By Tanya Metaksa | Contributing Editor
As we turn the page to 2021 it appears that President Trump will be a one-term President.
Thus at the end of his tumultuous four years, here is a review of his accomplishments as President, both pro and con.
The Judiciary
- One of the most important duties of the President of the United States is to recommend judges to the federal bench. According to ProPublica:
President Donald Trump says he considers one of his greatest accomplishments to be appointing a record number of federal judges. But the tally doesn’t tell the full story. Trump’s appointees to the Supreme Court and appeals courts tend to be younger than appointees by presidents going back to Richard Nixon by about four years on average. As a result, because these are lifetime appointments, they’re poised to serve for decades to come, shaping American law and politics long after Trump leaves office. Of the current nine Supreme Court justices, Amy Coney Barrett, 48, just confirmed Monday, was the second-youngest when appointed
- The most consequential appointments were the three Supreme Court justices—Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and lastly Barrett. Many will say that these appointments secured a 6-3 Conservative majority. Only time will tell whether that is true.
- Ranking the appointment of federal judges in order of importance in the federal pecking order, its first the Supreme Court of the United States, next come the US Court of Appeals, then come the District Courts, the Court of International Trade and finally Article I courts. As of Christmas Trump has appointed and had confirmed 3 Supreme Court Justices, 54 judges to District Courts making up over 30% of the total number of judges in those courts. And Senate Majority Leader has kept the Senate in session since the November 3rd election to keep processing judicial appointments.
As of December 1, Trump had more than 220 Article III judges confirmed to the federal bench: besides the ones listed above there have been at least 170 judges in district courts, 3 for the US Court of International Trade, 53 appeals court judges, and more that 20 judges on Article 1 courts.
Before Trump’s appointment of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, CBS News’ Jan Crawford called the transformation of the courts the president’s “most lasting legacy.”
Legislative Achievements
- In 2016 before President Obama left office his administration instituted a regulation that would classify any Social Security recipient whose disability or social security payments are being managed by a third party as “mentally defective” and thus become prohibited from owning or purchase a firearm. On Feb. 28, 2017 Donald Trump signed H.J. Res. 40 thatrolled back this Obama regulation
- Additionally Trump signed H.J. Res 69 that revoked the Obama Administration’s seizure of authority to manage Alaska fish and wildlife refuges on April 3, 2017.
- He signed the FY2018 The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), that included making US Army Surplus 1911 .45 ACP handguns available under the Civilian Marksmanship program (DCM) and banned funding for the implementation of the UN Arms Treaty.
- In 2019, signed S.47, the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act, directing the federal land management agencies to prioritize a list of lands that had significant restrictions to public access for access for wildlife management including hunting.
Trump Administration pro-gun, pro-hunting
- Under President Obama’s direction the U.S. Fish & Wildlife had issued Directors Order 219 that read: “Require the use of nontoxic ammunition and fishing tackle to the fullest extent practicable for all activities on Service lands, waters, and facilities by January 2022, except as needed for law enforcement or health and safety uses, as provided for in policy.” On the first day Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke took office, March 2, 2017, he issued Secretarial Order 3346, revoking the ban on lead ammunition, Director’s Order 219, immediately.
- On May 15, 2017 the Trump administration announced that the authority to approve international sales of small arms exports, including semiautomatic rifles and weapons that are .50-caliber and under would be transferred to the Department of Commerce from the State Department. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), a small arms manufacturing trade group, and others had long sought the change.
- The Trump Administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) stopped the implementation of the Obama administration’s Operation Choke Point.
- On Dec. 4, 2017 President Trump traveled to Utah to signproclamations that would shrink the amount of land included in the Obama administration’s creation of the Bears Ears National Monument.
- In February 2018 Interior Secretary Zinke signed Secretarial Order 3362, that would improve wildlife management and conservation for antelope, elk and mule deer throughout the western states.
- In 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic the Department of Health and Human Services updated it guidance on critical infrastructure to include “Workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges.”
- An initiative that began in 2017 came to fruition back on March 8 —President Trump’s historic firearms Export Reform Initiative. Exports of non-military firearms and ammunition were transferred from the Department of State to the Department of Commerce.
Trump Administration Bump Stocks
After the Las Vegas massacre, October 1, 2017, where it is alleged that the killer used bump stocks to fire hundreds of rounds at citizens attending a country music festival, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) announced on Dec. 5 that they had begun an extensive review of bump-fire stocks by submitting an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to the Office of Management and Budget.
In 2018 during a meeting with Congressional leaders, President Trump supported banning bump stocks, raising the minimum age for purchase of long guns to 21 years of age, and allowing law-enforcement officials to remove firearms from the mentally ill. Press Secretary Sarah Saunders clarified the President’s due process remarks on Mar. 5: “The president thinks that we need to expedite the process,” the White House press secretary stated when asked by a reporter if POTUS wants to “take guns from people who are dangerous before due process. He wants to make sure that if somebody is potentially harmful to themselves or other people, that we have the ability to expedite that process,” she continued. “We certainly still want to have due process, but we want to make sure that it’s not tied up for months and months and months and someone that could potentially be dangerous is allowed to have a gun without us being able to expedite that process.”
- Finally, in April 2017 Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had filed a rule banning Bump Stocks.
A very good proponent of the Second Amendment.
Despite the bump stock ban by federal regulation, the overall position of the Trump Administration on the issues of Second Amendment rights, hunting and self-defense must be rated highly. The Trump Administration rolled back Obama’s egregious efforts to try and stop law-abiding citizens from owning and using firearms. They also were proactive in fixing some very fundamental problems for those in the firearms industry in the areas of exports, finances and outdoor activities. Finally, President Trump was not shy about his support for the Second Amendment, both politically and when he nominated judicial candidates. It was refreshing to have an advocate in the Oval Office rather than an opponent or a President who wished the topic would just disappear. Gun owners across America should send a very heartfelt thank you to President Donald J. Trump for a job well done.
