A recap on President Donald Trump’s first week of his second term in office


Welcome to the Tuesday, Jan. 28, Brew. 

By: Briana Ryan

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. A recap on President Donald Trump’s first week of his second term in office
  2. Looking ahead to 2026 congressional retirements
  3. Battleground special elections to take place in Florida and Minnesota

A recap on President Donald Trump’s first week of his second term in office

With President Donald Trump’s (R) first week in office now in the rearview, here’s a brief recap comparing his activity to that of his predecessors.

Executive orders

During his first week in office, Trump signed 35 executive orders. Following his inauguration, he signed twenty-six of those executive orders on Jan. 20. Trump has signed executive orders to revoke 72 of former President Joe Biden’s 162 executive orders. That amounts to 44% of all Biden executive orders. 

Most of these revocations happened on Jan. 20, following Trump’s inauguration. He signed an order titled Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions that revoked 68 of Biden’s executive orders. The next revocation also happened on Inauguration Day, with an order titled Unleashing American Energy that revoked one additional Biden executive order. Trump revoked his 70th Biden executive order on Jan. 23 with an order titled Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology, and his 71st and 72nd Biden orders with an order titled Enforcing The Hyde Amendment.

Additionally, Trump issued seven other executive orders rescinding some of the same Biden executive orders that were initially revoked on Jan. 20. You can view a full list of all of Trump’s executive orders rescinding previous executive orders here.

With 72 Biden-era orders revoked, Trump has already out-revoked Biden during his time in office. Biden revoked a total of 64 Trump-era orders during his four years in office, accounting for 29% of Trump’s executive orders. On the first day of his presidency, Biden revoked 18 Trump orders, and from Jan. 20, 2021, to Jan. 24, 2021, Biden revoked a total of 22. These figures do not include revocations of orders from administrations before Trump’s first term or revocations of orders that Biden himself issued. 

Cabinet confirmations

The U.S. Senate confirmed four of Trump’s main 15 Cabinet nominees in his first week in office:

Looking back at Trump’s first term in office, the U.S. Senate confirmed two nominees in his first week in office: John Kelly for Secretary of Homeland Security and James Mattis for Secretary of Defense. In Trump’s first term, the U.S. Senate confirmed his last nominee on April 27, 2017—97 days after Inauguration Day.

Federal judicial vacancies

As of Jan. 24, 39 of the 890 Article III judicial positions were vacant. So far, Trump has not announced any appointments to fill those vacancies. During his first term in office, Trump made 234 judicial appointments, the second most of any president in their first term since 1981. Biden made the most judicial appointments during his first term, with 235.

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Looking ahead to 2026 congressional retirements

It’s been a little over a month since members of the 119th Congress were sworn in. Although Congress is just underway with its session, some members may already be considering whether or not to run for another term in 2026

So far, only one incumbent—Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.)—has formally announced his intention not to run for re-election in 2026. Today, we’ll take a closer look at when other incumbents could announce their retirements.

Between January 2011 and November 2024, there were 348 retirement announcements from U.S. House and Senate members. Out of every election cycle from 2012 to 2024, the 2018 cycle had the most retirements, at 55, and the 2020 cycle had the fewest, with four. From 2011 to 2024, there was an average of 50 announcements per cycle.

  • January had the highest number of announcements during an election year at 47, while August, September, and October had the fewest at one each.
  • November had the highest number of announcements during an off year at 41, while June had the fewest at nine.

Since January 2011, most incumbents have announced their retirements less than two years before the election. A few incumbents have announced their retirements two years or more before the election. The most recent example is Grijalva, who announced in September 2024 that he would not seek re-election in 2026.

Eight other instances have occurred since January 2011 of incumbents announcing they would not run for re-election two years or more before the election.

  • Then-Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) announced in 2012 that she would not seek re-election to the House in 2014. Instead, she ran for the open Senate seat in West Virginia in 2014.
  • Then-Reps. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) and Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) announced in 2014 that they would not seek re-election in 2016. Instead, both members retired from public office.
  • Then-Reps. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) and Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.) announced in November and December 2016, respectively, that they would not seek re-election in 2018. Instead, both members ran in their respective states’ open gubernatorial elections in 2018.
  • Then-Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced in 2018 that he would not seek re-election in 2020 and would instead retire from public office.
  • Then-Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) announced in July 2016 he would not seek re-election in 2022 and would instead retire from public office.
  • Then-Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) announced in October 2020 that he would not seek re-election in 2022 and would instead retire from public office.

Make sure to bookmark the link below to stay up to date on which members of Congress are not running for re-election in 2026.

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Battleground special elections to take place in Florida and Minnesota on Jan. 28

We’re following two battleground special elections happening today, Jan. 28, in Florida and Minnesota. We define battlegrounds as elections that we expect to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive or compelling.

The elections are the Republican primary for Florida’s 1st Congressional District and the general election for Minnesota Senate District 60

Both seats up for election have historically favored one party. In the 2024 general election for Florida’s 1st Congressional District, then-incumbent Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) defeated Gay Valimont (D) 66% to 34%. In the 2022 general election for Minnesota Senate District 60, then-incumbent Sen. Kari Dziedzic (D) ran unopposed.

  • In the U.S. House, Republicans currently have a 218-215 majority with two vacancies. Republicans previously won a five-member majority in the 2024 general elections. That’s the narrowest House majority since 1930, when Republicans won a two-member majority.
  • The Minnesota Senate is evenly split, 33-33, with one vacancy. As a result, the Senate is currently operating chamber business under a power-sharing agreement until there are 34 votes to end it. This election is also happening in the context of a dispute in the Minnesota House of Representatives regarding party control and Democrats losing their trifecta in the state due to the 2024 general elections. You can click here to read more about the dynamics of the 2025 Minnesota legislative session.

Let’s look at these elections in more detail, starting with the race in Florida.

Ten candidates are running. Two candidates—Jimmy Patronis (R) and Joel Rudman (R)—lead in media attention and endorsements. Gaetz won re-election to the U.S. House on Nov. 5 but resigned on Nov. 13 when President Donald Trump (R) nominated him for attorney general. Gaetz later withdrew from consideration for the nomination on Nov. 21. The primary winner will face off against Valimont—who is 

running for the seat again—and five other candidates in the general election on April 1.

You can read more about the Republican primary in the Jan. 14 Daily Brew.

Turning our sights to the midwest, two candidates—Doron Clark (D) and Abigail Wolters (R)—are running in the general election to represent Minnesota Senate District 60. The district became vacant when Dziedzic died following a battle with ovarian cancer on Dec. 27.

You can read more about the general election in the Jan. 12 Daily Brew.

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