WASHINGTON—Paul Atkins spent much of his first year at the helm of the Securities and Exchange Commission trying to give Americans more opportunities to invest. “We have half as many public companies as we did 40 years ago,” Atkins told The Daily Wire in his office this week. “The reason why we have a diminishing number of public companies is that as you have mergers and bankruptcies, you don’t have newbies coming in and your population will dwindle.”  “We need to shake things up,” Atkins added. “So I’m pushing my team harder and we can go faster.” Atkins, who served on the SEC for six years under President George W. Bush, says he has a mandate from President Donald Trump to “make IPOs great again.” The chairman believes the SEC can incentivize companies to go public with one simple change: reducing public companies’ quarterly earnings reports to semi-annual filings. Regulatory reporting forces companies into a costly cycle of legal and compliance work — one many cite as a key reason to stay private. Warren Buffett and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned in 2018 that the system even pressures companies to manage for the quarter at the expense of long-term performance. Atkins told The Daily Wire that regulators are preparing to seek public comment on the potential reporting requirements shift. Even if the proposal moves forward, he said, companies would not be required to change, preserving flexibility based on investor demand. “We haven’t always had quarterly reporting,” Atkins said. “When the SEC was created in 1934, companies reported annually. In 1955, that shifted to semiannual reporting, and it wasn’t until 1970 that quarterly reporting became the standard.” The SEC is also exploring a more tailored regulatory framework based on company size, including separate categories for small- and mid-sized firms. “There are a lot of expensive provisions that are probably not really applicable to smaller companies.” He added, “This is all part of … modernizing, clarifying our jurisdiction, and transforming to make our rulebook fit for purpose.”  At the center of Atkins’ agenda is a return to the SEC’s core mission as defined by Congress: protecting investors, maintaining fair and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation. Under Atkins, the agency withdrew its defense for costly rules that required companies to disclose climate-related risks and ended regulation by enforcement. But in some areas, the agency is adding rules to “clarify and modernize” its expectations, effectively ending regulation by enforcement — where ambiguity was resolved in the courts rather than through clearer definitions in the SEC’s rulebook. “We can’t just wave a wand and do it,” Atkins said. “So it sounds like we’re going back to regulation, but we’re not.” He says the agency had drifted in recent years toward heavier enforcement and regulation, often at the expense of market access. By refocusing on capital formation, Atkins believes the SEC can strengthen markets while expanding opportunities for everyday investors. But regulation isn’t the only place where Atkins is rethinking the SEC. He’s also working closely with Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig, breaking a contentious history between the two agencies. Atkins and Selig are working closely to more clearly define where the SEC’s authority ends and the CFTC’s begins — particularly in emerging areas like digital assets. In the past, Atkins said, the lack of clarity created confusion and pushed companies offshore to develop their financial products where investors are not as protected. He pointed to the collapse of FTX, a major crypto exchange, that lacked oversight leading to billions of dollars lost. Atkins believes the agency can strike a balance between investor protection and fostering innovation in the markets. “I believe that our capital markets must continue to reflect our national character,” Atkins said. “They must continue to lead the world in their depth, in their dynamism, and in their capacity to translate ingenuity into prosperity.”

On Tuesday, at the UCLA School of Law, history repeated itself — this time without even the courtesy of waiting for a federal judge. James Percival, the general counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, had been invited by the UCLA Federalist Society for a conversation about immigration law. More than 150 demonstrators protested the event. Many heckled Percival throughout, yelling, playing doorbell sounds and ringtones, and tapping on desks after being asked to silence their phones. The open Q&A never occurred. The Federalist Society had put it plainly in its invitation: “Come, ask your hardest questions, and make your case.” The students answered with noise. This should sound familiar. In 2023, the UCLA script played out at my alma mater, Stanford Law, now ranked first in the nation. Judge Kyle Duncan — a Fifth Circuit judge nominated by President Donald Trump during his first term — had been invited by Stanford’s Federalist Society to speak. Students greeted him with shouted insults, sustained disruption, and signs. Stanford’s own associate dean joined the heckling from the podium. Duncan was ultimately escorted out by federal marshals. Stanford’s president and dean later apologized. Duncan, life-tenured and apparently unbothered, returned to his chambers and kept writing opinions. This week, he may have written his finest. On Tuesday — the same day UCLA students were busy shouting down the DHS’s top lawyer — the full Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc, upheld a Texas law requiring public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. Judge Duncan wrote the opinion in Rabbi Mara Nathan v. Alamo Heights Independent School District. It is a serious, carefully constructed piece of constitutional reasoning, and it deserves more attention than the protest theater unfolding across the law school quad. (Full disclosure: Rabbi Nathan is a college friend whom I respect but disagree with.) The legal question before the court was straightforward: Does a classroom display of the Ten Commandments resemble any of the historic hallmarks of an established religion? Duncan shows, methodically, that it does not. No student is compelled to recite the Commandments, profess belief in them, or even glance at them. They are present as part of the moral and legal inheritance that shaped Western civilization and, with it, the country those students live in. Critics reach reflexively for Jefferson’s “wall of separation between church and state,” a phrase that appears nowhere in the First Amendment. It comes from a 1802 letter Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists as a promise of non-interference, not a mandate to scrub faith from civic life. George Washington was blunter in his Farewell Address: A republican government depends on a moral people, and religion and morality are its indispensable supports. And then there are claims that the display text is somehow sectarian. In First Things, a Protestant scholar, Mark David Hall, and a rabbi, Stuart Halpern of Yeshiva University, joined me, a Catholic, to show that the text these states require was crafted through deliberate interfaith collaboration and recognized by multiple courts as nonsectarian. Judge Duncan wisely observes that it is not the province of federal courts to opine on such theological matters. It’s worth noting that the generation least likely to have encountered the Ten Commandments in any formal setting is also the one now turning to faith in quietly remarkable numbers. Gen Z, raised on curated content and institutional skepticism, is discovering that ancient things sometimes endure for good reason. Washington feared that a republic without religion and morality could not long endure. A generation quietly proving him right is a development worth more than a classroom wall. But the wall is a good place to start. The Texas case will likely reach the Supreme Court. When it does, the justices will have the opportunity to confirm what most people outside law schools already sense: that a civilization that acknowledges its moral inheritance is not establishing a religion. A classroom wall is not an established church. It is a reminder. Meanwhile, Judge Kyle Duncan — the man they tried to silence at Stanford Law — just handed down the opinion of his career. He didn’t need a microphone; he had a pen. Back at UCLA, the noise has likely faded. James Percival returned to Washington. Stanford Law students shouted down a federal judge; now their counterparts at UCLA have done the same to the government’s top immigration lawyer. The targets were different. The impulse was identical. And the man they couldn’t silence at Stanford has just written an opinion that will serve as the roadmap for the Supreme Court when a key religious freedom issue arrives there — and it will. *** Andrea Picciotti Bayer is director of the Conscience Project and recipient of the Religious Freedom Institute’s 2025 Religious Freedom Impact Award.

Jeremiyah Love graduated from Christian Brothers College High School in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2023. During his time at the all-boys’ Catholic high school, he led the Cadets to consecutive state championships as a running back and all-around powerhouse athlete. He took his talents to South Bend, Indiana, and played for the Fighting Irish at the University of Notre Dame from 2023 to 2025. The 2025 Heisman Trophy finalist announced in December 2025 that he would forgo his final year of eligibility at Notre Dame and opt for the National Football League Draft. On April 23, 2026, Jeremiyah Love’s dream of going pro came true. View this post on Instagram A post shared by CBC High School (@cbchighschool) Students at CBC Gathered for an NFL Draft Watch Party to Cheer on Jeremiyah Love More than 200 people gathered on CBC’s campus to watch the NFL Draft. Dressed in the school colors, purple and gold, the Cadets didn’t wait long to hear their favorite NFL hopeful’s name. The Arizona Cardinals chose Jeremiyah as the third overall draft pick. As they called his name, the students, faculty, staff, and fans at CBC went crazy. Some of them shared the field with Jeremiyah just a few short years ago. That night a dream came true for the entire school. “The moment Jeremiyah Love ’23 was drafted by the Cardinals with the No. 3 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft,” CBC shared on Instagram. “Words cannot express how proud I am of you and how much HOPE you gave your BROTHERS tonight…Much LOVE young man,” a fan shared. “Lots of Love around here,” another person wrote. Future students look forward to being a part of Jeremiyah Love’s legacy. “Congratulations!! My son is joining the CBC Brotherhood Class of 2030,” a parent wrote. This story’s featured image can be found here

Misstep

'Puts lives at risk'

'Supports the legalization of the Dreamers'

'not my interest'

In a world-first conservation achievement, Northern Ireland has successfully eradicated an invasive population of ferrets on Rathlin Island, host of the commonwealth nation’s largest seabird colony. One of the most effective conservation strategies currently employed on a wide scale, invasive animal elimination has allowed hundreds of islands worldwide to recover their native wildlife populations. Typical […] The post Eradication of Invasive Ferrets Within N. Ireland’s Largest Seabird Colony Is a World First appeared first on Good News Network.

The Daily Signal’s Senior National Security and Legal Analyst Mehek Cooke argued in an appearance this week on Newsmax TV that Iran’s regime is fractured, financially strained, and increasingly desperate. Cooke explained to host Bianca de la Garza that internal divisions within Iran—between hard-liners and so-called moderates—are becoming more visible under the weight of U.S. sanctions and military pressure. She pointed out that Tehran has time to deliver a unified response only because President Donald Trump agreed to extend the ceasefire. According to Cooke, this internal breakdown is central to understanding Tehran’s erratic behavior. “There’s a myriad of ways this could go,” Cooke said, noting that Iran has lacked a unified front in negotiations. She questioned who is truly in charge, arguing that a legitimate leader would be publicly addressing the Iranian people and declaring victory if the regime were confident in its position. Cooke emphasized that President Trump currently holds decisive leverage, as Iran’s leadership has its “backs against the wall.” She added that Tehran is now attempting to communicate indirectly—including through Pakistan—because it cannot negotiate from a position of strength. Iran’s recent actions in the Strait of Hormuz are signs of weakness rather than power, Cooke argued, as the regime has targeted small vessels to test American resolve. “We have the ability to eviscerate them,” Cooke said, urging against giving Tehran additional economic or diplomatic lifelines. She also defended President Trump’s decision to restructure military leadership, particularly within the Navy, saying the administration is focused on cutting through bureaucracy and ensuring execution rather than delay. Turning to domestic politics, Cooke addressed the looming War Powers debate over Trump’s authority to continue the conflict without congressional authorization, with a potential May 1 deadline. She criticized Republicans for hesitation, calling on Senate leadership to use available procedural tools, including the filibuster, to allow Trump to continue the operation. “This is the most important and critical time in our history,” Cooke said, arguing that no other president is positioned to bring lasting peace to the Middle East. She described the moment as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” and warned that political stalling—especially amid rising gas prices and instability in the Strait of Hormuz—risks undermining U.S. national security.