President Donald Trump is poised to sign an executive order on Friday, officially making English the designated language of the United States, as stated by the White House.
The directive will empower government agencies and federally-funded organizations with the discretion to continue providing documents and services in languages other than English or not, as detailed in a fact sheet previewing the executive order.
While it remains uncertain at what exact time on Friday Trump intends to sign the order, the decision will nullify a previous mandate from former President Bill Clinton. Clinton’s policy required federal and federally-funded bodies to offer language assistance to individuals not proficient in English.
The White House claims that proclaiming English as the national language fosters national unity, enhances efficiency within government operations, and paves a way for greater civic participation.
Presently, over 30 states have already enacted laws that recognize English as their official language, according to U.S. English, an advocacy group promoting English as the official language in the country.
Efforts by Congress to pass legislation declaring English as the U.S. official language have been underway for decades but have yet to succeed.
Immediately following Trump’s inauguration last month, the new administration had the Spanish language version of the White House website removed, which led to both confusion and concern among Hispanic advocacy groups and others who expressed their frustration at the decision.
The administration promised to reinstate the Spanish version, but as of Friday, it remained offline. There was no immediate comment from the White House about when it might be restored.
During his first term, Trump had also removed the Spanish language website, which was later reinstated upon President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
This upcoming order was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday.
