President Donald Trump’s first day in office was a flurry of activity. 

It included dozens of executive orders, as well as pardons for 1,500 people convicted or charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol in 2021 — with a number of those pardoned from Michigan.

Trump signed more executive orders on his first day in office than any president before him, and today on The Metro, we dig into some of these orders and discuss the boundaries of presidential power.

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Former Republican candidate for Michigan governor Ryan Kelley was among the individuals who received a pardon for their role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol Riot. Kelley pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge related to the incident and served two months in prison.

The Metro producer Sam Corey spoke with Kelley about how it felt to be pardoned by the president.

“I have already served 60 days in a federal prison, paid the fine, went through all the stuff they wanted me to,” Kelley said. “So you can’t get any of that back, but it feels good to have received the pardon from the president.” 

Executive orders signed by Trump are already facing challenges in court, Legal expert Barb McQuade said. 

“You can’t change the constitution or a statute with an executive order, and some of these executive orders appear, at least to me, to cross those lines,” McQuade said.

We asked our listeners:

“What do you make of President Trump’s first few days in office?”

Anthony in Westland said: “It’s extremely disheartening, in a sense. [Trump] promised a number of these different things, and sure enough, he is proving to be extremely competent in doing those things, much to the dismay of people like myself and a number of others.”

More headlines from The Metro on Jan. 24, 2024:

• On Thursday, a federal judge in Seattle temporarily struck down Trump’s new order that would end birthright citizenship. It would mean people born in the U.S. to parents who aren’t U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents would no longer have citizenship. It’s now the subject of multiple lawsuits — including one filed by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel — along with attorneys general in 21 other states. Christine Sauve of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. joined the show to discuss what all this means for local residents.
• Michigan Public Radio Network capitol reporter Colin Jackson joined the show to share the latest news coming out of Lansing.
• The Detroit Land Bank was created in 2008. According to the Land Bank, 90,000 properties went into the bank and about 60,000 are left. Detroit City Council would like to change their contract with the Land Bank, but Detroit Documenter Ben Haddix and Coordinator Lynelle Herndon joined the show to explain.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.