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Data Sources

Congress.gov API v3
Bills, members, votes
GovInfo API
Floor speeches, reports, bill text
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VoteView (UCLA)
Ideology scores (DW-NOMINATE)
GovTrack.us
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© 2026 Govwatch

Compare Presidents

Side-by-side comparison of the last four presidents. Green highlights indicate the strongest performer for each metric. Red highlights the weakest.

Trump (2nd)
2025–Present
R
Biden
2021–2025
D
Trump (1st)
2017–2021
R
Obama
2009–2017
D

Executive Power

Executive Orders
Direct presidential directives with force of law
209
79
255
306
Proclamations
Official declarations (holidays, emergencies, trade)
126
300
549
1,229
Memoranda
Policy directives to agencies
61
76
206
427
Signing Statements
Statements issued when signing bills into law
2
5
61
41
Total Executive Actions
398
460
1,071
2,003

Legislation

Bills Signed
Bills signed into law
74
631
591
933
Vetoes
Bills rejected by the president
0
1
3
6

Pardons & Clemency

Total Clemency Grants
All pardons, commutations, and reprieves combined
121
257
237
1,927
Pardons
Full forgiveness — restores civil rights
98
76
143
212
Commutations
Reduces sentence but keeps conviction
23
181
94
1,715

Constitutional Assessment

Within Authority
Actions clearly within Article II powers
289
420
409
841
Legally Debatable
Broad delegations or areas of active legal debate
63
32
60
61
Potential Overreach
Actions conflicting with congressional authority
12
7
5
6
% Overreach
3%
2%
1%
1%
% Questionable
17%
7%
13%
7%
Total Assessed
364
459
474
908

Public Communication

Speeches
236
1,025
520
1,607
Press Conferences
15
17
88
162
Remarks
487
627
1,437
3,386
Total Statements
738
1,669
2,045
5,155

Constitutional Authority — Visual Comparison

Proportional breakdown of how each president's executive actions were assessed

Trump (2nd)364 actions assessed
289
63
12
Biden459 actions assessed
420
32
7
Trump (1st)474 actions assessed
409
60
5
Obama908 actions assessed
841
61
6
Within Authority Legally Debatable Potential Overreach

Methodology: Executive actions sourced from the GovInfo Compilation of Presidential Documents (CPD). Constitutional assessments are based on Article II powers, statutory delegations, and judicial precedent — not partisan opinion. Bills signed data from Congress.gov. Numbers for the current president reflect their term to date and will increase as more actions are taken.