Politics and views in the United States.

The head of the new White House Faith Office draws scrutiny, Trump moves to fire the Federal Elections Commission chair and a North Carolina judge won't toss tens of thousands of ballots in a state Supreme Court race. 

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Wherever I go, God rules.

When I walk on White House grounds, God walks on White House grounds.

Florida televangelist Paula White says to say no to President Donald Trump would be saying no to God.

The head of the new White House faith office was once investigated by the Senate for using tax-exempt donations to pay for her luxury lifestyle.

White preaches that God rewards gifts to her church with riches, drawing criticism even from evangelicals.

She'll now work with the Justice Department task force to root out what Trump calls anti-Christian bias in government.

Federal Elections Commission Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub says Trump is attempting to illegally fire her from the bipartisan agency enforcing campaign finance laws.

Weintraub says neutering the FEC would prevent the public from knowing who's funding political candidates.

There is already too much dark money in our system, and without an FEC there would be even more.

Basically all of it would be dark, and there would be no one out there to enforce the law.

An FEC commissioner can only be removed after a president nominates a successor for Senate confirmation, but Weintraub has been blocked from her office and computers.

Trump has fired the head of the National Archives.

The independent agency angered Trump and his allies when it sought to get back classified documents he'd taken to Mar-a-Lago.

House Republicans have reintroduced the SAVE Act, which would require Americans to prove their citizenship to register to vote.

But opponents say many people don't have easy access to birth certificates or passports, including rural residents and those who lost documents in natural disasters.

Bianna Rosales with the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition says studies show strict voter ID laws disproportionately impact 18 and 19-year-olds.

Even though the 26th Amendment to the Constitution says that age should not be a barrier to voting, these voter ID laws are hitting the youngest voters the hardest.

Voting by noncitizens is already illegal and rarely ever happens.

In the last election, voters in eight states approved state constitutional amendments to bar noncitizens from voting.

A North Carolina trial judge has dismissed a lawsuit by a Republican state Supreme Court candidate aiming to overturn his election loss by throwing out 60,000 ballots.

A lower court and the State Board of Elections have already turned him down, noting the ballots were cast legally and were only challenged after the fact.

Three recounts show the Democratic candidate narrowly won the race.

Maxwell Bass is with the North Carolina Black Alliance.

This is not about individuals fraudulently voting.

This is about an individual trying to undermine the electoral process of democracy in North Carolina.

That remains the only uncertified statewide race from 2024.

I'm Catherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.