The Trump Administration advanced and enacted numerous social conservative policies in 2017.[1][2] Due to his achievements in advancing conservative social policies, President Trump was described as "taking back America's culture" by the conservative media.[3] United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price, who resigned in late September 2017, used his tenure as secretary to advance numerous conservative policies.[4] President Trump played a large role in the Culture War.[5]
Executive actions, 2017
The Trump Administration took numerous actions related to religious liberty:
- May 4, 2017—On the annual National Day of Prayer,[6] President Trump signed an executive order on religious liberty. Among its provisions, it loosened IRS restrictions against political activities by tax-exempt religious organizations, effectively weakening the Johnson Amendment; and it attempted to make it easier for employers not to provide contraceptives if they had religious objections.[7] The order gave conservative Attorney General Jeff Sessions greater authority regarding religious liberty policy.[8] Although well received by some Christians and conservatives,[9] others criticized it for being ineffective and easy to repeal.[10] According to the Family Research Council nearly one year later, the order helped faith-based groups give healthcare coverage to 13.7 million Americans, among other positive effects.[11]
- October 6, 2017—The Department of Health and Human Services rolled back the ObamaCare contraceptive mandate which required employers to provide birth control and sterilization procedures to employees even if the employers disagreed with the services for religious and moral reasons.[12][13] The Trump Administration finalized the rules on November 7, 2018.[14]
- October 6, 2017—The Department of Justice issued several memos directing how federal agencies should interpret religious freedom, directing the DOJ to vet proposed regulations for any potential impact on religious freedom, and ordering the IRS not to enforce the Johnson Amendment.[13][15]
- November 6, 2017—The Department of Agriculture issued a guidance protecting religious liberty and ensuring that Christians who opposed homosexual "marriage" would not be discriminated against for their beliefs.[16]
The Trump Administration took numerous actions related to homosexual, transgender, and other sex-related matters:
- January 20, 2017—While a symbolic move, the newly-sworn-in Trump Administration quickly removed the Obama Administration's web pages on LGBTQ issues, among some other left-wing causes.[17]
- February 22, 2017—President Trump rescinded former President Obama's pro-transgender guidelines for schools receiving federal aid that are subject to Title IX.[18] A day earlier, the Trump Administration announced it would discontinue Obama's pro-transgender policies,[19] and earlier that month the DOJ refused to defend the policy or appeal a court-ordered injunction on the policy.[20]
- April 14, 2017—The Justice Department dropped its discrimination lawsuit against North Carolina for its "bathroom bill" (filed under the Obama Administration) after North Carolina passed a compromise bill. Homosexual activists still opposed the new bill.[21]
- In May 2017, the Trump Administration began to undo Section 1557 of ObamaCare, which would have helped liberals gain transexual "rights" through the courts.[22]
- President Trump did not proclaim June 2017 as LGBT Pride Month, unlike former presidents Clinton and Obama.[23]
- June 30, 2017—The Department of Defense announced it would delay an Obama Administration plan to have the military recruit transgender people for six months in order to ensure the military's readiness would not be affected by the change.[24] On July 26, 2017, President Trump announced he would reverse Obama's policy and disallow transgender people from serving in the military,[25] and he formally signed an order banning them from joining the military on August 25, 2017.[26] President Trump signed a final order on March 23, 2018, that banned transgender individuals from military service but with certain exceptions.[27]
- October 4, 2017—The Department of Justice issued a memo reversing an Obama-era policy that had the DOJ interpret the scope of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to extend to "gender identity."[28]
- The Interior Department removed "sexual orientation" from its 2017 ethics guide.[29]
Appointments, 2017
- April 14, 2017—President Trump appointed Roger Severino, a strong defender of religious liberty, to the HHS Office for Civil Rights.[30] By April 2018, Severino had become a major figure in advancing the Trump Administration's pro-religious liberty policies.[31][32]
- June 6, 2017—The Trump Administration appointed Valerie Huber, an abstinence education advocate, to the position of chief of staff to the assistant secretary for health at the HHS.[33]
- July 2017—President Trump appointed Bethany Kozma, a conservative homemaker and anti-transgender activist as Senior Adviser in the Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment division of USAID.[34] In March 2018, Kozma reportedly stated that the U.S. "is a pro-life country" at a private United Nations meeting.[35]
Proclamations, 2017
- November 19–25, 2017—President Trump declared this week to be National Family Week to "emphasize the importance of preserving and promoting strong families, the cornerstone of our society."[36]
Other achievements, 2017
While the following achievements were not official United States government policy actions by the Trump Administration, they were closely related to the Trump Administration and its policies:
Setbacks, 2017
The following setbacks to the MAGA agenda were often caused by Congress or officials in the Trump Administration, rather than President Trump himself. Some of them can also be considered partial achievements.
- January 31, 2017—President Donald Trump announced he would keep a 2014 executive order signed by former President Obama that gave protected status to homosexual employees of the government and federal contractors.[39][40] Additionally, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner reportedly derailed a proposed executive order protecting religious liberty at the same time.[41] However, supporters of homosexual privileges claimed that a March 27, 2017 order, which repealed much of Obama's 2014 executive order, went against Trump's statement to keep the 2014 Obama order (which, if true, would annul this supposed failure).[42]
- It was reported in June 2017 that the Trump Administration officials continued Obama's advancement of transgender ideology into public schools.[43]
- Despite the Trump Administration's actions in advancing social conservative policies,[1] some conservatives, citing numerous examples in Trump's presidency, argued that President Trump had not taken as strong a stance in favor of religious liberty and social conservatism as expected.[44]
- November 2017—The State Department under Rex Tillerson recognized the "Transgender Day of Remembrance."[45]
President Trump signing an executive order on religious liberty, May 3, 2018
The Trump Administration continued promoting social conservative policies and defending religious liberty,[11][46] and the HHS had become a strong defender of religious freedom by January 2018.[32][47][48]
Legislation signed, 2018
- February 9, 2018—President Trump signed a government funding bill that also had a provision assuring disaster relief from FEMA to churches and other houses of worship and ending the agency's practice of denying funds to the institutions simply because of their religious status.[49]
- December 11, 2018—President Trump signed the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act into law, which ensured that U.S. aid to the Middle East would reach Christians and other religious minorities, and it authorized the government to directly fund faith-based groups and other NGOs working in the region.[50]
Executive actions, 2018
The Trump Administration took several actions related to religious liberty:
- January 18, 2018—The HHS created the Conscience and Religious Freedom Division office, part of the Office of Civil Rights, in order to protect doctors and other healthcare workers from being forced to participate in abortions, euthanasia, and transgender surgeries.[32][51] The next day, the HHS 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.[47][52]
- January 2018—The DOJ added new guidelines regarding religious liberty in its U.S. Attorneys' Manual, prioritizing the issue for the department and intended to strengthen such protections.[53]
- February 23, 2018—The HHS changed its Title X family planning grants to promote conservative priorities such as favoring religious organizations as well as groups that promote abstinence and do not perform abortions.[54]
- May 3, 2018—Speaking at a National Day of Prayer event,[55] President Trump signed an order creating a faith-based White House office, the White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative, intended to help protect religious liberty and include the perspective of "faith-based" Americans when making policy.[56]
- May 9, 2018—The Education Department moved to review existing regulations restricting religious universities from receiving federal money – with the intention of changing or removing those regulations – in order to strengthen religious freedom protections for those institutions.[57]
- June 13, 2018—The DOJ announced a new initiative – its "Place to Worship Initiative" – to combat religious discrimination against houses of worship by municipalities.[58]
- July 24–26, 2018—The State Department hosted the first-ever U.S. government summit on religious freedom.[59] At the end of the summit, the State Department released the Potomac Declaration and the Potomac Plan of Action, which emphasized the importance of religious liberty to the U.S. government, called on other countries to protect religious freedom, and outlined specific steps for these countries to follow to protect religious freedom. The Trump Administration also announced the establishment of an International Religious Freedom Fund, as well as the Genocide Recovery and Persecution Response Program to quickly provide aid to persecuted religious minorities.[60]
- July 30, 2018—Attorney General Sessions announced the creation of its Religious Liberty Task Force to help it implement a pro-religious liberty guidance it issued in October 2017.[61]
- 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 healthcare subsidies would not be used to fund abortions.[14]
- November 15, 2018—USAID announced a new policy expanding its funding of private and religious schools in developing countries.[62]
The Trump Administration took numerous actions related to homosexual, transgender, and other sex-related matters:
- February 2018—It was reported that the Education Department would no longer investigate claims by transgender students of being forced to use the bathroom of their biological gender.[63]
- March 23, 2018—President Trump signed an order banning transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military except in "limited circumstances."[27] On January 22, 2019, the Supreme Court allowed the ban to temporarily go into effect pending hearings in lower courts,[64] and the Pentagon finally moved to implement the order in March 2019.[65]
- It was reported that various agencies in the Trump Administration removed instances to LGBT information on their websites.[66] Additionally, the Trump Administration successfully pressured the 4-H to rescind a pro-homosexuality rule from its website.[67]
- April 20, 2018—The HHS announced it would shift its funds in the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program to programs promoting abstinence.[68]
- May 11, 2018—The Bureau of Prisons reversed several Obama Administration guidelines catering to transgender inmates and making one's biological gender the main factor in deciding which facilities and bathrooms to assign inmates.[69]
- June 2018—The Department of Defense did not issue a memo commemorating LGBT Pride Month, a change from previous years.[70] This came shortly after the White House also refused to commemorate the month.[71] Despite this, other federal government agencies, including the National Park Service and Veterans Administration, did celebrate the month.[72]
- October 1, 2018—The Trump Administration implemented a rule denying visas to same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats, effectively reversing a 2009 Obama Administration decision.[73] While the Trump Administration based its decision on the faulty 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision, its action ended the special benefits provided to homosexual individuals in this area.[73]
Appointments, 2018
- On January 24, 2018, the U.S. Senate narrowly confirmed – with Vice President Mike Pence casting a tie-breaking vote – social conservative Sam Brownback to be the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.[74]
Proclamations, 2018
- January 16, 2018—President Trump declared this day Religious Freedom Day, 2018, proclaiming that "our forefathers, seeking refuge from religious persecution, believed in the eternal truth that freedom is not a gift from the government, but a sacred right from Almighty God."[75] Trump stood up for Christians when by stating that "no American—whether a nun, nurse, baker, or business owner—should be forced to choose between the tenets of faith or adherence to the law."[75]
- November 18–24, 2018—President Trump declared this week National Family Week.[76]
Setbacks, 2018
The following setbacks to the MAGA agenda were often caused by Congress or officials in the Trump Administration, rather than President Trump himself. Some of them can also be considered partial achievements.
- April 20, 2018—Despite featuring several positive changes, such as taking a pro-Israel stance and not considering abortion a "human right,"[77] the State Department's annual human rights report still had a pro-homosexual agenda bias.[78] The State Department and the Trump Administration's foreign policy also promoted the homosexual agenda in other ways.[79]
Rather than focusing on climate change like other world leaders, President Trump advocated for religious freedom at the UN, September 23, 2019
President Trump speaking at the Values Voter Summit, October 12, 2019
The Trump Administration continued advancing socially conservative policies,[80] and it took a strong stand for religious liberty,[81] filing more briefs in religious freedom cases than the Obama and Bush administrations.[82]
Executive actions, 2019
The Trump Administration took several actions related to religious liberty:
- January 23, 2019—The Trump Administration announced it would grant a waiver to South Carolina allowing faith-based foster care organizations to still receive funding despite adhering to Christian values on marriage.[83]
- March 11, 2019—The Education Department, implementing a 2017 Supreme Court decision, announced it would stop enforcing a federal law banning religious organizations from giving federally-funded services to private schools.[84]
- May 2, 2019—The HHS issued the finalized rule protecting the consciences and religious freedom of doctors and other health workers by allowing them not to perform practices such as abortion, euthanasia, and sterilization if they oppose such practices.[85] Meanwhile, the HHS's Office for Civil Rights changed its mission statement to emphasize religious freedom.[86]
- By mid-2019, the Trump Administration had doubled the number of investigations under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, and it significantly increased the number of court cases on the issue.[87]
- May 24, 2019—The Federal Aviation Administration announced it would investigate two airports – in San Antonio and Buffalo – for religious discrimination after they banned Chick-fil-A from building restaurants in the facilities.[88]
- May 30, 2019—The State Department moved to create a Commission on Unalienable Rights, a human rights panel based on "natural law and natural rights."[89] On July 8, 2019, Secretary Pompeo officially created the Commission on Unalienable Rights.[90]
- July 3, 2019—The Department of Veterans Affairs strengthened religious liberty protections in its hospitals, allowing Bibles on its premises again.[91]
- July 16, 2019—The State Department launched its second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, the largest religious freedom conference ever held, and with Secretary Pompeo announcing an international alliance to counter religious persecution.[92]
- August 14, 2019—The Labor Department proposed a rule exempting federal contractors from hiring practice regulations if those regulations violate their religious convictions.[93]
- September 10, 2019—President Trump announced he would lift a federal ban on funding for faith-based historically black colleges and universities.[94]
- September 23, 2019—Rather than focus on climate change as most of the UN, President Trump gave a major speech promoting religious freedom, stating that "the United States is founded on the principle that our rights do not come from government they come from God," among other strong statements.[95]
- September 27, 2019—The DOJ filed a statement of interest supporting the religious freedom of a Catholic school in Indiana that fired a teacher for living in a homosexual lifestyle.[96]
- November 1, 2019—The Trump Administration announced it would stop enforcing an Obama-era policy that forced faith-based adoption agencies to put children under their care in LGBT households.[97]
- November 26, 2019—The DOJ filed a statement of interest supporting a Christian school in Maryland that had been excluded from a state scholarship program because of its Bible-based views on the definition of marriage.[98]
- December 2019—The Education Department proposed a student loan forgiveness policy that included faith-based schools.[99]
The Trump Administration took numerous actions related to homosexual, transgender, and other sex-related matters:
- March 12, 2019—Acting Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist signed a directive implementing the Trump Administration's transgender military ban, after the Supreme Court and a federal court lifted injunctions on the policy.[65] The policy went into effect on April 12, 2019.[100]
- May 22, 2019—The Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed repealing an Obama-era rule requiring single-sex homeless shelters to admit individuals based on their claimed gender identity rather than their biological gender.[101]
- May 24, 2019—The HHS proposed changing ObamaCare's definition of "sex discrimination" to remove gender identity, removing protections from transgender individuals consistent with federal law.[102]
- June 7, 2019—It was reported that the State Department refused to allow U.S. embassies to fly the rainbow "pride flag" on official flagpoles.[103]
- September 19, 2019—The Department of Housing and Urban Development removed "Addressing the Needs of LGBT Individuals" as part of its criteria for organizations to receive grants from the agency.[104]
- September 25, 2019—The Trump Administration ordered the city of Ames, Iowa, to repaint homosexual-themed crosswalks because they did not meet code.[105]
Proclamations, 2019
- November 24–30, 2019—President Trump declared this week National Family Week.[106]
Other achievements, 2019
President Trump speaking at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference, June 26, 2019
While the following achievements were not official United States government policy actions by the Trump Administration, they were closely related to the Trump Administration and its policies:
- January 28, 2019—President Trump endorsed Bible literacy classes in public schools.[107]
- February 7, 2019—Speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Trump spoke in favor of faith-based adoption organizations and vowed to protect them, among other statements.[108]
- By the Trump Administration's second year, conservative and Christian colleges saw more of their students accepted as interns inside the administration than under the entire Obama Administration.[109]
- June 26, 2019—President Trump spoke at the socially conservative Faith & Freedom Coalition policy conference and made several strong statements.[110]
- Among other statements, President Trump criticized Democrats for seeing little value in religious faith.[111] Separately from the president, Attorney General Bill Barr made statements promoting religious freedom and Judeo-Christian values,[112] and Vice President Pence also spoke in favor of religious freedom and for faith-based adoption agencies.[113]
- September 12–13, 2019—Vice President Pence and Secretary of State Pompeo spoke at a Concerned Women for America conference.[114]
- October 12, 2019—President Trump spoke at the socially conservative Values Voter Summit, making strongly conservative statements.[115]
Setbacks, 2019
The following setbacks to the MAGA agenda were often caused by Congress or officials in the Trump Administration, rather than President Trump himself. Some of them can also be considered partial achievements.
- February 19, 2019—The Trump Administration began an international campaign to decriminalize homosexuality.[116] Consistent conservatives opposed this action for interfering with national sovereignty and for illustrating the administration's misplaced priorities,[117] though leftists also opposed the campaign but for irrational reasons.[118]
- May 31, 2019—Despite not doing so in 2017 or 2018, President Trump acknowledged "LGBT Pride Month," with social conservatives expressing disappointment that his personal approval of homosexuality negatively impacted other policy decisions.[119] The Trump Administration promoted the homosexual agenda in other ways.[120]
