I doubt it was worse under Trump, but we also have no data to analyze this at all. For starters, we're talking about "Harry Buttles" situations as though we've defined it (we haven't) so we couldn't even look up stats if we wanted to.
Yes, I agree that the Democrats (and other Left Wing parties around the world) are more likely to wallow in paperwork or create more regulation and bureaucracy. I also am with you that the Republicans (and other Right Wing parties around the world) do a better job of talking "small government" than actually creating it. I don't think that's the biggest problem with the Republicans right now, though. Although the Dems have their own flavour of this problem, I'd say that the GOP's biggest problem is something like pride in ignorance. They stick their heads in the sand on a LOT of issues. I'd point to pollution and corporatism as two of the biggest.
I'd say that their party should look to guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger for a positive role model. He's a conservative, believes in the Rep party, but when somebody said, "Hey, that Hum-V isn't good for the environment," he said, "You're right," and stopped driving it (so I've heard). He keeps his political compass oriented to his values but he's open to new ideas. Also, anybody who isn't just box-checking.
A lot of this applies to the Dems, too, of course.
In-general, the US political system has a big flaw, which is that there are only two viable parties, which results in a crazy amount of polarization compared to other systems, as well as making both of them largely homogeneous where it counts. Who's anti Free Speech? In the '90s, it's the Republicans, these days, the Democrats. Both champion speech when they like it (failing to recognize the true value of freedom of speech is that it protects unpopular opinions).
I don't think voting is futile or one guy wouldn't be worse than the other - just that there's a lot of problems with similarities as well as differences.
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