
Wednesday: Below the Fold
State Department’s “One Flag Policy,” DEI bureaucrats dumped, Stefanik vows to fight Jew hatred, and more.
The State Department’s flag order: The only flag that will be flown at U.S. embassies worldwide will be the Stars and Stripes. On Monday, Donald Trump’s State Department, now run by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, announced a new “One Flag Policy,” ending what was practiced under the Biden administration of the flying of various other flags alongside the U.S. flag, such as the Rainbow flag and the Black Lives Matter flag, at U.S. embassies. “Starting immediately,” the order reads, “only the United States of America flag is authorized to be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in U.S. government content. The flag of the United States of America united all Americans under the universal principles of justice, liberty, and democracy. These values, which are the bedrock of our great country, are shared by all American citizens, past and present.” The order adds, “The U.S. flag is a powerful symbol of pride, and it is fitting and respectful that only the U.S. flag be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestically and abroad.” Exactly.
DEI bureaucrats dumped: In light of his inaugural commitment to refocusing America on a colorblind, meritocratic system rather than woke DEI ideology, Donald Trump announced on Monday that he was firing thousands of Biden administration federal appointees. In a post on Truth Social, Trump highlighted four individuals: “Jose Andres from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, Mark Milley from the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars, and Keisha Lance Bottoms from the President’s Export Council — YOU’RE FIRED!” Trump also issued an order closing down all DEI offices across the federal government, effective immediately. Following Trump’s lead, his first confirmed cabinet member, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, announced “sweeping” changes for the State Department to reinstate a focus on “performance and merit” alone, completely scrapping the Biden-era’s promotion of DEI. Rubio defended Trump’s order, observing, “He is the chief executive of our republic elected by the voters of the American people, and this order will be faithfully executed and complied with in both letter and spirit.” Rubio added, “There is tremendous talent and expertise in this Department … and upholding strict meritocracy is essential to securing our nation’s future.”
Leftist groups raise a litany of lawsuits against Trump’s EOs: Welp, that didn’t take long. Anyone who thought the American Left had been beaten into submission on November 5 has since been disabused of that charming notion. As The Washington Times reports, “The echo of President Trump’s oath of office had barely subsided Monday when the first lawsuits were filed to derail his plans. By midnight on his first day, Mr. Trump faced at least six lawsuits in federal court, and more followed on Tuesday.” The litigants here are the usual suspects: Big Labor, Big Immigration, Big Government Apologists, the ACLU, and blue-state attorneys general. The litigants seem most intent on attacking three Trump initiatives: the eradication of birthright citizenship, the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency, and the effort to reclassify thousands of federal employees in order to make them easier to fire. How will all this play out? It’s hard to say, but Trump met with setbacks in the courts during his first term when he tried to strip federal funding from sanctuary cities, eliminate the “protected status” of illegals, and end Barack Obama’s unconstitutional DACA decree.
Texas congressman to introduce bill limiting birthright citizenship, bolster Trump EO (Daily Wire)
Senate Republicans blast Dems for stalling Trump nominees: “We’ve now wasted a whole day where we could have been acting on that nomination,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said after Democrat lawmakers objected to an agreement to vote on John Ratcliffe, Donald Trump’s nominee to head the CIA. Thune added, “Do we want a vote on these folks on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? Because that’s what we’re going to do. This can be easy, or this can be hard.” Ratcliffe has already easily sailed through the Senate Intelligence Committee, receiving bipartisan support in a 14-3 vote. Thune wasn’t alone in charging Democrats with stalling, as Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) cogently observed, “What this is really about is trying to drag out all of these nominations to play procedural games, as we’re about to, with Pete Hegseth’s nomination to try to deny President Trump his Cabinet in a prompt and timely fashion.”
Senators receive affidavit containing new allegations against Pete Hegseth (NBC News)
Stefanik vows to fight Jew hatred at the Jew-hating UN: If Donald Trump is the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House, his pick for UN ambassador, former New York Congresswoman and House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, is a reflection of that affinity for the Jewish state. During her Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Stefanik vowed to fight the “anti-Semitic rot” within the UN and defended Israel’s “biblical right” to the West Bank. She added, “I fully support the President’s commitment to defunding” the Hamas-linked United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Stefanik, you’ll recall, became a YouTube sensation in December 2023 when she destroyed Harvard President Claudine Gay for her willingness to tolerate the Jew hatred on her campus. “If you look at the anti-Semitic rot within the United Nations,” Stefanik said yesterday, “there are more resolutions targeting Israel than any other country, any other crisis combined. We need to be a voice of moral clarity on the U.N. Security Council and at the United Nations at large for the world to hear the importance of standing with Israel. And I intend to do that.”
Freed Israeli hostages say they were held in UN camp (Washington Examiner)
Comparing the Trump and Biden pressers: What a jolting experience it is to compare the energy and aptitude of Donald Trump to that of the decrepit Joe Biden. CNN’s Scott Jennings, the lone conservative voice in the network’s progressive wilderness, offered this admiring observation on Monday night after Trump had been going nonstop for more than 13 hours: “Look at Trump’s day. Three speeches, nearly 200 executive actions, long press conference narrating each order. Biden could not and would not offer this transparency and vigor. Gritty, resilient, determined, and audacious.” Jennings didn’t even mention the series of balls and galas that Trump had yet to attend that evening. As The Washington Times reports, “Trump held two press conferences on his first two days in office, highlighting the contrast between him and … Biden, who largely avoided press questions amid scrutiny of his mental acuity.” Indeed, Trump is two days into his second term, and he’s already had two freewheeling pressers — the first on Monday evening as he signed executive orders in the Oval Office, and the second a Q&A after announcing a $500 billion AI joint venture called Stargate. What a difference an election makes.
Rep. Roy introduces bill to repeal FACE Act: On Tuesday, Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced legislation to repeal the dubious Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. The law that was passed during the Clinton administration has been used primarily to punish pro-life activists. Under the Biden administration, this became especially apparent after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade. “Americans just spent the last four years being targeted by a weaponized justice system. The FACE Act was one of the primary weapons of abuse — being used to politically target, arrest, and jail pro-life Americans for speaking out and standing up for life,” Roy noted. “While President Trump and his team are already fast at work reversing the damage of the J6 political prosecutions and persecutions through pardons and commutations, I am hopeful those targeted under the FACE Act will be given similar relief.” Defending his rationale that the FACE Act is little other than an anti-pro-life law, he noted that 97% of FACE Act prosecutions brought by the Justice Department have been against pro-life activists. Twenty House Republicans are backing Roy’s measure, and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) will introduce similar legislation in the Senate.
Woke bishop scorns Trump with “transgender children fearing for their lives” claims (Daily Mail) | Trump demands apology (The Hill)
India says it will take back 18,000 illegals: In an announcement that was more comical than anything else, the government of India (population 1,400,000,000) has attempted to ingratiate itself to Donald Trump by agreeing to take back the estimated 18,000 Indians who are living here illegally. Now if we could only get Guatemala and Honduras and Venezuela to do the same. We suspect India will hardly notice, though, as the repatriation influx will amount to around one seventy-seven-thousandth of its population. As The Daily Wire reports, “The move by India comes as … Trump has threatened repercussions if countries don’t take back their citizens who are living illegally in the U.S.” Trump has also threatened to take his tariff club to countries like China and Mexico if they don’t start playing fair. “The idea that the BRICS Countries [Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa] are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER,” he said on social media.
Historic blizzard blasts Gulf Coast (Fox Weather)
Blanket J6 pardons stun Republicans on Capitol Hill (The Hill)
Humor: Trump’s new and improved world map (Babylon Bee)
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