Why Is DEI Dying?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the approaching death of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) program. President Donald Trump ended federal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the federal government by signing an executive order. Many companies followed his example. It was as though Trump turned on the light, and the cockroaches scattered.

John Stossel wrote about the coming demise of DEI in so many companies, the latest being Disney after “squandering $270 million shareholder dollars on a moronic new version of ‘Snow White,’ joined the mob of companies dropping DEI programs.” He asked the question, “Why?” and then answered his own question: “The problem is that DEI programs were captured by activists who obsess about victimhood. They divide people more than they empower.” 

Stossel learned that activist Robby Starbuck is behind the companies quitting their DEI programs.

Before Trump ended federal DEI programs by executive order, Starbuck ended them at some companies merely by using the power of speech. His strategy: warn companies that he’ll tell his social media followers what stupid things they do.

Remarkably, that worked!

After he criticized John Deere on Twitter for encouraging “preferred pronouns” and holding woke diversity trainings, John Deere quickly dropped those policies.

Toyota, Target, and Harley Davidson did, too.

“Why did they listen to you?” I ask.

“We go to them like any other investigative journalist, and we say, ‘Hey, we have a story we’re working on.’”

Then, if they don’t change their policies, he goes public – posting the policies and his criticism on YouTube, Twitter, etc.

One week after he posted that Toyota sponsored pride parades and divided workers into identity-based groups such as LGBTQ, black, and Christian, Toyota stopped sponsoring LGBTQ events and opened employee groups to all workers.

Coors has been requiring DEI trainings and donating to pride events. All it took was Starbuck looking into the company, and they stopped.

So did Jack Daniels, McDonald’s, Walmart, AT&T, Lowe’s, and Ford….

In my years of reporting, I’ve never seen changes this fast.

DEI activists are angry about it.

The president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation says, “We will not be erased!”

“What existed before DEI?” replies Starbuck. “Did black people not exist before that?”

On “The View,” host Sunny Hostin claims, “This will specifically harm women … African Americans and Latinos.”

“What she’s actually saying is that minorities are not going to be able to get jobs if the sole thing you’re looking at is merit. The way I was raised, you call that racism,” replies Starbuck. “She’s being racist.”

I push back:

“They’re just saying, ‘We have a history of disadvantage. We were slaves in this country.’”

“None of them were,” he points out. “I’m Cuban. I could say my family went through this and that. I didn’t go through it. I’m not going to claim their disadvantage as my own.”

“We’re not going to fall for the same stupid stuff anymore. We’re going to judge people based on merit.”

I agree with Starbuck. Each one of us should be judged on our personal merit – not on race, ethnicity, sex, religion, or anything else besides merit. All of us are blessed with personal characteristics and talents. Those who work hard to gain knowledge and to develop skills should be richer in money and blessings than those who sit around doing little or nothing.

Why Is Greenland So Important to the United States?

Americans did not hear much about Greenland until the inauguration of Donald Trump. Since then the topic has been in the news numerous times. Last Friday, Vice President JD Vance led a delegation to visit a U.S. military base in Greenland. While speaking to military troops, Vance called “for an American partnership with the people of Greenland to counteract Russian and Chinese influence in the region.” George Caldwell at The Daily Signal reported the following. 

The vice president chose as his backdrop the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, where the Space Force has missile-warning and defense systems, as well as space-surveillance sensors for tracking objects in space. He cited the base as an example of Greenland’s strategic importance.

“If a missile was fired from an enemy country or an enemy submarine into the United States, it is the people here before us who would give notice to our brave men and women further south in the United States to let people know what was coming and, God willing, to try to shoot it down and prepare for it.”

Vance also drew attention to Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic, which he says justifies the need for increased U.S. attention to Greenland.

“We know that Russia and China and other nations are taking an extraordinary interest in Arctic passageways, in Arctic naval routes, and indeed in the minerals of the Arctic territories,” he said.

“We need to ensure that America is leading in the Arctic, because we know if America doesn’t, other nations will fill the gap where we fall behind.”

Vance also accused Denmark of neglecting the welfare of Greenland and not allowing it to have self-determination, thereby threatening America’s interests.

“If Greenland doesn’t have self-determination, if the people of Greenland have their future controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, it’s not going to make their lives better off, and most importantly, it’s going to make American and … world security much, much weaker.”

Was the Signal Chat A Mistake or A Political Tool?

Democrats – and by extension America’s enemies – were handed a gift last week when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, exposed breach of security of the Trump administration. Earlier in March 2025, Goldberg was accidentally added to a conversation on Signal between senior national security officials that should have been confidential.

The U.S. officials included on the call were Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of Defense Pet Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. They were discussing sensitive – not classified – military plans about an imminent attack against Houthi rebels located in Yemen.

Democrats and their allies in the media have made a big deal about the breach of security, acting as though it was the worst thing that has ever happened in America. The fact is that the mission went off without any loss of life or equipment, and it has been declared to be successful. Democrats forget the terrible things that happen under their direction – Bengasi where an ambassador was killed and Afghanistan where we lost 13 military members during the withdrawal to name just two. They jumped all over Trump and Republicans even as the Trump administration is working hard to clean up messes all over the world that happened during the Biden administrations.

The bottom line is that the Signal discussion was either classified, or Goldberg should be charged with sharing classified information with the general public. He is a dirtbag for staying in the discussion when he understood what it was, and he is a bigger dirtbag for using the discussion for political purposes.

The mistake should not have happened. Goldberg should not have been added to the chat. Someone in that group chat should have noticed that the conversation was veering close to classified material. A positive thing for Goldberg is that, for whatever reason, he did not disclose the information until after the mission was completed. However, Yassin Fawaz, a contributor on American Thinker, added other information and made an interesting point. 

The fact that Goldberg was added to this chat was an unfortunate mistake, but the way The Atlantic and its allies have handled the leak is telling. This wasn’t a situation where a massive intelligence breach occurred because of a careless or malicious act by the Trump administration. Instead, it was a technical error – someone mistakenly added Goldberg to the group chat. However, while Goldberg may have been initially added by mistake, his decision to remain in the group was neither accidental nor innocent – it was a deliberate and malicious act. His continued participation in the conversation suggests an intent to exploit sensitive information, reflecting a deeper agenda to undermine the administration. [Emphasis added.]

It is crucial to recognize the broader context of what’s going on here. The real issue is not the accident that led to Goldberg’s inclusion in the chat but the weaponization of this mistake by the media and individuals who seem intent on destabilizing the administration. Goldberg and The Atlantic have taken this unintentional error and turned it into an attack on Trump’s leadership, yet this leak serves a greater purpose in their eyes: advancing a narrative that undermines America itself. [Emphasis added.]

It’s important to note that mistakes happen. Even highly secure systems can be vulnerable to human error. Imagine, for instance, if a government official had mistakenly dialed Goldberg’s number while discussing the plans – he could have simple overheard the conversation. The fact that Goldberg was added to the chat doesn’t change the fact that the leak serves a greater narrative – one that is critical of the Trump administration, portraying it as chaotic and incompetent.

Yet, the true nature of this leak isn’t about the technical mistake; it’s about how certain individuals are taking advantage of this mistake to push an anti-American agenda. The media and their allies in the political establishment have jumped on the opportunity to embarrass the administration, but this leak was not an act of exposing government wrongdoing – it was about creating a false narrative of disarray. Goldberg, with his anti-Trump stance, turned a minor oversight into a major scandal, amplifying it for political gain. In doing so, he isn’t just criticizing an administration; he is actively attempting to weaken the nation’s standing on the global stage…. [Emphasis added.]

Goldberg and The Atlantic may be quick to point out the leak, but they are silent on the larger picture. The Trump administration’s actions have consistently protected American interests, restored the military’s strength, and ensured that the U.S. has a more prominent position on the world stage….

This leak, and the media’s sensationalism around it, is not just about a mistake – it’s about undermining the Trump administration and American power…. [Emphasis added.]

This leak, while unfortunate, should serve as a wake-up call not just to the Trump administration but to the American public. The real threat here is not the leak itself, but the way it is being used to push an anti-America narrative. The true objective of the individuals behind this story is to create a divide, to paint the Trump administration as inept, and to erode the trust Americans have in their government. [Emphasis added.]

It’s time for the American people to see through this….

We must see the Signal leak for what it truly is: a political tool designed to create chaos and promote a narrative that undermines American leadership. Rather than focusing on sensationalizing the leak, it’s crucial to recognize the broader context. The Trump administration has delivered real results for the country, and its leadership continues to be a force for positive change in the world. [Emphasis added.]

Who Is Elise Stefanik?

My VIP for this week is Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York because she is a team player rather than looking for her own glory. Blaze News reported that Stefanik withdrew her nomination on Thursday to be the United States ambassador to the United Nations. Her reason? President Donald Trump asked her to withdraw her nomination in order to strengthen the Republican majority in the U.S. House. 

During the November 2024 election, Republicans retained control of the House, but their margin was decreased. Then, President-elect Trump pulled several members of the House into his cabinet. Another problem is that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (Democrat) sent out signals of her intention to “slow-walk Stefanik’s replacement if she left her seat.” In Trump’s statement on Truth Social, he praised Stefanik’s sacrifice.

‘Elise will stay in Congress, rejoin the House Leadership Team, and continue to fight for our amazing American People.’ …

“As we advance our America First Agenda, it is essential that we maintain EVERY Republican Seat in Congress. We must be unified to accomplish our Mission, and Elise Stefanik has been a vital part of our efforts from the very beginning,” wrote Trump.

He went on to say that he asked Stefanik to remain in Congress to maintain the “tight” majority.

“I don’t want to take a chance on anyone else running for Elise’s seat,” he added. “There are others that can do a good job at the United Nations. Therefore, Elise will stay in Congress, rejoin the House Leadership Team, and continue to fight for our amazing American People.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson “confirmed that Trump pulled the nomination and Stefanik agreed with the decision.” Johnson went on to explain that Republicans hold “a razor-thin House majority” in the House. “Elise’s agreement to withdraw her nomination will allow us to keep one of the toughest, most resolute members of our Conference in place to help drive forward President Trump’s America First policies.”

Cami Mondeaux at The Deseret News added valuable information to the discussion when she wrote the following. 

The decision marks a blow to Stefanik, who has waited patiently for months to be confirmed to Trump’s Cabinet after having her nomination advanced out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January. However, the White House has slow-walked a final vote for her confirmation amid a historically slim GOP majority in the House, which has left Republicans with only a one-vote margin.

What Does Trump’s Executive Order Mandate on Elections?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns overhauling the electoral system of the United States. On March 25, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to overhaul the American voting system. The order includes requirements for voter identification and when ballots must arrive at polling stations in order to be counted.

According to Sydney Jezik at The Deseret News, here are the key points of Trump’s executive order that “mandates sweeping change for electoral systems across the nation.” The order requires the following: 

·         Voters present proof of citizenship when they vote, including a passport or a compliant driver’s license.

·         Voters present proof of eligibility to vote in elections in the state in which the voter is attempting to vote.

·         States do not count absentee or mail-in ballots that arrive at their offices after Election Day.

·         The commissioner of Social Security supply citizen information to electoral databases to ensure that votes are only cast by living, eligible citizens.

·         The attorney general take “appropriate action” to censure states that do not comply with election integrity laws.

In addition, the order “tightens protocols around the interference of foreign nations in elections, including by preventing foreign entities from making donations to candidates.”

What Is the Armor of God and How Do We Put It On?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Doctrine and Covenants 27-28 in a lesson titled “All Things Must Be Done in Order.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

Revelation was still a relatively new concept for the Saints as the Restoration continued to unfold. Early Church members knew that the Prophet Joseph Smith could receive revelation for the Church. But could others? Questions like this became critical when Hiram Page, one of the Eight Witnesses of the gold plates, believed he had received revelations for the Church. Many faithful Saints believed that these revelations were from God. The Lord responded by teaching that in His Church “all things must be done in order” (Doctrine and Covenants 28:13). This meant having only one person “appointed to receive commandments and revelations” for the entire Church (Doctrine and Covenants 28:2). Others, however, could receive personal revelation for their part in the Lord’s work. In fact, the Lord’s words to Oliver Cowdery are a reminder to all of us: “It shall be given thee … what thou shalt do” (Doctrine and Covenants 28:15).

The scripture block for this week contained the following principles: (1) I take the sacrament in remembrance of Jesus Christ (Doctrine and Covenants 27:1-4), (2) The Lord gives His servants priesthood keys to direct His work (Doctrine and Covenants 27:5-14), (3) The armor of God helps me stand against evil (Doctrine and Covenants 27:15-18), (4) Jesus Christ directs His Church through His living prophet (Doctrine and Covenants 28), and (5) Why was a mission to the Lamanites significant? (Doctrine and Covenants 28:8-9).

This essay will discuss principle #3 “The armor of God helps me stand against evil” (Doctrine and Covenants 27:15-18). Those people familiar with the New Testament will know that the Apostles Paul discussed the armor of God in his letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 6:11-18). We will begin the discussion by looking at the scripture reference.

15 Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand.

16 Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you;

17 Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;

18 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my Spirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also. Amen.

As you study these verses, you might write the name of the piece of armor, the protected body part, and what the body part might represent. For example, the breastplate of righteousness protects the heart, which represents desires and affections. President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said the following: 

There is not one great and grand thing we can do to arm ourselves spiritually. True spiritual power lies in numerous smaller acts woven together in a fabric of spiritual fortification that protects and shields from all evil” (“Be Strong in the Lord,” Ensign, July 2004, 8).

How Should Teenagers Spend Their Time?

Families, communities, states, and nations are stronger when adolescents use their time appropriately. While studying adolescents over the past three months, I learned some interesting information about teenagers that may help parents today.

Concerning part-time work while attending high school can damage school performance in several ways. This is particularly true if the adolescent works more than ten hours per week. Beyond working ten hours per week, the more that a teenager works:

·         “The lower their grades.

·         “The less time they spend on homework.

·         “The more they cut class.

·         “The more they cheat on their schoolwork.

·         “The less committed they are to school.

·         “The lower their educational aspirations” (Arnett & Jensen, 2023, 301).

As in all things, much depends on the individual adolescent. They may be working more because they dislike school. They may be capable of working more hours without work affecting school. They may take easier courses in order to work. They may be too tired after work to do homework. “In the course of the study, students who increased the number of hours they worked also reported declines in school commitment, whereas those who decreased the number of hours they worked reported increased school commitment” (Arnett & Jensen, 2023, 301).

With regard to leisure, when an adolescent has too much leisure time, it may interfere with their “attention to school and schoolwork” (Arnett & Jensen, 2023, 301). The time that teenagers spend with their friends can affect their grades negatively. Here is some interesting information: “adolescents who participate in organized activities (such as sports and music) have better academic performance and re less likely to drop out of high school” (Arnett & Jensen, 2023, 301). This means that “unstructured socializing is negatively related to academic performance, but structured leisure in organized activities appears to have positive effects” (Arnett & Jensen, 2023, 301).

Wise parents will monitor how their teenagers spend their time. The results of studies show that too many hours of work negatively affect school. Studies also show that too much unstructured leisure also affects school negatively. Parents can help their children to succeed – to earn just enough money, to have just enough leisure time that school attendance and performance will not be affected negatively. By doing so, parents can strengthen their family, community, state, and nation.

Reference: Arnett, J. J., & Jensen, L. A. (2023). Adolescence & Emerging Adulthood: A Cultural Approach (7th ed.). Pearson Education (US). https://byui.vitalsource.com/books/9780138063054

 

Why Are So Many Anti-Trump Court Cases Being Filed?

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns judges and the freedom-based need for them to be neutral in their judgments. Since 2015 when Donald Trump came down his golden escalator and announced that he was going to run for President of the United States, Deep State players have tried several ways to take him out of the presidential race and then out of the Oval Office. He was harassed during his first term in office and in the 2020 presidential election. He had a reprieve after leaving office in January 2021 until November 2022 when he announced his intention to run again for office in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump and JD Vance won all seven swing states in the 2024 presidential election and 312 electoral votes – what is being called “an overwhelming victory.” According to Victor David Hanson, this was “not just a plurality” but “a referendum on America.” 

After all, they were the first ticket on the Republican side to have won the popular vote in 20 years. They won an overwhelming majority in the Electoral College. They retain control of the House of Representatives. They won the Senate. There’s a 6-3, supposedly, conservative majority on the Supreme Court. They won all of the swing states.

So, they came into office with this momentum from the American people that was expressed through a national election. And yet, they are now stymied.

Almost all of their initiatives are facing two types of opposition. The first is, in a preplanned way, liberal organizations, lavishly funded by what they themselves might want to call oligarchs, have funded massive lawsuits against the Trump administration, stopping executive orders.

Remember, this idea that executive orders were a rapid and effective way for a president to rule … came from former President Barack Obama….

Judge Anna Reyes in Washington … just ruled to stop the Pentagon’s new policy, not having or forbidding transgendered people in combat units.

Judge Jesse Furman, another lower district judge, … just put out a stay not too long ago rescinding the deportation of Mahmoud Khalil.

And Judge James Boasberg stopped the deportation of this very dangerous Tren de Aragua gang of South American criminals who came here illegally….

We don’t know how these people from South America and these gangs got here. But we do know they came illegally. And they are residing illegally. And they’re in very dangerous gangs and many of them have committed crimes. So, if it was – if they broke the law to come here, we want to enforce the law to have them go back….

And so, what we’re seeing is liberal groups trying to keep people who are supporting the terrorist Hamas or supporting these gangs inside the United States.

This is very analogous – cherry-picking left-wing judges is very analogous to what we watched all during the 2022-24 lawfare period.

You remember Judge Arthur Engoron, Judge Juan Merchan, and Judge Lewis Kaplan – he was the judge in the E. Jean Carroll case. And we had the Alvin Bragg judge and the Letitia James [judge]. They were all – like these judges, they had two things in common: They were left-wing activist judges, appointed by either former President Joe Biden, Obama, or former President Bill Clinton. And they had minor to major conflicts of interest where people in their family were big, either had worked for a prior Democratic administration or themselves were activists.

And what did they do? They tried to put Donald Trump in jail.

That same lawfare has now been transmogrified and put into a more concerted effort to stop everything that Donald Trump is trying to do. And what he’s trying to do, remember, is not radical. It’s just simply to enforce immigration law. It’s just simply to bring back the country to the middle.

Most knowledgeable people understand that all the cases will be overturned by appellate courts or the Supreme Court. Even those involved in the lawfare know that they have losing causes, but they just want to slow down Trump’s progress. Hanson’s words are, “they want to delay, delay, delay.”

What Is Happening with the IRS?

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is slowly moving through all the government agencies. According to Fred Lucas at The Daily Signal, the cuts being made in the Internal Revenue Service “is consistent with the federal government’s earlier findings about excessive expenses within the tax collecting agency.”

Lucas reported that the Trump administration is on track to “close more than 110 IRS offices across the country.” This follows closely the report from Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) that “a majority of IRS offices are less than half full.”

Lucas quoted Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform as saying that DOGE is looking at “long-standing problems.” 

“They like to say this is a political thing and that Elon Musk doesn’t know what he’s talking about. But the waste at the IRS and empty buildings is all documented by inspector general reports,” Norquist told The Daily Signal. “For the people who say it’s not real unless the government says it’s real, well the government has already spoken about these empty buildings.”

Office space accounted for one of the biggest IRS expenses, the report noted.

“According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), it will spend approximately $600 million on real estate costs in fiscal year (FY) 2024,” the inspector general’s report says. “This includes 516 office buildings totaling approximately 22.3 million square feet. After personnel, rent is one of the IRS’s largest operating expenses.”

The General Services Administration announced in coordination with DOGE the list for terminating leases of government office space. The list includes a 135,000-square-foot IRS facility in Franklin, Tennessee; a 26,000-square-foot facility in Bloomington, Minnesota; a 25,000-square-foot office in Mesa, Arizona; and several other large facilities in San Marcos, California; Glendale, Arizona; and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Excess office space at the IRS cost taxpayers almost $11 million a year, according to the inspector general….

The IRS reduced its overall space footprint by about 2 million square feet since 2018, yet 51% of all IRS buildings “had a workstation occupancy rate of 50% or less,” the 2024 report said.

“The low occupancy rate is due in part to the increased use of telework and remote work, which requires less space per employee,” the report said. “Additionally, the IRS lacks a long-term space reduction plan that clearly specifies the space reductions it expects to achieve annually beyond FY 2026 and how it will sufficiently decrease its unneeded office space.”

President Donald Trump recently ordering employees who are working remotely to return to the office could be a mitigating factor. But the 2024 inspector general’s report noted the Office of Management and Budget flagged excess building use in 2015, predating the COVID-19 pandemic that led to mass federal telework….

Spokespersons for the IRS and the Treasury’s Inspector General for Tax Administration did not respond to inquiries for this story.

 

Why Are People So Upset With the Work of DOGE?

 President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team are in the process of eliminating federal contracts, cutting spending, and reducing waste and fraud. The process will of necessity cut jobs, but the end result will be a smaller, more efficient government.

There is a lot of hyping of fear by people who have political megaphone. According to Hans von Spakovsky, “Democrat officials, public employee unions, and their minions in the media have no qualms about trying to terrify the public with ridiculous claims in an attempt to counter President Donald Trump’s swamp-cleansing initiatives through the work of the Department of Government Efficiency.” He offered the following examples as evidence of ridiculous claims. 

Just look at the recent hysteria from Capitol Hill. Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., likened the dismissal of federal employees to “a bank robber trying to fire the cops and turn off the alarm just before he strolls into the lobby.”

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, pontificated that “firing this many critical employees at once could make it impossible for our government to provide BASIC services.”

But the nuttiest scream of all came from yet another congresswoman, Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., who urged supporters of dismissed U.S. Agency for International Development workers to “Shut down the city! We are at war!”

She didn’t want to talk about the bizarre, absurd misuses to which those USAID workers had put the hard-earned dollars of American taxpayers, like funding a “transgender comic book” in Peru. That is certainly something worth “going to war” about. Not!

Von Spakovsky noted that the mainstream media are acting as they usually do to “amplify the political Left’s hysteria.” He then suggested that Americans take “a realistic look at the reduction in federal bureaucracy relative to the bloated size of the federal government” to show “just how ridiculous these claims are.” He claims that the mainstream media “are engaging in the worst type of fearmongering hyperbole.” He then proceeded to share the numbers that “can’t be exaggerated.”

The current proposals for reduction in federal agency personnel add up to just over 238,000 employees. But that number represents less than 8% of the more than 3 million current federal employees, according to the Pew Research Center. That 3 million figure, however, does not include the roughly 1.3 million active-duty military personnel. Pop that number in and out of the total of 4.3 million individuals receiving paychecks from the federal government – paid for by U.S. taxpayers – the Trump administration wants to reduce the size of the executive branch by only 5.5%. That 4.3 million number of total employees makes the U.S. government the largest single employer in the entire country, larger than private companies like Walmart or Amazon. Moreover, that number is so large that it means the federal government bureaucracy is larger than the total population of half of the states, including places like Utah, Kansas, and Wyoming.

Add in the conglomerate of 109,000 government contractors, according to a 2024 study by the Government Accounting Office, and the dismissal percentage plummets even more. The estimates of the number of individuals employed by those contractors range from almost 4 million to over 5 million. Including those federal contractors drops the percentage of taxpayer-paid staff being laid off even more drastically.

If less than 8% of the civilian workforce has been shaved off, without taking into account contractors, that means over 92% of federal bureaucrats are still staffing the multitude of federal agencies. That’s 2.8 million federal workers still taking care of the business of the federal government. If the critics are correct that this minuscule reduction will cripple America, that says a lot about the inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and incompetence of vast swaths of the government.

Only by ignoring these statistics can critics continue to proclaim that the reductions in force proposed by the Trump administration will lead to a disaster. In fact, fewer government workers means fewer federal bureaucrats trying to overregulate, overtax, and overburden Americans in their personal lives, their businesses, and their professions.

Von Spakovsky concluded that the reduction in workforce was not “the end of the road for laid-off federal employees.” He says that they will do fine in the private sector. His reason? More than “30% of the federal workforce holds a bachelor’s degree, and over two-thirds of the now-former staff of USAID possess postgraduate degrees.” They have the education and the experience to work in the private sector – where they would have to show up to work.

Meanwhile, the federal government would be leaner and more efficient. Getting rid of “the waste, fraud, and abuse that infests the nation’s capital will benefit the American people and the republic.”

Who Is Elon Musk?

My VIP for this week is Elon Musk. He is a man who is rescuing the United States from bankruptcy just as his SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule brought Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore safely back to earth this week.

Musk offered to bring the astronauts home during the Biden administration, but former President Joe Biden was too embarrassed to have a supporter of Donald Trump do it. Instead, Biden chose to leave Williams and Wilmore in space for more than nine months. Musk was happy to bring them home when President Donald Trump posed the request. Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland reported the following at CNN. 

Williams and Wilmore, alongside NASA’s Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, safely splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida at 5:57 p.m. ET Tuesday.

The crew’s highly anticipated return came after the crew climbed aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and departed the International Space Station at 1:05 a.m. ET Tuesday.

The quartet are part of the Crew-9 mission, a routine staff rotation jointly operated by NASA and SpaceX. The Crew-9 capsule launched to the space station in September with Hague and Gorbunov riding alongside two empty seats reserved for Willias and Wilmore, who had been on the orbiting laboratory since last June, when their original ride – a Boeing Starliner spacecraft – malfunctioned.

Safely reaching Earth concluded a trip that, for Williams and Wilmore, has garnered broad interest because of the unexpected nature of their extended stay in orbit and the dramatic turn of events that prevented them from returning home aboard the Boeing Starliner vehicle.

“Welcome home to the Crew-9 astronauts – NASA’s Nick Hague, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov. Your dedication and unwavering commitment to space exploration inspires us all,” Boeing Space shared on social platform X after the crew returned home.

Musk is a brilliant man who created the company capable of bringing astronauts safely home. He also has a proven record for being able to cut business expenses. He cut approximately 80 percent of the workforce at Twitter from about 7500 to about 1500 employees. Naysayers said that Musk would destroy Twitter, but he renamed it X and has a successful company. 

The government of the United States is nothing but a big business, one that needs to cut employees and expenses to prevent bankruptcy. Therefore, it is good that our President is a businessman and has appointed Musk to locate places to cut.

 

Does a Duly Elected President Have Authority to Act for National Security?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns constitutional authority for Presidents of the United States to protect national security. John D. O’Connor published an article at The Blaze that contained numerous examples of how previous presidents set the precedence for President Donald Trump. 

The first President of the United States to use this authority was George Washington. O’Conner wrote, “During the Whiskey Rebellion, President George Washington used force to suppress dissent without formal wartime authorization, arresting rebels without warrants.” Today’s liberal attorneys and judges would have gone crazy when Washington “ordered door-to-door searches and forcibly arrested suspected rebels without warrants.”

Abraham Lincoln was another former President of the United States to use this presidential power when he ended slavery in Confederate-held states. His 1863 Emancipation Proclamation remains an honored document, and Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19 to commemorate “the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Confederate-held Texas learned” about Lincoln’s proclamation.

The same legal reasoning that ended slavery also supports a president’s authority to remove foreign nationals designated as domestic terrorists. President Donald Trump has the constitutional power to act in the interest of national security by deporting those who threaten the country.

Lawyers and judges study statutes and decide cases, but they rarely confront the true scope of executive power. The Constitution designates the president as commander in chief, but it provides little detail on the extent of that authority….

President Trump does not need to justify his actions under the much-criticized Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Instead, he should invoke the same principle that underlies Juneteenth: the federal government’s power to secure liberty by enforcing the law and protecting the nation.

At the time of the Civil War, slaves were considered the property of their owners, and the Fifth Amendment dictated that the government could not emancipate them without due process and just compensation paid to their owners.

Additionally, the execrable 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision and the Fugitive Slave Act reinforced legal support for slavery.

Despite those legal obstacles, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves only in the Confederate states at war with the Union. Those in Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri remained enslaved because their states were not at war with the country.

As a skilled lawyer, Lincoln understood that his national security powers, implied within his role as commander in chief, superseded constitutional rights in times of war. He did not seek congressional approval, compensate slaveholders, or seek the approval of the courts. In essence, when we celebrate Juneteenth, we implicitly acknowledge broad presidential national security powers.

O’Connor shared other examples to support Washington’s handling of the Whiskey Rebellion and Lincoln’s freeing of the slaves. He said that these examples “demonstrate that national security concerns can, at times, take precedence over constitutional protections.”

How does this apply to President Trump’s deportation policy? As commander in chief, he has determined that the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs pose a national security threat. He classified these groups as terrorist organizations, recognizing that they entered the United States with organized criminal intent….

We elect the president to make tough national security decisions, not to be second-guessed by judges from another branch of government. The limits of this power remain open to debate, however. While courts may take a restrictive view, the subject is rarely taught in law schools or settled in case law.

Historical and legal precedent suggest that when national security is at stake, terrorists are not entitled to lawyers or pre-deportation hearings. As counterintuitive as it may seem, Juneteenth itself sets a precedent. Again, slaveholders were not granted due process hearings before ethe Emancipation Proclamation, nor did they receive Fifth Amendment compensation for the loss of enslaved labor.

When dealing with foreign criminal organizations, we should not analyze these disputes through the lens of antiseptic legal theory. National security demands a more hardheaded approach. As the saying goes, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty – swift deportations may be part of that price.

 

How Do We Seek for a Better World?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to Doctrine and Covenants 23-26 in a lesson titled “Seek for the Things of a Better World.” The lesson was introduced by the following information. 

For most people, being baptized is a reverent, peaceful experience. The baptism of Emma Smith and others, however, was disrupted by a mob who mocked them, threatened them, and forced them to flee. Later, just as Joseph was about to confirm the new members, he was arrested for upsetting the community with his preaching. In all this opposition, how could Emma find reassurance that she was doing the right thing? The same place we can all find it—through revelation from the Lord. He spoke to Emma about “the things of a better [world]”—His kingdom—and her place in it. He told her not to fear, to “lift up [her] heart and rejoice,” and to “cleave unto the covenants [she had] made.” And these words of encouragement and counsel are His “voice unto all” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:9-10, 13, 16).

Some principles taught in this scripture block include the following: (1) The Savior can lift me “up out of [my] afflictions” (Doctrine and Covenants 24), (2) I have an important role to play in God’s kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants 25), (3) “Continue in the spirit of meekness” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:5, 14), (4) “Lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better” (Doctrine and Covenants 25: 10, 13), (5) The delights in my “song of the heart” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:11-12), and (6) “All things shall be done by common consent in the church” (Doctrine and Covenants 26:2).

This essay will discuss principle #4 “Lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better” (Doctrine and Covenants 25: 10, 13). As you ponder this counsel from the Lord, you might consider the “things of this world” that the Lord wants you to “lay aside.” Then you could make a list of “things of a better [world]” that He wants you to seek. You could lay aside one thing from the first list and seek one thing from the second list. Now we will look at the scripture reference itself.

10 And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better.

13 Wherefore, lift up thy heart and rejoice, and cleave unto the covenants which thou hast made.

President Russell M. Nelson gave the following counsel and promises about “[putting] aside many things of this world” (“Spiritual Treasures,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2019). 

President Nelson spoke of how John the Baptist restored the Aaronic Priesthood, followed by the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood by the Apostles Peter, James, and John. All this happened in Harmony, Pennsylvania, where Joseph and Emma Smith lived.

According to President Nelson and this scripture, Joseph received in Harmony a revelation explaining what the Lord would have Emma do. In addition to other instructions, Emma was counseled to “lay aside the things of this world and seek for the things of a better” (verse 10). She was also told to “cleave unto the covenants which thou hast made” (verse 13). The Lord ended the revelation: “This is my voice unto all” (verse 16). How will you follow the counsel of President Nelson?

             Everything that happened in this area has profound implications for your lives. The restoration                 of the priesthood, along with the Lord’s counsel to Emma, can guide and bless each of you….                 Because the Melchizedek Priesthood has been restored, both covenant-keeping women and men             have access to “all the spiritual blessings of the church” or, we might say, to all the spiritual                     treasures the Lord has for His children.

Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants, and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances, has direct access to the power of God. Those who are endowed in the house of the Lord receive a gift of God’s priesthood power by virtue of their covenant, along with a gift of knowledge to know how to draw upon that power….

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “This sounds wonderful, but how do I do it? How do I draw the Savior’s power into my life?”

You won’t find this process spelled out in any manual. The Holy Ghost will be your personal tutor as you seek to understand what the Lord would have you know and do. This process is neither quick nor easy, but it is spiritually invigorating. What could possibly be more exciting than to labor with the Spirit to understand God’s power – priesthood power?

What I can tell you is that accessing the power of God in your life requires the same things that the Lord instructed Emma and each of you to do.

So, I invite you to study prayerfully section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants and discover what the Holy Ghost will teach you. Your personal spiritual endeavor will bring you joy as you gain, understand, and use the power with which you have been endowed.

Part of this endeavor will require you to put aside many things of this world. Sometimes we speak almost casually about walking away from the world with its contention, pervasive temptations, and false philosophies.

But truly doing so requires you to examine your life meticulously and regularly. As you do so, the Holy Ghost will prompt you about what is no longer needful, what is no longer worthy of your time and energy.

As you shift your focus away from worldly distractions, some things that seem important to you now will recede in priority. You will need to say no to some things, even though they may seem harmless. As you embark upon and continue this lifelong process of consecrating your life to the Lord, the changes in your perspective, feelings, and spiritual strength will amaze you! …

We Latter-day Saints are not of the world; we are of covenant Israel. We are called to prepare a people for the Second Coming of the Lord.