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‘New sheriff in town’: State finance leader rallies around key Trump victory saving ‘taxpayer dollars’
President Donald Trump’s executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the federal government has returned financial power to the people, OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, told Fox News Digital.
Oleka said there’s a «new sheriff in town» and that Trump is «making good» on his promise to eliminate DEI by shifting financial policies «away from the left and back to the center,» empowering state financial officers and building trust with the American people.
«We know that when companies focus on business, their business does better. If their business does better, shareholders make more money, their employees have a better quality of life within their business and their consumers get a better product,» Oleka told Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida.
Oleka said focusing on financial returns and merit-based incentives over DEI or environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies creates «more money for shareholders, better culture in the office for employees and better products for consumers and customers,» exactly what state financial officers have been asking for.
WHITE HOUSE VOWS TO IMPLEMENT ‘SYSTEM OF MERIT’ IN US, DISMANTLE DEI ‘STRANGULATION’
Fox News Digital spoke to State Financial Officers Foundation CEO OJ Oleka in Orlando, Fla. (Getty/Fox Digital)
«The American people want every individual to succeed,» Oleka said. «They want people to succeed on their merit, on their ability, on their skill. It’s very important to us as Americans. But what they don’t want is for people to get preferences just because of some political ideology.»
He said there are misconceptions about DEI «because people hear diversity, equity and inclusion, and they think, ‘Well, those are good things. I support diversity. I want people to be included, and people should have the resources that they need.’
«To be very clear, when we’re talking about DEI, we’re saying that DEI is trying to provide racial or gender preferences for people based on past grievances. It effectively has nothing to do with merit or looking at somebody’s skill for a job or for an opportunity.»
MAJOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER ACCUSED OF HIDING DEI PROGRAMS, INFLUENTIAL SENATOR CALLS THEM OUT
Equal opportunity is giving people access to create their own opportunities, to try to be as successful as they can be with their skills, ability and merit, according to Oleka.
Oleka explained that DEI is subjective because it prefers «folks based on what you think is important, based on your own politics.»
«It’s bad to say, from a company’s perspective, ‘Let’s just hire people based on race, based on gender,’ as opposed to skill and ability,» Oleka said.
«It’s bad because it can harm the performance of what that company actually does with their business responsibilities. That matters to our financial officers because they invest in a lot of these companies. It’s their job as fiduciary leaders to make sure that the pensions that they invest, the public funds that they invest by virtue of their positions, are actually done so by companies and with funds where the returns are going to be high.
OJ Oleka, CEO of the State Financial Officers Foundation, spoke with Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida. (Fox News Digital)
«We can’t guarantee that the returns are going to be as high as they can be if the companies aren’t even focusing on their specific mandate, on their responsibility. Instead, they’re focusing on their politics and trying to force an ideology or social agenda through their businesses. That’s not what business is for.»
Oleka said his experience as someone with a Ph.D. in higher education who is also the son of Nigerian immigrants informs his rejection of political ideology or agendas in government-funded programs, including in public education, because these policies don’t improve students’ learning experience or academic performance.
«That doesn’t actually contribute to kids’ learning,» Oleka said. «It doesn’t contribute to human flourishing. There really is no reason why people’s taxpayer dollars should be spent on that.»
President Donald Trump speaks during an event on energy production in the East Room of the White House April 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Oleka told Fox News Digital the Orlando conference was critical to reminding state financial officers across the country they are not alone in pushing back against DEI and ESG policies that were promoted by former President Joe Biden’s administration.
«It goes back to what I think most Americans believe. Their state government is closer to them than the federal government,» he said. «As a result, state leaders should have more power, as it relates to their finances, than the federal government, and what a state leader should do with that power is give it back to the people.»
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By empowering state financial officers to focus on financial returns and fiduciary duty instead of ideology and politics, Oleka said more Americans are incentivized financially.
«It’s important that we have that same kind of leadership in the White House at the state level, making good on their promise to bring a Golden Age to America and to each state,» he said.
Politics,DEI,Woke Culture,US Finance,Donald Trump
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Congressional Democrats are trying to get on the same page and display a unified front after threatening to derail the government funding process.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., met behind closed doors Tuesday night, along with the top Democrats in the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, to plot a course forward in the forthcoming government funding fight.
SENATE WEATHERS DEM OPPOSITION, ADVANCES FIRST GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., turns to an aide during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The meeting came after Democrats in the upper chamber overwhelmingly supported the first government funding bill to hit the Senate floor, one that would fund military construction and Veterans Affairs. Ahead of the vote, Senate Democrats had signaled they may vote against the bill and further obstruct the appropriations process because of highly partisan legislation rammed through the upper chamber by Senate Republicans.
«We all want to pursue a bipartisan, bicameral appropriations process,» Schumer said. «That’s how it’s always been done, successfully, and we believe that, however, the Republicans are making it extremely difficult to do that.»
The meeting just off the Senate floor was meant to get congressional Democrats on board with a messaging plan over the next weeks and months ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government.
CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS FACE BRUISING BATTLE TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is seen after the Senate luncheons in the U.S. Capitol on June 24, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
It was also likely designed to prevent a repeat of the Democratic debacle in March, when Schumer broke with Jeffries and threatened to shutter the government before ultimately caving and providing Republicans the votes necessary to advance yet another government funding extension, known as a continuing resolution.
Republicans are quick to point out that when Schumer led the upper chamber, none of the House GOP’s spending bills made it to the floor — in Congress, the spending process begins in the lower chamber.
Since taking over earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has committed to returning to regular order, or passing each of the dozen spending bills to fund the government, and trying to get the appropriations process back to normal.
However, it’s a feat that hasn’t been successfully done in Washington since the late 1990s.
«Frankly, I think a lot of us around here think [this] is long overdue,» Thune said.
However, Democrats contend that their trust in Republicans is wearing thin after two major partisan bills, one being President Donald Trump’s «big, beautiful bill,» and the other the president’s $9 billion clawback package, were pushed through the chamber without any Democratic input.
‘BAIT AND SWITCH’: SCHUMER WARNS OF BITTER FUNDING FIGHT OVER GOP CUTS PLAN
Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 6, 2025. (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Thune argued that Senate Democrats were using the rescissions package to shut down the appropriations process and effectively shut down the government.
In the Senate, most bills that come to the floor require at least 60 votes to smash through the filibuster, meaning that most legislation requires bipartisan support to some extent.
Earlier this year, the House GOP produced a partisan government funding extension that was a tough pill for Senate Democrats to swallow, but they still ultimately opted to vote for it. This time around, they’re demanding more involvement in the process.
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Jeffries said that congressional Democrats would play ball if the process was «bipartisan and bicameral in nature» and put the onus of a partial government shutdown at the feet of congressional Republicans.
«House Republicans are, in fact, marching us toward a possible government shutdown that will hurt the American people,» he said.
However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., threw the responsibility on Democrats over whether the government would shutter or stay open come the end of September.
«They’re gaming out how they can shut the government down,» Johnson told Bloomberg Government.
INTERNACIONAL
Ucrania: el presidente Volodimir Zelenski enfrenta críticas y protestas por una nueva ley anticorrupción
Advertencia de funcionarios de la UE
El presidente ucraniano, Volodimir Zelenski, convocó a los jefes de todas las agencias de investigación y de lucha contra la corrupción del país. Foto EFENegociaciones en Estambul
Ucrania,Volodímir Zelenski,Rusia,Guerra Rusia-Ucrania
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Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet with Israeli and Qatari officials in Rome on Thursday as the U.S. pushes for a ceasefire deal in Gaza.
Hamas and Israel are engaging in indirect negotiations to end the war that has raged on for nearly two years. However, Witkoff’s itinerary depends on the progress made in the talks. If the parties make enough progress in Rome, Witkoff will reportedly travel to Doha to finalize the deal, according to Axios.
The outlet also reported that sources indicated the meeting in Rome could suggest that a deal is near — possibly just days away.
Earlier this month, Israel agreed to a U.S.-backed, 60-day ceasefire proposal that would lead to the end of the war. This deal includes a phased release of hostages, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of Gaza and talks on ending the conflict, according to Reuters.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet with Israeli and Qatari officials in Rome on Thursday to secure a deal to end the war in Gaza. (Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu/Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
ISRAEL, HAMAS TALKS DRAG AS AID GROUP CHAIR TELLS UN TO STOP ACTING LIKE THE ‘MAFIA’
«My representatives had a long and productive meeting with the Israelis today on Gaza. Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the war. The Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring peace, will deliver this final proposal. I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this deal because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,» President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on July 1.
President Donald Trump holds a bilateral dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in attendance, at the White House in Washington, D.C., July 7, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
ISRAEL ACCEPTS TRUMP-LED CEASEFIRE PLAN THAT COULD END GAZA WAR WITHIN 60 DAYS
Trump appeared optimistic about the possibility of Israel and Hamas reaching a deal to end the war. On July 16, while signing the HALT Fentanyl Act, Trump thanked Witkoff, praising him for doing «a fantastic job» and said that there was «some good news on Gaza,» though he did not elaborate.
From left to right, Foreign Affairs Minister of Bahrain Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump and Foreign Affairs Minister of the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House on Sept. 15, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
TRUMP PRESSURES ISRAEL TO END GAZA CONFLICT AS HE EYES ABRAHAM ACCORDS EXPANSION
If Trump can secure an end to the war, it could mean an expansion of the Abraham Accords, one of the signature efforts of Trump’s first administration, which saw Israel sign normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. However, Trump has yet to detail which countries would be added.
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar said on June 30 that Israel was «serious» about seeking an end to the conflict. He added that Jerusalem has an interest in «countries, such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization.»
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Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
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