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Since taking office on January 20, 2025, President Trump has issued dozens of Executive Orders, many of which may directly impact your work as a therapist. You may feel the impact in innumerable ways, from a loss of grant funding to support your patients to a patient experiencing distress because of a loved one’s deportation. While the flurry of new Executive Orders has waned over recent months, we are now beginning to see how the Administration is carrying out the policy changes directed in the Executive Orders. Many of the Executive Orders and the resulting actions taken by federal agencies are now being litigated in court. Some have been put on hold, while others remain in effect. CAMFT has been and continues to track those Executive Orders, the actions taken by federal government agencies, and litigation most likely to affect our members and their practices directly.
An Executive Order is an official directive from the President of the United States to manage federal government operations or to carry out policy priorities. Executive Orders have the force of law but do not require approval from Congress. To access all Executive Orders issued by President Trump, please click here.
It depends. Some Executive Orders require no further action and will take effect once the President signs them. Other Executive Orders require additional actions to be taken by federal Executive Branch agencies. These actions could include promulgating a new federal regulation, which is a very lengthy process requiring public comment, submitting a report, issuing a memorandum, or other action. Finally, some Executive Orders may lay out the Administration’s policy goals, which sometimes require acts of Congress to address through legislation.
As we have seen, dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the Administration stemming from the policy changes set out in the Executive Orders. For a comprehensive list of the current status of ongoing legal challenges, please visit this litigation tracker.
CAMFT is actively working with other associations and our policy experts to assess how the Executive Orders and other actions taken by Executive Branch agencies may impact our members and the association. CAMFT recognizes the impact uncertainty stemming from these actions may have not only on you, our members, but also on your patients. Please read the full statement CAMFT issued in response to the Executive Orders, as well as various social policy statements, and continuing education.
CAMFT is also launching a member survey to assess how the Executive Actions are affecting our members and their therapy practices. Please access our member survey here.
California’s Attorney General has written many opinion papers, brought over a dozen lawsuits, and filed friend-of-the-court briefs in cases focused on challenging some of President Trump’s Executive Orders and resulting federal actions. Please visit the Attorney General’s website to learn more about what California is doing in the courts.
California’s Attorney General has also issued guidance documents for Californians in response to some of the recent federal actions. Such guidance includes: Students and Educators on Immigration Enforcement on School Campuses; and Businesses on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Initiatives in the Workplace.
More recently, California joined with a coalition of other states’ attorneys general to submit a public comment in response to proposed changes to the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program and the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program. In the comment letter, the attorneys general highlighted how proposed changes to these programs unnecessarily limit grant recipients to programs that increase school psychologists over other qualified mental health care providers, such as MFTs. You can read the comment letter here.
California law governs most of your day-to-day work. However, the actions of the federal government may reach your practice in innumerable ways. From HIPAA to Medicare, immigration to gender-affirming care, to directing funding away from housing-first initiatives for unhoused people, and beyond, the actions of the federal government are likely to touch your practice and underpin some of the issues your patients bring into their work. To better understand the many policy topics addressed by the Executive Orders, click here.
While Executive Orders have the force of law, many of the policy priorities advanced by the Executive Orders require congressional action. As a constituent, you can share your feedback with your elected officials. If you would like to have your voice heard, we recommend you reach out to your U.S. Senators and/or Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, by writing or calling them directly.
In addition to contacting your elected officials, you may want to connect with advocacy groups to lend your voice to larger efforts in response to the ongoing federal actions. Some groups to consider include:
Ensure you receive CAMFT’s monthly e-newsletter. If you need to update your membership information to include your e-mail address for electronic communications, please get in touch with CAMFT’s Member Services department at (858) 292-2666. CAMFT’s e-newsletters are available here.
If your therapy practice has been directly impacted by an Executive Order or one of the subsequent federal government actions, please tell us your story.