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Indiana Gov. Mike Pence gives a prepared statement about his signing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Indianapolis, Thursday, April 26, 2015. Robert Scheer/The Star

Mike Pence, Indiana Governor, speaks to press members following his signing of the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Thursday, March 26, 2015. (Photo: Robert Scheer / The Star)Buy Photo

The nation's latest legislative battle over religious freedom and gay rights came to a close Thursday when Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a controversial "religious freedom" bill into law.

His action followed two days of intense pressure from opponents including technology company executives and convention organizers who fear the measure could allow discrimination, particularly against gays and lesbians.

Pence and leaders of the Republican-controlled General Assembly called those concerns a "misunderstanding."

"This bill is not about discrimination," Pence said, "and if I thought it legalized discrimination I would have vetoed it."

Senate Bill 101 prohibits state or local governments from substantially burdening a person's ability to exercise their religion unless the government can show that it has a compelling interest and that the action is the least-restrictive means of achieving it. It takes effect July 1.

Although the bill does not mention sexual orientation, opponents fear it could allow business owners to deny services to gays and lesbians for religious reasons.

Pence signed the bill during a private ceremony in his Statehouse office just before 10 a.m. Thursday. He was joined by supportive lawmakers, Franciscan monks and nuns, orthodox Jews, and some of the state's most powerful lobbyists on conservative social issues.

The event was closed to the public and the press.

The bill signing makes Indiana the 20th state in the nation to adopt such legislation. It is modeled on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which President Bill Clinton signed in 1993.

Here it is: The text of Indiana's 'religious freedom' law

But the timing of the measure has colored the debate in Indiana.

Social conservatives have pushed hard for such measures across the country following recent federal court rulings that legalized same-sex marriage in Indiana and other states.

Many in Indiana also see the legislation as a reaction to last year's unsuccessful push to enshrine a same-sex marriage ban in the state's constitution.

Three of the lobbyists who pushed hardest for last year's gay marriage ban Micah Clark of the American Family Association of Indiana, Curt Smith of the Indiana Family Institute and Eric Miller of Advance America were among the 70 to 80 guests invited to the private bill signing.

"It is vitally important to protect religious freedom in Indiana," Miller said in a statement after the bill signing. "It was therefore important to pass Senate Bill 101 in 2015 in order to help protect churches, Christian businesses and individuals from those who want to punish them because of their Biblical beliefs!"

Socially conservative advocacy groups were joined by the Catholic Church, Indiana Right to Life, and many evangelical Christians in supporting the measure.

But Pence rejected suggestions that SB 101 was a consolation prize for conservative advocacy groups who failed to pass the gay marriage ban last year.

"I think that is inaccurate," he said. "This was overdue."

The issue has struck a chord with Hoosiers and those outside the state, capturing the attention of celebrities and national and international news outlets.

Colts punter Pat McAfee, novelist John Green, television personality Montel Williams, and Star Trek actor George Takei all expressed opposition to the measure.

And so many calls flooded the governor's office that the phone system was temporarily overwhelmed.

Shortly after Pence signed the bill, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced he would no longer send employees or customers to Indiana.

"Today we are canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination," he tweeted.

The NCAA, which is holding the Final Four men's basketball tournament in Indianapolis next week, also expressed concerns. NCAA President Mark Emmert said the Indianapolis-based group would examine "how it might affect future events as well as our workforce."

And earlier in the week, the city's largest convention, Gen Con, threatened to take its 56,000 attendees to another state when its contract with the Indiana Convention Center expires in 2020. (However, in a letter to frequent convention-goers on Thursday the group said it had been reassured by many in the Indianapolis business community that all attendees would be welcomed warmly.)

The Disciples of Christ, a Christian denomination with about 6,000 annual convention attendees, also threatened to look elsewhere.

Pence said at a news conference after the bill signing that he would speak to executives and event organizers who are concerned about the measure.

"I'll call them. I'll talk to them," he said. "This is not about legalizing discrimination."

He emphasized that in other states with similar laws, discrimination against gays and lesbians has not been permitted.

In a radio interview later in the day, Pence blamed national outrage over the law on the media.

"If you read the bill instead of reading the papers, you would see that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which is now law in Indiana, is simply about giving the courts guidance and establishing the same standards that have existed at the federal level for more than 20 years," Pence said. "I understand the concerns that have been raised by some, because frankly, some in the media have tried to make this about one issue or another."

Democrats in the General Assembly tried several times to add language to the measure that would have provided explicit protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation, but those efforts were rebuffed.

When asked Thursday whether sexual orientation should be a protected class, the governor answered that the matter was not on his agenda.

Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane, a Democrat, slammed the governor and the Republican-controlled legislature for supporting the bill.

"Although not unexpected, it is still extremely disappointing that Governor Pence endorses this out-of-touch, discriminatory legislation," said Senate Minority Leader Tim Lanane in a statement. "Not only is this law unnecessary, it unfortunately has already portrayed our state as intolerant, unfriendly, and backwards; things which I believe most Hoosiers reject."

Pence said his primary concern was for religious believers who feel their liberty is endangered.

"The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action," he said.

He cited as an example the University of Notre Dame's objection to a provision of the Affordable Care Act requiring insurance coverage for contraceptives.

Concerns about assaults on religious freedom were echoed by other supporters.

"Religious freedom is increasingly under attack in our nation," said Mike Fichter, president of Indiana Right to Life. "RFRA is an important bill to protect the religious freedom of Hoosiers who believe the right to life comes from God, not government."

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Call Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him on Twitter: @indystartony.

Here is the governor's full statement on the religious freedom bill:

"Today I signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, because I support the freedom of religion for every Hoosier of every faith.

"The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack by government action.

"One need look no further than the recent litigation concerning the Affordable Care Act. A private business and our own University of Notre Dame had to file lawsuits challenging provisions that required them to offer insurance coverage in violation of their religious views.

"Fortunately, in the 1990s Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, the Religious Freedom Restoration Actlimiting government action that would infringe upon religion to only those that did not substantially burden free exercise of religion absent a compelling state interest and in the least restrictive means.

"Last year the Supreme Court of the United States upheld religious liberty in the Hobby Lobby case based on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but that act does not apply to individual states or local government action. At present, nineteen statesincluding our neighbors in Illinois and Kentuckyhave adopted Religious Freedom Restoration statutes. And in eleven additional states, the courts have interpreted their constitutions to provide a heightened standard for reviewing government action.

"In order to ensure that religious liberty is fully protected under Indiana law, this year our General Assembly joined those 30 states and the federal government to enshrine these principles in Indiana law, and I fully support that action.

"This bill is not about discrimination, and if I thought it legalized discrimination in any way in Indiana, I would have vetoed it. In fact, it does not even apply to disputes between private parties unless government action is involved. For more than twenty years, the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act has never undermined our nation's anti-discrimination laws, and it will not in Indiana.

"Indiana is rightly celebrated for the hospitality, generosity, tolerance, and values of our people, and that will never change. Faith and religion are important values to millions of Hoosiers and with the passage of this legislation, we ensure that Indiana will continue to be a place where we respect freedom of religion and make certain that government action will always be subject to the highest level of scrutiny that respects the religious beliefs of every Hoosier of every faith."

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Gov. Mike Pence signs 'religious freedom' bill in private

Since his brother became vice president, Greg Pence has become more involved in politics. Wochit

Gregory Pence, brother of Vice President Mike Pence, on a flight from Indianapolis to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)Buy Photo

Is Mike Pence's brother considering a run for Congress?

Greg Pence, the vice president's older sibling,isn't ruling it out and a source close to the Pence family said this week that a group of Republican donors is encouraging him to run for the seat once held by his brother.

Greg Pence, who once ran the family's Kiel Bros. Oil Co. gas station and convenience store business, has been a close confidant to the vice president, frequently traveling with himduring last year's presidential campaign.

And Greg Pence recently took his first formal step into the political arena earlier this year when he became statewide finance chairman for U.S. Rep. Luke Messer, who is expected to run for Indiana'sU.S. Senate seat in 2018.

More: Pence's brother, other allies supporting Luke Messer for U.S. Senate

That would leave Indiana's predominately Republican 6th District House seat vacant. Stretching from Muncie to Madison, it's the same district Mike Pence represented for 12 yearsand one where he continues to enjoy wide support.

In an interview with IndyStar, Greg Pence acknowledged regular overtures encouraginga congressional run, butsaid he's focused on Messer's campaign right now.

"The funny thing is Im getting asked that a lot," he said."And right now the only thing Im focused on is helping Luke and Jennifer (Messer) make a big decision on whether or not they should run (for Senate)."

The eldest of six siblings, Greg Pence and his wife, Denise, now ownantique malls in Edinburgh and Bloomington. Denise was also a delegate to the Republican National Convention last summer, where she saw her brother-in-law's formal nomination as the party's vice presidential candidate.

At right, Gregory Pence cheers as the unanimous vote for his brother, Vice President-Elect Michael Pence, is announced at the meeting of Indiana's 11 presidential electors to cast votes for President and Vice President of the United States, at the statehouse, Indianapolis, Monday, Dec. 19, 2016.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

Greg Pence also served a brief and controversial stint as the top deputy at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. He was hiredin 2005 to streamline the agency under Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels, but the appointment raised eyebrows because he had no environmental credentials and his former company, Kiel Oil, had been cited by the agency for environmental violations in the past.

He left the post after just two-and-a-half months.

Greg Pence's latest role as chairman of Messer's finance committee could help the political novice establish relationships with key donors for a potential run of his own, while also lending Messer a prominent last name to help with fundraising.

One major GOP fundraiser, Bob Grand, said Greg Pence "would be a great choice" to fill Messer's seat. But suchdecisions are premature given that Messer hasn't even officially declared a Senate run.

"I just think its too early to speculate," Grand said. "You cant start running for a seat that isnt vacant yet."

If he does decide to run, Greg Pence would almost certainly enter the race as a heavy Republican favorite, preventing what might otherwise be a competitive and potentially contentious GOP primary.

"When you're looking for a candidate to recruit you want somebody with an ability to raise money, somebody who has name recognition, somebody who fits well with the district and those things would seem to characterize Greg Pence if we were to choose to run," said Robert Dion, a political scientist at the University of Evansville.

It also doesn't hurt to be the vice president's brother. Mike Penceplays a key role in Indiana politics, most recently aiding in Gov. Eric Holcomb's rise to power after Pence dropped out of the gubernatorial race to join Trump on the national ballot.

Greg Pence said any talk of a potential political career didn't enterinto his decision to support Messer.

"I joined Lukes committee because he asked me and he is a friend of mine and there was no another reason," he said.

Call IndyStar reporter Tony Cook at (317) 444-6081. Follow him onTwitterandFacebook.

Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at (812) 549-1429. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.

More: Got $10,000? You can dine with Gov. Eric Holcomb

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Is Vice President Mike Pence's brother considering a run for Congress? - Indianapolis Star

James Comeys opening statement reads like the test answer youre supposed to give at the end of the Human Resources training video. When your superior makes you uncomfortable should you a) explain your boundaries b) discuss the issue with your direct report c) make contemporaneous notes to lock in your recollection or d) all of the above.

Comey picked D.

The question of whether the president tried to impede the FBI investigation will go many rounds, but the former FBI directors opening statement doesnt just illuminate those issues. It is also a workplace documenta window into how the president operates. Along with other developments in the Trump administration this week, the Comey testimony offers a striking picture of boss and subordinate relations.

The issues raised are not just of obstruction of justice but obstruction of progress. How can Trump administration officials operate in such an unpredictable environment? The president delights in breaking norms, but he undermines his colleagues who cant predict where hes going. That contributes to an atmosphere of chaos and saps from administrative veterans the greatest skill they bringthe ability to anticipate events that occur along normal patterns.

Bernie Sanders's Religious Test for Christians in Public Office

Things were so unpredictable in Comeys first meeting with President-elect Trump, the former FBI director immediately took notes in his car after the interaction. The president, by asking for a loyalty pledge and crossing boundaries, so destabilized the relationship between the two men Comey reportedly tried to blend into the White House drapery at one event to avoid an exchange. This had ripple effects. The president also destabilized the bureaucratic system. Comey worried that the pressure from Trump to end the Flynn investigation or remove the cloud of the larger investigation would infect the investigation if he let others working on the case know about it. You dont need to believe the particulars of each exchange to see that this mode of management was not productive to a larger purpose.

A number of Donald Trumps supporters told me during the campaign they had faith that he would be a good president because he would be helped by the experts around him. But the presidents improvisation saps experts of their key skill: pattern recognition. Chess masters dont evaluate all the possible moves. They know how to discard 98 percent of the ones they could make and then focus on the best choice of the remaining lot. Thats the way expertise works in other fields too: Wise practitioners recognize familiar patterns and put their creativity, improvisation, and skill toward the marginal cases.

President Trump has this skill in politics and no doubt in business. But the president cant demonstrate pattern recognition across all topics, and cant acquire a lifetime of experience to learn it fast enough for issues hes never encountered. Thats why he needs experts to be allowed to apply their similar skills. Thats the theory behind his hands-off approach to the military. But where the president does assert himself, he does not simply introduce chaos. He also demands loyalty in response to his unpredictable moves, which asks experts to embrace a move theyve already discarded as too improbable to ponder. Its only possible to use pattern recognition if the patterns are not changing after youve made your assessment, or as long as someone doesnt flip the board over and send the pieces rolling under the breakfront.

This week, experts throughout the administration were having their plans scrambled. Department of Justice officials fighting to defend the second Trump order limiting immigration from terrorism-linked countries were undermined by the presidents tweeting. The Justice Dept. should have stayed with the original Travel Ban, not the watered down, politically correct version they submitted to S.C., he wrote. Thats his justice department hes talking about there, carrying out his orders. This caused George Conway, the husband of presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, to plead with the president on Twitter to stop undermining his case.

Over at the Pentagon, officials reasserted support for Qatar after its Arab neighbors cut ties. The U.S. has a base in Qatar. But in a tweet, the president sided with Qatars opponents, and took credit for the move against the country as fruit of his recent overseas trip. In Politico this week, Susan Glasser detailed how the president surprised his foreign-policy team at a NATO summit during that trip. Though the president's top advisers had told allies he would offer public support for the bedrock Article 5 commitmentan attack on one is an attack on allat the last minute, Trump decided not to read that line in his speech.

Successful presidents know how to translate their will to their staffers, and successful staffers know how to move without the ball. Aides to presidents of both parties that Ive talked to over the years tell a version of the same story. A White House works well when a presidents staff can intuit what its president wants and act without needing direct contact. A former senior Obama official spoke approvingly about Ronald Reagan when explaining this phenomenon to me. Reagans team didnt need to check in with Reagan to know his desires: increase personal freedom, limit the growth of government and fight the communists.

Oliver North went a little too far, of course, but the Trump White House faces the opposite problem. In the Trump White House, when staffers try to anticipate the boss they get undermined by the boss.

When Trump fired James Comey, Vice President Pence offered a dramatic explanation for the decision, suggesting that it was based solely on the recommendation from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein: A man of extraordinary independence and integrity and a reputation in both political parties of great character, came to work, sat down, and made the recommendation for the FBI to be able to do its job that it would need new leadership. Then the president explained he had already made the decision and the Russia investigation at least factored in.

Three weeks ago, National-Security Adviser H.R. McMaster issued sweeping statements knocking back reports that the president passed on sensitive information to Russian officials in an Oval Office meeting. The next day, the president offered a different story.

These kinds of moves lead to embarrassing paralysis. No staffer wants to get too far out on a limb when theyre working for an unpredictable arborist. For two days in a row this week, White House spokespeople couldnt answer if the president still had faith in his attorney general. Usually a staffer would say, Of course he does, but that guess cant be made in the Trump administration. Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked if the president had confidence in Comey and said of course he did, but then six days later, Trump fired Comey. Soon enough, the president was describing Comey as a nut who was mentally unstable.

Earlier this week, staffers were criticizing the excessive focus on Trumps tweets only to have the president point to them as vital to his communication. The president surprised his aides by announcing his new choice for FBI director without letting the team know just as he surprised his aides by rushing the announcement of a tax package. Aides cant explain his views on climate change or defend his unverified claims on voter suppression, or what he meant by "add more dollars to healthcare and make it the best anywhere long after the House negotiations were over.

The culture of undermining sends signals of disrespect. This approach not only saps motivation and undermines teamwork, it also lowers the motivation to work extra hours anticipating what can go wrong. If people feel like the boss doesnt respect them, they dont stretch for the boss.

So far, Trump has picked nominees for only 80 of the 558 important appointments he needs to fill. Only 40 of them have cleared Senate confirmation. He lags far behind his predecessors, according to the Partnership for Public Service. To fill those spots the president doesnt just need warm bodies, he needs the highly talented types that were the implicit promise of electing a novice to the job. Ive talked to several who have been approached for short- or long-term duty in the Trump administration. The evidence of the work environment that mounts with each passing day makes them highly wary. There is no human-resources training for how to respond when you work for an unpredictable president. Its perhaps fitting that when you visit the website of the White House Office of Administration it says Check back soon for more information."

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Donald Trump Is an Impossible Boss - The Atlantic

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Donald Trump Wrote a Cookbook New York Times The Kanamits are the space aliens who come to Earth in an old Twilight Zone episode. We ask only that you trust us, only that you simply trust us, the benevolent-seeming Kanamit emissary tells United Nations delegates while promising to foster the ...

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Donald Trump Wrote a Cookbook - New York Times

Already in the basement, President Donald Trumps approval rating dug a little deeper into the cellar this week. But, in a small bit of good news,its still not as bad as the worst-ever rating for former President George W. Bush, the last Republican president.

Trumps approval rating among votersstood at just 34 percent, according to a new survey this week fromQuinnipiac University. That marked the lowest point yet for the president in the universitys survey.Fifty-seven percent disapproved of his job performance in the White House.

The poll was full of bad news for Trump. Forty percent of voters said they thought Trumps advisers did something illegal in their dealings with Russiawhich the intelligence community assessed had worked to get the GOP candidate elected through online hacks and a so-calledinfluence campaign. Sixty-eight percent of voters were either very concerned or somewhat concerned about Trumps relationship with Russia. Sixty-eight percent of voters said they thought Trump isnt levelheaded, including 32 percent of Republicans.

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There is zero good news for President Donald Trump in this survey, just a continual slide into a chasm of doubt about his policies and his very fitness to serve, said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, in a statement.If this were a prizefight, some in his corner might be thinking about throwing in the towel. This is counterpuncher Donald Trumps pivotal moment to get up off the mat.

Trumps 34 percent is far from stellar, but it could get worse, as its still a few percentage points betterthan Bushs lowest mark. In May 2008,Quinnipiac found Bush had an approval rating of just 28 percent, while 67 percent disapproved. Of course, that came toward the end of Bushs eight years in office, and amidtwo unpopular wars anda struggling economy. Former President Barack Obama, meanwhile, never dipped as low as Trump, the 44th president going only as low as 38 percent in 2013.

Its worth noting that early in their respective tenures, presidents typically experience a grace period of sorts when it comes to approval from the American people. At about this point in his first term, for instance, Bushs approval rating stood at 55 percent in the Gallup tracking poll.

Trumps approval this week did rise abovewhere former President Bill Clintons rating stood at the same point in his first term, but that seems like it could shift in the coming days. Clintons approval rating shot back up to the mid-40s by the end of June, but there have been no real signs of aturnaround for Trump.

The latestQuinnipiac survey interviewed 1,361 voters from May 31 through June 6. It had a margin of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

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Donald Trump's Approval Rating Is Better Than Bush's Worst (but They're Getting Closer) - Newsweek