Yolo County is now tracking how presidential actions could trickle down to impact day-to-day county government operations.

Interim County Administrator Dirk Brazil presented the Presidential Executive Order Tracker during this Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, which documents every executive order President Donald Trump has signed and the potential it has to affect anything related to the county’s administrative arm.

Tracking federal executive activities is crucial when various projects and initiatives depend on federal funding, which has recently become a frequent target of Trump’s executive order agenda. Five orders are listed on the Yolo County tracker as having the potential to negatively impact county operations, ranging from being able to place bids on contractors for regional improvements to resolutions passed over eight years ago.

Executive Order: Ensuring Accountability for all Agencies

This order ensures presidential supervision and control of the entirety of the Executive branch. What this would mean is all executive departments and agencies — including independent agencies — will submit for review all proposed and final significant regulatory actions to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Executive Office of the President before publication in the Federal Register.

According to the Yolo County tracker, it’s “worth noting the potential reduction of checks and balances on executive authority, specifically, over the control of independent agencies’ determinations and direction. Difficult to quantify a direct local impact to date.

Executive Order: Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy

This order “commences a reduction in the size of the federal government,” according to the verbiage in the executive order. Within two weeks of signing, the head of the departments listed in the order needs to confirm compliance with the Office of Management and Budget. In reviewing budget requests submitted by these governmental entities, the OMB Director or the head of any executive department or agency charged with reviewing grant requests shall reject funding requests for the listed agencies.

This order may impact the county’s grant funding requests submitted to the governmental agencies deemed “unnecessary” by the Office of Management and Budget. The federal level placed these government entities on the order’s list, which could have an impact on funding for county-level agencies or initiatives:

The Presidio Trust, which is responsible for preserving Presidio National Park in San Francisco

The Inter-American Foundation, which aims to advance farmer-led economic growth, increased resilience and improved nutrition, particularly for women and children, through awarding grants to projects aiming to address that cause

The U.S. African Development Foundation, an independent U.S. government agency established by Congress to invest directly in African grassroots enterprises and social entrepreneurs. In addition to that, USADF’s investments are geared to increase incomes, revenues and jobs by encouraging market-based solutions to poverty.

The United States Institute of Peace, a nonpartisan, independent organization dedicated to protecting U.S. interests by helping to prevent violent conflicts and broker peace deals abroad

Executive Order: Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders

What this order states is that the leader of each federal department or agency will identify all programs funded by the government that currently allow undocumented persons to receive cash or non-cash benefits. Essentially, this would make it impossible for undocumented people to receive benefits such as food stamps, Medicare/Medicaid and more. It would also target “sanctuary” policies protecting undocumented persons from deportation.

According to the Yolo County tracker, this order impacts the 2025 Intergovernmental Advocacy Policy approved by the Board of Supervisors in their recent Feb. 11 meeting, which includes commitments such as:

Support actions that uphold the U.S. Constitution and due process rights for all people and protect the people and economy of Yolo County

Oppose actions that may be harmful to families or children or that interfere with a person’s right to pursue asylum in the United States or that result in a denial of due process of law.

Support actions that work to promote the health and safety of residents, without regard to immigration status.

Seek legal resources to support Yolo County residents with immigration issues

Support actions that ensure family unity, community security, respect, due process and support for all residents

In addition, HHSA services, as described, may be impacted:

HHSA operates without regard to individuals’ immigration status unless specific state or federal benefit programs require the collection of this information.

Our safety net programs: CPS and APS protect the public regardless of immigration status. Our general employment programs and agriculture worker programs generally serve the public regardless of immigration status.

CalWORKS has some specific programming for refugees and allowances for benefits for some mixed immigration families. The agency actively works with immigration rights groups and legal services to make referrals when warranted. At this point, Medi-Cal or health insurance for low-income individuals and families regardless of immigration status is essentially fully in place, whether that be through MediCal expansions, PRUCOL exemptions, or CMSP.

HHSA anticipates elevated public concerns with the utilization of the agency’s Social Services programs and the effects of family separation on the community. Families or individuals with mixed immigration status are often hesitant to apply for benefits they may be eligible for out of fear that their data may be used against them when legalizing their residency status.

Executive Order: The President’s “Department of Government Efficiency Cost Efficiency Initiative”

This order begins a shift in federal spending on contracts, grants and loans to make government spending more transparent and ensure accountability to the public. Each agency head, with help from their DOGE Team Lead, must create a system to record every payment made under the agency’s contracts and grants, along with a brief justification for each payment provided by the employee who approved it.

All payments from federal funds issued to Yolo County may be recorded using this new methodology, and new requirements for payments may be developed, which in turn could impact how much in funds the county receives.

Executive Order: Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production

Within 30 days of this order, the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, through the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), will issue updated guidance to improve timber production, forest management, and reduce delays and uncertainty in timber supply. Within 180 days, they will also consider adopting categorical exclusions from other agencies to streamline compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and reduce lengthy processes and costs for timber production, forest management and wildfire risk reduction.

Per the Strategic Plan County Goals, Yolo County has an interest in providing support for fire service sustainability to prevent wildfire risk. Updated guidance regarding tools for sound forest management and streamlining processes related to wildfire risk reduction treatments could be a benefit in pursuit of the county’s goals for effective fire mitigation.