LOSING MY RELIGION

The Trump administration is launching a sweeping campaign to eradicate “anti-Christian bias” in the federal workforce.

• The ‘War on Christmas’ was only the beginning, apparently. The term refers to the long-running, annual, tiresome debate over whether the United States has begun repressing Christian views (as many on Fox News would have you believe). Now, this grievance-based, cable-news-infused culture war appears to be spreading to the federal government — thanks to President Donald Trump.

• Top Trump officials are rolling out measures to identify employees or procedures suspected of bias against Christians. “This task force will identify any unlawful anti-Christian policies, practices or conduct across the government,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said this week. This goal is “very ‘Handmaid’s Tale’-esque,” a State Department employee told Politico.

• That work is already beginning at the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Secretary Doug Collins blasted out an email to employees on Wednesday, calling on workers to report each other for “anti-Christian bias” and announcing that a task force will investigate the Biden administration’s “treatment of Christians.” (Even though former President Joe Biden is, famously, Catholic.) Three VA workers sent me screenshots of the email immediately after receiving it — indicating how flabbergasted employees were.

• “I’ve been with the VA for almost 20 years. I don’t know the religious affiliations of any of my coworkers, because that’s not how a professional workplace runs,” one employee told me. “There is no ‘War on Christmas’ — it just seems like an extension of that. But it sure will be funny when that email address is shared online and people clog it up with fake reports.”

Some overtly religious messages from senior Trump officials have also made employees uneasy, even if they don’t cross any red lines.

• Before Easter weekend, employees at the Department of Housing and Urban Development received an unusually religious message from Chief of Staff Andrew Hughes, who was recently nominated to be deputy secretary.

• “America’s founding fathers proclaimed that all men are endowed by their creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Hughes wrote in an email obtained by What A Day. “This declaration rang true as the Jews fled Egypt and found Land, and it rang true once again when Jesus broke bread and drank wine with his disciples showing that sacrifice can truly change the world.” Uh… which century are we in, again? Just checkin’, because this email makes me wonder!

• Is all of this (ahem) kosher when it comes to the separation of church and state? Using religious rhetoric isn’t really an issue, legally speaking, said Daniel L. Dreisbach, a law professor at American University. “Public officials, in my view, can use rhetoric that reflects their own values and beliefs, whether they be secular or religious, without offending the restrictions of the First Amendment,” he told What A Day.

• But tracking down people who they believe aren’t fans of Christianity is questionable at best — especially considering Trump’s apparent crackdown on Muslim students who support Palestinians.

This may just be a new way to target political opponents. After all… it’s not like they’re about to investigate Vice President JD Vance’s meeting with Pope Francis, are they?

NEWS NEWS NEWS

The FBI arrested Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, allegedly because she “intentionally misdirected federal agents away from” an immigrant being pursued by the feds, FBI Director Kash Patel announced this morning. It’s a major escalation in Trump’s war on the judicial system over the issue of immigration — and comes as judges across the country worry Trump may withdraw their U.S. Marshals Service protection.

Trump said he would “love” to send violent American citizens to foreign prisons “if it were permissible by law.” In an interview with TIME, he added: “We’re looking into that.”

ICE arrested Columbia University grad student Mahmoud Khalil without having a warrant, according to court documents. Trump’s government attorneys justified the move by arguing Khalil was supposedly a flight risk, so they had to move fast. Well, excuse me, but that’s total bullshit. The dude is a peaceful activist, and his wife literally just had their first kid. I can’t imagine he’s a flight risk!

Surprise! More polls found that Trump’s immigration ratings are in the toilet. Fifty-three percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of immigration, a five-point decrease since February, according to one poll. Another one, provided exclusively to Pod Save America, found that only 25 percent of voters believe it’s OK for him to disobey court orders.

Former Rep. George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison for his fraudulent congressional run, in which he fabricated his resume and stole almost a dozen people’s identities. It’s the end of a wild political saga for the former drag queen-turned-MAGA-lawmaker-turned-Cameo star, but I’m sure we’ll hear from him once his seven years are up. Presumably, he’ll be back to run Fyre Fest 3.

Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty to all federal charges against him for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Trump’s personal cryptocurrency raked in tens of millions of dollars after he told purchasers of the meme coin that they could literally buy an “intimate” private dinner with him, according to a Washington Post analysis. “This is Trump selling access to the White House,” Crooked’s Dan Pfeiffer said on Pod Save America today. “It is the most corrupt thing that any president … has ever done, hands down.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is the gift that keeps giving: His personal cellphone number, tied to those infamous leaked Signal chats, was found on his Whatsapp and Facebook profiles — a major vulnerability for foreign adversaries. Even funnier: “On Aug. 15, 2024, he used his personal phone number to join Sleeper.com, a fantasy football and sports betting site, using the username ‘PeteHegseth,’” the New York Times writes. What was the bet if you lost the fantasy league? Leak national security secrets to your wife?

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