Culture and Society
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For the first time in its nearly 250 years of history, the US is set to get an official language. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order that declares English the official language of the US, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.The White House reportedly claims that designating English as the national language “promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement.”
As part of the order, the government will rescind a mandate issued during President Bill Clinton's administration, which required government agencies and federally funded organizations to provide language assistance to non-English speakers.
The US never got around to officially declaring English as the national language at a federal level, despite it being used in government, the country’s founding documents, and the daily life of the majority of Americans. The reason behind this is a fascinating one.
However, at least 32 of the 50 US states and all five US territories have recognized English as an official language at a local level.
Countries and states typically adopt official languages to establish a universal means of communication in their governance, making it easier to outline and define things like laws, rights, etc. It can also be used as a tool to foster national unity and preserve cultural identity.
Across the world, approximately 180 countries have an official language and more than 100 have multiple official languages. The country that currently holds the record for the most is Bolivia, which has 37 official languages including Spanish and dozens of Indigenous languages.
In recent decades, there have been continued attempts to install English as the official language of the US. In 2023, Republican Senators JD Vance of Ohio – now the Vice President of the US – and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota introduced a bill to declare English as the nation’s official language. However, these attempts have fallen flat.
Now that President Trump is at the helm with his “America First” philosophy, this issue has gained renewed attention.
