Press Releases

Today, Congressman Salud Carbajal (CA-24) took aim at the vast array of executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office, highlighting the orders that range from harmful to the bottom line of American families to fully outside the legal scope of what a President can do without approval by Congress or an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

President Trump yesterday ordered that “all agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act…or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” (otherwise known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law).

Congress has approved these funds, and a halt to that funding is expressly forbidden by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. This is the same law that President Trump broke in his first term when he held up aid approved by Congress for Ukraine.

“President Trump couldn’t make it one day without issuing orders that are both illegal and detrimental to American families. As the President was literally impeached over his withholding of Congressionally-approved funds in his first term, I would have thought he’d remember this law the second time around,” said Rep. Carbajal. “Not only is this executive order illegal, but it will be a job killer for communities across the United States. These two landmark laws are responsible for more than a million American jobs, and investments that are lowering energy costs, improving our infrastructure, and doing all the good things President Trump claims to support.”

President Trump also ordered the Executive Branch to no longer extend citizenship to everyone born in the United States. Birthright citizenship is protected explicitly in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States…are citizens of the United States.”

“In the game of federal power rock-paper-scissors, Constitution beats Executive Order - every time,” said Rep. Carbajal. “The 14th Amendment is clear, and I seriously hope someone shows our new President some Schoolhouse Rock before trying to unilaterally rewrite the foundation of our democracy. While I expect this order to be worth about as much as the paper it was printed on, I will continue to fight in Congress to ensure the bedrock rights of our citizens are not undermined.”

Congressman Carbajal also called out President Trump’s repeal of actions taken by President Joe Biden aimed at lowering prescription drug costs for older Americans.

“President Biden and I worked together to pass legislation that has helped save American seniors more than $1 billion on their prescription drugs. Donald Trump is showing where his priorities are, putting revenge politics over his campaign promise to actually help lower costs for Americans. I will fight to protect this underlying law in Congress and call out any attempt to raise prices for the Central Coast families I represent,” said Rep. Carbajal.

Congressman Salud Carbajal will continue to work in Congress to respond to the initial actions of President Donald Trump on these and other issues facing the Central Coast.

Central Coast residents seeking to know more about these and other actions from Congressman Carbajal are invited to sign up for his newsletter here.