New Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders fights “woke” by EO in Arkansas

New Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, former Press Secretary in the Trump White House, swiftly signed two Executive Orders to signal an end to “woke” policies in State government and in Arkansas schools.

The new Sanders executive orders

Sarah Huckabee Sanders took her oath of office on January 10, 2023.

At once she signed seven executive orders.

These orders, copies of which are available at The Daily Signal, have these effects:

1. Forbids use of the TikTok app by all Arkansas government employees, and reviews all other apps for possible security threats.
2. Freezes hiring and promotions, effective immediately, until further notice, for all but essential or federally funded employees.
3. Forbids use of the word Latinx (rhymes with “Kleenex®”) in all its forms in Arkansas government documents. Hispanic residents have consistently, by large majorities, objected to the term as, at best silly, and at worst insensitive. Latinx is an attempt to obviate gender in Spanish. (English stands alone among modern human languages in setting the gender of all inanimate objects, animals, and infants to neuter. Neither Spanish nor French even recognize the neuter gender as valid for any object.)
4. Forbids schools to use any curriculum that indoctrinates students or draws on the precepts of Critical Race Theory.
5. Orders reform of the Arkansas Unemployment Insurance Program.
6. Reviews all existing Executive Orders, with recommendations for striking, especially as regards COVID-19.
7. Repeals EO 15-2 at once. Thereafter all proposed new rules and regulations must go to the Governor’s office for her signature.

Learning about God

In an interview with podcaster Todd Starnes, Gov. Sanders went further. She explicitly said that children in Arkansas schools would learn about God.

Under my leadership, schools will teach reading, writing, math, and science—and our children will learn that the identity that truly matters is the one we all share: our identity as children of God and citizens of the United States of America.

That might seem to some to violate the federal Constitution.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…

But last year the Supreme Court, in two cases, explicitly overturned key precedents that would prohibit such policies. (Carson v. Makin, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.)

The Daily Caller, Independent Journal Review, and The Daily Signal contributed to this report.

The top image of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, from the 2019 Student Action Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, is by Gage Skidmore. He has licensed it under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-alike 2.0 Generic License.