forced divestment is unconstitutional. And the company does not want to sell its famed, powerful algorithm.

Our thought bubble: TikTok's restoration of service means that both the company and some of its back-end U.S. service providers — Oracle, Akamai and Amazon Web Services — have decided that Trump's assurances about exempting them from liability are good enough to go on. That also means the app will presumably be running on Trump's inauguration day.

• As of this writing, neither Apple nor Google have restored the availability of the TikTok app in their app stores, meaning new users can't sign up. This suggests that neither company's lawyers are sufficiently persuaded by Trump's statement.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from TikTok and additional context.

Ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon said he sees the presence of billionaire CEOs and tech moguls at President-elect Trump's inaugural events as a white flag of surrender from "the oligarchs."

Why it matters: The conservative media firebrand, a leading MAGA voice, has already noted his dissent against Trump's alignment with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — but the president-elect has seemingly sided with the world's richest man.

• "I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day," Bannon said in a recent interview with Italian outlet Corriere della Sera, characterizing Musk as a "truly evil guy."

Driving the news: "They're there as supplicants," Bannon said on ABC's "This Week" of Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos attending Trump's inauguration. "They're not there as the oligarchs."

• He continued, "I look at this and I think most people in our movement look at this as President Trump broke the oligarchs, he broke them and they surrendered."
• Bannon, who was released from prison in October after serving a four-month sentence on contempt of Congress charges, characterized Zuckerberg as "a criminal."
• Zuckerberg, who once banned Trump from his platforms following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, is set to cohost a reception Monday with other billionaire GOP donors for Trump's inauguration, the AP reported.
• "That guy will flip on President Trump and he'll flip on us in the second," he contended about Zuckerberg. "When it's convenient for him. He will flip."

Zoom out: Zuckerberg is just one of several big-name tech leaders who will attend Trump's inaugural events — and who made large donations for the inauguration.

• After a stream of CEOs stopped by Mar-a-Lago following Trump's election victory, the president-elect declared "everybody wants to be my friend."
• But Bannon sees it differently: "[T]hey're trying to get a landing slot to get in there and be a supplicant."

Go deeper: Scoop: Apple CEO Tim Cook donates $1 million to Trump inauguration

Only 12 people have walked on the Moon — but in a new era of commercial space exploration, a nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding treasured sites is warning about threats to historic Moon landing locations.

The big picture: The World Monuments Fund listed an at-risk site beyond the Earth's surface for the first time in this year's World Monuments Watch, a nomination-based list released biennially to raise awareness of heritage sites in need of preservation.

• The organization said "a burgeoning commercial space industry" may pose "novel risks" to preserving the integrity of dozens of historic landing and impact sites on the Moon's surface.
• This year the advocacy program featured 25 historic sites that face major challenges, including conflict, climate change and natural disaster.

Driving the news: The organization named Tranquility Base, in particular, as a trove of historic artifacts immortalizing the first time humans walked on the Moon that must be protected.

• "Exploitative visitation, souveniring, and looting by future missions and private lunar exploration could eventually compromise this truly unique cultural heritage, removing artifacts and forever erasing iconic prints and tracks from the Moon's surface," according to the WMF.
• Tranquility Base, the WMF's page on preserving the Moon reads, is one of over 90 historic landing and impact sites that "mark humankind's presence on the Moon's surface and testify to some of our most extraordinary feats of courage and ingenuity."

Zoom out: International collaboration is key to preserving the Moon's historic legacy, the organization writes.

• The Artemis Accords, a U.S.-led agreement by dozens of nations, govern civil uses of the Moon, its resources and other parts of outer space.
• Nations across the globe have raced to tap the Moon's scientific, economic and geopolitical value — while the commercial space race intensifies.

Other sites on the World Monuments Fund list include areas struck by war, like Gaza and an iconic building in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Go deeper: The race to tap the Moon's immense value

Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi echoed President-elect Trump's persistent claims that the charges he faced stemmed from politically motivated prosecution driven by President Biden's Justice Department during her Wednesday confirmation hearing.

Why it matters: If confirmed, Bondi's appointment would install a Trump loyalist in the nation's highest law enforcement role — empowering a MAGA overhaul of the DOJ, which could include investigating the president-elect's political enemies.

• Bondi claimed prosecutors "targeted" Trump and his campaign dating back to 2016, adding that she will not "politicize" the DOJ or "target people simply because of their political affiliation."

Driving the news: Bondi vowed in her opening statement to "return the Department of Justice to its core mission of keeping Americans safe and vigorously prosecuting criminals."

• "America will have one tier of justice for all," she said.
• Trump, who was convicted of falsifying business records in New York, has repeatedly sought to cast his various criminal cases as political prosecution by Democrats.

Zoom in: Bondi said she "absolutely" has not discussed appointing a special counsel to investigate Biden, nor has she spoken with the president-elect about going after former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) or members of the House Jan. 6 select committee.

• "No one will be prosecuted, investigated because they are a political opponent," Bondi said. "That's what we've seen for the last four years in this administration."
• Trump has said members of the committee that investigated the Capitol riot should be jailed and has labeled Schiff an enemy "from within."

During a heated exchange with Schiff, Bondi would not say whether she would investigate Special Counsel Jack Smith, noting she'd need more than a "summary" to reach a decision and that it would be "irresponsible" to commit.

• She said what she's heard on "the news" is "horrible" but said she has not "looked at" whether Smith "committed a crime."
• Bondi shot back at Schiff when he asked whether there was a factual predicate to investigate Cheney, saying "we should be worried" about the "crime rate in California."
• Schiff also repeatedly pushed Bondi on Jan. 6 pardons, a day-one priority for Trump that Bondi said she would have "plenty of staff" to work.

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats pressed Bondi about her loyalty to Trump during her Wednesday confirmation hearing, highlighting past rhetoric that bolstered his false claims about the 2020 election being stolen.

• "At issue I believe in this nomination hearing is not your competence nor your experience," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the ranking member on the panel, said during the hearing. "At issue is your ability to say no."

Durbin pressed Bondi on if she has any doubts about the 2020 election, to which she replied, "President Biden is the President of the United States."

• Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) pressed Bondi on how she would handle potential White House interference at the Department of Justice. Bondi said she believes the DOJ "must be independent and must act independently."

Between the lines: Bondi is a longtime Trump ally who has been at his side at times of legal jeopardy, including as a member of his impeachment team in 2020.

Asked by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) what she would do should Trump give an illegal or unethical order, Bondi said she "will never speak on a hypothetical, especially one saying that the president would do something illegal."

• She again did not answer the hypothetical question of whether she would bring in a special prosecutor if she received credible evidence of a criminal violation by a White House official, including the president.
• "What I do know is special prosecutors have been abused in the past on both sides," she said, adding, "I will look at each situation on a case-by-case basis and consult the appropriate career ethics officials within the department."

Zoom out: During questioning from Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Bondi repeatedly said she was not familiar with statements Trump had made, including his characterization of Jan. 6 defendants as "hostages" or "patriots."

• Asked earlier in the hearing about pardons for those who stormed the Capitol, she said she'd advise on a "case by case basis."

Catch up quick: Bondi, a veteran prosecutor and former Florida attorney general, was Trump's second pick for attorney general after his embattled first pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.

• Bondi's hearing will be split across two days, picking up again Thursday at 10:15am ET.
• Bondi's hearing comes a day after Pete Hegseth's fireworks-filled appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee, where Democrats pressed him on his qualifications to be Defense secretary and the slate of allegations against him.

Go deeper: Scoop: Schumer's plan to fire back at MAGA nominees

Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout with additional information from the hearing.