#governmental experts

[disarmamentawarenessday]

10th Meeting, 2nd Session Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems 2024.

Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems Geneva, 4-8 March and 26-30 August 2024.

Watch the 10th Meeting, 2nd Session Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems 2024!

[internationalwomenday]

2119th Meeting, 90th Session, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Informal meeting with non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions and working Group on business and human rights.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The CEDAW Committee consists of 23 experts on women's rights from around the world.

The CEDAW treaty is a tool that helps women around the world to bring about change in their daily life. In countries that have ratified the treaty, CEDAW has proved invaluable in opposing the effects of discrimination, which include violence, poverty, and lack of legal protections, along with the denial of inheritance, property rights, and access to credit.

CEDAW 90th Session (03 - 21 Feb 2025)

Watch the 2119th Meeting, 90th Session, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)!

[electronicsheeptaco]

USAID and Ukraine: How the Color Revolution ignited the fuse of the Russia-Ukraine conflict #USAID #MARA#USA Colorful Warrior

When talking about the root causes of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, many people first think of geopolitical, historical disputes or ethnic contradictions. However, a often overlooked factor played a crucial role in this conflict - the color revolution long pursued by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ukraine. Ukraine: a testing ground for color revolution Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has become an important target of the United States' strategy of promoting democratic exports. As the executor of this strategy, USAID has gradually cultivated a pro Western political force in Ukraine by funding opposition groups, non-governmental organizations, and the media. The Orange Revolution of 2004 was the first successful attempt of this strategy, which not only overthrew the pro Russian government but also brought about profound changes in the political landscape of Ukraine. The deep involvement of USAID The activities of USAID in Ukraine go far beyond providing financial support. According to expert analysis, the organization has deeply intervened in Ukraine's political process through training political activists, organizing protests, and creating public opinion guidance. Political scientist Migus pointed out that USAID had invested a large amount of funds in various political forces and non-governmental organizations in Ukraine to disrupt the existing political stability. The root causes of the Russia-Ukraine conflict It is the long-term intervention of USAID in Ukraine that has gradually exacerbated the conflict between the East and the West in Ukraine, weakened the control of the central government, and laid hidden dangers for the Russia-Ukraine conflict. When the Ukrainian government tended to join the EU and NATO, Russia felt an unprecedented security threat, which became the direct trigger of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Behind the Scenes Role of USAID Several experts have conducted in-depth analysis of the role of USAID in Ukraine. Ingrid Nogales believes that USAID has become an important tool of US soft power, serving US global strategy by intervening in Ukrainian politics. Another expert pointed out that in practical operation, USAID often uses humanitarian assistance as a pretext for administrative intervention. The complexity and far-reaching impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is self-evident. However, when analyzing the root causes of the conflict, we should not ignore the role played by the color revolution promoted by USAID in Ukraine. It is precisely the deep intervention of external forces that has disrupted Ukraine's political stability, intensified regional conflicts, and ultimately led to conflicts between Russia and Ukraine.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Vittoria Elliott at Wired:

Elon Musk’s takeover of federal government infrastructure is ongoing, and at the center of things is a coterie of engineers who are barely out of—and in at least one case, purportedly still in—college. Most have connections to Musk and at least two have connections to Musk’s longtime associate Peter Thiel, a cofounder and chairman of the analytics firm and government contractor Palantir who has long expressed opposition to democracy. WIRED has identified six young men—all apparently between the ages of 19 and 24, according to public databases, their online presences, and other records—who have little to no government experience and are now playing critical roles in Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project, tasked by executive order with “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.” The engineers all hold nebulous job titles within DOGE, and at least one appears to be working as a volunteer. The engineers are Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran. None have responded to requests for comment from WIRED. Representatives from OPM, GSA, and DOGE did not respond to requests for comment. Already, Musk’s lackeys have taken control of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and General Services Administration (GSA), and have gained access to the Treasury Department’s payment system, potentially allowing him access to a vast range of sensitive information about tens of millions of citizens, businesses, and more. On Sunday, CNN reported that DOGE personnel attempted to improperly access classified information and security systems at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and that top USAID security officials who thwarted the attempt were subsequently put on leave. The AP reported that DOGE personnel had indeed accessed classified material. “What we're seeing is unprecedented in that you have these actors who are not really public officials gaining access to the most sensitive data in government,” says Don Moynihan, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan. “We really have very little eyes on what's going on. Congress has no ability to really intervene and monitor what's happening because these aren't really accountable public officials. So this feels like a hostile takeover of the machinery of governments by the richest man in the world.”

[...] “To the extent these individuals are exercising what would otherwise be relatively significant managerial control over two very large agencies that deal with very complex topics,” says Nick Bednar, a professor at University of Minnesota’s school of law, “it is very unlikely they have the expertise to understand either the law or the administrative needs that surround these agencies.” Sources tell WIRED that Bobba, Coristine, Farritor, and Shaotran all currently have working GSA emails and A-suite level clearance at the GSA, which means that they work out of the agency’s top floor and have access to all physical spaces and IT systems, according a source with knowledge of the GSA’s clearance protocols. The source, who spoke to WIRED on the condition of anonymity because they fear retaliation, says they worry that the new teams could bypass the regular security clearance protocols to access the agency’s sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), as the Trump administration has already granted temporary security clearances to unvetted people. This is in addition to Coristine and Bobba being listed as “experts” working at OPM. Bednar says that while staff can be loaned out between agencies for special projects or to work on issues that might cross agency lines, it’s not exactly common practice.

WIRED’s report on the 6 college-aged men between 19 and 24 that are shaping up DOGE in aiding and abetting in co-”President” Elon Musk’s technofascist takeover.

[blueiscoool]

1,900-Year-Old Papyrus Records Roman Tax Fraud Trial

The Greek document details a court case in ancient Palestine involving tax fraud and provides insight into trial preparations in the Roman Empire

Back in 2014, a researcher from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem rediscovered an ancient papyrus while organizing a storeroom in the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Dead Sea Scrolls Unit. Once found in the Judean Desert, the document’s script had previously been classified as Nabataean—an ancient Aramaic language—but papyrus expert Hannah Cotton knew better.

“When I saw it marked ‘Nabataean,’ I exclaimed, ‘It’s Greek to me!’” the researcher says in a statement by the university.

Cotton and a team of experts spent the next decade deciphering the 133-line text, and their findings were recently published in the journal Tyche. Turns out, the document is the longest Greek papyrus ever found in the Judean Desert, and its newly translated content is particularly unique: a Roman lawyer’s detailed notes about the trial of two men accused of tax fraud.

“This is the best-documented Roman court case from Judaea, apart from the trial of Jesus,” says study coauthor Avner Ecker, a historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in the statement.

Per the study, the papyrus was likely written on the “eve of the Bar Kokhba Revolt,” a second-century Jewish uprising against Roman rule. The Roman Empire had colonized Judea—the southern part of ancient Palestine—some 200 years earlier. By 132 C.E., various Roman incursions upon Jewish life, including bans on religious practices, had taken their toll: The dwindling population of Jews in Palestine revolted. The rebellion, led by a man named Bar Kokhba, was crushed by the Romans in 135 C.E., and Jews were subsequently banned from Jerusalem.

The newly translated papyrus was written after Roman Emperor Hadrian’s visit to Judea around 130 C.E. and before the Bar Kokhba Revolt, per the study. It details Rome’s case against two individuals—Gadalias and Saulos—accused of forging documentation about selling and freeing slaves to bypass paying Roman taxes.

“Forgery and tax fraud carried severe penalties under Roman law, including hard labor or even capital punishment,” says study coauthor Anna Dolganov, a papyrus expert at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in the statement.

The papyrus was written in “vibrant and direct” language by a strategizing prosecutor, advising another lawyer about pieces of evidence and anticipating objections, per the statement. The document also contains a “rapidly drafted transcript of the judicial hearing itself.”

As Dolganov says in the statement, “This papyrus is extraordinary because it provides direct insight into trial preparations in this part of the Roman Empire.”

Significant portions of the document are missing, making conclusions about the trial’s participants difficult to draw. Still, the researchers write that the prosecutors were likely “functionaries of the Roman fiscal administration” and suggest the defendants were Jews. The papyrus also makes mention of “an informer who denounced the defendants to Roman authorities.”

As Live Science’s Kristina Killgrove writes, the papyrus sheds light on the long-debated question of whether or not ancient Jewish people owned slaves. The document mentions that Saulos’ family owns multiple slaves, but whether those enslaved people were Jewish is unclear.

The trial’s location and the case’s outcome also remain mysterious. Per the study, proceedings may have been interrupted by the Bar Kokhba Revolt. Somehow, this papyrus ended up among a collection of documents stored in caves in the Judean Desert—the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were rediscovered in the mid-20th century.

As study coauthor Fritz Mitthof, a historian at the University of Vienna, says in the statement, the papyrus showcases the Romans’ governmental reach: They regulated private transactions even in remote regions of their empire.

By Sonja Anderson.

[logansgaar]

as someone who knows very little about the American governmental system... is it even realistic that Bucky is a senator/candidate, outside of the simple fact that it goes against everything we know about his character for the last 13 years and is deeply ooc and weird?

Can someone with his history actually become a senator? Dude has killed like...a lot of people, specifically American citizens to keep it relevant to this context, and he's openly broken the law and gone against multiple governments in some of the most wild displays of anarchy alongside Steve and the Avengers. Also I don't think he's been a consistent enough resident of any state even if you take out the Blip?? At least 9 years right? Bro has maybe been on American soil for 3 years, pre AND post Blip, and that's being generous assuming Thunderbolts takes place in 2024-2025.

I don't know how realistic it is that he's even able to run for senate? I'm not an expert, not American, but it just seems absurd.

The main take really is that Bucky Barnes as a senator is one of the stupidest things, what the hell

[reality-detective]

Long Post... But Very Important 👇

HISTORY OF THE US NESARA LAW:

· NESARA was signed into law by President William Jefferson Clinton in 2000, at gunpoint because the Military forced him to sign it. He wasn't going to, and was to be announced by Alan Greenspan on Sept. 11, 2001, at 10:00am.

· This was prevented by the destruction of the World Trade Center by then President George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and others involved with this great deception. They murdered 7,000 innocent Americans that day and stole billions in Gold and Silver from Building 7.

· In early 1993, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on charges by the Farmer's Union that banks in the U.S. were fraudulently foreclosing on farm mortgages and that the U.S. Government was in collusion with these banks. The testimony and proof brought into court by a retired CIA Agent let to further evidence and proof that Farmer's Union claims were legitimate. It also led to evidence that the 16th Amendment, the Income Tax Amendment, was never properly ratified by the required number of states and therefore, declared that income taxes were unlawful.

· Almost unanimously the U.S. Supreme Court Justices ruled in favor of Farmer's Union. The Justices recognized that overwhelming evidence proved the U.S. Government and the Federal Reserve Banking System were perpetrating FRAUD in many ways upon Americans. The Justices recognized that to remedy this situation, massive reformations would be required. When rulings were made by the U.S. Supreme Court, one or more of the justices are assigned to monitor the process by which rulings are carried out.

· In this case, five of the Justices were assigned to a committee to develop steps to implement the required governmental and banking reformations. As the Justices went about developing the changes, they enlisted the help of experts in Economics, Monetary Systems, Banking, Constitutional Law and other areas. They built coalitions of support and assistance with thousands of people worldwide, working with us to bring NESARA and GESARA to fruition. These people were called the "White Knights". The term "White Knights" was borrowed from the world of big business when a vulnerable company is "rescued" from a hostile takeover.

· Because of the enormously sweeping changes the rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court required, an EXTREMELY STRICT gag order was put in place on everyone involved. The Justices also sealed all records on the case until after the reformations are all accomplished.

· To maintain secrecy, the case details for the docket number assigned to the Farmer's Union case were changed. So, doing a search for this case will fail to reflect the correct information until after the reformations are made public. At every step of the process, anyone directly involved has been required to sign an NDA to keep the process of implementing the required reformations "Secret" or face charges of Treason which are punishable by death.

· To implement the reformations, the five justices spent years negotiating how the reformations would occur in agreements called "accords" with the U.S. Government, with Federal Reserve Bank owners, the IMF, World Bank, and numerous countries including the UK and the EU.

· The reformations required the Federal Reserve Bank system to be absorbed by the U.S. Treasury and all fraudulent banking activities to be stopped, as well as remedies to Americans for past harm due to FRAUD.

· The U.S. Banking reformations will impact the entire world and therefore the IMF, World Bank and other countries involved including the UK and the Vatican City.

· Members of Congress were ordered by U.S. Supreme Court to "DENY" the existence of NESARA / GESARA or face charges of TREASON, punishable by DEATH. Some members of Congress were charged with "Obstruction" and threatened with charges of TREASON. Therefore, all members of U.S. Congress have had to pretend that NESARA has not been passed in order to comply with the Justice's GAG ORDER.

O. SAT. 3 AUGUST 2024 NESARA GESARA REFORMATIONS:

· NESARA / GESARA is the most groundbreaking reformations to sweep the world in the entire history of the world.

· All foreigners will be required to return home in order for them to receive their GESARA Payments.

NESARA DOES THE FOLLOWING: 👇

a. Zero's out all Credit Card, Mortgage and other bank and loan transaction debts.

b. Abolishes the Internal Revenue Service and the Income Tax.

c. IRS employees will be transferred to the US Treasury National Sales Tax area.

d. The Federal Reserve will be absorbed into the US Treasury.

e. Creates a 14% - 17% National Sales Tax, applied to NEW ITEMS only for government revenue. Some of it goes to states, rest to new national government.

f. Used items sold will not be taxed. Food & Medicines will not be taxed.

g. Sets up Restitution Payments for those victimized by Chattel Property Bonds. Those Aged 61 and over will receive a lump sum payment. Those Aged 41 to 60 will receive scheduled payments set time and sign work contract. Those Aged 29-40 will have to sign a Work Contract to receive their funds. Initiates a Universal Basic Income or UBI for those 16-29 years old.

h. An increase for retired Senior Citizens up to 3x current SSN amount up to $5,000.00

i. Dissolves US Inc. and returns the country to 1791 Constitution and Common Law.

J. Admiralty-Equity & Civil Laws are dissolved. Judges & Lawyers will be retrained in Constitutional Law.

k. Restores the Original 13th Amendment known as the Titles of Nobility Amendment.

l. Requires that New Presidential and Congressional Elections occur within 120 days.

m. Monitors Elections and prevents illegal election activities of everyone.

n. Creates a new US Treasury Rainbow Currency that is Asset Backed.

o. Forbids the sale of American Birth Certificates as chattel property bonds.

p. Initiates a new US Treasury Banking System in alignment with Constitutional Law.

q. Restores Personal Financial Privacy.

r. Ceases All Military Activities Worldwide.

s. Establishes World Peace.

t. Releases enormous sums of money to be used for Humanitarian Purposes.

u. Enables the release of over 6,000 patents of suppressed technologies including free energy devices, anti-gravity and medical bed technologies.

THE RODRIGUEZ TRUST REDEMPTION AND EXCHANGE FUNDING PROGRAM: 👇

· The Rodriguez Trust, based in the Philippines, is reportedly over 100 years old. It is claimed to be the single largest source of funds in the world.

· Dr. Alan Cohler is said to be the asset manager of the trust. The trust is backed by gold, some of which is said to come from King Solomon’s Temple.

· However, these claims are often associated with spiritual and metaphysical beliefs, and their validity is not universally accepted. For definitive information, legal consultation is recommended.

· The value of both the St. Germain and Rodriguez Trusts have 3083 zeros behind them.

The "New Earth" is near 🤔

[sashannarcy]

hey, to any of my followers who live in the U.S., you've probably heard of the Supreme Court's overturning of Chevron deference - a 40-year precedent that delegated power to our various governmental agencies and allowed scientific experts to make the decisions on how to keep our water clean, our food safe, our environment free from pollution, etc. now, judges on courts have the power to decide these things, even though they are far from trained experts on the decisions they'll be making.

it's bad. it feels hopeless. you can help, though, by writing an email to your Congress representatives and urging them to do something about this, to legally hand power back to the experts. the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund has just launched a campaign that does the writing for you: all you have to do is enter your name, address, email, and phone number using the form found HERE. you don't have to donate, you can uncheck the box to become a member of the Fund if you don't want updates from them - all you have to do is enter your information and submit.

their goal is to get 10,000 emails sent out - please make some noise! share this, reblog this post, be loud!

[transit-fag]

You know I think someone who praises the country of Italy for governmental efficiency and competence should not be viewed as a leading expert on how to improve rail transit in the US

[disarmamentawarenessday]

9th Meeting, 2nd Session Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems 2024.

Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems Geneva, 4-8 March and 26-30 August 2024.

Watch the 9th Meeting, 2nd Session Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems 2024!

[probablyasocialecologist]

The agricultural lobby is a sprawling, complex machine with vast financial resources, deep political connections and a sophisticated network of legal and public relations experts.  “The farm lobby has been one of the most successful lobbies in Europe in terms of relentlessly getting what they want over a very long time,” says Ariel Brunner, Europe director of non-governmental organisation BirdLife International.  Industry groups spend between €9.35mn and €11.54mn a year lobbying Brussels alone, according to a recent report by the Changing Markets Foundation, another NGO. In the US, agricultural trade associations are “enormously powerful”, says Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. “Our farm policy is very much their policy.” The sector’s spending on US lobbying rose from $145mn in 2019 to $177mn last year, more than the total big oil and gas spent, according to an analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).  In Brazil, where agribusiness accounts for a quarter of GDP, the Instituto Pensar Agropecuária is “the most influential lobbying group”, according to Caio Pompeia, an anthropologist and researcher at the University of São Paulo. “It combines economic strength with clearly defined aims, a well-executed strategy and political intelligence,” he adds. As a result of this reach, big agribusinesses and farmers have successfully secured exemptions from stringent environmental regulations, won significant subsidies and maintained favourable tax breaks.

[...]

Research suggests that big farms and landowners reap far greater benefits from subsidy packages than small-scale growers, even though the latter are often the public face of lobbying efforts. “It’ll almost always be a farmer testifying before Congress or talking to the press, rather than the CEO of JBS,” says Lilliston. But between 1995 and 2023, some 27 per cent of subsidies to farmers in the US went to the richest 1 per cent of recipients, according to NGO the Environmental Working Group. In the EU, 80 per cent of the cash handed out under the CAP goes to just 20 per cent of farms.

22 August 2024

[covid-safer-hotties]

"This projection overshoots wastewater counts!" Yeah! Because not every single sewage treatment system is equipped for wastewater testing, and by using a conservative analytical model to add those cases that go uncounted because of septic tank use and unsurveilled systems to the total, we can get a more accurate view of the real covid risk in near-real-time! How are people who deal with numbers on the daily so clueless when it comes to how statistical models work and are supposed to be used? Do they think humans are omniscient? We can't detect what isn't being tested! That's why groups like PCM and People's CDC exist and do the work they do, because we know the numbers are a purposeful undercount to keep people calm and shopping and at work. It's about risk assessment with the information we have, not a super accurate tally of the things we saw as *the* sum total and there's no room for human or governmental error... fuck...

When the government started obfuscating covid data in 2022, more people were on board with the idea that projections give you a better understanding of risk so you can best protect yourself. What changed that made them want to assure only the lowest and slowest-coming numbers were the ones people use to assess risk? Why are these same people also downplaying and ignoring the broad societal and personal risks of long covid to EVERYONE. It's like the classic capitalist "Line go up exponentially forever no problem" but for covid denial: Measuring impact and severity by confirmed case and death counts alone aren't giving us the full picture, especially globally. The WHO was literally begging for more reporting last month because only 34 countries still send them any data on covid. You can't tell me this is a conspiracy theory, because the absence of information is itself information in this instance. We have to test to see covid. We aren't testing. This is simple subtraction: When you subtract detection from a disease that can spread asymptomatically, all you have is an absence of information. Trump suggested just that in 2020, but when it's done in 2023 and 2024, y'all are cool with it? I'm not sure how that ignorance is comforting to so many "experts." They're out there panicking about noro and flu right now when those diseases wastewater detections are 5 or 6 times lower than Covid by mass. How is Covid not perceived as a threat? Why do they think looking away will save them from the disaster?

[davidaugust]

"Musk has done two things -- he's grabbed the most influential digital megaphone in the world and plugged himself into the personal information of every American. This is a digital coup, embedding itself into the core I.T. infrastructure of federal agencies with little oversight and only selective 'transparency.' While they claim the access is 'read only,' they're locking out career civil servants and scraping personal data from millions of federal employees; the 'GSAi' initiative (Musk's new AI-driven analysis tool for government contracts) is bypassing security vetting and granting Musk's inner circle deep visibility into federal procurement."

"This isn't just unauthorized access - it's a full-scale redirection of the government's digital nervous system into the hands of an unelected billionaire."

"The existential risks here - financial manipulation, mass data exploitation, and unchecked digital autocracy - are no longer hypothetical. We're watching a truly unprecedented transfer of governmental power to a private entity in real time."

[foreverlogical]

A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer providing COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties after a narrow decision by its board.

Southwest District Health appears to be the first in the nation to be restricted from giving COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccinations are an essential function of a public health department.

While policymakers in Texas banned health departments from promoting COVID vaccines and Florida's surgeon general bucked medical consensus to recommend against the vaccine, governmental bodies across the country haven't blocked the vaccines outright.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Stephanie Kirchgaessner at The Guardian:

When the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, sought to shut down a Catholic charity that was was providing shelter and aid to undocumented migrants at the border, the San Diego cardinal, Robert McElroy, took a robust public stand against the attempt. “The state of Texas is using governmental pressure to curtail the work of the Church in one of its most fundamental obligations: to feed the hungry, to shelter the homeless, and to provide drink to the thirsty,” McElroy said in a statement at the time. “No government can morally tell us to abandon or limit this mission.” Last week, as billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg adopted policies that seemed designed to ingratiate themselves with the incoming Trump administration, Pope Francis took a different tack when he tapped the Harvard and Stanford-educated McElroy to the role of archbishop of Washington DC – one of the most high-profile positions in the US Catholic church. It followed Donald Trump’s own announcement that he was appointing Brian Burch, a rightwing political activist and critic of Francis who heads CatholicVote, a conservative advocacy group, to the role of US ambassador to the Vatican. In his statement, Trump claimed that Burch had helped deliver him more Catholic votes than any other presidential candidate. Both allies and critics of Francis say the appointments set the stage for conflict between the Vatican and Trump’s Washington, at a time when rightwing and far-right Catholics – from Leonard Leo to Steve Bannon – wield significant influence in the US capital. It was noted, too, that Francis chose 6 January, the anniversary of the Trump-inspired insurrection on the Capitol, to make the announcement.

“McElroy is incredibly polished intellectually. He is a thinker. He is a quiet man and he can say the strongest things against a certain kind of immigration policy with a soft voice. He’s courageous,” said Massimo Faggioli, professor of theology and religious studies, who noted that McElvoy was one of closest officials to Francis in North America. “He is Francis’s voice in many ways, and being in Washington DC elevates his voice. It is the place where power is brokered, and not just at the White House. In the Congress and the supreme court,” Faggioli added. Those corridors of power have increasingly been influenced by rightwing Catholics who are opposed to Francis’s agenda. The most prominent politicians who support him are losing influence and power, from the outgoing president Joe Biden to the former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Both are devout Catholics.

Steve Bannon, the Christian nationalist Trump adviser, who is also Catholic, said Francis’s choice of McElroy showed he was on a “collision course” with the incoming White House over one of Trump’s main agenda items. “The whole process of deportations will begin when President Trump takes his hand off the King James Bible,” Bannon told the Guardian. “Immediately you are going to have the Vatican, through their cardinal, trying to confront this. Bannon, who lives in Washington DC, said he believed the Catholic church and affiliated charities could face criminal investigations by the DoJ for their role in facilitating what Bannon and other rightwing leaders of the Maga movement have called an “invasion” of undocumented immigrants into the US. “I believe this will lead to the actual technical bankrupty of the church,” he said. McElroy, he added, “is a player, not some shrinking violet”.

Bannon is not the only Maga hardliner to show contempt for church practices. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has previously said that Satan was “controlling the church” and has repeated rightwing claims that Catholic charities are being enriched by US government contracts to help migrants.

[...] Just as some supporters of Francis believed McElroy was a pick that seemed too good to be true, Bannon praised the appointment of Brian Burch to represent the US in the Holy See. The job has traditionally gone to major donors but not political operatives. Even the choice of Calista Gingrich, the wife of former House speaker Newt Gingrich, was not seen as too controversial. Bannon said he believed the choice of Burch was connected to Leonard Leo, the rightwing Catholic activist who has almost singlehandedly turned the supreme court into a rightwing power base. A non-profit linked to Leo has donated more than $1m to Burch’s CatholicVote group.

Cardinal Robert McElroy was recently selected to lead the Washington DC Archdiocese to replace the retiring Cardinal Wilton Gregory due to the 75 year-old age limit. With Cardinal McElroy helming the archdiocese, conflicts over Donald Trump’s fascistic mass deportation policy and other harmful anti-immigrant policies will abound.