Trump's First 100 Days

Trumps has officially been in office for 63 days as of March 24th, 2017. In that short snippet of time, President Trump has managed to lose the majority of approval within 8 total days of his presidency, setting a new record. His approval rating is 39% (according to Pew Research Center) to 40% (according to Gallup polls), 21% lower than the historic average for the first month of a President’s first term.

No matter where you stand on the affairs of Donald Trump, he is our president and some rather notable events have already taken place.Following any President’s inauguration,, many of these actions have been accompanied by controversy. It’s often difficult to sort through the mass of information in the media regarding Trump’s various affairs, so at The Jagwire we strive to provide you with easily digestible news.

First, we have Mrs. Betsy DeVos. She is now the Secretary of Education. She is, in essence, a philanthropist- she and her family donated millions to the Republican Party. She has had virtually no political experience. She does have experience serving as Chairwoman/Board Member of several organizations, such as the Michigan Republican Party, the Foundation for Excellence in Education, the Alliance for School Choice, and the All Children Matter PAC, the latter three being advocates for school choice and the Voucher System.

There has been a lot of jabber in the media regarding the Voucher System, but what is it? The Voucher System is a system that would provide every student, enrolled in a public school, a voucher that quantifies the amount of money the government spends to send this child to public school, or school of their choosing (granted if they are accepted). The student is then allowed to take this voucher to a private or charter school and have that amount count towards their yearly tuition.

Many people fear that by giving students this money, typically affluent (families with an abundance of money) families will be able to send their kids to private school and impecunious public schools will lose funding, leaving many inner-city kids behind with even worse education. Another concern associated with the Voucher System is the increase in charter schools. Charter schools are schools that are government funded (some are privately owned) but some run independently of the government’s established school system. Concerns surrounding charter schools are the quality of education as they don’t need to adhere to all of the testing and standards that many traditional public schools face. In essence, anyone with funding and a lawyer could create a school.

Another issue many people have with Betsy DeVos is the fact that she has no teaching experience- she has a Bachelor of Arts from Calvin College of Michigan. Many teachers struggle with the fact that a person who has never been a teacher or worked in a school, is in charge of every aspect regarding education.

Many people wrestle with her blatant incompetence. During her confirmation hearing, when asked if guns should be allowed on campus for any reason, she responded with her first concern being bears. “I will refer back to Sen. Enzi and the school he was talking about in Wyoming. I think probably there, I would imagine that there is probably a gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies,” She seemed to refuse to address actual concerns of attacks on schools using guns or schools being defended by firearms.

Despite opposition to Mrs. DeVos, many believe she is the next step in shaking up American politics, bringing in an outsider, accompanied by new ideas and views. Her swearing-in can be seen as an extension of the pundit generation of politicians Trump has introduced to the political scene. No matter what your opinion of her, Betsy DeVos is our Secretary of Education.

Another major change following Trump’s inauguration is the possible swearing in of Justice Neil Gorsuch. He has been a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals since August of 2006. He earned a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard, and Doctorate of Philosophy from Oxford. Highly educated and highly experienced, but where does he stand on the major issues facing Americans?

Gorsuch is an originalist, meaning he seeks to interpret the Constitution literally- as it was originally written. This usually results in Conservative views and responses. He strongly opposes assisted suicide and euthanasia. He puts a high stress on the intrinsic value of human life. He also sided with Hobby Lobby in the case Hobby Lobby v. Selelius, a famous case regarding companies providing birth control to employees under the Affordable Care Act, despite religious opposition. The Affordable Care Act called for employers to provide birth control under their insurance for employees. Hobby Lobby had religious apprehension surrounding birth control and refused to provide it for employees.

Neil Gorsuch is somewhat supportive of gay marriage, as he attended an employee's marriage. He is difficult to to pin down on his beliefs surrounding gay marriage, as he has never directly ruled on a case concerning the rights of the LGBTQA+ community. However, he has stated that Liberals rely too much on court rulings rather than attempting to change the public opinion concerning such issues.

Three or so months into Donald Trump’s presidency, several matters (such as cabinet members, prominent leaders, healthcare, and immigration security) concerning the shift of power from a Democratic-led country to a Republican-led country will continue to change. As a citizen / inhabitant of the United States, it becomes ultimately more important to educate yourself on the changes that are currently taking place.