Wednesday morning news: April 23, 2025

Trump walks back intent to fire Powell, Wall Street rallies President Trump is changing his tune on termination, now saying he has no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

TRUMP: I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates. This is a perfect time to lower interest rates. If he doesn’t, is it the end? No, it’s not, but it would be good timing.

Trump previously suggested he might try to fire Powell for not lowering interest rates. Those comments, last week and earlier this week, sent the U.S. financial markets tumbling.

But his new position should further the calmer nerves on Wall Street Tuesday. The three major stock indices -the Dow, NASDAQ, and S & P- were all up two-and-a-half percent or more at the closing bell.

Bessent: China trade war ‘unsustainable’ » The main reason for the rallying stocks: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

At a closed door event, he told investors he expects a de-escalation in the U.S. trade war with China calling the present standoff between the two countries unsustainable.

Reporters asked the president to weigh in on Bessent’s comments.

TRUMP: We’re doing fine with China. We’re doing fine with every, I think, almost every country. Everybody wants to have involvement with the United States.

A baseline tariff of 10 percent remains in effect for most U.S. trading partners while the White House tries to work out long-term deals country by country. But tariffs on China shot up to 245 percent last week.

State Departmet outlines reorganization plan » The U.S. State Department is starting an overhaul.

In a written statement Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he sees the State Department as being at odds with the president and the country, so he’s working to bring it under control by getting rid of overlap in foreign offices.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce:

BRUCE: Region-specific functions will be consolidated to increase functionality. Redundant offices will be removed. And non-statutory programs that are misaligned with America’s core national interests will cease to exist.

The overhaul also calls for a 15 percent agency workforce reduction in the U.S.

SCOTUS hears LGBTQ books case » The U.S. Supreme Court appears to be leaning in favor of parents with religious objections to their elementary-aged children being forced to read LGBTQ-themed books at school.

The High Court heard arguments Tuesday in a case out of Montgomery County, Maryland where the public school system refused to let parents with religious objections opt their children out of a language arts class with pro-LGBTQ reading materials.

PERSAK: This is not a matter of banning curriculum or stopping others from following their beliefs. It is about protecting our right as parents to decide what our children learn and when, especially when it comes to sensitive issues like gender, sexuality, and family life.

That’s Melissa Persak, a concerned parent of a Montgomery County student.

Opponents of an opt-out say it puts too much of a burden on schools, and argue no one’s being forced to change their religious beliefs or practices.

A decision will probably come in June. Based on the justices’ questions and comments in the courtroom Tuesday, the Associated Press reports the Court’s conservative majority signaled support for the parents’ religious rights.

Religious groups ask White House to let Afghan refugees stay in U.S. » An Anglican church in Raleigh, North Carolina, is rallying to help 22 Afghan Christians in its congregation avoid deportation.

One of those refugees -a young man using the pseudonym “Nashinas”- escaped Taliban persecution and came to the U.S. on a form of humanitarian parole known as TPS, short for temporary protected status.

But the Trump Administration believes past presidents abused TPS and is working to rein in the program. So this month, Nashinas was told to leave the country within seven days.

Church members have written Congress and joined national Christian groups urging the Trump administration to allow about 300 Afghan believers like Nashinas to stay. Tuesday, WORLD’s Carolina Lumetta asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for an update.

LEAVITT: We didn’t end that proactively. It expired. And it’s because the previous administration illegally paroled hundreds of thousands into the country… And if there are individuals here who came in through the Biden Administration who want to claim asylum, there is a legal process to do that, and those cases will be adjudicated by a judge on a case-by-case basis.

Church members say these Afghans are not economic migrants, but people who followed U.S. law and now face death for their faith if forced to return. Nashinas has applied for asylum, with court hearings set for later this year.

Department of Justice forms Anti-Christian Bias Task Force » A new Department of Justice task force aims to take on bias, against Christians.

Attorney General Pam Bondi:

BONDI: This task force will identify any unlawful anti-Christian policies, practices, or conduct across the government, seek input from the faith-based organizations and state governments to end anti-Christian bias.

Bondi went on to accuse the Biden administration of using its power to target peaceful Christians. As an example, she cited its prosecution of almost two-dozen pro-life activists charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances -or FACE- Act.

President Trump later pardoned those activists.

I'm Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead: perspectives on federal funding and higher education. Plus, how U.S. tariffs are straining some neighborly relationships.

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