How do Joe Biden's executive orders compare to those of previous presidents, such as Donald Trump or Barack Obama?
Executive summary
Joe Biden used executive orders more aggressively at the start of his presidency than recent predecessors, signing many orders in his first days and first 100 days to reverse Trump-era policies and address the pandemic, but over his full term he issued fewer total executive orders than Trump or Obama according to Federal Register tallies [1] [2] [3]. Comparisons require looking beyond raw counts to timing, subject matter, legal vulnerability and fiscal impact—areas where Biden, Trump and Obama differ in measurable ways [2] [4] [5].
1. Counts and tempo: Biden’s early burst versus cumulative totals
Biden’s initial tempo was unusually high: he issued dozens of actions in his first week and many more in his first 100 days—far more than Trump or Obama in the equivalent early windows—yet across full terms Biden signed 162 executive orders (2021–2025) compared with Trump’s 220 (2017–2021) and Obama’s roughly 276–277 (2009–2017) according to Federal Register and presidency databases [6] [3] [2].
2. Reversals and the “undoing” function of executive orders
A significant share of Biden’s early orders were explicit reversals of Trump policies—reports count some 20 orders that rolled back Trump administration actions and over 60 prior orders revoked in total—making reversal of predecessors a hallmark of Biden’s initial executive strategy, while Trump himself also used early orders to reverse Obama-era guidance though at a different scale and ideological direction [3] [4].
3. Policy content: priorities differ, not just volume
The substance of orders diverges by administration: Biden’s early executive orders targeted pandemic response, equity, immigration pauses and restoring regulatory stances (for example executive actions on equity and the pandemic), whereas Trump’s orders often focused on deregulation, immigration enforcement and national-security-centric directives such as travel restrictions; Obama relied heavily on regulatory design and administrative waivers in policy areas like education [7] [8] [3].
4. Legal exposure and litigation patterns
The durability of orders has differed: empirical analysis of the first 100 days shows Trump’s orders faced a higher ratio of court challenges relative to the number of orders, particularly over travel bans and sanctuary jurisdiction directives, while Biden and Obama had similar litigation rates in that early window—though ultimately courts determine how lasting unilateral directives become [4].
5. Fiscal and administrative consequences
Beyond legal and policy aims, executive actions have carried measurable budgetary effects: analyses found a higher share of the dollar value of Biden’s major executive actions were deficit-increasing compared with Trump’s in comparable samples, reflecting Biden’s use of administrative levers to advance spending or revenue effects in the face of legislative constraints [5].
6. Institutional incentives and political framing
Scholars note that both Biden and Trump—despite opposing agendas—have relied on unilateral presidential tools because institutional incentives and congressional gridlock push presidents toward administrative action; critics therefore frame Biden’s use as sidestepping Congress, while proponents argue it’s necessary to act on urgent issues like a pandemic and systemic equity [8] [9].
7. Bottom line: numbers matter, but so do targets and durability
Counting orders tells only part of the story: Biden’s presidency was marked by a rapid early use of executive power to reverse prior policies and to prioritize pandemic relief and equity, producing many high-profile short-term changes; Trump and Obama used orders at different intensities and for different institutional strategies—Trump with more aggressive deregulation and immigration edicts and Obama with steady regulatory design—while litigation risk and fiscal impacts further differentiate the practical legacy of each administration’s unilateral actions [1] [2] [5] [7].