Trump outstripping Obama on pace of executive orders

It wasn't too long ago that Donald Trump derided presidential executive orders as "power grabs" and a "basic disaster." He's switched sides in a big way: In each year of his presidency, he has issued more executive orders than did former President Barack Obama during the same span.

He surpassed Obama's third-year total just recently. Back in 2012, Trump tweeted: "Why Is @BarackObama constantly issuing executive orders that are major power grabs of authority?" Andrew Rudalevige, a professor at Bowdoin College, says Trump appears to have learned what his predecessors discovered, too: It's easier and often more satisfying to get things done through administrative action than to get Congress to go along.

Trump has so far issued 130 executive orders. By comparison, Obama issued 108 in his first three years.