The Trump Effect: How his executive orders could change North Carolina

by Sarah Michels, Carolina Public Press
March 5, 2025

Upon taking office, President Donald Trump wasted no time before issuing a series of wide-reaching executive orders impacting federal funding, immigration, diversity efforts and environmental work. 

Now, some North Carolina lawmakers are falling in line while others are planning how to fight back. 

For state Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch, Trump’s “frenetic” pace is nothing more than a distraction. Batch, a Democrat, would rather focus on state issues. Talk to her if an executive order isn’t blocked by the courts. 

Still, in today’s political environment, state and local conversations increasingly mimic the national rhetoric. Such is the case in North Carolina, where Trump’s impact can already be seen through copycat legislation, funding cuts and policy shifts. 

Trump and Musk

With Trump’s backing, Elon Musk’s newly-formed Department of Government Efficiency — more commonly known as DOGE — has opened a Pandora’s box of unprecedented cost-cutting measures. 

First on the block was the U.S. Agency for International Development, which provides aid to countries pursuing democracy, struggling with poverty or recovering from disaster. Then came proposed funding limits to the National Institutes of Health, which supports medical research. 

Next could be the U.S. Department of Education. 

After that, it’s anyone’s guess. 

State Sen. Sophia Chitlik, D-Durham, said the threat of losing funding at any moment influences countless industries. 

“I would argue that it affects every major industry in our nation,” she said. 

North Carolina is home to a pair of USAID’s biggest contractors: RTI International and FHI 360. Funding cuts may amount to a loss of 1,500 jobs, Chitlik said. 

According to Batch, many of the state’s farmers could struggle from cuts, too, because they send much of their crops abroad through USAID programs.

Medical research at stake 

A Trump executive order would cap NIH funding for indirect expenses at 15% of the grant amount. Indirect expenses pay for staff, maintenance and safety measures among other related needs. Current practice involves case-by-case negotiations between NIH and research groups. 

Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill receive rates above 55% for indirect costs as top-15 recipients of NIH funding. Lost funding, if Trump wins in court, could put 25,000 North Carolina jobs at risk, Chitlik said. But more than the potential brain drain of researchers leaving North Carolina to pursue funding elsewhere, critical research may be lost, she added. 

“I have been in touch with constituents who are literally on the verge of major breakthroughs in cancer, whose work has been completely disrupted,” Chitlik said. “I mean, we’re talking about innovation, destroyed jobs, destroyed human potential, destroyed by this instability.” 

Environmental funding frozen

The Inflation Reduction Act, former President Joe Biden’s landmark environmental legislation, is also now frozen under the new administration.

According to an organization called Climate Power, North Carolina invested over $20 billion in new clean energy projects since the bill’s passage — a total of over 17,000 jobs that have revitalized rural communities. 

The exact implications of the frozen funding remain unclear, but are sure to be damaging to North Carolina’s carbon neutrality goals, said Democratic Sen. Graig Meyer, who represents Caswell, Orange and Person counties. 

State lawmakers take after Trump

North Carolina Republicans, inspired by Musk’s DOGE, have launched efforts of their own to cut down on alleged waste and fraud in government spending. So far, the House Oversight Committee has requested the state treasurer, secretary of revenue, state controller, secretary of transportation, state budget director and DMV commissioner testify as part of that effort. 

In the meantime, Trump is reportedly drafting plans to eliminate the Department of Education in favor of leaving educational policy to the states. 

While he technically needs Congress to do so, he’s unlikely to garner enough opposition to thwart his plans. In early March, most members of the agency received emails offering them a $25,000 buyout.

Chitlik is worried about early childhood education cuts, considering 17% of North Carolina children live below the poverty line, according to 2023 Kids Count data. 

Additionally, Meyer is concerned about the fate of Title I funding for high-poverty schools and special education services overseen by the Department of Education. 

“Title I funding is one of the largest pieces of economic redistribution that the federal government has — taking money from rich communities and giving it to poor communities through their schools,” Meyer said. “And so that means that in many of your redder states and redder areas, if you get rid of or cut that funding, you’re hurting the Trump base disproportionately.” 

FEMA’s fate could hurt Western NC 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency could also be on the chopping block. 

When Trump visited Western North Carolina to survey Helene damage, he mentioned major reform to the federal disaster agency, suggesting states should play larger roles in recovery. 

Nobody is entirely sure what he means, Meyer said. But he added that mayors in the region are feeling neglected and may be reaching a breaking point as they wait for federal and state funding to reach them. 

DEI’s funeral comes to North Carolina

With a stroke of a pen, Trump signed the death warrant for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the federal government. 

Now, North Carolina Republicans are looking to do the same on the state level. On Monday, Senate President Phil Berger filed Senate Bill 227, which would eliminate DEI in public education. 

Under the proposed legislation, educators could not teach certain “divisive concepts” relating to race and sex. Also, banned would be DEI training, offices and hiring practices. 

Last week, the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus spoke out against the bill and Trump’s actions. 

Democratic state Sen. Kandie Smith, who represents Edgecombe and Pitt counties, said anti-DEI efforts promote a false narrative that embracing diversity, equity and inclusion means lowering standards and hiring unqualified candidates. 

“But the truth is, it expands opportunities without lowering standards because talent and opportunity are equitably distributed,” Smith said. 

NC Republicans further Trump immigration mandate

By voting Trump into office, North Carolina Republicans argue that residents stamped their approval on his immigration agenda, federally and statewide. 

Enter Senate Bill 153: the North Carolina Border Protection Act. 

The proposed legislation would do four things:

First, it would require state law enforcement agencies to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Second: It would charge the state budget office to determine whether non-citizens are getting public benefits they are ineligible to receive. 

Third: It would incentivize counties and cities to comply with laws banning them from acting as sanctuaries for undocumented immigrants by removing their immunity from civil lawsuits if a foreigner commits a crime within their borders. 

And finally, it would ban University of North Carolina institutions from restricting immigration enforcement in any way. 

The bill takes the “necessary next steps” after last year’s House Bill 10, which required county sheriffs to comply with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said bill sponsor Sen. Buck Newton, a Republican representing Greene, Wayne and Wilson counties. 

The ties that bind

So far, Democratic Attorney General Jeff Jackson has sued Trump over four executive orders and actions alongside his counterparts from other states. 

But if North Carolina Republicans have their way, Jackson won’t be able to join suits for much longer. 

Senate Bill 58 would ban the attorney general from fighting against any presidential executive order in court. 

State Sen. Timothy Moffitt, a Republican representing Henderson, Polk and Rutherford counties, is sponsoring the bill. For the past several decades, Moffitt said the General Assembly has given executive officers too much authority. 

“We need to control that,” he said. “One person shouldn’t have ultimate power or too much power or too much ability to do at will.”

State Sen. Mujtaba Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg, said that North Carolinians voted for Jackson and Trump, which suggests they do want the checks and balances of a divided government. 

“Today might be politically convenient for you to go after a Democratic attorney general,” Mohammed said. “We have a Republican in the White House. But imagine if this was a different scenario, where you had Kamala Harris as president with executive orders, and you had Dan Bishop as our attorney general. Would you want to tie Dan Bishop’s hands?”

This article first appeared on Carolina Public Press and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The post Trump executive orders will have various effects on North Carolina appeared first on carolinapublicpress.org