Biden To Nominate First Muslim Federal Judge

On Tuesday, President Biden announced eleven nominees for federal judgeships. Among the nominees is  Zahid Quraishi who is to be nominated to the New Jersey federal district court where he is currently a magistrate judge.  As reported by Fox News, if confirmed by the Senate, Quraishi would become the first Muslim American to serve as a lifetime-appointed federal judge.

Executive Order Calls For Review To Assure No Discrimination In Education On Basis of Sex, Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity

Yesterday President Biden issued an Executive Order on Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free from Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity (full text). It calls for a review of existing federal regulations and guidance documents to assure "an educational environment free from discrimination on the basis of sex, including discrimination in the form of sexual harassment, which encompasses sexual violence, and including discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. "

President Biden Praises Papal Visit To Iraq

Yesterday, President Biden issued a Statement (full text) on Pope Francis' just-completed visit to Iraq, saying in part:

I congratulate the Government and people of Iraq for the care and planning that went into organizing this monumental visit, and continue to admire Pope Francis for his commitment to promoting religious tolerance, the common bonds of our humanity, and interfaith understanding.

EEOC General Counsel Fired By Biden

Yesterday morning, President Biden, through an e-mail (full text) from the White House Office of Personnel, requested the resignation of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission General Counsel Sharon Gustafson. Gustafson was a Trump appointee. As pointed out by the Washington Post in its report on these developments:

Gustafson was confirmed by the Senate to a four-year position in August 2019. She had raised the hackles of civil rights, LGBTQ and women’s groups during her confirmation hearing, by what they saw as “evasive” answers she gave about the rights of LGBTQ workers.

In a lengthy letter to the President (full text) just hours after the request for her resignation, Gustafson refused to resign. Her letter reads in part:

I am transmitting with this letter my Work Group's "Religious Discrimination in Employment: General Counsel Listening Sessions Final Report." This report and a related press release were published on the EEOC's website on January 13, 2021. On February 4. 2021-- shortly after your inauguration-- the report and press release were removed from the EEOC's website.... I can only assume that my resignation would be followed by similar suppression of our work promoting religious freedom.

The White House Office of Personnel responded yesterday to Gustafson with a brief e-mail (full text) informing her that her employment was terminated as of 5:00 pm that day.

President Biden Issues Statement On Ash Wednesday

Yesterday President Joe Biden issued a Statement on Ash Wednesday (full text), saying in part:

As we enter into the season of Lent, we know this moment of repentance, reflection, and renewal comes in the midst of a painful winter for our nation and the world.....

We pray for all those who have fallen on hard times and are worried about what morning will bring. Let us find strength in each other and faith that provides us purpose. And let us look with hope and anticipation toward Easter and brighter days ahead.

Biden Re-Establishes White House Faith-Based Partnerships Office

Yesterday President Joseph Biden issued an Executive Order (full text) once again establishing a White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The accompanying Fact Sheet says in part:

The Partnerships Office’s initial work will include collaborating with civil society to: address the COVID-19 pandemic and boost economic recovery; combat systemic racism; increase opportunity and mobility for historically disadvantaged communities; and strengthen pluralism. The office will also support agency partnerships that advance the United States Government’s diplomatic, international development, and humanitarian work around the world....

Fundamental to these goals is respecting our cherished guarantees of church-state separation and freedom for people of all faiths and none.... The Partnerships Office, for example, will not prefer one faith over another or favor religious over secular organizations. Instead, it will work with every willing partner to promote the common good, including those who have differences with the Administration.

According to the Fact Sheet, Melissa Rogers will serve as Executive Director of the Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Office, and as Senior Director for Faith and Public Policy in the White House Domestic Policy Council. Josh Dickson will serve as the Office's Deputy Director.

Biden Speaks At National Prayer Breakfast

President Biden yesterday delivered taped remarks at this year's National Prayer Breakfast. (Video of full remarks.) AP reported on the event, saying in part:

The event went entirely virtual this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, with Biden and all other speakers appearing via taped remarks. Four living former presidents sent messages to the breakfast, with three speaking on tape while Coons read a message from former President Jimmy Carter — making Trump’s absence conspicuous.

Biden Moves To Restore Funding For Family Planning Clinics; Reverses Mexico City Policy

President Biden yesterday issued Memorandum on Protecting Women’s Health at Home and Abroad (Jan. 28. 2021) (full text).  The Memorandum calls for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to consider whether to revise or repeal the Trump Administration's rules that prohibit recipients of Title X funds from referring patients to abortion providers. The rule has had a particular impact on Planned Parenthood clinics. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Memorandum states in part:

The Title X Rule has caused the termination of Federal family planning funding for many women’s healthcare providers and puts women’s health at risk by making it harder for women to receive complete medical information.

The Memorandum also revokes the so-called "Mexico City Policy" which withholds USAID family planning funds abroad from organizations that use non-USAID funds to perform abortions, provide advice, counseling, or information on abortion, or lobby a foreign government to legalize abortion or make abortion services more easily available. The Memorandum also directs the Secretaries of State and HHS to withdraw the U.S. from the Geneva Consensus Declaration, and to resume funding to the United Nations Population Fund. CBS News has more on these developments.

Biden Executive Order Permits Transgender Individuals To Serve In Military

Yesterday President Biden issued an Executive Order (full text) reversing the Trump Administration's 2018 transgender military service ban. In his remarks at the signing of the Executive Order, President Biden said in part:

this is reinstating a position that previous commanders and — as well as the Secretaries have supported.  And what I’m doing is enabling all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform, and essentially restoring the situation as it existed before, with transgender personnel, if qualified in every other way, can serve their government in the United States military.

NPR reports on the Executive Order.

Biden Issues Executive Order Calling For Agency Rules To Protect Against LGBTQ Discrimination

On Wednesday, President Biden issued an Executive Order (full text) calling on all federal agencies that administer statutes barring sex discrimination to review any of their regulations that do not assure that this protection extends to discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. The Executive Order begins with a broad policy statement:

Every person should be treated with respect and dignity and should be able to live without fear, no matter who they are or whom they love.  Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.  Adults should be able to earn a living and pursue a vocation knowing that they will not be fired, demoted, or mistreated because of whom they go home to or because how they dress does not conform to sex-based stereotypes.  People should be able to access healthcare and secure a roof over their heads without being subjected to sex discrimination.  All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.

It also takes the position that the Supreme Court's recent Title VII Bostock decision applies equally to the sex discrimination bans in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Fair Housing Act and the Immigration and Nationality Act. NBC News reports on the Executive Order.

Biden-Harris Statement on Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

 This morning the White House issued a Statement from President Biden and Vice President Harris on the 48th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade (full text) which reads:

Today marks the 48th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade.  

In the past four years, reproductive health, including the right to choose, has been under relentless and extreme attack.  We are deeply committed to making sure everyone has access to care – including reproductive health care – regardless of income, race, zip code, health insurance status, or immigration status. 

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to codifying Roe v. Wade and appointing judges that respect foundational precedents like Roe.  We are also committed to ensuring that we work to eliminate maternal and infant health disparities, increase access to contraception, and support families economically so that all parents can raise their families with dignity.  This commitment extends to our critical work on health outcomes around the world. 

As the Biden-Harris Administration begins in this critical moment, now is the time to rededicate ourselves to ensuring that all individuals have access to the health care they need.

U.S. Catholic Bishops Call For Biden To Change His Policies On Abortion Rights

The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop José H. Gomez, released a lengthy statement (full text) on Wednesday as Joe Biden was inaugurated as U.S. President. The statement particularly focuses on Biden's stance on abortion, saying in part:

I look forward to working with President Biden and his administration, and the new Congress....

Working with President Biden will be unique, however, as he is our first president in 60 years to profess the Catholic faith.... [I]t will be refreshing to engage with a President who clearly understands, in a deep and personal way, the importance of religious faith and institutions. Mr. Biden’s piety and personal story, his moving witness to how his faith has brought him solace in times of darkness and tragedy, his longstanding commitment to the Gospel’s priority for the poor — all of this I find hopeful and inspiring.

At the same time, as pastors, the nation’s bishops are given the duty of proclaiming the Gospel in all its truth and power, in season and out of season, even when that teaching is inconvenient or when the Gospel’s truths run contrary to the directions of the wider society and culture. So, I must point out that our new President has pledged to pursue certain policies that would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences....

For the nation’s bishops, the continued injustice of abortion remains the “preeminent priority.”...

Rather than impose further expansions of abortion and contraception, as he has promised, I am hopeful that the new President and his administration will work with the Church and others of good will.... My hope is that we can begin a dialogue to address the complicated cultural and economic factors that are driving abortion and discouraging families.

Biden Ends Trump Administration's "Muslim-Bans"

President Joe Biden yesterday issued a Proclamation (full text) revoking the Trump administration's controversial travel bans that mainly impacted Muslim countries. The Proclamation reads in part:

The United States was built on a foundation of religious freedom and tolerance, a principle enshrined in the United States Constitution.  Nevertheless, the previous administration enacted a number of Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations that prevented certain individuals from entering the United States — first from primarily Muslim countries, and later, from largely African countries.  Those actions are a stain on our national conscience and are inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and no faith at all....

Make no mistake, where there are threats to our Nation, we will address them.  Where there are opportunities to strengthen information-sharing with partners, we will pursue them.  And when visa applicants request entry to the United States, we will apply a rigorous, individualized vetting system.  But we will not turn our backs on our values with discriminatory bans on entry into the United States.

Clergy Who Will Speak At Biden's Inauguration Are Identified

Vox reports that the clergy who will deliver the invocation and benediction at President Joe Biden's inauguration today are men with whom Biden has close personal ties.  Fr. Leo O’Donovan who will deliver the invocation was president of Georgetown University from 1980- 2001. Biden's son Hunter was  student at Georgetown during part of this period.  Rev. Silvester Beaman who will deliver the closing benediction is pastor of the predominately African-American Bethel AME Church in Wilmington, Delaware.

Biden Attending Mass This Morning With Bipartisan Congressional Leadership

According to The Hill, this morning President-Elect Joe Biden is attending Mass at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in downtown Washington, DC. At his invitation top leaders of both parties in the House and Senate-- Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell-- will attend with him.

Catholic Bishops React To Biden's Officiating At Same-Sex Marriage

As reported by the Washington Post, last Monday Vice President Joe Biden officiated at the same-sex wedding ceremony of two White House staffers.  In a blog post yesterday, three prominent members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (including its president) reacted to Biden's action, without referring to him by name.  They said in part:

When a prominent Catholic politician publicly and voluntarily officiates at a ceremony to solemnize the relationship of two people of the same-sex, confusion arises regarding Catholic teaching on marriage and the corresponding moral obligations of Catholics. What we see is a counter witness, instead of a faithful one founded in the truth....

Faithful witness can be challenging—and it will only grow more challenging in the years to come—but it is also the joy and responsibility of all Catholics, especially those who have embraced positions of leadership and public service.