Gov. Braun on federal shutdown, troops policing cities, being OK with plug pulled on $34.9M ed grant at Purdue

A few questions for the governor Wednesday. Plus, more from the attorney general’s office justifying flag etiquette accusations at LSC, TSC. And more.

Gov. Mike Braun, who touched down at the Indiana State Police Lafayette post Wednesday to tout some crime-fighting numbers to pump up ISP troopers, also covered some ground on the federal government shutdown, redistricting prospects and why he was OK with federal officials pulling the plug on a $34.9 million education program grant at Purdue this week.

Here are some of the highlights:

On the federal shutdown that started that morning: Braun said he didn’t believe the state would be affected much by a federal shutdown. He said he thought the federal government “in general, is out of line financially.”

Gov. Mike Braun (Photo: Dave Bangert)

“There’s nothing that would be that significant, and where a service was that important that we couldn’t plow our way through it,” Braun said. “That’s the difference between running a sound operation or one like the federal government runs that is an embarrassment to everyone and it puts the burden directly on our kids and grandkids. (I have) no issue with that place doing something that starts doing what everyone else has to do.”

How about if it dragged on for weeks or more?

“I’m more concerned about running the nation into the ditch financially,” Braun said. “This is just something, sooner or later, it’s got to get fixed. And sadly, I don’t know that anything real will get done. The six years I was there (as a U.S. senator), you never saw anything change, other than the same stuff getting worse. I think the current administration is trying to turn that freightliner around in the ocean.”

On Purdue’s loss this week of a $34.9 million federal GEAR Up education grant: Wednesday marked the official end of the GEAR Up program, a seven-year, $34.9 million education grant, touted a year ago as the sixth largest in Purdue history and designed to offer extra academic help to students in nine Indiana school districts, including in Lafayette. In a letter sent to Purdue in mid-September, federal officials said they were pulling the final six years of the grant due to language that included training on diversity, equity and inclusion to help hiring managers recruit tutors and others. Federal officials said they weren’t ditching GEAR Up programs, just reallocating funds from Purdue and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to programs elsewhere. Since then, Purdue officials have been mum about the situation.

Was Braun surprised by the move, particularly after he helped host a visit to Purdue by U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon this summer? He said he wasn’t, “if it’s going to be based on what is now unconstitutional DEI.”