President Trump’s First 100 Days: Broken Promises, No Accomplishments
Mariel Saez 202-225-3130
As President Donald Trump focuses on tomorrow’s 100 day benchmark, here’s a quick look at how he little he has achieved in his first 100 days in office.
The 30 Executive Orders President Trump touts don’t accomplish much:
- Three of his executive orders are pending legal review, including the harmful Muslim Ban, which has been signed twice and stopped in court both times.
- One is a lobbying ban, but he has already issued a waiver for an employee who left his Administration.
- Ten executive orders focus on “deregulation,” but:
- Only three take specific action by establishing a task force or commission
- One gives the Education Secretary power for review that she already has [Washington Post, 4/28/17]
- One “empowers the head of the Council on Environmental Quality to weigh in on infrastructure projects. But as yet no one has been named to fill that position.” [Washington Post, 4/28/17]
- One establishes a ‘Buy American, Hire American’ rule for American companies, which doesn’t seem to apply to his family or his properties.
- One changes the order of succession at the Department of Justice.
These Executive Orders have been widely panned by the press:
“A close look at the language of his orders shows that most of them are basically press releases with presidential signatures…” [Politico, 4/28/17]
“More than half of the 29 orders issued as of Thursday have merely called for reviews, have commissioned reports or established panels to issue recommendations.” [Washington Post, 4/28/17]
“Many of the executive actions so far merely instructed review — ordering certain federal agencies to study specific things with recommendations on possible actions due 120 or even 300 days down the road.” [Roll Call, 4/28/17]
President Trump also touts the 28 bills he’s signed into law, but a look at those laws shows they aren’t substantive either. Some low-lights:
- Thirteen of the 28 laws are just Congressional Review Acts (CRAs) that only undo actions taken by the Obama Administration, not substantive bills that take action
- Five were related to personnel appointments
- Two renamed Veterans Affairs clinics
- Three examine programs at government agencies
- 0 create jobs for the American people
For comparison, here is a look at a few of the accomplishments from President Obama’s first 100 days in office:
- Signed the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act into law, which pulled our nation’s economy out from the deepest recession in a generation
- Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was an important step in ensuring women receive equal pay for equal work
- Signed into law the Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2009
- Lifted a federal ban on Stem Cell research
As a reminder, Donald Trump made a number of promises when he was running for office about what he would do during his first 100 days in office. He included those promises in aContract with the American Voter, which included a list of bills he promised to introduce and pass through Congress in his first 100 days. After 100 days, here's where those bills stand:
Legislation | Introduced by the Trump WH? | Passed |
Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act |  | |
End the Offshoring Act | | |
American Energy and Infrastructure Act | | |
School Choice and Education Opportunity Act | | |
Repeal and Replace Obamacare Act | | |
Affordable Childcare and Eldercare Act | | |
End Illegal Immigration Act | | |
Restoring Community Safety Act | | |
Restoring National Security Act | | |
Click here to read the PDF.