President Donald Trump quickly put his stamp on federal government after his return to the White House this week with wide-ranging executive orders that are reshaping long-standing policies that have governed Georgia for generations.
The Republican promised on the campaign trail to deliver major victories to supporters who helped him recapture Georgia and land a decisive win over then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
But Trump’s supporters and critics are struggling to make sense of the sheer volume of orders poised to bring vast changes to the state’s immigration policy, economic agenda, environmental approach and other issues still taking shape.
Here’s a closer look at the fallout in Georgia of Trump’s shock-and-awe campaign.
Economy
Trump moved immediately to begin dismantling former President Joe Biden’s sweeping climate change law, a multibillion-dollar package of green energy incentives that helped turn Georgia into an emerging electric vehicle manufacturing hub.
While Trump and his allies cast the Democratic-backed law as a threat to gasoline vehicles, Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Republicans more often frame them as unfair incentives that hamstring the free market.
One of Trump’s first directives requires federal agencies to immediately halt spending on infrastructure measures promoting green energy incentives embedded in the law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act.
He also revoked a Biden directive that set a goal for half of new vehicles sold in 2030 to be powered by alternative energy. And he’s threatened to pare back tax credits that give buyers of new electric vehicles credits of up to $7,500, although that would require new legislation in Congress.
An intense lobbying campaign is underway to slow the rollback. The Zero Emission Transportation Association, an EV industry trade group, urged Trump to avoid “undercutting growth in battery and vehicle manufacturing here at home” or risk falling behind China and other rivals.
Credit: Courtesy of HMGMA
Credit: Courtesy of HMGMA
Hyundai Motor Group, the Korean automaking giant, has made large investments in U.S. manufacturing in recent years, including the largest economic development project in Georgia history. The company’s $7.6 billion electric vehicle factory near Savannah, which it calls a Metaplant, began pumping out cars in October.
Though the factory was announced before the incentives were approved, Hyundai is poised to benefit from many of the IRA’s provisions. But Jose Munoz, Hyundai’s top North American chief executive, previously said the company is “not planning our business based on tax credits,” which the company echoed in a statement this week.
Rivian, an EV startup promising to build a $5 billion factory in Georgia, didn’t respond. The automaker recently received final approval from the Biden administration for a $6.6 billion loan to ensure the stalled plant is built.
Kevin Ketels, a Wayne State University professor who specializes in global logistics, said these types of megaprojects aren’t easily dissuaded. But he said Trump’s policies could have a longer-range effect of curbing demand of electric vehicles.
“That would put the U.S. at a distinct strategic disadvantage compared to the rest of the world and foreign automakers who are producing electric vehicles.”
Immigration
After harnessing concerns about illegal immigration to win Georgia votes, Trump took immediate steps to initiate the mass deportation of people in the U.S. without authorization and revoke the constitutional right of birthright citizenship.
Both echo crackdowns Trump began during his first term in office and will trigger lengthy court battles from advocates who argue the 14th Amendment establishes the legal right to citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., regardless of their parents’ nationality.
The outcome could have vast impact in Georgia. An estimated 339,000 unauthorized immigrants call Georgia home — the seventh highest total in the nation. That includes more than 40,000 with temporary deportation protections, many of whom migrated from war-torn nations like Ukraine and Sudan.
Trump also directed the Department of Justice to investigate and potentially charge state and local officials who obstruct federal immigration steps, setting up a potential clash with leaders in Georgia’s Democratic strongholds.
While Georgia lawmakers banned local governments from adopting a “sanctuary policy” 15 years ago, some leaders in more liberal communities have limited their cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
But Trump’s approach has also deepened a Democratic rift over immigration policy. He’s expected to sign a bill that passed with significant Democratic support named for slain Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.
Tellingly, U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock each backed the measure, which mandates the detention of more unauthorized immigrants charged with crimes, including burglary, theft and shoplifting. The bill passed despite pushback from fellow Democrats who said it would inject chaos into the nation’s immigration system.
“Our U.S. senators saw the election results,” said Republican state Sen. Jason Anavitarte, one of the state’s top Latino officials. “We’re now seeing that shift back to the middle.”
Energy and environment
Declaring a “national energy emergency,” Trump signed orders to ease permitting for new power and gas pipelines, scaling back environmental restrictions and withdrawing from the Paris climate deal.
He also repealed Biden’s efforts to block oil drilling along vast sections of the U.S. coast. The move came just hours after Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr asked a judge to reverse a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling near Georgia.
Many Republicans along the coast criticized Trump’s first-term plan to open much of the nation’s offshore oil reserves to private development. They warned that this move could lead to an increase in oil spills, which pose a threat to the tourism and fisheries industries.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
That includes Kemp, who has said he backs offshore drilling but that doing so along Georgia’s coastline could raise military and tourism concerns. The GOP-controlled House seconded those worries in 2019 when it passed a resolution that opposed drilling and seismic testing off Georgia’s coast.
It’s unclear, however, if petroleum companies seize the opening, given the high costs of development and relatively low oil prices.
“They always fluctuate, but we do not have historically high energy prices and little that he’s talking about doing would actually lower energy prices,” said Michael Gerrard, professor of environmental law at Columbia Law School.
Social policies
In a major shift in federal policy, Trump declared the federal government would recognize “only two genders — male and female” and moved to rollback protections for transgender individuals.
That effort dovetails with a Republican-backed proposal in Georgia expected to move quickly through the state Legislature that would ban transgender girls from competing in women’s high school and collegiate sports.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Likewise, Trump’s orders to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs across the federal government also echo efforts in Georgia to squelch DEI initiatives efforts on college campuses.
Others hope the ascendant MAGA movement could break logjams over culture wars debates at the Capitol.
State Sen. Ed Setzler has pushed for more than a decade for a “religious liberty” measure that was vetoed by then-Gov. Nathan Deal in 2016 over concerns it was discriminatory. The Cobb County Republican said Trump’s return to the White House — and his outspoken support for a federal version of the legislation — could bring new momentum to the idea.
“There’s no reason to drag it out,” Setzler said.
Health care
For years, Kemp has opposed a full-scale Medicaid expansion without entirely ruling it out. But days before Trump’s inauguration the governor unequivocally said Georgia wouldn’t embrace that idea on his watch.
Kemp, whose term expires in January 2027, instead proposed changes to the limited health care program his administration engineered that ties work and academic requirements to eligibility.
Earlier this month, he said he would ask federal regulators to approve his plan to add parents and legal guardians of children 6 and younger to his program.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
That approach would likely have been rejected had Trump been defeated. Biden’s administration sought to block Kemp’s program, the only in the nation to have work requirements connected to Medicaid coverage.
But Kemp said he’s confident Trump’s administration will sign off on the changes, which could add thousands more to a program that has drawn only about 6,000 enrollees.
The governor, who has struck an alliance with Trump, predicted speedy approval from a “federal partner that wants to innovate efficiently.”
It’s a devastating blow to Democrats, along with a small-but-growing number of Republicans, who say a broader expansion is the best way to cover more than 240,000 poor Georgia adults who now lack health insurance.
State Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Democrat, said she can’t fathom why Kemp and his allies are pouring more public dollars into an “expensive bureaucracy delivering poor return on investment.
“It’s mind-boggling to double down on that mistake,” she said.
Business editor J. Scott Trubey contributed to this report.
