President Trump signed a new series of executive orders Tuesday, adding to his blizzard of actions aimed at transforming the federal government in his image.
One order aimed to cut costs for in vitro fertilization, or IVF, but fell well short of his campaign promise to fully fund the fertility treatments for all.
“The order directs policy recommendations to protect IVF access and aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted.
Trump also signed a second order that mandates government agencies publicize efforts to root out supposed waste or fraud.
The new Trump orders came a few hours before a new joint interview with sidekick Elon Musk was set to air in primetime.
Even before the new signings, Trump had penned more than 60 executive orders since returning to the White House for a second term.
He has enacted steep tariffs, sought to end birthright citizenship, curbed diversity programs and “gender radicalism” in the military and pardoned convicted January 6 rioters.
On IVF, Trump’s order will direct a government body to examine ways of lowering costs for the expensive procedure.
That’s a far cry from Trump’s August campaign promise to make the fertility treatments free for anyone who wants them, with the cost paid for by either the government or insurance companies.
“We are going to be paying for that treatment,” Trump said at an August campaign event before adding, “We’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay.”
Trump has positioned himself as a champion of IVF even though his right-wing Republican allies have passed laws declaring that life starts at conception, a stance that effectively outlaws the procedure.
In the first weeks of Trump’s second term, he has used the executive orders, which are signed statements directing action by the executive branch, to address issues that are usually dealt with by through legislation passed by Congress.
The White House decided to open up the late afternoon event to press coverage after initially saying it would not be allowed.
Trump’s executive orders at this point in his term far outpace any other president’s in the same timeframe, and have already spurred massive pushback in the courts, especially those that seek to cut funding or entire programs that have already been approved by Congress.
Legal challenges to Trump’s policies started on Inauguration Day and have continued at a furious pace since Jan. 20. The administration is facing some 70 lawsuits nationwide challenging his executive orders and moves to downsize the federal government.
Judges have issued more than a dozen orders at least temporarily blocking aspects of Trump’s agenda, ranging from an executive order to end U.S. citizenship extended automatically to people born in this country to the administration’s authorization of Musk’s team’s access to sensitive federal data.
The administration has notched a few wins, too, most significantly when a judge allowed it to move forward with a deferred resignation program spearheaded by Musk.
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