Overview
- Congress enacted 38 laws in 2025, a modern low for a president’s first year, as the House held just 362 roll-call votes.
- President Donald Trump relied on roughly 224 executive orders, concentrating major policy decisions in the executive branch.
- The Senate cast 659 roll-call votes with a focus on personnel, confirming 417 Trump nominees and installing his cabinet at the fastest rate in two decades.
- A 43-day government shutdown became the longest on record, underscoring entrenched gridlock and repeated closures of the House.
- Key deadlines slipped into the new year, with Affordable Care Act marketplace subsidies still unaddressed as Republicans conceded little beyond the “One Big Beautiful Bill.”