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Republican Senators Mike Lee and John Curtis of Utah are challenging a recent Department of Defense policy directive that omits The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) from its designated list of Christian faiths. Labeling the administrative decision “unacceptable,” both lawmakers are pressing the Pentagon for an immediate corrective update.

The dispute highlights a broader restructuring of how the military categorizes the religious affiliations of its personnel. Because these classifications affect administrative tracking and resource allocation, the policy has sparked debate regarding institutional oversight and organizational identity.

The Pentagon’s Defense: Why the Military Trimmed Its List

According to defense officials, the policy shift is part of an administrative effort to streamline what the Pentagon characterized as an “unmanageable” system. The restructuring reduced the number of officially recognized religious affiliation codes from more than 200 down to 31.

The Pentagon maintains that the consolidation is strictly logistical, designed to help chaplains efficiently assess unit demographics and deploy spiritual resources.

“With this move, we are returning to the original intent of collecting this data – to allow our chaplains and religious support personnel to provide the best spiritual care to our warfighters,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement.

He continued: “This decrease in religious affiliation codes is not designed to make any claims on the legitimacy of any faith or religious belief, nor is it intended to provide a list of ‘officially approved’ religions. Rather, it is designed to allow chaplains to quickly look at the religious composition of their units and determine how they structure resources to best provide for warfighters of all faith groups.”

Parnell emphasized that the department places a high value on First Amendment protections, noting that “chaplains play an instrumental role in providing spiritual care and facilitating the Warfighters’ ability to freely exercise their religion of choice, or no religion at all.”

The Scope of the Reclassification

The reduction in tracking codes has impacted numerous minority faith groups and belief systems. Beyond the reclassification issues facing LDS, dozens of distinct designations were eliminated or consolidated into broader umbrella categories.

Key Adjustments in Religious Tracking:

• Discontinued Individual Tracking for Specific Categories: Atheism, Humanism, Wicca, Paganism, and Unitarian Universalism.
• Consolidated Classifications: Affected service members are now directed to register under generalized designations such as “Agnostic,” “No Religion,” or “Other Religions,” while various traditional Christian denominations have been grouped under broader headers without specifying individual branches.

Critics argue this sweeping consolidation effectively erases the distinct identities of minority belief systems, potentially complicating accurate demographic representation within the military’s spiritual support infrastructure.

Senators Curtis and Lee React

The policy has drawn criticism in Utah, home to the global headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Curtis and Lee, both members of the faith, argue that the government’s classification fundamentally conflicts with the religion’s core tenets.

Curtis rebuked the directive on X on Saturday, writing: “Latter-day Saints are among the most patriotic, service-oriented individuals in our country. They are also unequivocally Christian—just look at who is in the name of the Church. It is unacceptable for a government entity to characterize a faith in a manner that contradicts the religion’s own foundational tenets. I am working now to ensure a correction is made.”

Lee echoed these concerns, questioning the logic of excluding the global church from Christian denominations given its foundational focus on the teachings of Jesus Christ.

“Can anyone tell me why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was left out of the Christian churches?” he asked on X on Saturday.

In another post, the senator wrote: “If only we, as Latter-day Saints, belonged to a church that had ‘Jesus Christ’ in its name and His image in its logo … Oh wait.”

Is there any aspect of life where a 99.72% success rate would call for external intervention? A medical treatment that cures 99.72% of patients generally does not call for additional surgery. A school that teaches 99.72% of its students to read does not need additional reading intervention.

Similarly, Utah’s recent voter roll audit found that 99.72% of registered voters in the state are U.S. citizens legally registered to vote, and the Lt. Governor’s office immediately removed the ineligible people from the rolls. This clearly shows that Utah does not need the federal bureaucracy to intervene to keep its voter rolls clean.

Federal intervention in elections has, unfortunately, been a bipartisan affair in recent years. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order seeking federal intervention in voter registration, as did President Biden in 2021. The Democratic-controlled Congress in 2021 attempted to pass the For the People Act, while the Republican-controlled Congress is currently seeking to enact the SAVE America Act. Both bills would intervene in state voter registration in different ways.

But there is no need for federal bureaucracy involvement if the evidence shows that state and local election officials are doing their jobs. That is exactly the case for Utah, as evidenced by the recent voter roll audit, which found that of more than two million registered voters in the state, only 52 were flagged as noncitizens or likely noncitizens. Further, many of the 0.28% of voters whose citizenship could not be verified registered before voter ID was required.

Candidates and voters in Utah need confidence in election outcomes, whether the winning margin was narrow or a landslide. That’s why in addition to removing ineligible people, Utah’s election officials are currently verifying the citizenship of every unverified voter to make certain that only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote.

What about Utah’s election administration makes federal intervention unnecessary?

First, and most obvious, is the quality of Utah’s election officials. If our voter registration system is achieving a 99.72% success rate, it is reasonable to conclude that the people overseeing it are a major part of that outcome.

Second, beyond hardworking, civic-minded election officials, Utah has something going for it that applies to every state in the republic: federalism. Significant fraud in voter registration becomes impossibly difficult and prohibitively expensive when it requires the cooperation of dozens of state and local election officials.

This highlights the irony of attempts to federally intervene in voter registration: They make voter registration fraud simpler, and therefore more likely. Centralizing voter registration in the federal government means you can accomplish significant voter registration fraud by corrupting a handful of officials at a single federal agency, rather than having to get hundreds of election officials across dozens of states to go along. That would make voter registration fraud much more achievable. In a world where hostile foreign actors have proven they are willing to attempt to manipulate and undermine American elections, federal intervention that simplifies voter registration fraud is unwise.

Does this mean that the federal government has no role in ensuring secure elections? No. Again, Utah’s voter roll audit points the way.

A federal policy that incentivizes states to periodically verify voter citizenship through a voter roll audit, like the one Utah just completed, can boost election security while bolstering federalism. This principled approach will either identify states that may need additional intervention or reveal that further intervention is unnecessary nationwide.

Utah election officials should be commended for their successful efforts in maintaining secure voter registration. Utah voters can be confident that voter rolls are being systematically protected from fraud. Leaders in Washington, D.C. should follow Utah’s lead and incentivize citizenship audits of voter rolls. Then voters’ interests, rather than partisan interests, can be served by identifying and addressing potential problems based on the evidence.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is making preparations after a case of New World screwworm (NWS) was confirmed in Texas.

According to an announcement from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF), the case was identified in Texas near the southern border and is currently the only confirmed case in the United States.

Dr. Sabo, Utah’s Assistant State Veterinarian, says that the fly has been moving up South and Central America over several years and has been found in livestock in the U.S for the first time since it was eradicated in 1968.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that New World screwworm is a parasitic fly that feeds on the tissue or flesh of warm-blooded animals and people. NWS are attracted to wounds and body openings where they lay eggs.

NWS can pose a specific threat to livestock and on the food supply. UDAF says it could cost billions in treatment costs and in loss of livestock production. Additionally, while human cases are rare, individuals who work or spend extended amounts of time with or near livestock and warm-blooded animals are at a higher risk.

While there have not been any confirmed cases in Utah, officials say that they have been preparing to handle NWS since mid-2025 and have response plans in place to mitigate any spread.

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“We want to be very clear that there is no public health or food safety concern with
regards to New World screwworm at this time,” said UDAF Commissioner Kelly Pehrson. “While we are ready to take action and eliminate it, NWS does not currently pose a risk to the
food supply.”

Dog and cat owners are now required to obtain a health certificate from a veterinarian in order to bring their pets into Utah from Texas.

UDAF is also encouraging livestock producers to regularly inspect their animals or any signs of the parasite. Symptoms include seeing or feeling maggots, skin wounds or sores that worsen, and foul-smelling odors and bleeding from open sores.

“When it is here, we have to reduce livestock movement, and unfortunately, that does have an impact on animal businesses” Sabo said.

“The U.S. has eradicated this fly before and we will do it again,” said state veterinarian
Dr. Amanda Price. “The keys to eradication are rapid detection, compliance with quarantine and
movement restrictions, delaying procedures, and sterile fly release.”

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.

Throughout the Utah Jazz’s draft process to this point, it’s largely been a two-man race for who their second-overall pick will eventually end up being later this month.

In most mock projections, you’ll see them end up with either BYU wing AJ Dybantsa or Kansas guard Darryn Peterson; two prospects seen as the top 1 and 1A names in the class, and both more than capable of even being as high as the number one pick.

But it seems like when asking those inside the Jazz’s building, it’s not quite as simple as taking the one of those two that the Washington Wizards don’t end up selecting.

Utah Still Doesn’t Have Consensus Selection at No. 2?

During an interview with KSL Sports, Jazz president Austin Ainge made it clear that he and the front office are trying to take a different approach than just basing their selection off of the general consensus. 

Instead, he and Utah are trying to do more of the opposite; turning over every stone to make sure they’re making the right choice with their first top-two pick in over 40 years, and “fight” that consensus ranking.

“We’re trying to force ourselves to keep an open mind and not get locked in until we have all the information,” Ainge said.

“Make sure we’re processing everything correctly. We’re almost fighting a consensus or a predetermination. We’re trying to make sure we go through it as thoroughly as possible before we lock in.”

The Jazz’s Methodical Approach Is the Right One

Many fans invested in the Jazz’s selection might view this year’s draft pick as the easiest they’ve had to make since they first started their rebuild four summers ago. And in reality, it’s more than likely Utah ends up landing on one of the two top names, Peterson or Dybantsa.

However, for those actually set to be in the war room and pull the trigger on what might be the Jazz’s most valuable pick in franchise history, taking these next few weeks to unpack everything there is to know about this year’s class is the right approach to take.

Is there any real concern to be had surrounding Peterson’s medicals? Does Dybantsa have the true two-way ceiling that many scouts and experts project him to have? Does Cameron Boozer or Caleb Wilson deserve any consideration at all?

Those are all questions the Jazz are answering in the building right about now. So for Ainge to say there’s still no consensus in the room less than three weeks away from the action is far from the wrong approach to have.

“I would say there’s always a ‘blink’ reaction when we get our pick,” Ainge said. “We’re trying not to do that on purpose. We’re fighting groupthink, and we’re fighting media narratives. We’ll use all of the tools we have.”

“You guys can picture a room full of [people] who spend all of their lives trying to figure out these players. We don’t have a consensus in our rooms. There are arguments. There are a lot of opinions. We are all just trying to share, grow, learn, and come together at the end.”

In due time, the Jazz will have landed on their verdict of where each of the top prospects ranks on their board, and who their most likely selection might be once they’re officially on the clock later this month.

Until then, though, expect this front office to have their heads down and meticulously breaking down every detail there is to know about this year’s incoming class.

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