Republican voters haven’t been this active in a presidential primary season since 1980, Pew Research Center says. And about half of that sky-high turnout comes from the influential bloc of evangelical voters — who, many fear, could make their biggest impact this November by doing nothing at all. Six months away from deciding Barack Obama’s successor, plenty of conservatives have yet to decide if they can or will support the GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

The GOP’s ticket-topper is clearly taking steps to address the concerns of conservatives, as evidenced by his recently released list of potential conservative court picks. But that bridge building will take on a whole new meaning on June 21, when social conservative leaders sit down with the real estate mogul to go beyond political stump speeches. As conservative leaders, we are deeply concerned about the state of our nation after nearly eight years of extremely liberal policies that have radically altered America’s political and cultural landscape. The purpose of the meeting is to simply have a conversation with Donald Trump about America’s future. Dr. Ben Carson, who has become a key advisor to Trump, is responsible for helping to set up the meeting.

I know that many of our friends and supporters are struggling to come to terms with a Trump candidacy, and I respect that. But let me say up front that there is nothing behind this meeting except the desire to sit down and have a frank conversation with a man who may very well end up succeeding President Obama. As I told Fox News’s Todd Starnes, there is no preconceived outcome here. As a group, we are not supporting Trump or opposing him. This is all about fact gathering. I’m hopeful that we can have a discussion that could help conservative leaders make a decision about what to do in this election. I want to be actively supportive of a candidate who can help turn this nation around. With Trump, I’m not there yet. I hope to be there, but I’m not there right now. A vice presidential pick is going to be very crucial to a lot of people. Mr. Trump doesn’t have a track record, so I’ll rely very heavily on who he chooses as a running mate.

In the meantime, our goal is to try to find common ground on essential issues facing our country. If we find it, great. If we can’t, these leaders are under no obligation to do anything. Now, there are some on both the inside and outside of the Trump camp who would dismiss — or even criticize — the opportunity to meet with the man who may soon hold the keys to the U.S. Supreme Court, foreign policy, national defense, and our most basic freedoms. But why would we refuse to have a conversation about our shared interests, especially if we have the opportunity to reinforce the importance of our core values?

As the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Dr. Ronnie Floyd said, “We cannot change what exists or even alter it or adjust it sitting on the sidelines and prognosticating about the situation. This is about the possibility of being able to appoint the next four Supreme Court justices. This is about the dignity of human life from the womb to the tomb. This is about religious freedom. I’m not about to sit at home and not express something. I’m accountable to God, and I believe I’m accountable to my fellow Americans.”

For more on the Trump sit-down, check out my interview from over the weekend with Fox News’s Shannon Bream.

Originally published here.

Senate Won’t Throw in the Towel on Bathrooms

Local school boards aren’t the only ones upset that the federal government is trying to do their jobs. So is the U.S. Senate. A little more than a week since the president’s team sent a blanket directive to every district in America, warning them to open up their bathrooms to anyone or lose federal funds, Republicans are saying “not so fast!” Twenty-five GOP senators, including key committee chairmen, had strong words for Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Education Secretary John King in a letter fighting back on this dangerous mandate to schools and universities.

“Every transgender person,” they write, “is someone’s child and should be treated with respect. But that does not justify a federal executive agency acting as a national school board telling 100,000 public schools how to resolve this issue… It is not appropriate for a federal executive agency to issue ‘guidance’ for every school as if it were the law. Article I of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the exclusive right to make laws… The Supreme Court, Congress, and the Obama administration itself all have made clear that such guidance does not have the force of law.”

If members wanted to enact this policy, they would have. The reality is, the group writes, it’s not a popular or safe proposition. “During Senate debate last year on the Every Student Succeeds Act, an amendment was offered to do — by statute — what the administration is now trying to enforce in guidance as if it were the law. The Senate voted not to adopt the amendment… Until Congress or the courts settle the federal law, states and school districts are free to devise their own reasonable solutions.” And, as states like Arkansas, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Texas have decided, the reasonable solution is respecting students’ privacy and protecting them from the pitfalls of a gender free-for-all.

President Obama’s administration of wannabe lawmakers has been slapped down by plenty of courts for trying to do unilaterally what it couldn’t do legislatively. If the Left wants to make schools the incubators of this radical agenda, they’ll have to persuade America the old fashioned way: democratically! Until then, a growing number of states refuse to be steamrolled by the bullies at the DOJ and DOE. If it costs them a small slice of their education budgets, so be it.

In Nebraska, where Republicans are calling for a law pushing back on the president’s agenda, leaders are willing to take on the NCAA and any other organization that thinks it can coerce the state to forfeit students’ protection for political correctness. State Sen. Bill Kinter said it’s high time to stop taking the Left’s bait on “discrimination” and start acting in the best interest of schools. Just because the Association is threatening to pull the College World Series and other events is no excuse to back down. “Economic terrorism is not a reason to make laws,” Kinter said. “The NCAA is a bunch of Left-wing loonies.” Governor Pete Ricketts has told reporters that the NCAA is free to act as it sees fit — but then, so is Nebraska. “[What they do] doesn’t impact my thought processes on what we need to do here in Nebraska.” It is possible to be respectful to everyone without bending to the whims of radical transgender activists.

Meanwhile, President Obama seems incapable of taking the hint that Americans are sick and tired of his LGBT tunnel vision. Instead, he’s stubbornly pressing on, even going so far as to appoint a man who identifies as a woman to his Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. If you haven’t signed on to FRC’s petition calling on Congress to step in and defend our children from the administration’s gender anarchy please do so today. I want to be able to include yours when I take the petitions to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) later this week. Click here to add your name to more than 100,000 Americans’.

Originally published here.

Where’s the Justice for This Justice?

Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore probably feels like he’s always standing alone. But on Saturday, he was anything but, as crowds of people poured out by the judicial building in Montgomery to rally for the popular judge. Three weeks after being suspended from the bench without pay, Roy Moore is fighting the politically motivated charges against him. It all started several months ago, when far-Left extremists filed a complaint with the state’s Judicial Inquiry Commission. Why? Because Justice Moore didn’t roll over and fall in line after five members of the U.S. Supreme Court forced their definition of marriage on the rest of the country.

In Alabama, as in most states, there’s an administrative process to follow before implementing decisions as sweeping as Obergefell. As a firm believer in natural marriage and the state’s autonomy, Justice Moore went to bat for the 81 percent of Alabamans who went to the polls to protect man-woman unions in 2006. In a memo to probate judges across the state, Moore told them to wait until that process was complete before issuing same-sex marriage licenses. And, as a result, the Left is trying to discredit him and end his distinguished judicial career. Our good friend, Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver, is representing the judge, who hopes to have a hearing this summer.

In the meantime, plenty of people are on Moore’s side, including state senators like Dick Brebacker, who called the suspension “an outrageous abuse of power.” “This is all over an administrative order. The check and balance in our system for an incorrect or controversial administrative order is for the other sitting justices just to strike it down, which they can do at will. The JIC was never set up to ride herd on every administration decision made by the chief justice…” Like us, he knows that these are nothing but trumped up charges meant to make an example of anyone who dares to stand up to the forces of political correctness and follow state protocol in judicial decisions.

Originally published here.