On the heels of two major revelations — the contents of Senate Republicans’ health care bill, and the reality that he does not have tapes of his and former FBI Director James Comey’s conversations — President Trump decided to tweet about some of his legislative accomplishments.
I've helped pass and signed 38 Legislative Bills, mostly with no Democratic support, and gotten rid of massive amounts of regulations. Nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2017
It’s true that Trump has signed more pieces of legislation five months into his presidency than the past two presidents. He was actually selling himself a bit short in his tweet; he’s signed 40 bills so far, including one Friday morning.
But Trump is lagging behind modern-day presidents including Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, who had all signed more bills into law at this point in their presidencies, according to NPR. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman leave everyone in the dust, with Roosevelt signing 76 bills into law in his first 100 days and Truman signing 55.
However, not all bills are created equal. While Barack Obama only signed 14 bills into office in his first 100 days, they included the $831 billion stimulus package to pull the country out of recession, as well as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Children's Health Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2009, which expanded health insurance to 4 million children in the US.
Where Trump has made his biggest mark is in rolling back 14 Obama-era regulations, including federal firearm background checks for the mentally ill, environmental protections for streams from coal waste, and Federal Communications Commission privacy rules that prohibited telecommunications giants from selling their customers’ browsing data.
Trump and the Republican-led Congress have managed to fast-track these rollbacks with something called the Congressional Review Act, which requires a simple majority in both the House and Senate to pass a joint resolution of disproval. Once that’s done, it heads to the president’s desk.
Besides those, there have been a lot of symbolic or procedural changes in Trump’s bills, including three people getting named to the board of the Smithsonian, four federal buildings being renamed, and a bill called “US Wants to Compete for a World Expo Act,” which, as the name implies, would let the country set up a world fair.
Looking at the big picture, Trump has gotten next to nothing done on his legislative agenda. He promised his supporters big and immediate legislative wins on repealing Obamacare, passing tax cuts, getting started on a border wall, and advancing a $1 trillion infrastructure reform package.
At this point, health care is the closest to being checked off the list, but there’s no guarantee that the latest effort from the Senate will make it to Trump’s desk for him to sign.
Here are the pieces of legislation that Trump has signed since inauguration, up through his June 23 tweet:
- S. 84: "A bill to provide for an exception to a limitation against appointment of persons as Secretary of Defense within seven years of relief from active duty as a regular commissioned officer of the Armed Forces"
- H.R. 72: "GAO Access and Oversight Act of 2017"
- H.J. Res. 41: "Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of a rule submitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to 'Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers'"
- H.J. Res. 38: "Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of the Interior known as the Stream Protection Rule"
- H.J. Res. 40: "Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Social Security Administration relating to Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007"
- H.R. 255: "Promoting Women in Entrepreneurship Act"
- H.R. 321: "Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act"
- H.R. 609: "To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs health care center in Center Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, as the 'Abie Abraham VA Clinic'"
- S. 442: "National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017"
- H.J. Res. 37: "Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration relating to the Federal Acquisition Regulation"
- H.J. Res. 44: "Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of the Interior relating to Bureau of Land Management regulations that establish the procedures used to prepare, revise, or amend land use plans pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976"
- H.J. Res. 58: "Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to teacher preparation issues"
- H.J. Res. 57: "Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Education relating to accountability and State plans under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965"
- S. 305: "Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017"
- H.J. Res. 42: "Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to drug testing of unemployment compensation applicants"
- H.R. 1362: "To name the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based outpatient clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa, the Faleomavaega Eni Fa'aua'a Hunkin VA Clinic"
- S.J. Res. 1: "A joint resolution approving the location of a memorial to commemorate and honor the members of the Armed Forces who served on active duty in support of Operation Desert Storm or Operation Desert Shield"
- H.J. Res. 69: "Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule of the Department of the Interior relating to 'Non-Subsistence Take of Wildlife, and Public Participation and Closure Procedures, on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska’"
- H.J. Res. 83: "Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to 'Clarification of Employer's Continuing Obligation to Make and Maintain an Accurate Record of Each Recordable Injury and Illness'"
- H.R. 1228: "To provide for the appointment of members of the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance to replace members whose terms expire during 2017, and for other purposes"
- S.J. Res. 34: "A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to 'Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services' "
- H.J. Res. 43: "Providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the final rule submitted by Secretary of Health and Human Services relating to compliance with title X requirements by project recipients in selecting subrecipients"
- H.J. Res. 67: "Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to savings arrangements established by qualified State political subdivisions for non-governmental employees"
- H.R. 353: "Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017"
- S. 544: "A bill to amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to modify the termination date for the Veterans Choice Program, and for other purposes."
- S.J. Res. 30: "A joint resolution providing for the reappointment of Steve Case as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution"
- S.J. Res. 35: "A joint resolution providing for the appointment of Michael Govan as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution"
- S.J. Res. 36: "A joint resolution providing for the appointment of Roger W. Ferguson as a citizen regent of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution"
- H.J. Res. 99: "Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2017, and for other purposes."
- H.R. 244: "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017"
- H.R. 534: "U.S. Wants to Compete for a World Expo Act"
- S. 496: "A bill to repeal the rule issued by the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration entitled 'Metropolitan Planning Organization Coordination and Planning Area Reform.' "
- H.R. 274: "Modernizing Government Travel Act"
- H.J. Res. 66: "Disapproving the rule submitted by the Department of Labor relating to savings arrangements established by States for non-governmental employees."
- S. 419: "Public Safety Officers' Benefits Improvement Act of 2017"
- S. 583: "American Law Enforcement Heroes Act of 2017"
- H.R. 366: "DHS SAVE Act"
- H.R. 375: "To designate the Federal building and United States courthouse located at 719 Church Street in Nashville, Tennessee, as the 'Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and United States Courthouse.'"
- H.R. 657 "Follow the Rules Act"
New Policy as of June 23:
- S. 1094: "Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017"