(The Center Square) – FBI Director Kash Patel told lawmakers Wednesday that a White House proposal to cut the agency’s budget was $1 billion short – but then he walked the statement back on Thursday. 

“I’m here today in full support of the president’s budget, which reprioritizes and enhances our mission of law enforcement and national security,” Patel said before the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We want an FBI, in support of the president’s budget, that puts law enforcement, fighting violent crime and national security first and that does only those things and nothing else.”

The White House’s proposal implied that substantial amounts of federal funding had been misdirected at the FBI toward diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, “duplicative intelligence activities” and using the agency as a tool to achieve the political goals of the previous administration. The administration proposed a budget for fiscal year 2026 that’s about $545 million less than the agency’s existing budget and $1 billion less than the budget the agency proposed.

On Wednesday, Patel testified before the House Appropriations Committee and had said the administration’s proposal wouldn’t enable the FBI to fully do its job.

“What we’re focusing on right now is working with our partners in [the Office of Management and Budget] to say that we cannot cover down on the mission at the levels that we would have to go to – which would be the 2011 levels – should all the budget cuts you just outlined be implemented,” Patel told Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-CT, referring to the $545 million cut.

Patel said the FBI would have to cut about 1,300 employees if the budget that is passed reflects the lower proposal from the White House. 

When pressed Thursday on the contradiction with his statements from Wednesday, Patel said he could “do the mission” and is “in support of the budget here,” but that Wednesday, he was giving examples of the “more” he could do with additional funds.

“So you support the budget presented that cuts half a billion but you also support us adding $1 billion should we choose to do that?” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., asked.

“Well I can’t not support the budget as proposed because then I would be supporting no budget,” Patel responded.

Republicans in Congress are trying to reduce the federal budget, in line with President Donald Trump’s fiscal goals, while preserving tax cuts from the president’s first term and introducing a slate of other expensive tax changes Trump has put forward.

(The Center Square) — A bill that would put the clamps on diversity, equity, and inclusion in state government was approved by a House Committee on Thursday despite objections by Democrats. 

House Bill 421, by Rep. Emily Chernevert, R-East Baton Rouge, was excoriated by the House & Governmental Affairs Committee’s Democrats, but the bill was approved on a party-line vote.

The bill requires all Louisiana state agencies to abolish any programs, offices, positions, or employee requirements related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, better known as DEI.

Chenervert did her best to defend her bill, but was unable to avoid the ire and acrimony of the Democratic committee members. The bill passed by a 10-6 vote, with only Republicans in support. 

DEI, which advocates say means for improving educational opportunities for underrepresented communities, has come under extreme scrutiny in recent years. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious affirmative action was unconstitutional, thereby requiring schools to halt recruiting and applicant-consideration based on race.

“This bill is about falling under federal laws we do not want to infringe on,” Chenevert said. “It is just simply creating equality for all, opportunity for all Louisianians, no matter what, no matter race or background or where they come from.” 

The legislation also targets college coursework, directing public higher education boards to eliminate DEI-related content — such as critical race theory or systemic racism — from general education and most undergraduate degree requirements, while allowing departments like gender or ethnic studies to continue offering such content within their programs.

In October, Louisiana State University’s board of supervisors eliminated some programs that preclude “any preferential treatment in violation of the rule of law outlined by the Supreme Court in SFA v. Harvard”

President Donald Trump and conservatives more broadly have been very hostile to DEI policies. Chenervert’s law reflects many of the same themes and strategies seen in the executive orders issued by President Donald Trump on his first day in office that also target diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools.

Members and witnesses also worried about the effect on other institutions, such as police training. According to Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-East Baton Rouge, police in Louisiana have mandatory “race relations” training, which she worried would now be unlawful under Chenevert’s legislation. 

“We had issues with the police and how they were treating people in our state, and we implemented training, and we wanted race related training,” Marcelle said. “We want the police to know about African American males and we wanted to make sure that that message was real clear, So we implemented that in the state.”

“The DEI programs have been misperceived in so many ways which have been perpetuated around the country,” said former state representative and current chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party Randal Gaines. “It’s not giving them an advantage. It’s making sure that they’re not disadvantaged by racial prejudice or gender prejudice or any other kind of discrimination prejudice that might handicap them.”

(The Center Square) – Senators in North Carolina have advanced a proposal keeping 501(c) donors’ personal information protected.

The Personal Privacy Protection Act, known also as Senate Bill 416, is in the House of Representatives awaiting direction from the Rules Committee. Authored by Burke County Republican Warren Daniel, the proposal has drawn comparisons to a 2021 bill that didn’t get past a gubernatorial veto.

Campaign finance disclosure laws are not changed by the bill.

Proponents of the legislation say it is in line with freedom to give without being exposed. When he vetoed, then-Gov. Roy Cooper said “dark money” was protected.

The bill sets disclosure violations punishments of up to 90 days in jail or up to a $1,000 fine.

No Republicans were in opposition. Democratic Sens. Dan Blue of Wake County, Paul Lowe of Forsyth County and Gladys Robinson of Guilford County were in favor.

If enacted, the bill becomes law Dec. 1.