Mar 3, 2025 - News
Charted: Second languages
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President Trump signed an executive order declaring English the official language of the United States on Saturday.
Why it matters: More than 350 languages are spoken in the "melting pot" of the U.S., but this is the first time the U.S. federal government has declared the country to have a single official language.
- About 22% of people in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home, according to the Census Bureau.
- Other than English, the most common languages spoken in Iowa households are Spanish, German and Vietnamese.
The big picture: The order rescinds a Clinton administration mandate requiring federal agencies and other federally funded institutions to provide language assistance to non-English speakers, though they can still choose to provide documents and services in other languages.