Where Trump’s Hands-Off Approach to Governing Does Not Apply<br />A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, while a White House spokesman said<br />that the president “is proud to promote a conservative agenda that has been far too long ignored by the Obama administration.”<br />Despite their bond, some religious conservatives have expressed disappointment in<br />Mr. Trump or faced pressure to distance themselves from controversial positions.<br />“All of the things you count on the Justice Department’s institutional bureaucracy for — thoughtful, deliberate attention to process, including all stakeholders — it seems to have been thrown out,” said Sharon McGowan, a former senior career official who joined the Justice Department in 2010<br />and worked in the civil rights division until departing a few weeks into the Trump administration.<br />And it is all across the government.”<br />Top White House officials have led the outreach, including Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s Orthodox Jewish son-in-law,<br />and Vice President Mike Pence, a staunch social and religious Christian conservative.<br />But these conservative groups voted for him in large numbers,<br />and as president, Mr. Trump has remained loyal: He appointed Neil Gorsuch, a favorite of social conservatives, to the Supreme Court, and he stocked his cabinet with others like Attorney General Jeff Sessions.<br />The Army Corps case is among those identified by The Times — more than a dozen this year —<br />in which the Trump administration took a right turn on contentious social issues in court.
