I can't speak to his feelings, but the powers of the federal government generally diminished during his term as President. While the federal government spent a great deal of money on the Louisiana Purchase (which was nevertheless an incredible bargain) and while it funded projects like the Lewis & Clark expedition and the founding of West Point, the powers of the federal government in the average person's life receded considerably since Jefferson abolished the internal excise taxes (sales taxes on specific goods like whiskey or wheat) that the Adams administration put into place. The Adams administration also pushed the Alien & Sedition acts through Congress, which gave the President the ability to essentially gag negative comments made about him in the press. The Alien Act gave the President the ability to detain any immigrants suspected in any way of being a danger to the United States. The Acts were repealed under Jefferson.

The only major expansion of federal power that occurred under Jefferson was the prohibition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, which had widespread political support.