# Cato in the News 

##### News Notes 

#### 23 Trump Executive Orders Followed Cato’s Blueprint 

Before the election, Cato’s *Handbook on Executive Orders and Presidential Directives* laid out a blueprint for restoring constitutionally limited government and protecting individual rights. Now, just two months into his second term, President Trump has issued 23 executive orders that reflect Cato’s proposals. These include ending federal equity programs altering schools’ policies, revoking affirmative action in federal hiring and contracting, lifting executive restrictions on energy production, and cutting wasteful subsidies for high-cost, low-quality health care programs.

#### 200+ Congressional Staffers Have Joined Cato’s Fellowship Programs 

In Washington’s hyper-polarized environment, opportunities for meaningful, cross-partisan discussions are rare. But Cato’s Congressional Fellowship Programs provide just that— weekly, off-the-record policy discussions with leading experts and Hill staffers from both sides of the aisle. Demand is so high that many of these eight-week programs, which cover topics from health care and economics to legal studies and foreign policy, have waiting lists. One Democratic staffer summed up the impact: “Certain speakers changed my perspective on issues. As a Democrat, I appreciated the balance of fellows.”

#### Key Federal Nominees Took the Stage at Cato Events in 2024 

Several of President Trump’s top agency picks joined Cato events in 2024 to discuss urgent policy challenges. Martin Makary, nominee for FDA commissioner, discussed his book, *Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health,* with Cato’s Jeffrey A. Singer. National Institutes of Health director nominee Jay Bhattacharya joined Singer and Ryan Bourne to examine the film *COVID Collateral: Where Do We Go for Truth*? And Energy Secretary Chris Wright teamed up with Cato’s Marian Tupy and the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship to make the case for unleashing energy productivity.

### Recent Op-Eds

![The Atlantic Logo](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/2024-06/1024px-The_Atlantic_magazine_logo.svg_.png?itok=j9NHOB0d) 

#### [A Bogus New Rationale For Trump’s Economic Agenda ](/commentary/bogus-new-rationale-trumps-economic-agenda)

— By Scott Lincicome 

![US News & World Report - Logo](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/2025-03/logo-usnews-black.png?itok=cQzEHxcl) 

#### [USAID Failed Because Foreign Aid Doesn’t Work ](/commentary/usaid-failed-because-foreign-aid-doesnt-work)

— By Ian Vásquez 

![MSNBC Logo](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/2025-03/MSNBC_2015-2021_logo.png?itok=rSy2EF2G) 

#### [Ross Ulbricht Didn’t Deserve to Die in Prison. Thanks to Trump He Won’t. ](/commentary/ross-ulbricht-didnt-deserve-die-prison-thanks-trump-he-wont)

— By Clark Neily 

![Fox Logo - B&W](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/2025-03/Fox_Broadcasting_Company_logo_%282019%29.png?itok=mk4igFT8) 

#### [I’m a Black Ph.D. and Here’s Why I Left Academia ](/commentary/im-black-phd-heres-why-i-left-academia)

— By Erec Smith 

![Time - Logo](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/2025-03/time-logo-black-transparent.png?itok=WRE9p-VP) 

#### [How Trump Can Be a Middle East Peacemaker ](/commentary/how-trump-can-be-middle-east-peacemaker)

— By Jon Hoffman and Justin Logan 

### TV Highlights

[ ![](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser_2x/public/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_15995.jpg?itok=wOQwu_Z6) 

Jennifer Huddleston urges the Trump administration to diverge from Lina Khan’s antitrust policies on Bloomberg TV’s *Bloomberg Technology* 

](/node/107820/embed) 

[ ![](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser_2x/public/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_30720.jpg?itok=BO9Lv5DL) 

Nor­bert Michel calls for shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on CBS’s *60 Minutes* 

](/node/112486/embed) 

[ ![](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser_2x/public/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_21712.jpg?itok=iQ9LQFqG) 

Thomas A. Berry discusses the SCOTUS case *TikTok, Inc. v. Garland* on the *CBS Evening News* with Norah O’Donnell 

](/node/111808/embed) 

[ ![](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser_2x/public/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_30645.jpg?itok=v7AeKgmk) 

Romina Boccia opposes a DOGE dividend to taxpayers and a sovereign wealth fund on CNBC’s *Worldwide Exchange* 

](/node/112449/embed) 

[ ![](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser_2x/public/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_30707.jpg?itok=XWEAunj5) 

Scott Lincicome debated the Trump administration’s tariffs on PBS’s *Firing Line with Margaret Hoover* 

](/node/112485/embed) 

[ ![](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/content_teaser_2x/public/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_30483.jpg?itok=3DSyUGLh) 

Justin Logan discusses the Trump administration’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war on CNN’s *Laura Coates Live* 

](/node/112324/embed)