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The Trump administration continued to promote domestic critical mineral explorations and workforce development, while signaling progress in trade negotiations.

This week, President Trump issued several executive orders in furtherance of his policy aims, including orders relating to offshore critical minerals, workforce development, government efficiency, and civil rights. Meanwhile, the administration signaled a forthcoming trade deal with India.

Latham lawyers are carefully monitoring the rollout of President Trump’s policy priorities through executive orders, agency actions, and installment of new personnel. Below is a high-level overview of these actions, broken down by topic, along with updates on related court challenges, personnel changes, and other breaking developments in their implementation.

Offshore Critical Minerals

On April 24, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources.” The order directs an expansion of seabed exploration and collection by streamlining the permitting process and supporting investments and partnerships. Among other directives, the order instructs the Secretary of Commerce to expedite the permitting under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act. The Secretary of Interior is to establish a permitting process for projects on the US Outer Continental Shelf under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Relevant Secretaries are also directed to prepare joint reports assessing the feasibility of an international seabed benefit-sharing mechanism and tools for seabed mineral resource exploration and extraction.

This order follows a March 20 executive order aimed at expanding domestic production of critical minerals (for more details, see this blog post).

Workforce Development

On April 23, President Trump issued two executive orders promoting workforce development, with an emphasis on AI and skilled trade jobs.

  • The first, titled “Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future,” aims to modernize workforce programs. The order directs the Secretaries of Labor, Education, and Commerce to review federal workforce development programs and propose strategies, including (1) integration of systems with the demands of industries investing in the United States, (2) reform of ineffective programs, (3) investment in upskilling of incumbent workers, and (4) identifying alternative credentials to the four-year college degree mapped to skills needed by prospective employers. The order also directs an expansion and promotion of Registered Apprenticeship programs for new industries and occupations, including high-growth and emerging sectors.
  • The second, titled “Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth,” directs the integration of AI into education, with the goal of developing an AI-ready workforce. The order establishes the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education, to be chaired by Michael Kratsios as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and include the Secretaries of Agriculture, Labor, Energy, and Education. The task force is charged with establishing an educational competition program as well as public-private partnerships with leading private-sector AI organizations to develop resources. The Secretary of Education is to prioritize the use of AI in discretionary grant programs for teacher training, and the Secretary of Labor is to promote AI-related Registered Apprenticeships.

Education

On April 23, President Trump issued four executive orders related to educational policies.

  • The first, titled “Reinstating Common Sense School Discipline Policies,” aims to prevent “school discipline based on discriminatory and unlawful ‘equity’ ideology,” which takes into account racial data in analyzing and adjusting disciplinary policies. The Secretary of Education is to issue guidance to state and local educational agencies regarding the obligations to not engage in racial discrimination, and prepare a report regarding “the status of discriminatory-equity-ideology-based school discipline and behavior modification techniques in American public education.”
  • The second, titled “Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education,” directs the Secretary of Education to hold accreditors accountable if they fail to meet recognition criteria or violate federal law, for example by requiring institutions to engage in “unlawful discrimination.” The order lists denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination of accreditation as examples of such accountability measures. The Secretary is to investigate and terminate “unlawful discrimination” by higher education institutions, including law schools and medical schools.
  • The third, titled “Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities,” mandates the Secretary of Education to enforce complete and timely disclosure of foreign funding by higher education institutions. Federal grant funds can be withheld for failure to comply with the disclosure requirements.
  • The fourth, titled “White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” establishes the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The initiative will prioritize private-sector partnerships, institutional development, and workforce preparation in high-growth industries, according to this fact sheet.

State Energy Regulations

Legal Challenges

As we discussed in this blog post, on April 8, President Trump issued an executive order mandating the US Attorney General to identify and stop state and local energy laws that are unconstitutional, preempted, or unenforceable. The order lists laws addressing climate change, environmental, social, and governance (ESG); environmental justice; or greenhouse gas emissions as its priorities.

In recent weeks, several states have responded with opposition, including New York, New Mexico, and California. For more details, see this blog post.

Tariffs and Trade

On April 21, Vice President JD Vance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the terms of reference for a bilateral trade agreement between the United States and India. The goals for the United States include market access, reduction of trade barriers, and robust additional commitments, according to this fact sheet.

Government Procurement and Efficiency

  • An April 15 executive order, titled “Restoring Common Sense to Federal Procurement,” calls for a comprehensive reform and amendment of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the primary body of regulations governing federal procurement. The order aims to enhance the federal procurement system’s efficiency and to remove unnecessary regulations. For more details, see this blog post.
  • An April 16 executive order, titled “Ensuring Commercial, Cost-Effective Solutions in Federal Contracts,” directs agencies to procure commercially available products to the “maximum extent practicable.” The order directs a new review and oversight process for pursuing non-commercial products, such as custom-developed products or services. For more details, see this blog post.
  • An April 24 executive order, titled “Strengthening Probationary Periods in the Federal Service,” establishes a new Civil Service Rule XI. The rule mandates agencies to use probationary or trial periods to assess employees’ fitness and to affirmatively certify that such employees’ “continued employment will advance the public interest” before finalizing their federal appointment at the end of this probationary period.

Data Security Program

On April 11, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released guidance regarding the Data Security Program (DSP), which came into effect on April 8. The DSP, which was originally introduced under the Biden administration, restricts data transactions that could grant “covered persons” with connections to “countries of concern,” such as China, access to US sensitive personal data. To learn more details and for guidance on what the DSP means for companies, see this blog post and Client Alert.

Immigration

Legal Challenges

Several courts have pushed back on the Trump administration’s use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

  • On April 19, the Supreme Court issued an order directing the government to not remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center, located in Texas, in connection with a case that had been pending the Fifth Circuit’s ruling.
  • On April 22, the Colorado District Court ruled that the administration cannot deport individuals in Colorado based on the Act, and the Maryland District Court ruled that the administration wrongly deported individuals.

Civil Rights

On April 23, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy.” The order targets disparate-impact liability, which it characterizes as the “presumption of unlawful discrimination … where there are any differences in outcomes in certain circumstances among different races, sexes, or similar groups.” The order states that the use of disparate-impact liability is a danger to the principle of equality of opportunity and hinders businesses from employment decisions based on merit. The order directs the elimination of the use of disparate-impact liability “in all contexts to the maximum degree possible.”

Under the order, all previous presidential actions based on disparate-impact liability have been revoked. All agencies are to deprioritize enforcement of laws and regulations based on disparate-impact liability. All pending proceedings relying on theories of disparate-impact liability are to be reevaluated. The US Attorney General is to repeal or amend all Title VI (racial non-discrimination) regulations that contemplate disparate-impact liability. Furthermore, the order directs the US Attorney General to determine whether federal authorities preempt state laws or practices that impose disparate-impact liability.

Key Appointments

On April 21, new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins was sworn in. Chairman Atkins, who served as SEC Commissioner from 2002 to 2008, returns to the SEC from the private sector. During his confirmation hearing, he cited a “return to common sense” and “clear rules of the road” as his priorities, and noted that he wants to eliminate ESG disclosure requirements. For more details, see this blog post.

Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender has replaced Gary Shapley as acting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) commissioner.