Trump Should Sign These Two Orders

Tired of sitting through the same annual, government-mandated anti-harassment training video? Wondering why some Americans still wear surgical masks outdoors, long after the end of the Covid pandemic?

Heather Mac Donald has got you covered, with two proposed Executive Orders she’d like to see President Trump sign: She calls them “Ending Illegal Employee Anti-Harassment Training and Restoring American Productivity” and “Banning Covid Mask-Wearers From Critical Infrastructure Jobs.”

“They are not exhaustive,” she writes. “Readers may have other needed EO’s in mind.”

The Catholic Church forbids priests from revealing anything heard in confession. Breaking the Seal of Confession brings automatic excommunication—the Church’s most severe penalty.

But in Washington State, priests may soon have to choose between their vows and the law. A new state law requires clergy to report alleged abuse disclosed in the confessional.

Tim Rosenberger and Tyler Turman argue that the law violates both the First Amendment and Washington’s legal tradition. “The law,” they write, “places clergy in the untenable position of having to choose between honoring sacred oaths and facing criminal prosecution, or following the law and facing excommunication.”

Moody’s has joined the other major credit-rating agencies in downgrading U.S. Treasury debt. As Milton Ezrati explains, the move is more theatrical than a genuine warning of financial risk.

Yes, America’s debt trajectory is unsustainable—but the notion that the U.S. might default, which credit ratings are supposed to assess, is unfounded. The government controls its own currency, has tools to prioritize debt payments, and remains fully capable of meeting its obligations, Ezrati argues.

“The rating agencies are confusing fiscal mismanagement with credit risk and straying from the core function they’re meant to serve,” he writes.

The U.S. air traffic control system is in crisis. Overcrowded airspace contributed to a fatal January collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger flight. Equipment is outdated. And staffing shortages—most recently forcing sudden flight cuts at Newark Airport—remain a chronic problem.

Nicole Gelinas argues that better pay and working conditions are an obvious first step for the FAA to strengthen its controller workforce. “If we want more people to choose this high-stakes, high-skill profession, we’ll have to start treating it like one,” she writes. Read her proposals for how the FAA can attract and retain the talent it urgently needs.

Charles Fain Lehman, Daniel Di Martino, Jesse Arm, and Renu Mukherjee discuss the Trump administration’s pause in student visa appointments, New York City’s mayoral race, and the best pizza in the U.S.

Photo credits: Kayla Bartkowski / Staff / Getty Images News via Getty Images