Trump’s 2025 pace is even further ahead of his predecessors. Biden issued 77 executive orders in his first full year in office and 162 across his entire term (and an average of 41 per year). Obama issued 40 executive orders in his first year and 277 across the eight years in office (average of 34 per year). George W. Bush issued 54 executive orders in his first year and 291 across his two terms in office for an average of 36 per year.

Clinton issued 57 executive orders in his first year and 364 across his two terms in office for an average of 45 per year. George H.W. Bush averaged 42 per year (166 total) in his first term, including 31 his first year. And Reagan averaged 48 per year (381 total) during his two terms, including 50 in his first year.

At his current pace, Trump would issue 372 executive orders this year.

Republicans might justify the president’s actions because of the 2024 election results, but five of his predecessors had winning percentages larger than his recent 49.9% national popular vote total and didn’t issue the same number of executive orders.

Obviously, Trump won the election and can govern as he sees fit. But he’s trying to consolidate power to the executive branch, even with Republican majorities in the House and Senate and six of the nine Supreme Court justices having been appointed by GOP presidents. And Republicans are governing as if there will never be another Democratic president or Democratic Congress again. That’s pretty unlikely.

As Democratic strategist Doug Sosnik pointed out at the National PAC Conference, at least one of the White House, Senate or House has changed party hands in 11 of the past 13 election cycles. That’s sobering news for Republicans, who currently control all three. And one party hasn’t held the White House for more than three terms in a row since Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman combined for five consecutive terms from 1933 to 1953.

There are other times and platforms to debate the content of Trump’s policies, but the broader point is that he is setting precedent by trying to govern by executive order. And there’s nothing stopping future Democratic presidents from doing the same thing, just in reverse. Then a Republican president comes in to reverse it all once again. Rinse and repeat. Even people who enjoy what Trump is doing now should realize that it may not be a healthy way to run a country over the long term.

So for industries, corporations and associations that desire or thrive on stability and consistency, there isn’t likely to be anything of the sort for years to come.

Nathan L. Gonzales is a senior political analyst for the Public Affairs Council and editor of Inside Elections, a nonpartisan newsletter with a subscription package designed to boost PACs with a regular newsletter and exclusive conference call. You can also hear more on the Inside Elections Podcast. His email address is [email protected].