Presidential Power in the First 100 Days

In the first 100 days of his second term, President Trump issued more than 100 executive orders aimed at changing policy through executive authority alone. 

But has this flurry of orders led to meaningful change? Despite Trump’s sweeping executive actions — ranging from imposing global tariffs and targeting major law firms to declaring an emergency at the southern border and attempting to end birthright citizenship — judges appointed from both parties are pushing back. Already, 46 challenges to executive orders are pending in court, with no clear victories for the administration in any of them. 

Listen to a recording of a conversation with our experts as they discuss what these three months have made clear about this administration’s priorities, how the courts are responding, and what might lie ahead.

Speakers: 

• Elizabeth Goitein, Senior Director of the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Program

• Michael Waldman, President and CEO of the Brennan Center

• Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations

• Andrew Rudalevige, Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government at Bowdoin College

• And moderator Kareem Crayton, the Brennan Center’s Vice President for Washington DC

  
  

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Recorded on April 30, 2025.

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