And the fact that he's reelected and now about to take office and use
executive orders to wipe out a lot of things, including the civil
service potentially, or parts of it, that's just a gigantic pivot in
American history.
A president who must resort to executive orders is not consequential. The next president can wipe those out, by executive orders.
More importantly, there is nothing consequential about presidents who must pass major legislation through reconciliation rules, as Trump had to in 2017, which means the legislation is temporary by definition. Trump must now spend precious second term months on this same issue. He aims to extend his tax cuts for another period under reconciliation rules, which is fine, but that will also be temporary, not consequential.
Boehner and Obama made the Bush tax cuts, originally passed through reconciliation, permanent after Obama was re-elected in 2012. That was consequential.
The Bush tax regime is consequential. It makes Trump step and fetch it, just like Obama.