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In late October, before President-elect won the electoral college, he .
On the first day, he said he would take steps to 鈥渞estore security and the constitutional rule of law.鈥� One of the steps: 鈥渃ancel every unconstitutional executive action, memorandum, and order issued by President [Barack] Obama.鈥�
Trump also stated he would require that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations must be eliminated; he will renegotiate NAFTA, or withdraw from the deal; he will withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership; he will lift 鈥淥bama-Clinton roadblocks and allow vital energy infrastructure projects, like the Keystone Pipeline, to move forward."
And a suggests one of the earliest steps Mr. Trump might take after the inauguration would be to lighten the Supreme Court caseload.
, professor at Houston鈥檚 South Texas College of Law, says Trump will likely bring the Supreme Court back up to nine justices, then quickly clear cases from their docket.
"One of the most amazing parts of the Obama administration is how much has been accomplished by executive action,鈥� Blackman says. 鈥淲hatever President Obama's giveth, Donald Trump's Sharpie and Twitter can taketh away. And by the stroke of a pen, he can make a lot of these cases simply go away.鈥�
Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA) and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
In 2014, Obama issued executive actions allowing five million immigrants without legal U.S. documentation who are parents of citizens or lawful permanent residents to apply for work permits and safety from deportation.
Texas and 25 other states . On Feb. 2015 a federal court on . The Supreme Court and the suit is proceeding to trial.
"This case is gone,鈥� Blackman says. 鈥淚 fully expect on Jan. 20 President Trump will sign an order saying DAPA is fired."
Directive to Public Schools to Honor Students鈥� Gender Identity and Choice of Bathroom Use
On May 13, President Obama 鈥� through the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education 鈥� issued a letter in the country to . As a basis for this directive, the Obama administration interpreted Title IX, which says you can鈥檛 discriminate on the basis of sex, as including gender identity.
Texas and 10 other states filed suit stating the and could cause negative changes in the operations of public school districts. The Supreme Court has said it will .
鈥淎 Trump administration can simply withdraw that letter 鈥� in which case the Texas case goes away,鈥� Blackman says. 鈥淭here'll be a serious shift in how the transgender bathroom cases proceed."
There's another case from Virginia regarding whether a high school student transitioning from female to male is . Blackman says the case could stick around or get sent back to a lower court.
Birth Control Coverage and the Affordable Care Act
In 2010, Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, mandating all citizens get health insurance coverage. What wasn鈥檛 included in the law was a mandate for insurance companies to cover birth control or contraceptives. But in May 2015, the Obama administration to health insurers to .
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a brief one month later brought by East Texas Baptist University and Houston Baptist University against the directive. The Supreme Court , but split four to four and .
Blackman says the is who鈥檚 exempted from the mandate.
"There's a very strong chance that the Trump administration will say 鈥極kay religious charities ... we're simply going to exempt you from the mandate altogether,鈥欌�� Blackman says. 鈥淢aybe the government will pay for women's birth control, [or women] will get it through a different plan. ... I think this is a likely way that this case can be resolved without the Supreme Court having to delve into these thorny issues of religious liberty once again."
But Trump鈥檚 will be harder said than done, Blackman says.
"It's impossible to repeal the Affordable Care Act in its entirety through executive action,鈥� Blackman says. 鈥淵ou would actually need a legislative vote to get rid of Obamacare. And this can be done, but the biggest hurdle will be the filibuster, and whether Democrats willing to filibuster the repeal.鈥�
But Republicans could choose to bypass the filibuster or get rid of it altogether.
Clean Power Plan and the Environmental Protection Agency
Two dozen states, , and a coal mining company filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency over an August 2015 Obama Administration mandate . The directive asked states to shift from coal to natural gas and renewable energy by 2030.
鈥淲e have this Clean Power Plan to impose vast restriction in how much CO2 we can emit,鈥� Blackman says. 鈥淭his is all done through executive action. ... President Trump can simply withdraw the Clean Power Plan, undo the regulations issued by the EPA. 鈥� This is a consequence of not achieving enduring change through statute and the Clean Power Plan is basically gone.鈥�
