Welcome to the Wednesday, April 30, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Breaking down President Donald Trump’s first 100 days of his second term in office
- Incumbent Edward Gainey and Corey O’Connor are running in the Democratic primary for mayor of Pittsburgh on May 20
- On the Ballot examines why some states report election results faster than others
Breaking down President Donald Trump’s first 100 days of his second term in office
April 29 marked the 100th day of President Donald Trump’s (R) second term in office. Today, we’ll give you the rundown on some noteworthy facts and figures from Trump’s first 100 days in office. We’ll focus on six areas—executive actions, Cabinet confirmations, judicial nominations, legislation, tie-breaking votes, and approval ratings.
Before we dig into Trump’s first 100 days, let’s examine why people started paying attention to a president’s first 100 days in office. USA Today’s James Powel wrote that when President Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) assumed office in 1933, “the depths of the Great Depression and a favorable Congress gave [him] the political environment to move quickly.” As a result, the 73rd Congress passed 15 bills during Roosevelt’s first 100 days in office.
According to Powel, Roosevelt’s approach to his first 100 days in office has since “created an informal landmark in a new president’s term that has become a burden to some administrations and a rallying cry for others, even if they acknowledge the difficulty of meeting Roosevelt’s standard.”
Now, let’s break down the data behind Trump’s first 100 days in office.
Executive actions
So far, Trump has issued 142 executive orders, 37 memoranda, and 39 proclamations. That’s the highest number of first-year executive orders since 1945, when Harry S. Truman (D) issued 139 orders.
Looking at those 142 executive orders by topic, Trump has issued the most orders—35—on foreign policy. Between his first and second terms in office, Trump has issued 362 executive orders. That’s the 12th most executive orders issued by any president in U.S. history.
At this point in Trump’s first term, he had signed 24 executive orders, and at this point in Joe Biden’s (D) term in office, he had signed 42 executive orders.
Cabinet nominations
So far, the U.S. Senate has confirmed 21 of Trump’s Cabinet members. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations is the only vacant position.
Trump initially nominated U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to serve as U.N. ambassador but withdrew her nomination in March 2025. On his reasoning for withdrawing the nomination, Trump wrote, “With a very tight Majority, I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat [in the U.S. House of Representatives].” Trump has not yet named a new nominee.
Looking at the 15 main Cabinet positions, the U.S. Senate confirmed Trump’s nominees at a faster rate than they did for Biden’s nominees and Trump’s nominees in his first term.
The following chart shows the range of senators’ percentage support for Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Among Democrats and independents who caucus with Democrats, seven senators supported over 40% of Trump’s nominees, while 25 supported fewer than 20% of Trump’s nominees.
Judicial nominations
So far, Trump has not nominated anyone to federal judgeships on Article III courts. At this point in his first term, Trump had nominated three federal judges, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. At this point during Biden’s term, he had nominated 10 individuals to federal circuit and district courts.
When Trump took office on Jan. 20, he inherited 40 lifetime federal judicial vacancies. Biden inherited 46 such vacancies when he took office in 2021, and Trump inherited 108 vacancies in 2017.
Noteworthy legislation
So far, the 119th Congress has passed five bills and resolutions during Trump’s second term—all of which he signed into law. Those bills include: H.J.Res.25, H.R.1968, S.J.Res.11, H.J.Res.35, and S.5.
Other noteworthy legislative activity includes the passage of matching budget resolutions by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in April 2025, which paved the way for them to begin the budget reconciliation process. The resolutions outline the main focus areas as border, defense, and energy spending, along with tax reductions to replace the expiring tax policy from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018.
In January 2017, the 115th Congress passed its first budget resolutions, and the House passed a reconciliation bill, the American Health Care Act, in May 2017. The Senate voted down the bill in July 2017. In 2021, the 117th Congress passed its first budget resolutions in February 2021, and Biden signed into law the resulting reconciliation bill, the American Rescue Plan Act, in March 2021.
Tie-breaking votes
So far, Vice President J.D. Vance (R) has cast one tie-breaking vote in the Senate. Vance broke the tie to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense in January 2025.
At this point in Trump’s first term, Vice President Mike Pence (R) had cast three tie-breaking votes, and at this point in Biden’s term in office, Vice President Kamala Harris (D) had cast four tie-breaking votes.
Approval rating
At the end of March, polling averages showed that Trump had a 47% approval rating. Fifty-one percent of voters disapproved of his performance. This is the lowest approval rating he’s received during his presidency to date. Trump’s highest approval rating was 54% on Jan. 22.
For more information on Trump’s second term in office, click here.
Incumbent Edward Gainey and Corey O’Connor are running in the Democratic primary for mayor of Pittsburgh on May 20
As part of our ongoing coverage of local elections across the U.S., we’re spotlighting this year’s Democratic primary for mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Incumbent Mayor Edward Gainey (D) and Corey O’Connor (D) are running in the May 20 election.
PennLive‘s J.D. Prose wrote, “With Pittsburgh remaining a solidly blue enclave in purple Allegheny County, the party’s primary race winner will be considered the de facto next mayor although there are two GOP mayoral candidates.” A Democrat has served as mayor since 1934. Sixty-five of the 100 largest U.S. cities by population have mayors who are Democrats.
According to NBC News‘ Allan Smith, “The May 20 election is one of the first major off-year Democratic primaries in which the party’s progressive and center-left wings are facing off before voters — and the first in a key swing state.”
Gainey has served as mayor since 2021. He previously represented District 24 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021. Gainey’s priorities include:
- Expanding inclusionary zoning citywide
- Continuing to hire civilian staff for the police department
- Improving city contracting practices
O’Connor has served as Allegheny County controller since 2023. He previously represented District 5 on the Pittsburgh City Council from 2012 to 2022. O’Connor’s priorities include:
- Improving permit and zoning systems
- Investigating and reallocating idle funds
- Adding staffing and funding to public safety services
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) and the United Steelworkers have endorsed Gainey. The Allegheny County Democratic Committee and Pennsylvania’s Laborers’ Council have endorsed O’Connor.
Pittsburgh is one of the 47 largest 100 U.S. cities by population to use a strong mayor system of governance, meaning the mayor drafts budgets, sets policies, and can veto bills the city council has passed.
To read more about the Democratic primary for mayor of Pittsburgh, click here. Also, if you’re a Pittsburgh resident, check out our Sample Ballot Lookup here to prepare for Election Day.
On the Ballot examines why some states report election results faster than others
In the April 25 Daily Brew, we told you about our latest report on the factors that affect the speed of ballot counting and delivery of unofficial election results. In this week’s new episode of On The Ballot, host Geoff Pallay and Ballotpedia’s Joe Greaney will dive deeper into the topic.
You may have noticed that states don’t all count ballots at the same speed, and the reasons why are more complicated than they might seem. In some places, unofficial election results are nearly complete by the end of Election Day. In others, it can take election officials days or weeks to finish the count. Behind the scenes, policies around ballot deadlines, early voting, pre-processing rules, and election resources all shape the timeline.
The factors that slow down or speed up ballot counting come into sharper focus when comparing California and Florida—two states with high levels of early and mail voting but dramatically different reporting speeds. Their approaches offer a window into the broader tradeoffs between delivering faster results and protecting voter access, election accuracy, and public trust.
Subscribe to On the Ballot on YouTube or your preferred podcast app, or click here to listen. You can also click here to check out our full report on the factors that affect the speed of ballot counting and delivery of unofficial election results.