Overview
- Nearly 500 federal lawsuits and multiple adverse rulings have checked expansions of executive power, with the Supreme Court poised to weigh emergency tariff authority.
- Gallup now records 36% approval and 60% disapproval for the president as broad tariffs push the effective rate above 18% and fuel affordability concerns ahead of the 2026 midterms.
- Border enforcement tightened in 2025, with U.S. Border Patrol reporting fewer than 10,000 monthly crossings since January and asylum access sharply narrowed.
- The federal workforce shrank markedly as more than 317,000 employees left and about 68,000 were hired, following inspector‑general firings and restructurings that included dismantling agencies such as USAID.
- Security actions grew more forceful, including 29 attacks on suspected trafficking boats that killed 105 people, even as legal experts dispute their basis and a judge temporarily blocked the government from arresting green card holder Imran Ahmed ahead of a hearing.