Trump will likely take an ax against the government’s vast “woke” bureaucracy once he returns to power

If Donald Trump is elected president in November, he will likely expose the federal government’s vast “woke” bureaucracy, the powerful regulatory agencies that impose progressive policies on all aspects of American life, including the workplace, according to The Post has learned.

Several outside advisers to candidate Trump say plans are already being drawn up for how agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission, led by Lina Khan, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, led by Gary Gensler, can return to their original consumer mandates and investor protection. , as opposed to driving progressive change in the $28 trillion U.S. economy.

As I note in my book “Go Woke, Go Broke: The Inside Story of the Radicalization of Corporate America,” Joe Biden was perhaps the most woke-obsessed president in history, infusing progressive politics into the government’s vast regulatory matrix , who in has forced it on corporate America.

This is a president who said, “To me, the values ​​of diversity, equality, and inclusion are literally—and this is not a joke—America’s core strengths. That’s why I’m proud to have the most diverse board in history that leverages the full talents of our country. And it starts at the top, with the vice president.”

Cabinet appointments, Supreme Court appointments and more were made with a heavy emphasis on left-wing virtue signaling on intersectionality, not skills.

Regulators have pushed companies to do the same, which is why DEI and in many cases de facto quotas permeate much of private sector hiring.

Biden’s very woke SEC chairman has expanded the agency’s mandate by proposing useless rules that force companies to figure out their carbon footprint and reveal how they’re making the world a greener place. When was the last time you heard Warren Buffett say he bought a stock based on numbers like that?

We’re all going DEI

Now, thanks to Florida Republican Congressman Byron Donalds, I have a better understanding of how far the senseless woke policy has penetrated the government and how a Trump administration could go about dismantling it.

Donalds recently wrote a letter to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which should help the SEC combat financial crimes by providing frontline regulation of Wall Street. FINRA is a self-regulatory organization, meaning it is funded by banks and brokers but accountable to the SEC.

It’s doing a pretty poor job considering all the different penny stock scams out there these days, with unscrupulous brokers tricking inexperienced, new investors into throwing their money in the trash.

One reason, Donalds suggests, is that FINRA has spent a lot of time promoting wokeness.

In addition to industry professionals, the board also includes people “from left-wing academic institutions, think tanks, government pension funds and international development organizations,” he writes.

DEI is so big at FINRA, Donalds discovered, that the agency even prides itself on being “an integral part of FINRA’s operations.” No one is against diversity, of course, but FINRA apparently believes that counting race and gender will automatically help catch bad guys on Wall Street.

One research tool in FINRA’s waking dream world is the use of preferred pronouns. Donalds found evidence that FINRA believes that “taking the time to appreciate and respect each other’s differences, including recognizing the full spectrum of gender diversity – especially non-binary and transgender identities” will help prevent the next Wolf of Wall Street.

Donalds is asking FINRA to provide him with evidence on how all of the above helps with his core mission. Look for hearings if the Republican Party retains the House, and if Trump wins, they will provide a blueprint for change. A spokesperson for FINRA declined to comment other than to say it “will respond to the Congressman’s letter.”

Progressive party mistake

As this column first reported, Kamala Harris is avoiding next month’s Al Smith Dinner, the gala sponsored by the Archdiocese of New York in support of Catholic charities.

Trump, as I already reported, has confirmed his presence.

The question is: Why is Kamala dodging what has been a tradition for decades, with presidential candidates from both parties showing up for what is essentially a celebrity roast in support of a good cause?

Last I checked, her party is the Democratic Party, which is built largely on the support of Catholics, many of them working-class, like the great Al Smith, the governor of New York in the 1920s.

One obvious answer: Harris is terrible at stating the obvious. Another: This isn’t your dad’s Democratic Party, it’s AOC’s. If the far left did not control its agenda, Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, a key swing state in the fall elections, would be Harris’s running mate instead of the crazy Tim Walz.

But Shapiro is Jewish and a supporter of Israel, which has been a target of his pro Hamas, progressive and increasingly powerful AOC wing.

The Catholic Church is pro-life, another progressive bugaboo, adding to Harris’ calculus.

But as Cardinal Dolan noted, Walter Mondale was the last presidential candidate to boycott the event, “and remember, he lost 49 of the 50 states.” No wonder Trump is starting to poll better.