President Donald J. Trump’s first actions after his inauguration gave him control of the government as he signed several executive actions regarding staffing.

Later, at his Inauguration Parade and Rally at Capital One Arena, the president signed more orders, vowing to restore free speech, work at lowering costs for families and undue the previous administration’s executive orders.

Trump’s first executive actions took place in the President’s Room at the U.S. Capitol, as he officially nominated his different picks for Cabinet and sub-Cabinet positions, announced acting Cabinet positions and designated chairpersons of different commissions.

Then, he proclaimed that flags would be flown at full-staff for all future inauguration days. Flags across the country had been at half-staff, commemorating the death of former President Jimmy Carter.

Those nominations for Cabinet positions were already moving forward today, as Marco Rubio, nominated to become secretary of state, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and then unanimously confirmed in the Senate by a vote of 99-0, with Vance’s seat now vacant.

Several other Cabinet nominees were also approved by Senate committees today:

• Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense
• Kristi Noem, to lead Department of Homeland Security

It is no secret that global human population is declining sharply.

The total world fertility rate has more than halved since 1950. Few countries, including the United States and nearly every other developed nation, are having enough babies to simply replace their current population. Experts at the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), a global economics think tank, have just released a major paper explaining the significant economic downsides of declining populations.

Two-thirds of humanity live in a country that has a fertility rate below 2.1, the basic requirement for replacement.

They explain, “By 2100, populations in some major economies will fall by 20 to 50 percent, based on UN projections.”

Most troubling, MGI reports the “world reached its maximum number of annual births in 2012, when 146 million babies were born, and the global number of births will continue to slowly decline.”

Demographers have called this ominous milestone Peak Child, the point at which we will likely never have this many children born in a year, ever again.

Scholars from Our World in Data, the superb global trends tracking effort of the Global Change Data Lab operating from the Oxford Martin School at Oxford University, recently announced the same thing: “The world has passed ‘peak child.’”

Earlier this week, newly inaugurated Vice President J.D. Vance and his wife, Usha, gracefully faced what many parents might understandably consider a DEFCON-1, red-alert situation: Wrangling three young, tired children at a prestigious, nationally televised event while sitting next to the President of the United States.

I’m not even a parent, and I’m pretty sure even I’ve had that nightmare.

The young family arrived at the National Parade yesterday dressed to the nines, with Vance carrying three-year-old Mirabel and Usha preventing 7- and 4-year-old Ewan and Vivek from tumbling headfirst down the steps at Capital One Arena.

The couple spent the next half an hour or more holding, blocking, sitting with and shuffling their children around their seats.

There was bouncing, standing on chairs, lolling in uncontrolled boredom, and, of course, conversations with President Trump. Thumbs were sucked. Teddy bears were almost dropped into the parade.

There’s something refreshing about prominent parents being unashamed about being, well, a family. Children are undeniable, joyful blessings. They are also frequently inconvenient. They can be messy, hyper, stubborn and fussy. They get tired easily. They don’t tend to enjoy sitting down for long periods of time.

The Vances included their children in a life-changing event when many might have deemed them too inconvenient to bring along.

Throughout his nearly 12-year pontificate, Pope Francis has raised countless eyebrows by making ambiguous or even downright unbiblical statements.

In fact, a pattern has developed where the pope says one thing only to later have Vatican officials issue a clarification or correction.

At other times, they simply let controversial remarks stand.

Back in 2019, over 1,000 Catholic scholars published an open letter to the College of Bishops that accused Pope Francis of heresy, including the “comprehensive rejection of Catholic teaching on marriage and sexual activity, on the moral law, and on grace and the forgiveness of sins.”

The latest brouhaha regarding the 87-year-old Pontiff involves news the Vatican has approved guidelines in Italy that state Catholic seminaries can no longer reject candidates for identifying as homosexual, so long as the man remains celibate.

Previous Catholic directives, including a policy approved by Pope Benedict in 2005, have stated that men with “deep-rooted” same-sex attraction would be barred from becoming a priest.

In December of 2023, the Vatican opened the door to the “possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples.”

The pope’s controversial statements have elicited an outcry from more conservative Catholics and Catholic leaders.

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Texas, who was ousted by Pope Francis in 2023, was blunt in his criticism.