United States president Donald Trump signed 18 executive orders and memos in his first 12 days in office, for an average of 1.5 executive actions per day. While that may seem like an unprecedented bombardment of policy, the number of actions signed by Trump is actually one short of his predecessor. In his first 12 days in office in 2009, Barack Obama signed 19 executive actions.
These figures include both executive orders and presidential memos. Both are powerful directives issued by the executive branch; a main difference between them is that presidents typically cite their legal authority in executive orders, but not in presidential memos (other subtle differences between the actions are laid out here). Between Inauguration Day and Jan. 31, Trump signed seven executive orders and 11 memos; in the same time frame, Obama signed nine orders and 10 memos.
Some executive actions are controversial, some are procedural, and some simply reverse orders signed by prior presidents. Each of the past four presidents, for example, have signed an executive action either repealing (Democrats) or reinstating (Republicans) what’s known as the “Mexico City Policy,” a Reagan-era rule that withholds US funds from global organizations that provide abortion services. Trump reinstated the rule with a memo almost immediately after taking office.
Although Trump has signed fewer executive actions than Obama did in his first 12 days, Trump’s have been more varied and impactful. He’s signed an order to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, put in place a temporary ban on all refugees and restrictions on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, inked an order that paves the way for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, green-lit two controversial oil pipelines, and signed an order that dramatically restructures the National Security Council.
By contrast, Obama’s most scrutinized early orders sought to ban the use of torture in enemy interrogations, shut down the Central Intelligence Agency’s overseas prisons, and close Guantanamo Bay within a year. And the idea of closing Guantanamo Bay created enough controversy that, by 2011, Obama had essentially given it up. Today a few dozen detainees still remain at the prison.
Below is a list of executive orders signed by each president since Bill Clinton in their first 12 days in office:
President | Type | Date signed | Title |
---|---|---|---|
Bill Clinton | Executive order | 1/20/93 | Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees |
Bill Clinton | Executive order | 1/25/93 | Establishment of the National Economic Council |
Bill Clinton | Presidential memo | 1/21/93 | Memorandum on Review of Regulations |
Bill Clinton | Presidential memo | 1/22/93 | Memorandum on Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research |
Bill Clinton | Presidential memo | 1/22/93 | Memorandum on the Title X “Gag Rule” |
Bill Clinton | Presidential memo | 1/22/93 | Memorandum on the Mexico City Policy |
Bill Clinton | Presidential memo | 1/22/93 | Memorandum on Abortions in Military Hospitals |
Bill Clinton | Presidential memo | 1/22/93 | Memorandum on Importation of RU-486 |
Bill Clinton | Presidential memo | 1/29/93 | Memorandum on Ending Discrimination in the Armed Forces |
George W. Bush | Executive order | 1/29/01 | Agency Responsibilities With Respect to Faith- Based and Community Initiatives |
George W. Bush | Executive order | 1/29/01 | Establishment of White House Office of Faith- Based and Community Initiatives |
George W. Bush | Presidential memo | 1/20/01 | Memorandum on Standards of Official Conduct |
George W. Bush | Presidential memo | 1/22/01 | Memorandum on Restoration of the Mexico City Policy |
Barack Obama | Executive order | 1/21/09 | Presidential Records |
Barack Obama | Executive order | 1/21/09 | Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel |
Barack Obama | Executive order | 1/22/09 | Ensuring Lawful Interrogations |
Barack Obama | Executive order | 1/22/09 | Review and Disposition of Individuals Detained At the Guantnamo Bay Naval Base and Closure of Detention Facilities |
Barack Obama | Executive order | 1/22/09 | Review of Detention Policy Options |
Barack Obama | Executive order | 1/30/09 | Economy in Government Contracting |
Barack Obama | Executive order | 1/30/09 | Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts |
Barack Obama | Executive order | 1/30/09 | Notification of Employee Rights Under Federal Labor Laws |
Barack Obama | Executive order | 1/30/09 | Revocation of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Regulatory Planning and Review |
Barack Obama | Presidential memo | 1/30/09 | Memorandum on the White House Task Force on Middle-Class Working Families |
Barack Obama | Presidential memo | 1/31/09 | Memorandum on Regulatory Review |
Barack Obama | Presidential memo | 1/21/09 | Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government |
Barack Obama | Presidential memo | 1/21/09 | Memorandum on the Freedom of Information Act |
Barack Obama | Presidential memo | 1/21/09 | Memorandum on Pay Freeze |
Barack Obama | Presidential memo | 1/22/09 | Memorandum on Review of the Detention of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri |
Barack Obama | Presidential memo | 1/23/09 | Memorandum on Mexico City Policy and Assistance for Voluntary Population Planning |
Barack Obama | Presidential memo | 1/26/09 | Memorandum on the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 |
Barack Obama | Presidential memo | 1/26/09 | Memorandum on the State of California Request for Waiver Under 42 U.S.C. 7543(b), the Clean Air Act |
Barack Obama | Presidential memo | 1/27/09 | Memorandum on Unexpected Urgent Refugee and Migration Needs Related to Gaza |
Donald Trump | Executive order | 1/20/17 | Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal |
Donald Trump | Executive order | 1/24/17 | Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals for High Priority Infrastructure Projects |
Donald Trump | Executive order | 1/25/17 | Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements |
Donald Trump | Executive order | 1/25/17 | Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United States |
Donald Trump | Executive order | 1/27/17 | Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Employees |
Donald Trump | Executive order | 1/27/17 | Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States |
Donald Trump | Executive order | 1/30/17 | Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/20/17 | Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies – Regulatory Freeze Pending Review |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/23/17 | Memorandum Regarding the Mexico City Policy |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/23/17 | Memorandum Regarding Withdrawal of the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations and Agreement |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/23/17 | Memorandum Regarding the Hiring Freeze |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/24/17 | Memorandum Regarding Construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/24/17 | Memorandum Regarding Construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/24/17 | Memorandum Regarding Construction of American Pipelines |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/24/17 | Memorandum Streamlining Permitting and Reducing Regulatory Burdens for Domestic Manufacturing |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/27/17 | Memorandum on Rebuilding the U.S. Armed Forces |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/28/17 | Memorandum Plan to Defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria |
Donald Trump | Presidential memo | 1/28/17 | Memorandum Organization of the National Security Council and the Homeland Security Council |