By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) has unveiled a new tool to monitor actions coming out of the White House. The CBCF Executive Order Tracker: Understanding What’s at Stake for Black America supplies Black people, researchers and advocates with real-time updates and insights into how each order could impact the lives of Black Americans.
The platform was designed by the CBCF’s Center for Policy Analysis and Research. It comes at a time where leaders of the organization believe African Americans need to stay informed more now than ever before.
“During this unprecedented time, disengagement is not an option because the decisions made at the highest levels of government have real, tangible consequences for Black people and their livelihoods,” said Jonathan Cox, vice president of the CBCF’s Center for Policy Analysis and Research. “That’s why we’ve developed our executive orders tracker—to provide a clear, accessible way for Black communities to understand and respond to executive actions.”
In the first week of the 47th president’s term in office, he signed an unprecedented 36 executive orders. According to the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), that number now stands at 93 just two months into his second presidency. Over the course of his entire first term, Trump signed 220 executive orders.
The new platform enables users to filter their searches by government agency and issue area. For the latter, the CBCF identified key issues affecting the Black community, including civil rights, criminal justice, education, economic opportunity, health and immigration.
Cox said the tracker empowers a broad range of stakeholders. Activists can use it to mobilize communities in pushing back against policies that pose a threat to Black lives. Researchers can harness the platform’s data to conduct policy analysis, identify trends and devise evidence-based solutions to inform legislative initiatives.
Of the slew of executive orders signed by the 47th president, Cox identified those aimed at ending diversity, equity and inclusion as particularly alarming.
“These measures threaten to roll back years of hard-won gains in access to capital, employment opportunities and representation in key institutions,” said Cox. “Additionally, an executive order framed as ‘ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity’ has led to direct attacks on Black history and funding cuts for Black-owned businesses.”
During this chaotic time, Cox reaffirmed the CBCF’s commitment to empowering the global Black community.
“As policies shift rapidly at the federal level, our goal is to ensure that Black Americans have the information and resources needed to navigate these changes and take action where it matters most,” said Cox. “We recognize that executive actions can have both immediate and long-term effects on our communities, which is why we are dedicated to providing clear, accessible and expert-driven analysis of these policies to ensure that everyone understands not just what is happening, but what it means for their rights, opportunities and futures.”
