Praying for Our Leaders in Government
Executive Branch: Pray for the President and his Administration
President Biden’s administration is planning to speed up deportations for some migrant families who cross the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the Department of Homeland Security. In a statement, DHS said, “Attempting to cross into the United States between ports of entry, or circumventing inspection at ports of entry, is the wrong way to come to the United States.”
Even though the CHIPS for America Act has not yet been passed by Congress, the president’s administration is taking steps to spend up to $52 billion in improving semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the administration is investing in preparations. “We need to incentivize the manufacturing of chips in America, so we are very focused on putting the pieces in place so that can happen,” she said.
Pray for cabinet secretaries and agency heads in the administration as they work within the confines of U.S. law and Congressional mandates.
Legislative Branch: Pray for Senators and Representatives in Congress
Both houses of Congress have filed legislation that would halt funding for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The president’s administration resumed the funding of $150 million this year despite the agency’s refusal to cut ties with terrorist groups. Senator Jim Risch of Idaho stated, “When UNRWA was created, its specific purpose was to provide relief for refugees of the 1948 Arab-Israeli Conflict.“ He said that the agency is now affiliated with Hamas and should not be funded by taxpayer dollars.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department on Dr. Anthony Fauci for what the senator said are the NIAID director’s lies while being questioned by Congress. The doctor and senator had a tense exchange at a Senate hearing during which each claimed the other was not being truthful.
Pray for members of Congress to overcome the tensions and divisions that exist.
Judicial Branch: Pray for Supreme Court Justices and Federal Judges
A federal judge blocked a West Virginia law that banned transgender girls from participating in female sports teams. “At this point, I have been provided with scant evidence that this law addresses any problem at all, let alone an important problem,” wrote District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin. He added, “forcing a girl to compete on the boys’ team when there is a girls’ team available would cause her unnecessary distress and stigma,” and that it would cause confusion for coaches and teammates.
Chief Judge Beverly Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Department of Justice cannot share grand jury materials from investigations into the January 6 Capitol riot with a contractor who was hired to organize the information into a database. She said the DOJ was incorrect in arguing that employees of the firm contracted to work in the project could be considered “government personnel” which would grant them access to the grand jury evidence. “Disclosure to [the firm[ is therefore prohibited, and the government’s motion to authorize disclosure… is denied.”
Pray for the nation’s judges who must issue rulings in highly politicized cases.
