Praying for Our Leaders in Government
Executive Branch: Pray for the President and his Administration
President Joe Biden nominated Rashad Hussain to be the U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom. This appointment would fill the State Department position that has been vacant since former Kansas governor and U.S. Senator Sam Brownback left at the close of the previous administration. The nomination of Hussain, a Muslim, now goes before the Senate.
The Census Bureau announced that it will not produce its annual American Community Survey, which provides detailed demographic data widely used for research and billions of dollars in federal funding decisions, because of how the coronavirus pandemic skewed survey results. Instead, the agency will release an “experimental” data set that includes less information than the normal release.
Pray for Cabinet members, agency heads, and others who represent the American government to the national public and the world.
Legislative Branch: Pray for Senators and Representatives in Congress
Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, a key negotiator in congressional immigration talks, cast doubt on any prospects for legislation to create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants if partisans cannot advance the measure through the budget reconciliation process. He claimed that his colleagues across the aisle were not recognizing the “incredible contributions to this country” that immigrants make.
The House of Representatives voted 217-212 to fund elective abortions in foreign countries with U.S. tax dollars. Multiple studies have shown that taxpayer subsidies for abortion increase the number of human lives ended by the procedure, and the policy is unpopular in public polling. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.
Pray for members of the Senate as they consider the taxpayer funding of abortions worldwide.
Judicial Branch: Pray for Supreme Court Justices and Federal Judges
The Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a religious exemption to a Colorado website designer who had advertised her support for traditional marriage and had refused to design websites for certain individuals. The court cited the same discrimination law that required a Colorado baker to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple.
A federal court ordered the forfeiture by Hobby Lobby of an ancient Sumerian tablet bearing part of the Epic of Gilgamesh in cuneiform script after it determined that the artifact was illegally imported. The tablet had been purchased by a U.S.-based antique dealer in 2003 and was shipped to the United States without disclosure of its contents as required by law. Hobby Lobby has agreed to forfeit the tablet which had been seized in 2019 from a display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.
Pray for federal judges and justices as they hear cases regarding religious liberty and for Americans who are standing up for their faith.
