In 2019, the Trump administration issued 44 executive orders, signed 94 bills into law and finalized more than three thousand new rules. One hundred judges were confirmed to the federal bench, the most of any year in Trump's term. Simply put, it was a busy year in Washington.
But there were dozens of stories that flew under the radar—policy changes and personnel sagas, norms eroded and scores settled—that captured the essence of what happened in the marrow of Trump's government. Often, these stories ran in parallel to the glitzier headlines that consumed Washington (SharpieGate, anyone?). But even as the Ukraine scandal unfolded and impeachment became a certainty, the Trump administration was leaving its mark on policy and government agencies in ways that often went unnoticed, and yet are likely to affect Washingtonians and the country for generations.
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