Dem
47
GOP
53
Is there any pattern in what Donald Trump is doing in his first 60 days? One consistent theme is deporting immigrants. But that isn't the only theme. Another one is repealing many of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs. In particular, Trump has taken actions to weaken or abolish programs that dealt with voting rights, desegregation, the environment, education, affirmative action, and health care, among others.
On Day 1, Trump revoked Johnson's 1965 executive order mandating "equal opportunity" for women and people of color by federal contractors. The careful reader will note that the fact that the XO was still on the books is pretty good evidence that every president since then, Republican and Democratic, thought it was a pretty good idea. Trump also issued a memo re-allowing segregated federal facilities, something Johnson had banned. Although Johnson didn't create the Department of Education (Jimmy Carter did), Johnson did sign the Higher Education Act, which created scholarships and low-interest loans for Black, Latino, Native American, and poor white students. Of course, Trump is now busy destroying the DoEd, which manages them. Johnson also signed the bills creating Medicare and Medicaid. House Republicans are likely to gut Medicaid (with Trump's blessing) because they think Medicaid mostly helps poor, urban Black people when it actually mostly helps white rural Trump supporters. Johnson also signed the Voting Rights Act; Trump has pushed for many voting restrictions that would make it harder for poor people, students, and other constituencies aligned with the Democrats to vote. The list of Johnson's programs that Trump is killing goes on and on. Basically, he wants to Make America Great Again—like it was prior to the Great Society. Maybe, say, the 1950s. Or the 1850s.
Small-government conservatives always hated the Great Society programs, saying they gave the federal government too much power and did things that the federal government had no constitutional authority to do. Now they are getting their fondest wishes fulfilled. (V)