Trump Might Outpace Obama On Executive Orders

On his fifth full day as president of the United States, Donald Trump had already signed 12 executive orders, more than twice as many as his predecessor, who had only issued five at this point. In total, President Obama signed 19 executive orders in the first 100 days of his administration, and at the rate President Trump is going, he is almost guaranteed to significantly exceed that number.

In stark contrast to Trump's current list of signed executive orders, Obama's dedicated a lot of their focus on implementing actions meant to benefit marginalized communities, like ensuring employee rights, reviewing the United States' detention policy, and starting a White House Council on Women and Girls.

Among President Trump's approved orders are his mandates to speed up the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which could mean dire consequences for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe; the reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits U.S. federal funding from going to organizations that provide any sort of service related to abortion; the rollback of the Affordable Care Act, which is estimated to result in 18 million Americans losing their health insurance; and the targeting of undocumented immigrants by cutting off federal funding to "sanctuary cities," allowing local police officers to act as immigration officers and the hiring of 10,000 additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The following orders were signed by Obama during the first three months of his presidency:

1. Order 13489: Presidential Records
2. Order 13490: Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel
3. Order 13491: Ensuring Lawful Interrogations
4. Order 13492: Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained At the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities
5. Order 13493: Review of Detention Policy Options
6. Order 13494: Economy in Government Contracts
7. Order 13495: Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts
8. Order 13496: Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws
9. Order 13497: Revocation of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Regulatory Planning and Review
10. Order 13498: Amendments to Executive Order 13199 and Establishment of the President's Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
11. Order 13499: Further Amendments to Executive Order 12835, Establishment of the National Economic Council
12. Order 13500: Further Amendments to Executive Order 12859, Establishment of the Domestic Policy Council
13. Order 13501: Establishing the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board
14. Order 13502: Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects
15. Order 13503: Establishment of the White House Office of Urban Affairs
16. Order 13504: Amending Executive Order 13390
17. Order 13505: Removing Barriers to Responsible Scientific Research Involving Human Stem Cells
18. Order 13506: Establishing a White House Council on Women and Girls
19. Order 13507: Establishment of the White House Office of Health Reform

With 277 executive orders issues throughout his entire eight years as president, Obama became the U.S. leader to pass the least number of such orders in 120 years. Somehow, it seems unlikely that Trump will come to be known for a similar reason.