# What did conservatives get for two years in control of the government? (Aside from a big tax cut) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 24, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348 "2019-01-24T20:26:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/1 "2019-01-24T20:26:53Z")
I was thinking about the current government shutdown and it occurred to me, “Why now?” The republicans have been in complete control of the government for two years. If they wanted a wall then it was trivial for them to get a wall. Not a thing democrats could do to stop them. Even when they knew they’d lose the House…no wall. Instead they waited till the new congress was seated and then _poof_…a crisis and we need a wall NOW! Shut down the government till they get it!! Which then lead me to wonder, what other things on a conservative’s short list did they get for two years in complete control of the government? Tax cuts leap to mind but they seemed really short on other policies they (supposedly) hold near and dear: - Abortion? Nothing. - Gun rights? Nothing. - Shrink the government? Nothing. - State rights? Nothing. - Kill the ACA? Mostly nothing (hobbled it). How many votes to repeal it were held before they had complete control? More than 50 I think. - Decrease regulations? Maybe something here but not from congress…instead left to cronies put in charge of various agencies I’m probably missing others. Feel free to add. That is just a start. So, have I missed it all or did republicans mostly ignore their supposed wish list of things they tell us they want done? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/2 "2019-01-24T20:31:52Z")
Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/3 "2019-01-24T20:33:33Z")
Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/4 "2019-01-24T20:38:34Z")
It wasn’t just the Supreme Court. The Republicans had been holding back a lot of judicial appointments, and they’ve taken avantage of Trump as a rubber stamp for the conservative judges they’ve wanted to stock the courts with. There’s a LOT of them, and the full impact may not be evident for years: > **[List of federal judges appointed by Donald Trump](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Donald_Trump)** > > This is a comprehensive list of all Article III and Article IV United States federal judges appointed by President Donald Trump as well as a partial list of Article I federal judicial appointments, excluding appointments to the District of Columbia judiciary. > The total number of Trump Article III judgeship nominees to be confirmed by the United States Senate was 234, including three associate justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, 54 judges for the United States courts of appe... > **[‘Keep those judges coming’: Conservatives praise Trump’s success in filling...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/11/16/keep-those-judges-coming-conservatives-praise-trumps-success-filling-courts/)** > > Sen. Mitch McConnell and former White House counsel Donald McGahn praise Trump's focus on the judiciary at an annual Federalist Society event. > [@](#): > > Hundreds of conservative and libertarian attorneys sung President Trump’s praises Thursday night at an annual gathering of the Federalist Society, praising him for successfully pushing more federal judges through the Senate in his first two years than any recent president. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/5 "2019-01-24T20:38:42Z")
And lots and lots of other lower level judges… edit: ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/6 "2019-01-24T20:38:56Z")
> [@](#): > > - Abortion? Nothing. > - Gun rights? Nothing. > - Shrink the government? Nothing. > - State rights? Nothing. > - Kill the ACA? Mostly nothing (hobbled it). How many votes to repeal it were held before they had complete control? More than 50 I think. > - Decrease regulations? Maybe something here but not from congress…instead left to cronies put in charge of various agencies That’s because these are all of the fake issues Republican politicians use to sell themselves to gullible voters. If they get around to it, they’ll do something toward these goals, but it’s by no means a priority. When you look at what they’ve actually bothered to do, install conservatives on the Supreme Court and give massive tax breaks to all of their rich corporate banker buddies, you see what their _real_ agenda is and always was. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/7 "2019-01-24T20:47:32Z")
From the second cite in my post: > [@](#): > > The lifetime appointments fulfill Trump’s campaign promise to remake the federal judiciary by packing the courts with conservative judges. So it’s a Republican accomplishment AND fulfills a campaign promise. The Repubs only let Obama confirm 43 judges. Bush and Trump are in the 80s, and Trump’s only halfway through his term. “Stocking the courts” indeed. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/8 "2019-01-24T20:53:30Z")
You see, that was just a bunch of RINO swamp creatures. This next batch of Republicans they’re going to vote for will \*totally \*usher in a new era of greatness. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/9 "2019-01-24T20:56:46Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > The republicans have been in complete control of the government for two years. If they wanted a wall then it was trivial for them to get a wall. They haven’t been and it wasn’t trivial. Senate majority was not the same as Senate control. McConnell likely never [had the votes](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/27/mitch-mcconnell-filibuster-trump-678817) to get rid of the legislative filibuster. He didn’t in December when enough Republicans [explicitly came out against doing that](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/422467-gop-senators-reject-trump-proposal-to-go-nuclear-on-wall) as a means to resolve the budget disagreement. While that’s been in place the majority was not enough to just legislate whatever the GOP wanted. Everything getting through the Senate had to either get bipartisan support or fit within the once per FY budget reconciliation process. Now there are things that got bipartisan support and got enacted as law. Multiple reforms bills for VA passed. Budget Control Act caps on DOD’s budget were lifted for the F18-19 budgets. Several laws were implemented to try and combat human trafficing. Reforms that prevented pharmacists from being gagged by NDAs into not dislosing pricing information passed. Limited reforms to the criminal justice system passed. Hemp’s now a legal product that can be farmed; the sponsor, McConnell, is from a state that historically was a major hemp producer. The “right to try” experimental medical treatments passed; that one was more Republican with less broad bipartisan support. They renewed expiring portions of the Earned Income Tax Credit and made them permanent. (EITC is an anti-poverty program that gets significant GOP support.) They reformed some of the Dodd-Frank rules for financial companies that were implemented in the wake of the mortgage crisis. Multiple bills addressing the opioid crisis were passed. Sure the GOP didn’t get things that were Republican **only** wishes through. That was largely impossible. The GOP didn’t and couldn’t exercise complete control of the Senate. They did get quite a bit done for what effectively was still a divided government for the whole session. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/10 "2019-01-24T20:57:45Z")
I’ll add shrinking Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. That was seen as something of a “state’s rights” issue here in Utah. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/11 "2019-01-24T21:03:49Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I was thinking about the current government shutdown and it occurred to me, “Why now?” The republicans have been in complete control of the government for two years. If they wanted a wall then it was trivial for them to get a wall. Not a thing democrats could do to stop them. Even when they knew they’d lose the House…no wall. Instead they waited till the new congress was seated and then _poof_…a crisis and we need a wall NOW! Shut down the government till they get it!! > > Which then lead me to wonder, what other things on a conservative’s short list did they get for two years in complete control of the government? Tax cuts leap to mind but they seemed really short on other policies they (supposedly) hold near and dear: > > - Abortion? Nothing. > - Gun rights? Nothing. > - Shrink the government? Nothing. > - State rights? Nothing. > - Kill the ACA? Mostly nothing (hobbled it). How many votes to repeal it were held before they had complete control? More than 50 I think. > - Decrease regulations? Maybe something here but not from congress…instead left to cronies put in charge of various agencies > > I’m probably missing others. Feel free to add. That is just a start. > > So, have I missed it all or did republicans mostly ignore their supposed wish list of things they tell us they want done? As others have said, what you are missing is the impact they are having on the courts. I think it’s a key thing too you are missing, as it might impact several of the things you listed there. Your error, perhaps, is that you are looking at right now, today…but manipulation of the courts is something that can have an impact years or even decades down the line. Certainly just what Trump did wrt supreme court appointments alone is going to have a potential impact on things for potentially decades. It’s why elections matter. Hopefully, the Dems have gotten the message and will strive with everything they have to change at least the executive branch in the next election cycle. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/12 "2019-01-24T21:08:31Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > When you look at what they’ve actually bothered to do, install conservatives on the Supreme Court and give massive tax breaks to all of their rich corporate banker buddies, you see what their _real_ agenda is and always was. There’s also deregulation and government contracts. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/13 "2019-01-24T21:15:29Z")
> [@XT](#): > > As others have said, what you are missing is the impact they are having on the courts. I think it’s a key thing too you are missing, as it might impact several of the things you listed there. Your error, perhaps, is that you are looking at right now, today…but manipulation of the courts is something that can have an impact years or even decades down the line. Certainly just what Trump did wrt supreme court appointments alone is going to have a potential impact on things for potentially decades. > > It’s why elections matter. Hopefully, the Dems have gotten the message and will strive with everything they have to change at least the executive branch in the next election cycle. I agree. Conservatives make sure they fill the courts with conservative judges so they can continue to run the country via the court system even in the years when they lose control of the elected branches of the government. If the Democrats take over Congress and the Presidency, you still have Republican judges to overrule everything they do. And the court system is increasingly involved in the election process and deciding who gets elected. So if you appoint enough judges on your side, you don’t have to worry about the outcome of elections anymore. And once you “win” the elections, you get to appoint more judges. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/14 "2019-01-24T21:39:33Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > They haven’t been and it wasn’t trivial. Senate majority was not the same as Senate control. McConnell likely never [had the votes](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/27/mitch-mcconnell-filibuster-trump-678817) to get rid of the legislative filibuster. He didn’t in December when enough Republicans [explicitly came out against doing that](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/422467-gop-senators-reject-trump-proposal-to-go-nuclear-on-wall) as a means to resolve the budget disagreement. Why not get rid of the filibuster? It took McConnell a nanosecond before deciding to be rid of it for the Gorsuch nomination. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/15 "2019-01-24T21:47:17Z")
1. The filibuster rule in the senate – which remains in place for legislation – has been an obstacle to radical measures that have to pass Congress. It’s not all on Trump. (I don’t have to spell out the reconciliation rules that allowed the tax cut to pass, do I?) 2. n-thing the two Supreme Court seats – these are significant accomplishments. Those judges are money in the bank when things come up before the SC in the coming decades. And all the other judges, too. 3. Don’t underestimate the things a president can do in the executive branch. **Ditka** brings up some public lands issues where there’s been action – and he, at least, cares about those issues. For every action Trump has taken in the executive branch, bet your ass there’s a well-heeled constituency. 4. Hobbling the ACA is something, for sure. It’s unlikely to be effective, because repealing Obamacare is not a popular policy, but it does at least reinforce the party line that Obamacare sucks. 5. Trump has also legitimized ignorance, deception, and – yes – racism as fair play in presidential politics. Some conservatives don’t like that; others do. But I also think the OP has a point. Conservatives do have a right to feel disappointed. That’s because Trump is, well, feckless. If you’re a leftish American, though, you have every right to be appalled at Trump’s record. He hasn’t been harmless, or even mostly harmless. He’s done plenty, and what he’s done overwhelmingly sucks. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/16 "2019-01-24T21:47:29Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Why not get rid of the filibuster? It took McConnell a nanosecond before deciding to be rid of it for the Gorsuch nomination. Hairy Reed decided that filibustering confirmations, except for the Supremes, was getting in his way. The Republicans added the Supremes to Hairy’s list. Plus, the elected Democrats couldn’t ban all firearms. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/17 "2019-01-24T22:33:00Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > … > > - Gun rights? Nothing. > … BTW, on this front, I’d certainly like to see _more_ progress, but I wouldn’t characterize President Trump’s accomplishments as “nothing” either: > [@](#): > > February 28, 2017—President Trump signed a bill into law (Public Law 115–8)[2] repealing a Social Security Administration rule adding mental disability determinations to the background check registry, subject to a person applying to be removed from the list.[3][4][5] Congress had passed a law requiring federal agencies to search their records for people who were “mentally defective”, and the Social Security Administration had published their method of gathering names on December 16, 2016. The regulation would have added the names of disability beneficiaries who have a mental illness or are not competent to manage their own finances, potentially leading to the removal of Second Amendment rights to many perfectly competent, mentally healthy citizens.[4][6] By signing the resolution of disapproval, as with other CRA acts, the Social Security Administration cannot come up with different criteria for supplying names to the background check registry for 10 years. > > August 16, 2017—The Justice Department terminated Operation Choke Point, a program started during the Obama Administration that existed to encourage banks not to do business with “high risk” businesses and that was criticized by conservatives as unfairly targeting gun dealers and other businesses not looked favorably upon by liberals. > > May 14, 2018—The Trump Administration began the process of loosening regulations for certain small-arms exports and changing the agency giving approval from the State to Commerce Department.[17] It officially published the proposed rule changes on May 24, 2018.[18] In July 2018, President Trump approved the State Department’s proposed implementation plan for the new policy.[19] > > July 2018—It was reported that the DOJ had made a settlement with a 3D gun printer a few months prior, ending a lawsuit between the printer and the State Department over making blueprints for 3D-printed guns public.[20] In the settlement, the DOJ admitted that non-automatic firearms up to .50-caliber, including semi-automatic rifles, are not inherently military, and by allowing the release of 3D-printed gun blueprints, it undermined gun-buying regulations.[20] > > December 18, 2018—President Trump’s commission on school safety released its final report, which among other positive recommendations, called for more armed guards in schools, ending an Obama Administration race-based school discipline policy, and argued against raising the minimum age to buy a gun, rather than calling for more gun control.[21] [source](https://www.conservapedia.com/Donald_Trump_achievements:_Gun_rights) ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/18 "2019-01-24T22:37:29Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > … > > - Abortion? Nothing. > … Same story here. Sure, there haven’t been blockbuster achievements, but some modest gains: > [@](#): > > April 13, 2017—President Trump signed a Congressional Review bill into law annulling a recent Obama Administration regulation that would have prohibited states from discriminating in awarding Title X family planning funds based on whether the local clinic also performs abortions (some states adopted rules which distribute federal family planning funds on the condition that the organizations do not perform abortions).[4] The Act was “the first major national pro-life bill in more than a decade.”[5] > > January 23, 2017—President Trump signed an order reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which defunded International Planned Parenthood and other organizations that promote foreign abortions.[6] However, unlike previous administrations, the Trump Administration expanded the policy to include all global health assistance funding.[1][7] > > April 4, 2017—The Trump Administration halted U.S. funding of the United Nations Population Fund, which has links to inhumane abortion programs such as China’s one-child policy. Instead, the $32.5 million was shifted to the U.S. Agency for International Development.[8] > > President Trump appointed several pro-life advocates to Department of Health and Human Services positions. In late March 2017, he appointed Scott Lloyd to lead the HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, which led the fight against allowing illegal immigrants obtaining abortions.[9] On April 28, 2017, in an apparent victory for the pro-life movement,[10] President Trump appointed Dr. Charmaine Yoest, a strong pro-life advocate and the former president of Americans United for Life, to the position of assistant secretary of public affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services, replacing a strong Planned Parenthood supporter.[11] The position did not require Senate confirmation.[12] In late May, Trump appointed Shannon Royce, who formerly served in the Family Research Council and the Southern Baptists’ Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, to the HHS Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.[13] Around May 1, 2017, President Trump appointed Teresa Manning, a pro-life advocate who worked for the Family Research Council and the National Right to Life, to be the HHS deputy assistant secretary for population affairs.[14] In July 2017, President Trump appointed Bethany Kozma, a strong conservative activist[15] who reportedly stated in March 2018 that the U.S. “is a pro-life country” at a private United Nations meeting,[16] as Senior Adviser in the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment division of USAID.[15] > > May 15, 2017—The Trump Administration massively broadened the scope of the Mexico City Policy to restrict funding to any international health organization that performs or gives information about abortions, expanding the amount of money affected from $600,000 to nearly $9 billion.[17] > > January 19, 2018—The United States Department of Health and Human Services made several pro-life actions, rescinding a 2016 Obama Administration guidance that made it harder for states to defund Planned Parenthood, and it began the process of enacting a regulation to require healthcare providers to follow laws that protect workers’ from being forced to perform services, such as abortions, that violate their consciences.[24][27] > > February 23, 2018—The HHS changed its Title X family planning grants to promote conservative priorities, which included not allowing the grants to be used for abortions,[28] even though the HHS did not disallow Planned Parenthood from applying.[29] > > By April 2018, the HHS’s Office of Refugee Resettlement had become an active force for pro-life policies.[30] > > April 9, 2018—The HHS released an ObamaCare rule that exempted pro-life Americans from the individual mandate penalty for not buying healthcare plans if the only plans available covered abortion.[31] > > April 20, 2018—The Trump Administration ended the Obama-era policy of listing abortion as a “human right” in the State Department’s annual human rights report, and it added a section on population control.[32] > > May 18, 2018—The Trump Administration began the process of enacting a federal regulation blocking the use of federal funds for clinics that provide or discuss abortion.[33] On May 22, 2018, the HHS moved to implement the rule by making a formal proposal.[34][35] In August 2018, the Trump Administration moved to shorten the process to implement the new policy.[36] > > November 7, 2018—The Trump Administration finalized two rules allowing employers with religious objections to opt out of the ObamaCare contraceptive mandate and ensuring that taxpayer-funded health care subsidies would not be used to fund abortions.[37] > > December 10, 2018—The National Institutes of Health announced it would give out $20 million in grants to look for alternatives to fetal tissue in medical research.[38] [source](https://www.conservapedia.com/Donald_Trump_achievements:_Abortion) ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/19 "2019-01-24T22:39:45Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > … > > - State rights? Nothing. > … See [here](https://www.conservapedia.com/Donald_Trump_achievements:_Deregulation_and_government_size). Quoting it all out is getting tedious. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348/20 "2019-01-24T22:56:34Z")
\*\* What did conservatives get for two years in control of the government? (Aside from a big tax cut)\*\* In addition to a mess o’judges, there’s all the things liberals _didn’t_ get to do, so the Apocalypse was warded off for at least two years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-conservatives-get-for-two-years-in-control-of-the-government-aside-from-a-big-tax-cut/828348.md?page=2)