Welcome to the Wednesday, Jan. 21, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- President Donald Trump (R) signs 26 executive orders on his first day in office
- Alaska voters may decide on campaign finance and ranked-choice voting (RCV) repeal citizen initiatives in 2026
- A look back at 2024 state supreme court vacancies
President Donald Trump (R) signs 26 executive orders on his first day in office
Hours after his inauguration on Jan. 20, President Donald Trump (R) signed 26 executive orders. Today, we’ll dig into what those executive orders cover and how they compare to those signed in previous administrations.
First, let’s review how executive orders work. Executive orders are directives the president writes to officials within the executive branch requiring them to take or stop some action related to policy or management. While executive orders are legally binding, they are not laws. They are instructions on how the executive branch ought to enforce the law. These instructions must line up with existing U.S. laws and the U.S. Constitution.
Trump signed more executive orders on his first day in office than any president since 2001. You might have already heard about these executive orders. We’ve published individual articles on each executive order, which you can now review and read. Each executive order can be found here.
Neither George W. Bush (R) nor Barack Obama (D) signed executive orders on their first day in office. Trump signed one executive order on his first day in 2017, and Joe Biden (D) signed nine on his first day in 2021.
Trump also signed more executive orders on his first day in office than Bush and Obama signed in their first 100 days. Trump signed 55 executive orders in his first 100 days in office in 2017, and Biden signed 42 in his first 100 days in office in 2021.
Trump’s executive orders covered multiple topics, ranging from immigration to the administrative state. One of the 26 executive orders rescinds 67 executive orders that Biden signed throughout his term. However, Trump has presently left about 95 (59%) of Biden’s executive orders in place.
The chart below breaks down the topics covered in the executive orders.
The total word count for Trump’s 26 executive orders is 30,986, or an average of about 1,192 words per executive order. The medium number of words was 917.5.
- The shortest executive order is titled Executive Order: America First Policy Directive To The Secretary Of State. The word count for that executive order is 202.
- The longest executive order is titled Executive Order: Unleashing American Energy. The word count for that executive order is 3,458.
Alaska voters may decide on campaign finance and ranked-choice voting (RCV) repeal initiatives in 2026
Alaska voters may decide on two citizen initiatives in 2026: one that would repeal the state’s top-four ranked-choice voting (RCV) system and another that would enact new campaign finance limits.
Alaska is one of nine states where citizens can initiate state statutes through the indirect initiative process. In Alaska, if the lieutenant governor certifies enough signatures as valid, the initiative is not certified for the ballot until after “a legislative session has convened and adjourned.” This gives the Alaska Legislature a timeframe to consider the proposal or similar legislation. Otherwise, the initiative is certified to appear on the ballot for the first statewide election 120 days after the Legislature’s adjournment.
Let’s take a closer look at the two initiatives that Alaska voters may decide on in 2026.
Ranked-choice voting (RCV) repeal
This measure would repeal the state’s RCV system and establish a party primary system. In 2020, Alaska voters approved Measure 2, 50.55% to 49.45%. The measure created an RCV system and enacted new campaign finance disclosure requirements. The 2026 initiative would not affect the campaign finance disclosure requirements.
If voters approve this measure, it would be the second time that a measure to repeal the state’s RCV system will appear on the ballot. In 2024, Alaska voters defeated another measure that would have repealed the state’s RCV system by 743 votes.
Campaign finance limits
Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom certified the measure to the Legislature after supporters submitted 29,823 valid signatures, meeting the requirement of 26,705 valid signatures.The measure would establish campaign contribution limits for state and local campaigns. Alaska voters previously decided on campaign contribution limits in 2006 when they approved Measure 1. However, that measure was challenged, and in 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that it violated the First Amendment.
Under the proposed measure, individuals could contribute up to $2,000 each election cycle to a candidate and up to $5,000 yearly to a political party or other group. A group could contribute $4,000 each election cycle to a candidate and $5,000 yearly to another group or political party. When it comes to contributions made to a joint campaign for governor or lieutenant governor, an individual could contribute no more than $4,000 each election cycle, while groups may contribute no more than $8,000 each election cycle. The measure would not affect contributions made by super PACs or independent expenditure groups.
A look back at 2024 state supreme court vacancies
Twenty state supreme court justices left office before the end of their terms in 2024. Since 2019, there have been 133 state supreme court vacancies. Today, we’ll look at how the vacancies in 2024 compare to previous years.
Of the 20 justices who left office before their terms ended, 17 retired, and three became chief justice of the court. This is the first year since 2019 that a justice has not died in office within a calendar year.
The 20 vacancies happened across 15 states, with most states having one justice vacancy. In three states—Connecticut, Nebraska, and South Carolina—an associate justice became chief justice, leaving their previous associate justice position vacant. Only in Minnesota and Massachusetts did two justices retire from their respective state’s highest court.
Four chief justices in Connecticut, Nebraska, South Carolina, and Texas resigned in 2024. Each was replaced by an associate justice who had already been serving on the court. Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht resigned on Dec. 31, 2024, with his replacement appointed in January 2025.
As of Jan. 14, five vacancies that happened in 2024 have not been filled yet. Six women (40%) and nine men (60%) have been appointed to the remaining 15 vacancies. This is the fourth-highest percentage of women nominated to state supreme courts since we started following this information in 2019.
Four justices left the bench in the first half of January 2025, and three successors (all men) were named. As of Jan. 14, only one 2025 vacancy, in the Alaska Supreme Court, had not been filled.