Since President Biden’s first week in office, he has fulfilled his campaign promise of suspending the program of leasing federal land for oil and gas production through his direction of the Department of the Interior. However, Monroe U.S. District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty, appointed during the Trump administration, issued a preliminary injunction to block the pausing of new oil and gas leases claiming Biden is overstepping his power and that it must be done with congressional approval.

Welcome to FreedomWorks’ latest blog series, Trump Appointee of the Week! From now until Election Day, we will highlight one of President Trump’s political appointees and their accomplishments. Check back every other week for the next edition and let us know who you want to see named the next Trump Appointee of the Week!

On Friday, President Trump issued three executive orders (and threatened a fourth) outlining sweeping changes he planned to make regarding prescription drug prices in the United States. One order seeks to make federal grants to federally qualified health centers contingent upon discounted insulin prices. A second would allow personal and wholesale importation of prescription drugs from overseas. The third implements rebate reform for pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs).

Prices for prescription drugs in the U.S. are far too high. There is no denying this sad reality. According to an analysis done by the House Ways and Means Committee, the U.S. pays roughly four times as much as 11 similar nations for prescription drugs. For millions of patients, families, and caregivers, this is unacceptable. Policymakers are right when they say something needs to be done.

FreedomWorks recently announced the launch of the American Freedom Initiative (AFI), a collaboration headed by former acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker. This project aims to help relieve injustices committed against Americans under the criminal justice system and the regulatory state. As part of this project, we will shine a spotlight on some of the individuals the AFI has identified under its National Pardon Project as being particularly hard hit by unjustly harsh criminal sentences for non-violent crimes.