(Luke Cooper’s post from the ABC NEWS AUS on21 January 2025.)
Some January 6 offenders could be freed within
hours: Earlier my colleague Andrew Thorpe reported that Donald Trump said
during his latest speech that he plans to issue pardons for at least some of
those convicted over the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol — who he
refers to as "hostages".
"Tonight, I'm going to be signing on the J6
hostages' pardons to get them out," he says, prompting a massive round of
applause. As soon as I leave I'm going to the Oval Office and will be signing
pardons for a lot of people."
Reuters is now reporting that an official from the US Federal Bureau of Prisons says it is "possible" that some of the January 6 offenders will be released within hours. Despite that, no formal paperwork has been received to authorise the order. Donald Trump has just walked back into the White House, for the first time in his second term as president.
Republican commentator Liz Mair joined my
colleagues on the ABC's News Channel a little earlier to offer her analysis of
the incoming Trump administration. Ms Mair said Trump would no doubt have
learned from his first term in office about how to effectively pass policy
through Congress and the courts. "This time you're going to see things
handled very differently," she said. "There will be tonnes of legal
challenges on various things that he will do."
Joe Hockey, the former Australian treasurer and
ambassador to the US, has spoken with Radio National Breakfast's Sally Sara
about his key takeaways from Inauguration Day so far. Mr Hockey, who is
currently based in Washington, DC, doubled down on his prediction that Trump's
second term will be "disruptive."
"As we've just seen from Donald Trump's — not only his inaugural speech, but also the speech he gave afterwards, which is pretty unprecedented," he said. "The handbrake is off, and he is not constrained by the need to be re-elected. He's not constrained by a Democrat House or Senate. He's not constrained by a legal system that he sees as having been utilised to try and destroy him.
"He's not constrained by his own worry about
his financial future, and he's not constrained about what people think of him.
He feels he's got a mandate, and he's going to roll that out no matter
what."
In summary, the orders and directives Trump just signed at the Capital One Arena:
Rescinded 78
Biden-era orders
Put a freeze on
any new regulations
Put a freeze on
federal hiring
Required
federal workers to return to the office full-time (rather than work from home)
Required every
department and agency to "address the cost-of-living crisis"
Withdrew the US
from the Paris Climate Agreement
Notified the UN
that the US was out of the Paris Climate Agreement
Ordered the
"restoration of free speech" and the prevention of "government
censorship"
Ordered an end
to "the weaponisation of government against the political adversaries of
the previous administration"
Of course, some of those will have little practical impact, where others are likely to have far-reaching implications. He's expected to sign more at the Oval Office shortly. He's yet to sign orders relating to his immigration and energy policies.
