Joe Lockhart was White House press secretary from 1998-2000 in President Bill Clinton's administration. He co-hosts the podcast "Words Matter." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.

(CNN) For decades Republicans have railed against the size and scope of the federal government. GOP candidates regularly promise to eliminate government agencies, cut waste and fraud in spending and get government out of decisions that, they say, should be left to states, markets and individual families. They argue for smaller, more efficient and better government.

Joe Lockhart

But since Donald Trump's election that principle has turned sideways. Trump and his Republican backers now don't want smaller and better; they seem to want to sabotage the actual work of government. They appear hell-bent on making it less transparent, less responsive and less effective.

And this effort is accelerating.

It was somewhat subtle at first: Trump Republicans started early by trying to strangle the Affordable Care Act without offering a viable alternative to replace it. Courts have repeatedly blocked these attempts, and so the administration and Republicans have worked to kill the law with a thousand cuts. They've cut the advertising budget, making it harder for people to find the plan and sign up. They removed the individual mandate, have undermined -- at every turn -- a program aimed at attracting young people to the ACA, and shortened the enrollment period for consumers to sign up. And late last month, Trump's Justice Department said it would file a legal brief with a federal appeals court to wipe out the entire law.

One might argue that these are just policy differences between the parties. You can make no such argument about another series of moves.