Despite the fact that President Trump has said that his administration has done more than any other in American history, there's every indication that this is false. Only recently has Congress and even the courts started to allow some of his agenda to get through, to add to some of the smaller and more elusive successes in the background. However, success has been slower than most administrations and not without consequence. Such is the case with the agencies that are led by his cabinet, who have been in front of congressional hearings and getting slammed for their budget proposals.

Agendas not getting funded

In both April and May, the Trump administration submitted their budget proposal to Congress which was reported to not only be draconian but also dead before arrival. In those cases, Congress said they would write their own proposals and thus far that had passed one omnibus spending bill that left much of Trump's agenda out. But there will be more proposals to come and with it and there will always be the looming reality that at some point, something might get through. The same view stands for those cabinet members who have come face to face with Congress, where they have been told that they should create their own proposals as the ones brought to them have been non-starters.

Trump administration ignores the law

One agency that is under fire is the Environmental Protection Agency (epa) under Scott Pruitt who faced a recent defeat by the Senate and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit over a methane rule he wanted to freeze. His effort to freeze this rule was spurred by President Trump who through an executive order, gave Pruitt the power to start rolling back EPA regulations.

Pruitt has said outright that getting rid of the rule was in the interest of the fossil fuel industry, but his setback is already being viewed by many environmentalists as the beginning of the end for Pruitt and Trump's agenda.

With the Senate killing his effort, the courts said that they had dismissed the administration's bid because they reportedly did not follow procedures for the rule as enforced by the Clan Air Act of 1970.

For this case, the court determined that the attempt was capricious, arbitrary and "tantamount to amending or revoking a rule." It is the view, in this case, that because Scott Pruitt did not follow the law for his effort, that they will continue to encounter obstacles should they continue in this manner. Given the fact that the Trump administration shows no signs that they want to run their government any other way, it's likely they will continue in the same manner.
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