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- Stephen ClearLecturer in Constitutional and Administrative Law, and Public Procurement, Bangor University
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In less than 100 days, Donald Trump’s second term has proved the most disruptive and transformative start to a US presidency ever. Using executive orders and mass firings, he has moved quickly on his far-reaching agenda to consolidate his power.
Trump has actually signed fewer bills into law at this point than any new president for seven decades. But he has signed 124 executive orders (which don’t need congressional approval). Joe Biden signed 162 of these over his whole term.
Executive orders are a way of pushing through a presidential directive, usually based on existing statutory powers, without it going to a vote. So far, these have covered issues from energy policy to TikTok’s ownership.
Using this tactic, Trump has stretched his authority far more in just a few months than any recent president.
While the president may issue executive orders, he cannot create laws without the support of Congress. This has led, in part, to the launch of lawsuits regarding the statutory basis of some of these orders. Some are now going through the federal courts on constitutional and lawfulness grounds.
But the Supreme Court can also review and overturn executive orders that lack legal authority. These orders cannot contradict or supersede existing laws passed by Congress, or violate the US constitution.
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A system of checks and balances that prevents US presidents from becoming too powerful is facilitated by the “separation of powers”, which is written into the US Constitution. The legislative (members of Congress), executive (president) and judiciary (the courts) are all separate bodies – in part to prevent an over-concentration of power in any one body or person.
Bills passed by presidents in first 85 days
The US Congress has a key supervisory role through its two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, which work together to pass laws. But there are many reasons why this president may not be that concerned by these constitutional safeguards.
The Democratic opposition is in an exceptionally weak position to take on Trump. It is in the minority in both the Senate and House of Representatives, and is routinely outvoted by the Republicans.
And Trump is often dismissive of congressional oversight. House committees have previously launched multiple investigations into his conduct, business dealings, and whether he has financially benefited while serving as president. Congress also issued subpoenas for documents and testimonies in 2022, but Trump often resisted or delayed them.
Congress controls federal spending and can, in theory, deny funds for presidential initiatives. But it is currently full of Republicans who, so far, have not been willing to challenge the president.
Read more: Nayib Bukele: El Salvador’s strongman leader doing Donald Trump’s legwork abroad
Testing the legal limits
Trump’s approach seems to be one of testing the limits of the law. This was seen with the travel ban imposed on mostly Muslim countries in his first term, which the Supreme Court initially struck down as unconstitutional. The court later upheld a significantly revised version.
In terms of impeachment, Trump has already been there on two occasions. He was first impeached in 2019 after he allegedly pressured Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, to investigate Joe Biden in the run-up to the 2020 election.
This claim of illegality on the part of Trump stemmed from it being illegal to ask foreign entities for help in winning a US election. The House of Representatives impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, but the Senate ultimately acquitted him.
Trump was impeached again in 2021, after he was accused of inciting the January 6 Capitol riots. For the first time in US history, a president was impeached after leaving office – but he was again acquitted by the Senate.
Trump has suggested these impeachment attempts are evidence of him being persecuted for his efforts to “drain the swamp” (how he describes Washington’s political establishment). Overall, the president seems to favour testing the limits of executive policy-making, then making changes later if challenged.
Judges also have an important role to play in checking the work of the president. They can declare presidential actions unconstitutional. For example, in US v Nixon (1974), the Supreme Court ruled the president does not have executive-privilege immunity from court actions.
Some may think that as the president appoints top judges, this undermines their independence. However, once judges are appointed, they are bound to execute their duties fairly while upholding the rule of law. Importantly, they do not answer to the president for their decisions.
The US constitution also puts some limits on the office of the president. As part of their oath of office, presidents vow to uphold and defend the constitution and faithfully execute their responsibilities. In that sense, a US president must execute diligence in ensuring the law is faithfully followed. They cannot simply ignore laws they do not like.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/VIvhmRjzeYk?wmode=transparent&start=0Donald Trump’s Oath of Office.
And despite claims that Trump is prepared to seek a third term, the 22nd Amendment limits an individual to a maximum of two – although Trump has hinted at a plan to find a way around this.
As was seen with his previous administration, the voters can turn against sitting presidents and vote them out of power. Businesses and market pressures can also play a significant role, as was seen in the recent pauses in the president’s international tariff decision-making.
What needs to change?
A significant amount of change has been achieved via Trump’s executive orders in just 85 days. Meanwhile, judicial oversight and checks will take time to filter through the courts and, if necessary, be tested in the Supreme Court.
Nonetheless, the judiciary is starting to flex its muscles more. For example, a federal judge has said he would find administration officials in contempt unless they engaged with a legal process to secure the return of Maryland resident Kilmar Ábrego García, after he was illegally sent to an El Salvador prison. This is already being hailed as a test case for the rule of law.
It’s also noteworthy that recent polls of US citizens indicate 82% want the president to obey federal court orders.
One area where more explicit clarity in US law might be needed is over the scope of executive orders – to curtail some of the testing of their limits we are currently seeing. While Congress already has the power to legislate to reverse and override an executive order, as well as to refuse to provide the funding necessary to carry out policy measures contained within an order, it (so far) seems unprepared to execute this power.
In the next few months, the US public and politicians will be able to see the impact of these executive orders – and there will be a wealth of judicial rulings to add to the debate. Whether that will change how Trump operates is as yet unclear.
Trump’s first year back: How Americans see the president’s actions
Love him or hate him, President Donald Trump has had a profound impact on the lives of many Americans. We talk to seven.
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A year after Donald Trump returned to the White House, USA TODAY reports on how everyday Americans—from a Kansas rancher to a Rhode Island wind‑farm worker—perceive his policies and their impact on their lives. While some cite higher beef prices and low gas as signs of improvement, others describe uncertainty over childcare subsidies, mortgage rates, and energy projects, and a poll shows 58 % view his first year as a failure.
Trevor HughesKarissa WaddickTerry CollinsLauren Villagran
USA TODAY
Jan. 18, 2026Updated Jan. 19, 2026, 1:28 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump swept back into the White House last year amid a series of promises he laid out in his inaugural address Jan. 20. Prosperity. Security. Respect. Hope.
For millions of conservatives, Trump’s return to power was a dream come true. For millions of liberals, a nightmare. And a year later, whether you think he’s succeeded or failed miserably depends heavily on your political persuasion. Though Republicans overwhelmingly believe the president is doing a great job, Democrats are furious at how quickly Trump has shifted the country’s norms, relationships and reputation.
Over the past year, many Americans became increasingly unable to recognize the world in which their neighbors live because their view is so colored by how they see the president himself.365 days: Has it only been a year? 12 months of all Trump, all the time
Trump’s anniversary comes at a time when his popularity is slipping nationally and 58% of the public thinks his first year was a failure, according to a recent CNN poll.
As Trump enters the second year of his second term, USA TODAY interviewed ordinary Americans around the country to hear their perspectives, among them a Kansas cattle rancher, a Rhode Island wind farm builder and a Colorado coal mining family.
Kansas cattle rancher sees ‘good times’
Sitting in his new 1-ton white Ford F350 pickup ‒ paid for with cash ‒ Kansas cattle rancher Hal Luthi, 73, said he appreciates high beef prices and Americans’ willingness to pay them.
Cattle ranching is rarely lucrative, and Luthi said the historically high prices he’s getting for beef cows are allowing him to pay down debt and prepare for the lean years that will inevitably come.
Luthi said he has been earning a profit of about $1,000 per head of beef cattle sold ‒ dramatically more than just a few years ago. Nationally, the numbers of beef cattle have dropped because of drought in many ranching areas, including Texas and the Midwest, driving up beef prices at a time when consumers are complaining about grocery bills. Some consumer experts say consolidation and possible collusion among slaughterhouses has also played a role in rising prices.
“We’re experiencing some really good times right now,” Luthi said. “We’re just thankful because a lot of times when prices get high, consumers cut back, but we haven’t seen much of that.”
Luthi said Trump’s approach to the economy has driven down the interest rates he pays, along with most other forms of inflation, although fertilizer prices have continued rising.
The president has also floated importing more beef from Argentina, which could undercut profits for ranchers like Luthi.
Luthi said some of his neighbors who live off oil well lease profits are worried about the plummeting per-barrel price, but he’s happy it costs him less than it did a year ago to fuel up his new pickup. And he said he has seen little impact from immigration enforcement that administration officials say has seen 2.5 million people either deported or voluntarily return home.
“There’s people in our own community who are struggling, of course,” said Luthi, a lifelong Republican. “But I have the feeling our country is heading in the right direction. I have hopes there’s a lot of new jobs being created. We could certainly use more factories and more jobs here in the Midwest.”
‒ Trevor Hughes
‘Whoop-de-do’ about gas, says child care worker facing other bills
All around Chicago, licensed child care provider Jamila Wilson, 48, sees fear in her neighbors’ eyes, and she hears it when she talks to parents dropping off or picking up their kids.
Last fall, Trump sent hundreds of immigration enforcement officers into Chicago for Operation Midway Blitz, leading to violent confrontations between federal forces and protesters. Many immigrant communities feel terrorized by the enhanced enforcement, especially because federal officials appear to make little distinction between convicted drug dealers and people brought into the country illegally as children.
Wilson provides federally subsidized child care services for working parents, many of them bus drivers or factory workers who would have to make other arrangements, or quit working, if the government didn’t help them.
Now, the president is trying to halt or at least pause the federal subsidies. Trump argues there’s vast fraud within the system, and the White House has demanded extensive documentation for how the $10 billion allotted to child care is being spent. A judge recently blocked the White House from freezing the funds, but the move injected vast uncertainty into Wilson’s world.
She said it’s hard not to feel singled out, and to compare how people like her are treated to the billionaires Trump surrounds himself with.
“I think he’s targeting Black and brown communities. It’s horrible. It makes us feel like we’re unworthy, that our president is not for us,” Wilson says. “Prices are going up and payments are going down or staying steadfast.”
The uncertainty has a knock-on effect, Wilson said, as providers worry how they’ll meet payroll if there’s any delay in the payments. She said conservative suggestions that more women should stay home with their kids are laughable at a time when most families need two incomes just to survive.
“I mean, gas is down −whoop-de-do − but we still have to pay for food, pay our mortgages,” Wilson said. “I feel that he’s steadily, steadily trying to come at us. He hates our governor. He hates our mayor. He’s doing things out of spite.”
‒ Trevor Hughes
Housing industry veteran see lots of ‘uncertainties’
The real estate market has become more challenging, filled with “a lot of uncertainties and unknowns” since Trump took office, said Kristina O’Donnell, a longtime Realtor in suburban Philadelphia.
The Federal Reserve recently dropped 30-year mortgage interest rates to a three-year low, which is good for the market. But Trump doesn’t think rates have come down fast enough, so he has been trying to remove Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, whom he named to that position in 2018. Powell is not going quietly.
Because mortgage rates remain high, homeowners desperate to upgrade feel trapped by their current ‒ but more affordable ‒ home loans and are reluctant to enter the market, O’Donnell said. Current mortgage rates are around 6%, double pre-pandemic levels, when tens of millions of Americans refinanced. Her home sales were down slightly in 2025, she said.
Despite the uncertainty, O’Donnell, a real estate agent for 38 years, recently bought a new move-in-ready house herself, paying $50,000 over the asking price. After waiving an inspection, she beat out at least five other prospective buyers in the process, she said, locking down the two-story, three-bedroom home.
“I was under pressure competing with pent-up buyers who have been looking for a while,” said O’Donnell, who considered 22 houses over three months before finding her dream home. “I don’t plan on moving. I’m going to die here. I eventually will be redoing the bathroom, but it’s just not in the budget right now.”
O’Donnell is delaying that bathroom upgrade to keep more money on hand to cover rising everyday expenses, she said. The pens, magnets and keychains she gives out as marketing materials are more expensive to buy. Even postage stamps cost more, she said, and she’s dropped the frequency of her real estate newsletter to every other month.
“I’m an independent contractor, that’s the real thing about real estate,” O’Donnell said, noting that her mortgage is due every month, regardless of whether she sells any homes. “We are all our own business.”
‒ Terry Collins
Coal town resident celebrates Trump’s hands being ‘untied’
In Colorado’s coal country, lifelong resident Trula Simmons, 61, said the president’s first-term promises to protect mining jobs haven’t exactly panned out. The mine where her husband and her son worked shut down Dec. 31. But she’s still a Trump fan.
Just days before the closure, Trump ordered the nearby power plant the mine served to stay open at full capacity, instead of phasing out as planned. The power plant will now have to get coal from a different mine.
Luckily, Simmons said, her husband was able to get a job working the reclamation project at the ColoWyo mine, and her son got a job at the still-operating Deserado coal mine near the Utah border. Many of Simmons’ neighbors in Meeker, Colorado, struggled during the Obama and Biden years as the two Democratic presidents pushed green energy and, concerned about climate change, raised the costs for burning coal to make electricity.
In his inaugural address, Trump highlighted the nation’s abundant coal and petroleum reserves as a source of national pride and economic power. He said national security and artificial intelligence (AI) both demand reliable power that only nuclear technology and coal can provide.
“I wish he could have done a little more a little sooner,” said Simmons, who pronounced herself otherwise pleased with the first year of Trump’s second term. “I feel like his first term, his hands were tied or he felt like they were tied. And now he’s doing exactly what he said he was going to do.”
Simmons said lower gas prices have been among the biggest relief for her family, because they usually have to drive 100 miles round trip to fill their pantry. Simmons said she has largely been unaffected by mortgage rates, because she and her husband own their house outright, but she acknowledged that things are harder for young people. But she sees Trump focused on improving the lives of everyday Americans.
According to the fuel-tracking service GasBuddy, gas prices are at the lowest they’ve been since 2021. The average price for regular is below $3 a gallon in almost every mainland state and below $2 a gallon in more than a dozen states.
“I feel like he has such a list that he’s ticking off at record speeds, things are starting to look up and some really bad policies are being reversed,” Simmons said. “By driving the economy the way he’s planning, it’s going to be better. I don’t see how it couldn’t make things better.”
‒ Trevor Hughes
Gold prices up, jeweler worries about tariffs
In Oklahoma City, Naifeh Fine Jewelry had a rough year.
“Our business was about 15% lower – not that bad, but we felt it,” said George Naifeh, who co-owns the business with his wife, jewelry designer Valerie Naifeh.
Inflation, a tough job market and global economic uncertainty sent the price of gold soaring last year as investors flocked to the “safe haven” investment. An ounce of gold rocketed to a new record in January 2026, above $4,600 an ounce. The price was about $2,700 an ounce when Trump took office a year ago.
Higher gold prices pushed Valerie Naifeh’s gold-and-gemstone designs out of reach for many customers, and economic uncertainty led even those with money in their pockets to hold off on purchases, he said.
“Tariffs seemed to cause a lot of chaos in people’s minds,” he said, as consumers worried how much more they would spending on basic goods. “People were hoarding or holding on to their money.”
But Naifeh, a three-time Trump voter, sees upside in 2026. The so-called Big Beautiful Bill law includes a tax credit for employee training that will allow the couple to hire three jeweler apprentices this year, bringing their manufacturing team to eight.
His main concern is stability: “New ideas pop out of Trump that cause more hysteria with the economy, but overall I feel good about it,” he said. “I feel 2026 will be a strong year.”
‒ Lauren Villagran
Wind farm worker worries about green-energy fate
For the past three years, industrial painter Nick Reynolds had a steady job helping build a massive offshore wind farm near his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. Earning close to $60 an hour and home every night, Reynolds said, he was proud to have been working on a project that would have helped stabilize electricity costs in the Northeast, which are among the nation’s highest.
Trump has now twice tried to kill the project, citing unspecified national security concerns and putting Reynolds and about 12,000 others out of a job in the dead of winter.
Reynolds, 35, hoped the $6.2 billion privately funded project would offer years of stable work. He spent several anxious weeks without work over Christmas before a federal judge in early January ordered the project restarted. Trump has repeatedly attacked wind turbines as ugly and ineffective, and earlier in January he said he planned to bar their construction whenever possible.
Reynolds, who hopes to buy a house with the money he earns on the project, said he doesn’t understand how the president would want to block an effort that would stabilize electricity prices for millions of Americans. Federal taxpayers provided significant tax incentives for the project approved under Biden, who argued subsidies were necessary to shift the nation’s energy mix away from fossil fuels.
Reynolds said the fact that other countries, including China, are investing so heavily in green energy makes him question why Trump is so hostile to it.
“It’s not the kind of thing that makes you want vote for Republicans,” he said. “He made campaign promises to protect working people, and in my experience, it’s been quite the opposite.”
‒ Trevor Hughes
Nurse fears cost-of-living expenses while getting graduate degree
After years of debate ‒ and increasing back pain from the physical demands of her job − nurse Candace Smith last year took the plunge into grad school and the burden of student loans.
At 33, Smith felt it was the right time to become a nurse practitioner, both to reduce the risk to her health and to shorten the monthslong wait times patients at her hospital in San Luis Obispo, California, endure just to see a health care provider.
But changes to federal student loan borrowing limits passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill signed July 4 have thrown Smith’s plans into turmoil. The law, much of which was drafted by the White House, established two tiers of loan limits for graduate and professional students and imposed a lifetime cap on total graduate borrowing. Under the new rules there’s also a limit on loans for graduate students in fields not considered “professional,” which now includes nursing.
“It was like, wow, I’m so excited to go back to school and gosh, how is this going to affect me? And will I be able to afford the program?” Smith said, describing her roller coaster of emotional reactions to the bill.
Because of the change, set to take effect in July, Smith said she will need to work more hours a week to pay her bills and afford tuition.
Before the student loan news, Smith had already planned to cut back on travel spending and eat out with friends less often to save money. Now she’s taking that further, putting off contributing to retirement and opting to shop at the Grocery Outlet Bargain Mart instead of her local Sprouts Market to cut down on her roughly $800-a-month food bill. She also plans to stop buying organic produce and eat more oatmeal for breakfast.
“It shocks me sometimes to see the cost of groceries,” Smith said.
And in April, she expects the rent for her one-bedroom apartment to increase.
“It stresses me out to think about needing to budget for an increased cost of living while I’m trying to reduce my spending,” Smith said. “The cost of everything is going up and wages are not going up in the same fashion.”
