u/NeuroMrNiceGuy

Summary:

USDA employees and a federal workers union are suing Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins over a series of increasingly religious emails sent to staff, arguing the messages crossed into unconstitutional religious promotion in the workplace. Plaintiffs say the emails made some non-Christian employees feel pressured, excluded, or worried about retaliation, while the USDA has defended Rollins and said it would not comment on ongoing litigation.

Context:

The complaint.

The email she sent:

At the top of the email, attached hereto as Exhibit A, Secretary Rollins included an

illustration of a stone rolled away from Jesus’ tomb with the words “Christ is Risen” written above

>Team USDA,

>Happy Easter — He is risen indeed!

>Today we celebrate the greatest story ever told, the foundation of our

>faith, and the abiding hope of all mankind.

>Case 3:26-cv-04406 Document 1 Filed 05/13/26 Page 7 of 26

>From the foot of the Cross on Good Friday to the stone rolled away from

>the now empty tomb, sin has been destroyed. Jesus has been raised from

>the dead. And God has granted each of us victory and new life. And

>where there is life — risen life—there is hope.

>No matter the very real trials and hardships we face, fear and sin and

>death do not get the last word. Because on Easter morning, “Hell took a

>body, and discovered God. It took earth, and encountered Heaven. It

>took what it saw, and was overcome by what it did not see.” Now that

>is reason to rejoice!

>And so like the very first disciples to encounter our risen Lord in the

>Upper Room almost two thousand years ago, this Easter let us too be

>alive with hope, full of Paschal joy, and confident in the mission each

>of us has been called for.

>Please know how amazed and grateful I am for the hard work each of

>you do to support our shared mission here at USDA. I hope you and

>your loved ones have a truly blessed and happy Easter. May God

>continue to bless you, your families, and our exceptional country, One

>Nation, Under God.

Summary:

California is launching a new program called Golden State Start that will provide 400 free diapers to newborns discharged from participating hospitals, making it the first state to do so statewide. The program will initially focus on hospitals serving large Medi-Cal populations, with Newsom framing it as a small but direct affordability measure aimed at helping new parents with basic costs.

My take:

I love California. Born and bred. Newsom walks the walk and talks the talk and I support this 100%.

People can sneer all they want, but diapers are expensive as hell and having a newborn is brutal financially for a lot of families (mine included). This is at least tangible help instead of empty culture war nonsense. You want people to reproduce more? You need to help them in this economy. Come at me.