�鶹Ů��

President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at eradicating “anti-Christian bias” in the federal government by having agencies review policies and practices that he says have tried to squelch religious activities and activism. Mr. Trump, who announced the order at the National Prayer Breakfast, appointed his new attorney general, Pam Bondi, to lead a task force at the Justice Department to spearhead the effort. Mr. Trump said the task force would “fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism in our society” and “move heaven and earth to defend the rights of Christians and religious believers nationwide.” (Green, 2/7)

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the nation’s largest private funder of biomedical research, this week abruptly ended a $60 million program aimed at improving the retention of a diverse student body in undergraduate science and engineering programs. The decision came as a shock to the 104 institutions receiving funding through the program, called Inclusive Excellence, or IE3, especially because HHMI has vocally heralded moves to increase diversity in science in the past. (Oza, 2/6)

The largest college sports governing body in the country has completely banned transgender women student-athletes from competing in women’s sports, following President Donald Trump’s executive order threatening federal funding for schools that allow trans girls on girls’ teams. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on Thursday rescinded its former guidance for transgender student-athletes, which had been in place since 2010 and was amended in 2022. (Rummler, 2/6)

A veteran apparently took their own life Jan. 27 at the parking garage at the VA Medical Center in Syracuse, New York, draped in a banner associated with transgender rights. A witness said the veteran died by suicide wearing a body-length pink, light blue and white flag -- a symbol of transgender pride. According to Syracuse.com, which first reported the death, the veteran was a patient who had been discharged from the hospital's inpatient facility on Jan. 21. (Kime, 2/6)

Last Friday, St. John's Community Health, a large southern California network of federally qualified health centers serving 430,000 individuals a year, tried to withdraw funds from a $1.67 million CDC grant specifically earmarked for transgender health services. "We weren't able to access it," Jim Mangia, St. John's president and CEO, told MedPage Today, "even though there was an injunction forbidding federal departments from initiating any funding freezes or terminations based on [the president's] executive orders." And even though the money is needed for payroll and service expenses. (Clark, 2/6)