On January 7, at 11:10 p.m. in Dubai, Romy Backus received an email from education technology giant PowerSchool notifying her that the school she works at was one of the victims of a data breach that the company discovered on December 28. PowerSchool said hackers had accessed a cloud system that housed a trove of students and teachers private information, including Social Security numbers, medical information, grades, and other personal data from schools all over the world.Given that PowerSchool bills itself as the largest provider of cloud-based education software for K-12 schools some 18,000 schools and more than 60 million students in North America, the impact could be massive, as one tech worker at an affected school told TechCrunch. Sources at school districts impacted by the incident told TechCrunch that hackers accessed all their student and teacher historical data stored in their PowerSchool-provided systems.Backus works at the American School of Dubai, where she manages the schools PowerSchool SIS system. Schools use this system the same system that was hacked to manage student data, like grades, attendance, enrollment, and also more sensitive information such as student Social Security numbers and medical records.The next morning after getting the email from PowerSchool, Backus said she went to see her manager, triggered the schools protocols to handle data breaches, and started investigating the breach to understand exactly what the hackers stole from her school, since PowerSchool didnt provide any details related to her school in its disclosure email.I started digging because I wanted to know more, Backus told TechCrunch. Just telling me that, okay, weve been affected. Great. Well, whats been taken? When was it taken? How bad is it?They werent ready to provide us with any of the concrete information that customers needed in order to do our own diligence, said Backus.Soon after, Backus realized that other administrators at schools that use PowerSchool were trying to find the same answers.Some of it had to do with the confusing and inconsistent communication that came from PowerSchool, according to one of the half-dozen school workers who spoke with TechCrunch on condition that neither they, nor their school district, be named.To [PowerSchool]s credit, they actually alerted their customers very quickly about it, especially when you look at the tech industry as a whole, but their communication lacked any actionable information and was misleading at worst, downright confusing at best, the person said.Contact UsDo you have more information about the PowerSchool breach? From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram and Keybase @lorenzofb, or email. You also can contact TechCrunch via SecureDrop.In the early hours after PowerSchools notification, schools were scrambling to figure out the extent of the breach, or even if they had been breached at all. The email listservs of PowerSchool customers, where they customarily share information with each other, exploded, as Adam Larsen, the assistant superintendent for Community Unit School District 220 in Oregon, Illinois, put it to TechCrunch.The community quickly realized they were on their own. We need our friends to act quickly because they cant really trust PowerSchools information right now, said Larsen.There was a lot of panic and not reading what has been shared already, and then asking the same questions over and over again, said Backus.Thanks to her own skills and knowledge of the system, Backus said she was able to quickly figure out what data was compromised at her school, and started comparing notes with other workers from other affected schools. When she realized there was a pattern to the breach, and suspecting it may be the same for others, Backus decided to put together a how-to guide with details, such as the specific IP address that the hackers used to breach schools, and steps to take to investigate the incident and determine whether a system had been breached, along with what specific data was stolen.At 4:36 p.m. Dubai time on January 8, less than 24 hours after PowerSchool notified all customers, Backus said she sent a shared Google Doc on WhatsApp in group chats with other PowerSchool administrators based in Europe and across the Middle East, who often share information and resources to help each other. Later that day, after talking to more people and refining the document, Backus said she posted it on the PowerSchool User Group, a non-official support forum for PowerSchool users that has more than 5,000 members.Since then, the document has been updated regularly and grown to nearly 2,000 words, effectively going viral inside the PowerSchool community. As of Friday, the document had been viewed more than 2,500 times, according to Backus, who created a Bit.ly shortlink that allows her to see how many people clicked the link. Several people publicly shared the documents full web address on Reddit and other closed groups, so its likely many more have seen the document. At the time of writing, there were around 30 viewers on the document.On the same day Backus shared her document, Larsen published an open source set of tools, as well as a how-to video, with the goal of helping others.Backus document and Larsens tools are an example of how the community of workers at schools that were hacked and those that were actually not hacked but were still notified by PowerSchool rallied to support each other. School workers have had to resort to helping each other out and responding to the breach in a crowdsourced manner fueled by solidarity and necessity because of the slow and incomplete response from PowerSchool, according to the half-dozen workers at affected schools who participated in the community effort and spoke about their experiences with TechCrunch.Several other school workers supported each other in several Reddit threads. Some of them were published on the K-12 systems administrators subreddit, where users have to be vetted and verified to be able to post.Doug Levin, the co-founder and national director of a nonprofit that helps schools with cybersecurity, the K12 Security Information eXchange (K12 SIX), which published its own FAQ about the PowerSchool hack, told TechCrunch that this kind of open collaboration is common in the community, but the PowerSchool incident is of such a large scope that it is more evident.The sector itself is quite large and diverse and, in general, we have not yet established the information sharing infrastructure that exists in other sectors for cybersecurity incidents, said Levin.Levin underscored the fact that the education sector has to rely on open collaboration through more informal, sometimes public channels often because schools are generally understaffed in terms of IT workers, and lack specialist cybersecurity expertise.Another school worker told TechCrunch that for so many of us, we dont have the funding for the full cybersecurity resources we need to respond to incidents and we have to band together.When reached for comment, PowerSchools spokesperson Beth Keebler told TechCrunch: Our PowerSchool customers are part of a strong security community that is dedicated to sharing information and helping each other. We are grateful for our customers patience and sincerely thank those who jumped in to help their peers by sharing information. We will continue to do the same.Additional reporting by Carly Page.

Hi, I have just completed my portfolio. I am satisfied with the final result but after exporting I noticed the video quality is a bit grainy and the colors slightly desaturated, which I dont like. I have exported my videos at 60fps and 1920x1080 as png and reassembled it in DaVinci Resolve using the Youtube 1080 standard settings. Has anyone any idea how I can solve this problem? After working extra hard on getting the results I wanted its very frustrating to find myself with a low-quality export. Thanks. 1 post - 1 participant Read full topic

close That Apple ID disabled message? It's a dangerous scam Kurt the CyberGuy breaks down why the Your Apple ID has been temporarily disabled email is most likely a scam. Let's talk about something that's been popping up in inboxes lately those sneaky "Your Apple ID has been disabled" emails.Like many people who've reached out to us, you might have gotten one that looks pretty legit, saying something like, "Your Apple ID has been temporarily disabled. Verify your Apple ID Information."Spoiler alert: It's most likely a scam, and we're going to break down why. Apple ID scam email. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)The anatomy of the scamSo, here's how these tricksters operate. You get an email that looks totally legit with an Apple logo and creates a sense of urgency, claiming your Apple ID is in trouble. They'll say something like,"If you do not verify your account within 48 hours, it will be permanently locked." Yikes, right? That's exactly what they want you to think. So, you'll "Click the button below to verify as soon as possible." They want you to click where it says, "Go to Apple ID."Once you do that, you're directed to a fake Apple website designed to look almost identical to the real one. This fraudulent site prompts you to enter your username, password and other sensitive information, which the scammers can then use to access your Apple account and potentially steal your personal data or make unauthorized purchases. Apple ID scam email. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Let's play detective and look at some red flags in these scam emailsUrgent language: They're trying to scare you into acting without thinking. Classic scammer move.Vague claims: "Missing or invalid information"? That's purposely unclear to make you doubt yourself.Threats of lockout: Nothing like a good threat to get your heart racing, huh?Terms of service talk: They throw this in to sound official, but it's just smoke and mirrors.Grammar goofs: Real Apple emails are polished. Scammers? Not so much.Fishy sender address: Always check if it's actually from @apple.com (spoiler: it's probably not). Any legitimate email from Apple will come from a domain ending in "@email.apple.com. As you can see from the scam email below, it's from a fake email: mfrasier@wavecable.com, not Apple.WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)? Apple ID scam email. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Why are scammers after your Apple ID?You might wonder, "Why are these scammers so obsessed with Apple IDs?" Well, there are a few reasons:iCloud goldmine: Your photos, contacts and documents are valuable for identity theft or blackmail.Shopping spree potential: Stored payment info means they could go on a spending spree on your dime.Financial account access: Many folks link their bank accounts to their Apple ID. Jackpot for hackers.Dark web data deals: Your personal info can fetch a pretty penny in shady online marketplaces.How to keep these scammers at bayTo keep scammers at bay and secure your Apple ID, follow these comprehensive steps:1. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): This crucial security feature adds an extra layer of protection to your Apple ID. Set it up by going to Settings >[your name] > Sign-In & Security on your iPhone or iPad, orApple menu>System Settings > [your name] >Sign-In & Security on your Mac.2. Use strong passcodes: Opt for alphanumeric passcodes instead of simple PINs. When in public, use biometrics (Face ID or Touch ID) and be cautious when entering your passcode.3. Enable Stolen Device Protection: If you're using iOS 17.3 or later, turn onthis feature for additional security against theft.4. Keep software updated: Regularlyupdate your operating system and apps to ensure you have the latest security patches.5. Dont click on suspicious links, use strong antivirus software: If the email asks you to click a link, dont do it right away. Hover over the link to see the actual URL. If it doesnt look like an official Apple website (or any site you trust), dont click it.The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE6. Use a password manager: Generate and store strong, unique passwords for all your accounts by using apassword manager.7. Enable Find My: Turn onFind My iPhone to help locate your device if it's lost or stolen.8. Use a personal data removal service: Consider using a service that finds and removes your personal information from data broker sites. These services can help reduce your digital footprint, making it harder for scammers to obtain your data to target you in the first place. Look for a service that offers automated removals from hundreds of data aggregators and provides detailed verification of removals.While no service promises to remove all your data from the internet, having a removal service is great if you want to constantly monitor and automate the process of removing your information from hundreds of sites continuously over a longer period of time.Check out my top picks for data removal services here.9. Dont click on suspicious links: If the email asks you to click a link, dont do it right away. Hover over the link to see the actual URL. If it doesnt look like an official Apple website (or any site you trust), dont click it.The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices. Apple ID scam email. (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)How Apple actually reaches outApple will never email you asking for your password or threaten to lock your account. If there's a real issue, you'll usually get a notification on your trusted device or be asked to sign in to your Apple ID account page directly. Remember, Apple will never ask for your password via email, phone or text message. Always access your account through official Apple websites or apps.Kurt's key takeawaysThese scammers are getting craftier, but with a bit of know-how and caution, you can keep your Apple ID (and all the good stuff connected to it) safe and sound. Remember, if something feels fishy, trust your gut. When in doubt, go straight to Apple's official website or give their support team a call. Keep your digital life secure, and don't let those scammers take a bite out of your Apple.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPHave you ever fallen victim to a digital scam, and what steps did you take to protect yourself afterward? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/ContactFor more of my tech tips & security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/NewsletterFollow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com.All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurts free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com. Related Topics

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Yubico security advisory confirms 2FA bypass vulnerability.LightRocket via Getty ImagesUpdate, Jan. 18, 2025: This story, originally published Jan. 17, now includes further information about CVE-2025-23013 and clarification from Yubico regarding the severity rating.Two-factor authentication has increasingly become a security essential over recent years, so when news of anything that can bypass those 2FA protections breaks, its not something you can ignore. Be that the perpetual hack attack facing Google users, malicious Chrome extensions, or they Rockstar bypass kit impacting Microsoft users. Now, Yubico has thrown its hat into the 2FA bypass ring with a security advisory that has confirmed a bypass vulnerability in a software module used to support logging in on Linux or macOS using a YubiKey or other FIDO authenticators. Heres what you need to know.Yubico 2FA Security Advisory YSA-2025-01Yubico is most likely the first name that comes to mind when you think about two-factor authentication hardware keys and other secure authentication solutions. And for good reason: it has been leading the market in the area of hardware key resources for about as long as I can remember, and Ive been in the cybersecurity business for multiple decades. So, when Yubico issues a security advisory, I tend to take notice and if you are a Yubico customer, so should you.Yubico security advisory reference YSA-2025-01 relates to a partial authentication bypass in the pam-u2f pluggable authentication module software package that can be deployed to support YubiKey on macOS or Linux platforms.According to the advisory, pam-u2f packages prior to version 1.3.1 are susceptible to a vulnerability that can enable an authentication bypass in some configurations. An attacker would require the ability to access the system as an unprivileged user, Yubico explained, and, depending upon the configuration, the attacker may also need to know the users password.MORE FOR YOUYubico Details Example Attack ScenariosA key differentiator between scenarios is the location of the authfile, (the argument itself is called authfile) Yubico said, explaining that the path for the authfile is configured via an argument to pam-u2f in the PAM stack stored under /etc/pam or /etc/pam.d. Yubico has detailed some example scenarios involving the management of the authfile at the center of the issue, including:Where a user-managed authfile, stored in the user home directory, is combined with pam-u2f used as a single-factor authentication method and the nouserok option enabled, an attacker could either remove or corrupt the authfile and force the pam-u2f module to return PAM_SUCCESS. This would lead to local privilege escalation if the user is authorized to sudo, Yubico said.With a centrally managed authfile, where a file cannot be modified without elevated privileges, and assuming pam-u2f is used as a second-factor authentication method in combination with a user password, Yubico said, an attacker could attempt to memory-starve the system by allocating large amounts of memory, and triggering a memory allocation error within pam-u2f. If successful, the second factor would not be verified anymore during an authentication event.Yubico Said No YubiKey Hardware Impacted By 2FA Bypass IssueYubico confirmed that no hardware is impacted by this vulnerability, meaning that the issue does not affect any previous or current generation YubiKey Series, YubiKey FIPS Series, Security Key Series, YubiHSM or YubiHSM FIPS devices.Yubico CVE-2025-23013 Vulnerability ExplainedThe vulnerability in question, CVE-2025-23013, is classified as high-severity and means that in certain scenarios when memory cannot be allocated or the module cannot change privileges it does not contribute to the final authentication decision performed by PAM. What this means is that a second or primary authentication factor, depending on the specific use case, would no longer be verified. A key differentiator between scenarios is the location of the authfile, Yubico said,.Yubico recommends that affected customers upgrade to the latest version of pam-u2f either by directly downloading from GitHub or getting the latest update via Yubico PPA.I reached out to Yubico for a statement. We can confirm that Yubico was informed by researchers that an issue was discovered in its open-source pam-u2f software package, a Yubico spokesperson said, this software issue does not impact YubiKeys or YubiHSMs.

In a twist, Elon Musk is getting along publicly with his bitter rivals.

coal comeback Has Trump changed the retirement plans for the countrys largest coal plants? A growth in electricity demand is leading to talk of delayed closures. Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News Jan 18, 2025 7:04 am | 1 A house is seen near the Gavin Power Plant in Cheshire, Ohio. Credit: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images A house is seen near the Gavin Power Plant in Cheshire, Ohio. Credit: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreThis article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.There is renewed talk of a coal power comeback in the United States, inspired by Donald Trumps return to the presidency and forecasts of soaring electricity demand.The evidence so far only shows that some plants are getting small extensions on their retirement dates. This means a slowdown in coals rate of decline, which is bad for the environment, but it does little to change the long-term trajectory for the domestic coal industry.In October, I wrote about how five of the countrys 10 largest coal-fired power plants had retirement dates. Today, Im revisiting the list, providing some updates and then taking a few steps back to look at US coal plants as a whole. Consider this the before picture that can be judged against the after in four years.Some coal plant owners have already pushed back retirement timetables. The largest example, this one from just before the election, is the Gibson plant in Indiana, the second-largest coal plant in the country. Its set to close in 2038 instead of 2035, following an announcement in October from the owner, Duke Energy.But the changes do not constitute a coal comeback in this country. For that to happen, power companies would need to be building new plants to replace the many that are closing, and there is almost no development of new coal plants.That said, there have been some changes since October.As recently as a few months ago, Southern Co. was saying it intended to close Plant Bowen in Georgia by 2035 at the latest. Bowen is the largest coal plant in the country, with a summer capacity of 3,200 megawatts.Southern has since said it may extend the plants life in response to forecasts of rising electricity demand. Chris Womack, Southerns CEO, confirmed this possibility when speaking at a utility industry conference in November, saying that the plant may need to operate for longer than previously planned because of demand from data centers.Southern has not yet made regulatory filings that spell out its plans, but this will likely occur in the next few weeks, according to a company spokesman.In October, I reported that the Gavin plant in Ohio was likely to get a 2031 date to retire or switch to a different fuel once the plants pending sale was completed. The person who shared that information with me was involved with the plans and spoke on condition of anonymity because the sale was not final.Since then, the prospective buyer of the plant has said in federal regulatory filings that it has no timetable for closing the plant or switching to a different fuel. The plant is changing hands as part of a larger deal between investment firms, with Lightstone Holdco selling to Energy Capital Partners, or ECP. Another company, coal exporter Javelin Global Commodities, is buying a minority share of the Gavin plant.I went back to the person who told me about the 2031 retirement date. They said forecasts of rising electricity demand, as well as the election of Trump, have created enough uncertainty about power prices and regulations that it makes sense to not specify a date.The 2031 timeline, and its abandonment, makes some sense once you understand that the Biden administration finalized power plant regulations last spring that gave coal plant operators an incentive to announce a retirement date: Plants closing before 2032 faced no new requirements. That incentive is likely to go away as Trump plans to roll back power plant pollution regulations.Gavins sale is still pending. Several parties have filed objections to the transaction with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, arguing that the sellers have not been clear enough about their plans.An ECP spokesman said the company has no comment beyond its filings.Other than the changes to plans for Bowen and Gavin, the outlook has not shifted for the rest of the plants among the 10 largest. The Gibson and Rockport plants in Indiana still have retirement dates, as do Cumberland in Tennessee and Monroe in Michigan, according to the plants owners.The Amos plant in West Virginia, Miller in Alabama, Scherer in Georgia, and Parish in Texas didnt have retirement dates a few months ago, and they still dont.But the largest coal plants are only part of the story. Several dozen smaller plants are getting extensions of retirement plans, as Emma Foehringer Merchant reported last week for Floodlight News.One example is the 1,157-megawatt Baldwin plant in Illinois, which was scheduled to close this year. Now the owner, Vistra Corp., has pushed back the retirement to 2027.A few extra years of a coal plant is more of a stopgap than a long-term solution. When it comes to building new power plants to meet demand, developers are talking about natural gas, solar, nuclear, and other resources, but I have yet to see a substantial discussion of building a new coal plant.In Alaska, Gov. Mike Dunleavy has said the state may build two coal plants to provide power in remote mining areas, as reported by Taylor Kuykendall of S&P Global Commodity Insights. Flatlands Energy, a Canadian company, has also talked about building a 400-megawatt coal plant in Alaska, as Nathaniel Herz reported for Alaska Beacon. These appear to be early-stage plans.The lack of development activity underscores how coal power is fading in this country, and has been for a while.Coal was used to generate 16 percent of US electricity in 2023, down by more than half from 2014. In that time, coal went from the countrys leading fuel for electricity to trailing natural gas, renewables, and nuclear. (These and all the figures that follow are from the US Energy Information Administration.)The United States had about 176,000 megawatts of coal plant capacity as of October, down from about 300,000 megawatts in 2014.The coal plants that do remain are being used less. In 2023, the average capacity factor for a coal plant was 42 percent. Capacity factor is a measure of how much electricity a plant has generated relative to the maximum possible if it was running all the time. In 2014, the average capacity factor was 61 percent.Power companies are burning less coal because of the availability of less expensive alternatives, such as natural gas, wind, and solar, among others. The think tank Energy Innovation issued a report in 2023 finding that 99 percent of US coal-fired power plants cost more to operate than the cost of replacement with a combination of wind, solar, and batteries.The Trump administration will arrive in Washington with promises to help fossil fuels. It could extend the lives of some coal plants by weakening environmental regulations, which may reduce the plants operational costs. It also could repeal or revise subsidies that help to reduce the costs of renewables and batteries, making those resources more expensive.I dont want to minimize the damage that could be caused by those policies. But even in extreme scenarios, its difficult to imagine investors wanting to spend billions of dollars to develop a new coal plant, much less a fleet of them.Dan Gearino, Inside Climate News 1 Comments

As new policies on privacy take hold, it might change the availability of data AI can train on.

My now-husband was planning to propose to me at an ice rink, but I was too tired to go.He ended up proposing to me at home while we were watching TV, and it was perfect.Our laid-back engagement represents who we are as a couple."Can we please just go?" my boyfriend of four years pleaded with me. I had arrived home exhausted, asking if it was OK to cancel our plans that December evening.It should have registered that it was odd behavior for him to be urging me to go ice skating. But I was clueless and depleted from a long workday one of my last before the Christmas break. Even though I'd written this date down excitedly on the calendar a week prior, and despite the fact that the rink was inside our private building complex and just steps away, I can still recall the resounding desire I felt to stay home that night as I was walking home almost a decade ago."Let's just go tomorrow or another time," I said. My reply was met with a huff, which caused us to momentarily bicker. "You shouldn't cancel things last minute, it's not nice," he muttered under his breath. "What is wrong with this man?" I thought to myself.It turned out, there was a reason he wanted to go ice skatingThirty minutes later, I was in sweatpants, watching a random episode of "Seinfeld" on TBS. I basked in the simple joy that comes with crashing on your couch after a long day. It felt good to be home. Then, my partner suddenly made a stealthy movement from the couch to the floor.Before I could comprehend what was happening, he sat before me with a diamond ring in his hand."Will you be my wife?" he nervously asked to my genuine surprise. Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza continued talking in the background as we embraced and got engaged. It was the episode when the guys pitched their show about nothing to NBC.Private proposals are on the riseA survey from 2021 found that women were increasingly disinterested in grand or public gestures when it came to being asked that big question. Instead, 66% of the 300 respondents preferred a private proposal. Yet, The Knot's recent report on engagement trends from 2024 showed that only 14% of couples had a low-key, at-home proposal. Though many couples do want a private place, home isn't usually the popular choice.I was delighted when I heard about Tom Holland's laid-back proposal to longtime girlfriend Zendaya at home over Christmas. The news comforted me and brought some validation that a casual proposal could be special and romantic even for celebrities.Our engagement represented us as a coupleI loved my own engagement, even though I accidentally sabotaged a more elaborate idea. Though not planned, having it happen in our living room was more symbolic of our relationship than any forced, clichd ice rink setting. I had finally found someone who ignited that feeling everyone wants to have about someone he felt like home. Proposing inside our own home was only natural.But it's more than that. I believe there's an intimacy in choosing this kind of engagement. It reflects the foundation two people need to make a lifelong relationship work.As we celebrate our anniversary our eighth year married, our first as new parents I look back on everything we've done together. The adventures, but more importantly, the moments in between the minutiae of daily life. That's where the purest joy can be found.Of course, we did replace that first couch. The navy fabric one my once boyfriend brought when he moved into my apartment. The one we sat on to make out and watch movies. The one we were on that cozy night in 2015, watching "Seinfeld," when my perfectly imperfect engagement occurred.It was small, past its prime, and overstayed its welcome the way any piece that brings comfort does. When we grew up and got married, we finally outgrew the loveseat. In its place, a more grown-up, brown leather L-shaped couch now sits. One large enough for sleeping dogs, playful babies, and lazy days doing absolutely nothing.

President-elect Donald Trumps first term is expected to start with a flurry of executive orders, starting shortly after hes sworn in.Exactly what those orders will contain is hard to know for sure right now. But executive orders policy proclamations issued by the president under their executive authority will likely be a powerful tool through which Trump can quickly and unilaterally enact key parts of his agenda.Thats because executive orders can help him circumvent Congress, where Republicans currently have the narrowest majority in the House in 100 years and they still need at least seven Democrats to pass most legislation in the Senate. There are limits to what he can accomplish via executive order, and some of his agenda requires legislation to implement, especially if it demands new appropriations (which Congress controls). But just as in his first term, Trump can quickly undo major pillars of his predecessors legacy via executive order as he has promised.Executive orders played a key role in the chaotic start to Trumps first term eight years ago, which began with several high-profile executive orders, including a travel ban on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries and the withdrawal from a major multilateral trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Many of these efforts were challenged in court by Democratic states and left-wing advocates, often successfully. Trump did win several of these battles, however, sometimes expanding the bounds of presidential power.Its not yet clear what Trump will try to do this time or if courts will react the same way. But looking back could help understand whats ahead.The beginning of Trumps first term was marked by an onslaught of executive ordersTrumps first week in office in 2017 featured five splashy executive orders, including several that sparked years-long litigation:The travel ban, which caused chaos at US airports in the days right after implementation, was initially blocked in court as discriminatory and then revised several times. The Supreme Court ultimately upheld a version of the ban that blocked citizens from five Muslim-majority countries, as well as Venezuela and North Korea on national security grounds.A declaration of a national emergency on the border, under which he claimed the authority to redirect $6 billion in military funds to begin construction on the southern border wall, a centerpiece of his 2016 campaign. Several federal courts ruled that he had no such authority to use funds appropriated by Congress for other purposes, but the Supreme Court allowed him to move forward with it. A decision to green light the controversial Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines during his first week in office, which also faced legal challenges. Courts found that the projects did not undergo sufficient environmental review, and President Joe Biden later rescinded their approvals.An executive order cracking down on so-called sanctuary cities, which refused to allow local law enforcement to share information with federal immigration agents or hand over immigrants in their custody from receiving federal law enforcement grants. The order was challenged in court, but the Supreme Court never reached a final decision on it.A number of Democratic state attorneys general sued, but after Trump lost the 2020 election, the Supreme Court dismissed the case. Without any settlement on the legality of the order, Trump could again try to withhold funding from sanctuary cities and re-litigate the issue. Only one of Trumps initial executive orders was never challenged in court. His decision to exit TPP, former President Barack Obamas signature trade deal between 12 nations, was clearly within his rights as president and never faced litigation. On Day One of his second term, Trump is expected to issue executive orders rolling out his plans for mass deportations, ending birthright citizenship, implementing tariffs on Mexico and Canada, shutting down the border, and more. He reportedly claims to have more than 100 ready to go with the aim of erasing Bidens legacy overnight.Look, I can undo almost everything Biden did, through executive order, Trump told Time in November. And on Day One, much of that will be undone.His advisers many of whom have spent the last few years contemplating what he could achieve via executive order at conservative think tanks like America First Legal and the Heritage Foundation are more prepared than they were during his first term. Heritages Project 2025 lays out a blueprint for a potential policy agenda, and some of its authors and editors have since joined the administration. At least some of Trumps Day One executive orders are bound to be tied up in the courts, just as they were last time. One potential thorn in his side may be a revival of a liberal resistance. This time around, the Democratic response to Trumps plans has been more muted. But a group of former Biden-Harris officials in collaboration with the legal organization Democracy Forward are gearing up to challenge Trumps initial executive orders in court and turn public opinion against him. In addition to Democracy Forwards efforts, the ACLU and other legal organizations are preparing to inundate the new Trump administration with litigation.Still, some of his executive orders are also bound to pass legal scrutiny, especially after Trump stacked the federal courts with friendly judges. Though legal scholars may argue that some of his proposals (such as ending birthright citizenship unilaterally) are patently illegal, what the courts may be willing to permit is anyones guess. Just as in his first term, Trump is planning to test the limits of his executive authority.Youve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More: