It has been a chaotic first 10 days of the new Trump administration. The list of dramatic and disruptive announcements and executive orders is long: pardons, immigration raids, firings, back-to-the-office orders, and the renaming of a major body of water. It's exhausting for all who are watching and life-changing for those who are directly involved.
Perhaps the biggest move so far came on Monday evening when Trump froze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans. He said he wanted to purge the government of what he calls "woke ideology." For about 24 hours, just about every agency and organization that receives federal money for its work panicked.
Late Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the order. And then on Wednesday, President Trump said "never mind." His administration rescinded the freeze memo.
The news prompted advocacy groups into action, denouncing the potential funding cuts and trying to explain how they would have hurt average people. One of those groups is the progressive-leaning Policy Matters Ohio, which said the federal freeze could disrupt the Ohio budget process and jeopardize critical programs.
Hannah Halbert, director of Policy Matters Ohio, joins the show.
Snollygoster of the week
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs are under fire. President Trump issued an executive order ending DEI programs in the federal government and putting employees working in those departments on leave.
Now, the party that decries government overreach is going after DEI programs at private businesses. Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is joining them. Yost and 18 other GOP attorneys general have sent a letter to Costco, demanding the warehouse retailer end its DEI policies. Yost writes that Costco is clinging to DEI policies that courts and businesses have rejected as illegal discrimination.
The letter requests that Costco repeal the policies or explain why they haven't. Yost's critics say the candidate for governor is just trying to curry favor with Trump to earn his endorsement.
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