DEI going to DIE in federal government

President Donald Trump is making quick work of his first week in office, signing a flurry of executive orders on everything ranging from the southern border to abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs for much of the federal workforce.

Starting this week, Trump wants “radical and wasteful” DEI offices to be placed on paid leave, according to a memo issued by the Office of Personnel Management. 

“President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit-based society,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of the move. Trump’s opposition to DEI programs is long-standing; during his first term in office, he signed an Executive Order “on combating race and sex stereotyping,” which President Joe Biden sought to undercut via a series of his own Executive Orders. 

Thus far, none of Trump’s executive actions have come as a surprise. They include opening up large swathes of America to energy exploration, pardons for hundreds of his supporters who were arrested in the aftermath of January 6, a restoration of the Remain in Mexico policy and more,

The same can’t be said of Biden’s moves; in the final weeks of his presidency, he granted clemency to dozens of murderers and in the final minutes of his time in office, he granted sweeping preemptive pardons to most of his family — not, interestingly, to Dr. Jill Biden, however. 

-Matthew Foldi

On our radar

WHAT THE TUCK? New York City mayor Eric Adams said in an interview with Tucker Carlson that when Adams asked the White House for help with the migrant crisis, President Biden told him, “be a good Democrat, Eric.”

VERY NICE LETTER President Trump found a letter from the outgoing President Biden awaiting him in the Resolute Desk of the Oval Office. Trump said it is a “very nice… inspirational-type” letter.

TROOPS ON THE GROUND The Pentagon is preparing to send some 1,500 troops to help secure the US border with Mexico.

Trump plans visit to LA

Following remarks in his inaugural address about the destruction of the Los Angeles fire, President Trump plans to tour the site to discuss possible future prevention measures. Though since the Los Angeles Fire Department reported last night the containment rate of the Palisades fire is only at 65 percent, it appears that Trump’s visit may be of a current disaster rather than an inspection of one’s devastating aftermath. 

In a recent press conference, Trump stated that the leaders of California have “created an inferno.” He said, “Los Angeles has massive amounts of water available to it,” but city leaders sent the water into the Pacific Ocean, leading to a lack of ammunition to combat the flames — and to what he referred to as the officials’ political deaths. California governor Gavin Newsom announced an investigation of the water supply and hydrant failures reported by Politico.

President Biden was visiting Los Angeles when the fire broke out. He was briefed on the situation, committed the federal government to pay 100 percent of the cost of disaster relief for the next 180 days and approved a $770 one-time payment for those affected by the fire. 

Trump has also announced plans this week to see the destruction in North Carolina caused by Hurricane Helene, as well as a trip to Nevada to thank residents for their votes in the 2024 election.

–Derek VanBuskirk

Cabinet confirmations continue with Collins, Stefanik and Vought

Following a brief celebratory pause Monday, confirmation hearings for President Trump’s cabinet resumed. Former Georgia representative Doug Collins, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, and New York representative Elise Stefanik, picked for the United Nations ambassadorship, had theirs Tuesday. Russ Vought’s hearing to lead the Office of Management and Budget happened today.

Stefanik pledged to advance the president’s America First priorities. “Our tax dollars should not be complicit in propping up entities that are counter to American interests, antisemitic or engaging in fraud, corruption or terrorism,” Stefanik said in her opening remarks to the the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She promised to produce a review evaluating US funding of the UN.

Countering Stefanik, New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the committee, told Stefanik: “We are better off because of [UN] efforts to stabilize societies and provide lifesaving assistance in places like Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.”

Stefanik responded by arguing that she would want to concentrate funds on the UN agencies that “function very well.” Similarly, she defended some of Trump’s first foreign-policy decisions, including exiting the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accords.

In Collins’s hearing, the representative referenced his military service as a colonel in the Air Force Reserves, reminding his fellow veterans that “just like every other veteran who served, that we’re part of a bigger unit. 

“I’m gonna take care of the veterans,” he said. “That means that we’re not gonna balance budgets on the back of veterans benefits.”

At one point, Washington senator Patty Murray asked Collins: “Do you believe a veteran who lives in Texas who has been raped and becomes pregnant should be able to get abortion care at her local VA?”

“We will be looking at that issue when I get in there to confirm that the VA is actually following the law,” he replied.

Vought, who previously served as the acting director of the office he’s nominated to lead, was asked about his involvement in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. “In your Project 25 [sic] madness, you put forward the idea that somehow breaking up the CIA and moving it around the country would make our nation more safe?” Virginia senator Mark Warner asked. Arguing that Vought’s “ideological jihad” would affect the intelligence community’s effectiveness, Warner pressed him. “How would that make our nation safer?”

“Senator, I never proposed that and the president has dissociated himself from Project 2025,” Vought replied. Warner, who has served as chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, then asked for a commitment to not “arbitrarily break [the intelligence community] up and spread them around.”

“Yes senator, there is no policy process that the Trump administration has done that is producing arbitrary results,” Vought replied.

–Juan P. Villasmil