Why does the administrative state hate people who work for a living?
The Trump administration has made Main Street a central priority — and limiting the reach of the Corporate Transparency Act’s Beneficial Ownership Information rule was one of its best decisions so far. The rule required small businesses to hand over sensitive ownership data to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, under threat of heavy fines and criminal penalties. Large corporations were mostly exempt.
After small-business owners and pro-business lawmakers protested, the administration moved quickly. In March, it issued an interim rule exempting U.S. small businesses and citizens from the reporting mandate. Treasury then opened a public comment period to shape a final rule. That comment window closed five months ago, and yet the final rule still hasn’t arrived.
The administration must not allow deep-state bureaucrats and bad actors to stall this reform. Small businesses need clarity and relief — now, not after another election cycle.
Small-business owners want the exemption locked in for good — not left vulnerable to reversal by a future administration. Ohio Republican Rep. Warren Davidson’s Repealing Big Brother Overreach Act, with nearly 200 co-sponsors, aims to make that exemption permanent. But some lawmakers say they can’t codify until Treasury finalizes the rule. The delay is holding back certainty for millions of entrepreneurs.
Many of those same business owners also want FinCEN to purge the personal data they already submitted before the exemption took effect. With hacking and misuse always possible, they’re demanding the government delete the information it never should have collected.
FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki acknowledged the concern during a congressional hearing. “Along with the resolution of this rule, we also intend to resolve questions around the data that we have collected and dispose of data that is no longer legally required,” Gacki said.
A purge appears to be on the table — but without urgency from Treasury, the data remains at risk.
Gacki told Congress the rule would be finalized “in the upcoming year.” Whether that means 2025 or 2026 is anyone’s guess. The longer the Treasury Department drags its feet, the closer we get to the midterms — and the less likely Congress is to act in time.
Brian Reardon, president of the S Corporation Association, put it bluntly: “Intentions are well and good, but we need action. Sixteen million small businesses filed their owners’ personal information under the old rules. The only way to protect that information is to purge the database now.”
RELATED: Europe shows us what happens when bureaucrats win
The National Federation of Independent Business agrees. NFIB’s Josh McLeod said, “President Trump was right to call BOI egregious, invasive, and an economic menace. Unfortunately, a future administration can simply rewrite this burdensome mandate back into existence. Small businesses urgently need the Trump administration and Congress to repeal the CTA and destroy the data.”
Small businesses remain the backbone of the U.S. economy. Reducing legal uncertainty and lifting needless regulatory burdens should stay at the top of Congress’ agenda. Finalizing the CTA BOI rule — and permanently securing the exemptions for small businesses and citizens — is an easy, commonsense win for Main Street.
The Trump administration must not allow deep-state bureaucrats and bad actors to stall this reform. Small businesses need clarity and relief — now, not after another election cycle.
Penske Tries To Bud Light Itself With Snide Anti-DHS Post
On Wednesday, Penske Truck Rental tried to Bud Light itself by releasing a virtue-signaling statement criticizing the Department of Homeland Security for using one of its vehicles during an immigration enforcement operation. “Penske Truck Rental is aware of recent reports and videos regarding a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) operation in Los Angeles,” the statement […]Trump deep-sixed DEI — but is it undead at major federal contractors like Lockheed Martin?
President Donald Trump has endeavored to ram a stake through the heart of the federal DEI regime.
He kicked off his second term by requiring that the head of every federal agency, department, or commission see to the elimination of all DEI offices, positions, initiatives, programs, contracts, and performance requirements; ordering the government to eliminate DEI discrimination in the federal workforce as well as in federal contracting and spending; tasking his inbound attorney general with preparing a civil rights-focused pressure campaign against DEI practitioners in the private sector; and rescinding numerous race- and identity-centered executive orders issued by Democrat presidents.
While Trump has since enjoyed tremendous success in eliminating various DEI initiatives across the government, it appears that there is still much work to be done.
The 1792 Exchange, a corporate bias watchdog seeking to restore political neutrality in the boardroom and to educate lawmakers about the dangers of woke corporate policies, recently released an analysis of the top 100 federal contractors by dollars obligated in fiscal year 2023.
The report highlights the apparent ideological capture and woke policies of a number of corporate juggernauts on the list, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and the RTX Corporation, formerly Raytheon.
"The American people have the right to know if our hard-earned money is subsidizing any corporation's subversive ideological programs," 1792 Exchange CEO Daniel Cameron said in a statement.
"President Trump has taken bold action to remove DEI programming from federal institutions, including government contractors," continued Cameron. "This report empowers government agencies and legislators to align procurement decisions with that vision of neutrality and excellence."
RELATED: Behind the rainbow curtain: Who is funding the trans agenda targeting kids?
Of the 100 contractors that the 1792 Exchange analyzed, 36 were characterized as "high risk," 16 as "medium risk," and 46 as "lower risk," on the basis of "publicly documented alignment with DEI-driven policies and practices."
The watchdog noted that high-risk companies "have demonstrated a pattern of engaging in DEI practices that prioritize ideological conformity over merit-based considerations."
Examples of such practices include recruitment, hiring, and promotion on the basis of immutable characteristics and sexual preference; requiring employees to suffer through training sessions on gender ideology and critical race theory; and corporate alignment on philanthropy and marketing strategies with "progressive social agendas."
While some big organizations appear to have read the writing on the wall and reversed course on DEI — 1792 indicated that Accenture, AT&T, IBM, Booz Allen Hamilton, and IBM have rolled back at least some of their most divisive DEI policies — others have dug in their feet.
Seven out of the top 10 recipients of federal dollars on the 1792 Exchange's list of U.S. government contractors were labeled "high risk." They were, in order from biggest to smallest recipients of federal dollars obligated: Lockheed Martin, the RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon), the Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman, Optum360, Leidos, and McKesson.
'Compliance with the CEI naturally leads to ceding nearly all facets of corporate governance to the HRC's influence.'
BAE Systems and Honeywell, though farther down the list, similarly appear to be big offenders in terms of DEI initiatives.
Lockheed Martin, at the top of the list, "yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders"; "implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes"; and "embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues," according to the 1792 Exchange.
Part of what gave the company away was its perfect score on the 2025 Corporate Equality Index from the non-straight activist organization Human Rights Campaign, as well as its receipt of the "Equality 100 Award: Leader in LGBTQ+ Workplace Equality" distinction from the activist group.
Many of the scoring criteria for both the 2025 CEI and the so-called equality award appear to require corporate violations of federal policy.
While the watchdog outfit did not go out of its way to put CEI scores as a top consideration when assessing risk, Dustin DeVito, the 1792 Exchange's director of corporate research, told Blaze News that "compliance with the CEI naturally leads to ceding nearly all facets of corporate governance to the HRC's influence."
"1792 Exchange's company ratings center around six criteria: ideologically driven cancellation, charitable work, employment policies, reputation, funding, and political action," continued DeVito. "The CEI touches on all of these."
When pressed for comment, Lockheed Martin referred Blaze News to its Jan. 23 statement, which claimed:
Merit-based talent management programs and compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and directives have always been central to this mission. We are taking immediate action to ensure continued compliance and full alignment with President Trump’s recent executive order. We will not have goals or incentives based on demographic representation or affirmative action plans. Additionally, our training offerings are compliant with Executive Order 13950 from President Trump's first administration.
The RTX Corporation was slapped with the same broad critiques as Lockheed Martin. A closer look revealed precisely why.
The company similarly rated high on the 2025 CEI partly because the company apparently "will not donate to non-religious charities unless they embrace controversial sexual identity policies"; requires employees to attend "multiple, controversial trainings on gender identity, sexual orientation, transgender issues, and divisive racial ideology"; covers medical transvestism costs for employees and their children; and publicly advocates for "controversial sex and gender ideology through local, state, or federal legislation or initiatives."
When pressed for comment, RTX directed Blaze News to a Jan. 24 company statement that said, "RTX is taking the necessary actions to comply with the presidential executive orders."
RELATED: Pride Month’s true competition? Faith, family, freedom
Both Boeing — whose executive compensation plan the 1792 Exchange claimed "devalued the weight of product and employee safety in its operational performance metrics, in order to include diversity, equity, and inclusion as a consideration" in recent years — and Northrop Grumman also scored 100% on the 2025 CEI, meaning that it likely jumped through many of the same hoops as other "high-risk" organizations.
Blaze News reached out to Boeing and Northrop Grumman as well as to top "high-risk" companies McKesson, Honeywell, Leidos, Optum360, and BAE Systems for comment.
Northrop Grumman directed Blaze News to another months-old statement indicating that work was under way to ensure the company was in compliance with the president's executive orders.
"We are actively reviewing our policies and processes and taking the necessary steps to ensure compliance with the presidential executive orders for the work entrusted to us," said the Northrop Grumman statement. "Underpinned by our values, we hire, promote, and pay based on merit and performance, resulting in the best team to deliver for our customers."
A company spokesperson for BAE Systems told Blaze News, "As a federal contractor, we continuously evaluate our policies and programs to ensure continued compliance with all applicable legal requirements, including executive orders, and we will continue to hire, promote, and compensate based on merit."
The other companies did not respond by publication time.
The 1792 Exchange has invited any companies on its list to submit corrections to the data if they have taken meaningful steps to comply with Trump's executive orders.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Woke pastor teams up with Al Sharpton to revive Target’s woke agenda
Dr. Jamal Bryant, a liberal black preacher at a Baptist megachurch in Georgia, is angry that Target stores have dropped the secular left’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative. And so, along with Al Sharpton, he has urged black people to boycott Target.
Bryant is leading a deceitful political scam while insisting he is a man who seeks to help black people. DEI has never been about that. Instead, proponents of DEI play the race card, using black Americans to advance what amounts to a godless agenda. Worse, in pressuring Target to restore DEI, this man of the cloth is undermining the gains Christians have made in getting the retailer to remove homosexual-themed children’s clothing from their stores.
Should Bryant’s boycott grow enough to overwhelm complacent Christians, it could possibly provide Target a new political lifeline (and excuse) to reverse course on DEI.
As many will recall, back in 2023, Target made national news when conservative influencers and media outlets reported how the national retailer was using customer profits to target children with a marketing campaign promoting pro-homosexual-themed apparel. This was bad enough by itself.
You boycotted, Target listened
What added insult to injury was the way Target seemed to be riding a wave of some organized propaganda campaign pushing drag-queen story hours — where perverse men dressed in women’s clothing would read books to children — often while behaving in lewd and suggestive ways.
As a result, a tsunami of public outrage ensued, and an untold number of Americans immediately decided to boycott Target stores.
It made a difference: Target got the message that the bulk of its consumers reject the woke agenda. In June 2024, the retailer announced that it would no longer sell children’s apparel as part of its “Pride Collection.” Even though Target still sells merchandise that promotes the homosexual lifestyle, the removal of this apparel from the children’s departments is nonetheless a victory for morality.
This victory was followed by President Donald Trump’s executive order against DEI in January, which prompted Target to join other major companies — including Walmart, McDonald’s, and Ford — in announcing it would end several corporate DEI initiatives.
A counter-boycott
This is when the left-wing preacher Bryant stepped into the breach to stage a counter-boycott that attempted to mimic what conservatives had done.
Protesting against the corporate practices that include selling homosexual-themed paraphernalia to children is an odd move for a man with the title of preacher — one would hope he is in agreement with biblical values.
In fact, Bryant has never publicly denounced Target’s previous practices. Yet, he’s chosen now to speak up and fight for Target to restore DEI. And so has Twin Cities Pride, a homosexual activist group, which also lashed out at Target for ending its DEI initiatives.
Seeing that Bryant is taking the same side as Twin Cities Pride, it’s hard not to conclude that Bryant’s passionate drive to pressure Target to reinstate DEI is motivated by his full-throated agreement with the far left’s secular agenda.
There’s more proof of this.
Woke, not Christian
Not long ago, Bryant appeared on a podcast and engaged in a heated exchange about political and spiritual matters with Pastor Mark Burns, a black conservative pastor who has gained fame for his support of President Trump.
The takeaway from some online viewers was that Bryant did not align with the standard scriptural interpretation that the Bible supports only traditional marriage and opposes abortion.
To make matters worse, Bryant seems to be making inroads with Target CEO Brian Cornell. In a symbolic gesture of agreement, Cornell reached out and met with Al Sharpton because of Bryant’s boycott.
It’s important to note that Cornell was also CEO of Target back in 2023 and had initially refused to back down from selling rainbow-colored onesies for infants and T-shirts that say, “Pride Adult Drag Queen ‘Katya,’” “Trans people will always exist!” and “Girls Gays Theys.” He was so adamant about pushing the homosexual agenda on kids that, in response to conservative backlash, he told the press that he thought it was “the right thing for society.” Cornell also admitted that this agenda is directly linked to Target’s DEI initiatives: “The things we’ve done from a DEI standpoint, it’s adding value,” Cornell said.
Hold the line
Based on these comments, can there be any doubt that Target would love to restore DEI, including its children’s “Pride Collection”? Of course not. But the social pressure against it is finally having an effect. That is, it was until Bryant and others began to get louder.
Let there be no doubt: Should Bryant’s boycott grow enough to overwhelm complacent Christians and conservatives, it could possibly provide Cornell a new political lifeline (and excuse) to reverse course on DEI. If that happens, you can bet that all perverse children’s merchandise will return to store shelves.
Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally at Chronicles Magazine.
Alarm sounded over graffiti, flyers, online posts reacting to shooting death of health insurance company head
Police are investigating "Kill your CEO" graffiti spray-painted in white on multiple businesses over the weekend in Chicago, WLS-TV reported.
The vandalism comes after the targeted, fatal shooting last Wednesday of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in New York City, the station said.
'F*** him may he rest in piss.'
As you might guess, it wasn't an isolated case.
WLS in a related report said a New York Police Department bulletin was issued Tuesday warning of increased risk for health care executives and the possibility of copycat perps.
The station, citing the bulletin, said online posts have listed the names and salaries of several health insurance executives, multiple "Wanted" flyers highlighting corporate executives have been posted throughout Manhattan, and social media users continue to celebrate Thompson's death.
WLS said many social media posts have heralded shooting suspect Luigi Mangione as a "martyr" — and the NYPD encouraged companies to increase precautions and security for executives since Thompson's fatal shooting could "inspire a variety of extremists and grievance-driven malicious actors to violence."
According to the station, the NYPD bulletin said "both prior to and after the suspected perpetrator's identification and arrest, some online users across social media platforms reacted positively to the killing, encouraged future targeting of similar executives, and shared conspiracy theories regarding the shooting."
WLS said the bulletin called out a viral social media post listing the names and salaries of eight health insurance company CEOs and that some online users viewed it as "a hitlist and that CEOs should be afraid."
The station added that the "Wanted" posters in Manhattan showed images of corporate executives and bullet-shaped graphics warning, "UnitedHealthcare killed everyday people for the sake of profit. As a result Brian Thompson was denied his claim to life. Who will be denied next?" and "Wall Street CEOs Should Not Feel Safe, Deny, Defend, Depose." Bullet casings found at the scene of Thompson's killing in front of a Manhattan Hilton hotel apparently were inscribed with words such as "delay” and “deny" which reportedly refer to health insurance claim denial tactics.
WLS added that the bulletin also included examples of online users saying Thompson deserved to be murdered due to his role in the health insurance industry, such as: "My mom was denied chemo multiple times and suffered tremendously they missed her cancer for two years because she was constantly denied... she will have life altering damage because of it. F*** him may he rest in piss."
Blaze News previously reported that just hours after Thompson was fatally shot, controversial, polarizing former Washington Post writer Taylor Lorenz posted online, "And people wonder why we want these executives dead."
What's more, Lorenz doubled down on her comments, telling Piers Morgan of "Piers Morgan Uncensored" on Monday that she "felt, along with so many other Americans, joy" upon learning of Thompson's slaying.
Glenn Beck, co-founder of Blaze Media, wrote an op-ed the day after Thompson's death that his killing "highlights a rising tide of anti-institutional rage" and that we have a choice "about whether we will uphold the principles of justice or descend into chaos."
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
How Corporations Rob Americans Of The Joys Of Fixing Their Own Property
At the heart of the Right to Repair movement is human agency — the agency to use your property as you see fit.Today's top stories
www.theblaze.com