All posts tagged: Trump administration

Trump Sculpture Garden of Heroes Receives NEH Funding

Trump Sculpture Garden of Heroes Receives NEH Funding

President Trump’s planned National Garden of American Heroes is one step closer to construction, as the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has reportedly re-dedicated a portion of its funding to the president’s campaign to align arts and culture in the United States with his interpretation of patriotism. According to a report Friday in the New York Times, the agency, which is the foremost federal funder of creative endeavors in the country, disclosed the decision in a Wednesday meeting, one week after cancelling most of its existing grant programs. Grant recipients received a “Notice of Grant Termination” that bore the signature of Michael McDonald, acting director of the N.E.H. as of March, informing them the “immediate termination” of their funding, which, the letter added, was “necessary to safeguard the interests of the federal government, including its fiscal priorities.” Related Articles Only days prior to receiving the notice, agency employees were reportedly told that the Department of Government Efficiency, the budget-slashing group overseen by Elon Musk, was moving to cut upwards of 80 percent of their 180-person …

Harvard Divinity School pauses religion and conflict educational initiative, cuts its staff

Harvard Divinity School pauses religion and conflict educational initiative, cuts its staff

(RNS) — Harvard Divinity School announced last week it was pausing its Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative, a program that focused on Israel-Palestine as a case study. On Wednesday (April 2), it cut the last remaining position in the initiative. Hilary Rantisi, the associate director of the program, said she was told her position will not be renewed. She is also the sole Palestinian American staff member at the divinity school. Her last day is at the end of June. She did not comment further. The news follows a cascading series of events that include the departure of two leaders of Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the suspension of the Harvard School of Public Health’s partnership with Birzeit University in the West Bank. Harvard is facing a Trump administration threat to cut $9 billion in contracts and grants for failing to protect Jewish students from antisemitism and promoting “divisive ideologies over free inquiry.” The Trump administration has already indicated it might pull hundreds of millions in federal funds from Columbia University and …

In the battle to keep ICE from raiding houses of worship, the grassroots needs to flex more muscle

In the battle to keep ICE from raiding houses of worship, the grassroots needs to flex more muscle

(RNS) — In two separate lawsuits, religious organizations are pushing back against the Trump administration’s attempt to open the way for immigration raids at “sensitive locations,” such as houses of worship. On Capitol Hill, Democratic lawmakers are joining with several religious groups to pass the Protecting Sensitive Locations Act, which would restrict immigration enforcement actions at various “public religious ceremonies.”  But the fact is, faith-based organizations are already among the most equipped institutions to resist Trumpian fascism. To resist I.C.E. raids, they only need to adapt a form of direct action known as civilian-based defense, which uses non-violent means to protect vulnerable groups. Before explaining civilian-based self-defense, it’s worth noting not only how, but also why houses of worship are the right institutions to assume this responsibility. The first reason is simply because ICE is knocking at their doors. While no raids have entered a house of worship to detain migrants at prayer, at least two people have been held outside their churches. A Guatemalan man with a standing deportation order was arrested in the parking …

Woman who had sought protection from deportation in Colorado churches is detained, advocates say

Woman who had sought protection from deportation in Colorado churches is detained, advocates say

DENVER (AP) — A woman who gained prominence after she took refuge in churches in Colorado to avoid deportation during the first Trump administration has been detained, immigration advocates said Tuesday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether Jeanette Vizguerra had been taken into custody. Vizguerra, a mother of four, was arrested Monday at a Denver-area Target store where she worked, said Jordan Garcia of the American Friends Service Committee, who has been in contact with Vizguerra’s lawyer and family. Vizguerra has been trying to gain a visa given to crime victims that allows them to remain in the United States since she left sanctuary in churches in 2020, Garcia said. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston blasted the Trump administration for the reported arrest of Vizguerra, an immigration and labor activist. Johnston, who defended Denver’s sanctuary city policies in Congress earlier this month, called on people to demand that ICE release Vizguerra and give her due process rights. “This is not immigration …

Jewish protesters occupy Trump Tower over arrest of Palestinian activist

Jewish protesters occupy Trump Tower over arrest of Palestinian activist

NEW YORK (RNS) — Around 150 activists occupied the Trump Tower lobby Thursday (March 13) to demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist arrested Saturday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over his involvement in pro-Palestinian student protests at Columbia University. Around noon, protesters in the hotel atrium unraveled banners reading “Fight Nazis not students,” “Jews say Free Mahmoud & Free Palestine” and “Jews say do not comply.” For an hour, they called for Khalil’s release and for a ceasefire in Gaza. Around 1 p.m., dozens of New York Police Department Strategic Response Group officers filled the building’s lobby and arrested 98 protesters, who were then led in a procession on Madison Avenue to get into NYPD buses. The sit-in, held beneath the golden escalator where Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign in 2015, was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist Jewish organization. The protest was the latest in a series of rallies denouncing Khalil’s arrest as a grave violation of freedom of speech by the Trump administration. RELATED: Arrest of …

What is DOGE? | Quinn Slobodian

What is DOGE? | Quinn Slobodian

For the last month, the US opinion-making class has stared agog as Elon Musk and his minions have stormed the engine room of the federal government. Young men with smirking profile photos and scandalously thin curriculum vitae have become the shock troops of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). They are strolling through the halls of power, messaging federal staffers en masse to stay home and accessing internal intelligence reports. According to Wired’s reporting, one DOGE staffer who later resigned over his racist social media posts had both read and write access to the Treasury’s payment systems for at least a day. Three years ago, as a sixteen-year old intern, another had been fired by a data-security firm for allegedly leaking information to a competitor. Like the QAnon Shaman at the senate rostrum on January 6, this is Grand Guignol, a spectacle both serious and ridiculous. For the second time in five years, people are forced to ask: can you cosplay a coup? Buffaloed onlookers have groped for precedent. The tech critic Cory Doctorow has described these …

Katherine Stewart Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy

Katherine Stewart Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy

 This week, author and journalist Katherine Stewart joins host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush to discuss the rise of Christian Nationalism, Trump’s authoritarian tendencies, and the weaponization of faith for political gain. Together, they dive into the current political climate, the deep divisions within American society, and how knowledge and organizing are key to defending democracy. Katherine’s latest book, out on February 18th, Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy, explores the Christian Nationalist movement, which is fueled by the ultra-wealthy to protect their fortunes at the expense of democracy. Building on the foundation of her previous work, The Power Worshippers, Katherine’s new book reveals how these powerful forces exploit religious narratives to erode democratic institutions. “Extreme levels of inequality are eroding our democracy. This is something that we need to understand. I think there was nothing more stark than to see perhaps the group of the richest men in the world attending Trump’s inauguration. You had Bezos there, you had Musk there with his salute, whatever. I mean, you have …

Following Layoffs, Pictures and Posters Removed from USAID Offices

Following Layoffs, Pictures and Posters Removed from USAID Offices

Artworks and pictures have been removed from the offices of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) across the globe, according to an X post from NBC’s Washington reporter Vaughn Hillyard. Vaughn, quoting a source, said that employees have been told that artworks have been removed as part of the Trump administration’s “America First” positioning.  The post featured a picture of dozens of works of art, including a map what appeared to be southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and North Africa, and an image of a concert in Kenya. These pictures appeared to have been haphazardly stacked on a utility cart.  Related Articles According to the Congressional Research Service, USAID is the main international humanitarian aid and development arm of the federal government. In the 2023 fiscal year it managed more than $40 billion in appropriations. USAID has missions in more than 60 countries and in 2023 delivered aid and funds to more than 130.  Exactly how much art has been removed, and from where, is unclear. USAID has not responded to a request for comment about who will …

An open letter to the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. | Walter M. Shaub Jr.

An open letter to the Director of the Office of Government Ethics. | Walter M. Shaub Jr.

Dear Hon. David Huitema (David), Congratulations on being confirmed to serve as director of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE). Thank you for accepting a job you will not enjoy. It’s been more than a year since President Biden nominated you. The confirmation process took far too long, and it could not have been pleasant. Back in 2023, not long after President Trump’s appointee, Hon. Emory A. Rounds III, finished his term, Senator Mike Lee of Utah declared that the next OGE director should be chosen after the new president’s inauguration (although he had championed Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination shortly before the 2020 election). Since then, he has tried to block you from serving in that role. This September he even claimed in the Senate that “Mr. Huitema left open the possibility of supporting a partisan policy, a partisan approach, from a nonpartisan position.” If the senator had bothered to read the transcript of your confirmation hearing, he would have known you emphatically rejected partisanship. You can expect the Republicans to make increasingly frequent, …