Our view: Small acts

President Donald Trump has done few things the Herald's editorial board supports. We endorsed his opponent and receive letters, like one today, that request more diverse viewpoints.

Well, here are a few things we believe he is getting right and that we will gladly trade for his administration's return to adherence to the rule of law and habeas corpus – the right the Constitution affords individuals (citizens and not) to petition a court to prevent unlawful detention and imprisonment.

We first wrote about Trump's interest in doing away with pennies in February: "Just two DOGEs make sense," (Herald, Feb. 20). The mostly Republican effort to do away with the penny is an interesting history the editorial chronicles.

In late May, the Treasury Department announced the end to penny production and that the Federal Reserve will stop putting them into circulation in early 2026. Pennies will still be legal, but retailers will begin to round cash prices up or down to the nearest nickel. The impact on consumers, except for maybe children with piggy banks, appears to be nominal, yet will, in fact, save taxpayer dollars.

On Tuesday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the end to the shoes-off policy during airport screenings. An almost twenty year policy, the result of an amateur terrorist's 2001 attempt to sneak an explosive device onto a flight from Paris to Miami in his shoe, its end makes sense and is one the American Civil Liberties Union supports. Us, too. Technology can be used to replace what the ACLU views as an invasive security practice.

Noem said, "We expect this change will drastically decrease passenger wait times at our TSA checkpoints, leading to a more pleasant and efficient passenger experience."

The timing of her announcement is interesting. Texas is still under water, the delay in federal emergency response has been tracked to her policy change requiring her approval of expenses exceeding $100,000, and Noem is focused on shoes in airports.

In addition to a return to the rule of law and habeas corpus, we also seek a return to professionally staffed federal agencies and competent leadership. As we've witnessed in Texas, it is a matter of life and death.

Though even small acts like the end of pennies, shoes off, and no tax on tips (approved in the budget bill) can add up, in no way do they measure up to the loss of civil rights, legal protections and the economic chaos Trump's creating around the world.

Well, we tried.

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