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Newsclips - February 14, 2025

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Houston Chronicle - February 14, 2025

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says vouchers could lead to less funding for public schools

In his push for private school vouchers, Gov. Greg Abbott has repeatedly emphasized he has no intention of harming public schools. But the Texas Republican this week acknowledged that his priority policy would in fact result in public schools losing money. “The people ‘defunding’ public schools are PARENTS choosing a better option than what their assigned school provides,” Abbott wrote Wednesday in a post on X, referring to arguments that his voucher plan will defund public schools by offering parents state money to send their children elsewhere. “When they leave, the funding for that child leaves too,” Abbott wrote. “Democrats want to FORCE families to stay in government mandated schools against their will.” In a subsequent post, however, he accused Democrats of “lies & fear mongering” in arguing vouchers will drain public school funding.

“School choice doesn't take a penny from public schools,” Abbott wrote. “It's funded separately like roads and water.” The governor’s office said his remarks are consistent with how Abbott has pitched his voucher program at events across the state as he has emphasized public schools will not get state funding for students they are not educating. The governor is pushing for lawmakers to pass a $1 billion voucher program that would create state-funded “education savings accounts” that students could spend on private school tuition, tutoring and other education costs. The money for the program would be allocated separately from the funds set aside for public schools, and it would be run by the comptroller’s office, rather than the Texas Education Agency, which oversees funding for the state’s public schools. However, Texas public schools are funded based on the attendance of their students. So if 50 students leave a suburban school district to use a voucher, for example, the district would lose up to several hundred thousand dollars in state funding, based on allotment totals. While the district would be serving 50 fewer students, it would still need to pay for facilities, teachers, support staff and other overhead expenses that remain mostly fixed. Abbott’s acknowledgement of the hit schools would take from a voucher plan echoes comments made privately by a TEA official in a leaked recording published by the Texas Tribune in 2023.

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Wall Street Journal - February 14, 2025

How the Trumps turned an election victory into a cash bonanza

When Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos dined with Donald Trump and his wife Melania at Mar-a-Lago in December, there was a lot at stake for both men: Bezos, a titan of industry whose company is crucial to the U.S. economy, was rebuilding his relationship with a resurgent and powerful soon-to-be president. A lot was at stake for Melania, too: She was looking for a buyer for a documentary about her transition back to first lady. Her agent had pitched the film, which she would executive produce, to a number of studios, including the one owned by Amazon. As the meeting approached, Melania consulted with director Brett Ratner on how to sell her idea to the world’s third-richest man. Melania regaled Bezos and his fiancée, Lauren Sánchez, with the project’s details at dinner. Just over two weeks later, Amazon, a company that prides itself on frugality and sharp negotiating, agreed to pay $40 million to license the film—the most Amazon had ever spent on a documentary and nearly three times the next-closest offer.

The Amazon deal is just one of the ways the new first family has benefited from its return to the White House. Companies have directed about $80 million to members of the Trump family and the Trump presidential library so far, as defendants settle lawsuits the president previously filed against them and corporations enter into new business ventures, including the documentary. This figure doesn’t include potential gains from crypto pursuits. Much of the legal settlement money will go to a fund for the president’s library, a not-for-profit whose mission is to “preserve and steward” Trump’s legacy. But Trump’s share of a $10 million settlement Elon Musk’s X agreed to this week is expected to go to him directly, according to people familiar with the matter. The pace and volume of the family’s moneymaking efforts so far are unprecedented, surpassing even the activity of Trump’s first term, which drew condemnation from ethics watchdogs and congressional Democrats.

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New York Times - February 14, 2025

Since Trump’s ‘emergency,’ what is actually happening on the border?

It was another day of President Trump’s declared national emergency at the southwestern border, and there was not a migrant in sight outside Nogales, Ariz. Teresa Fast, a Border Patrol agent, bumped her truck over dirt roads, past other agents posted up in the desert. Their radios were silent. “Right now in the field, we really don’t have anything going on,” she said. On his first day in office, Mr. Trump turned on the sirens and asserted that only an emergency declaration could halt the “invasion” along the border. He then dispatched troops to help turn back migrants, sent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to “sanctuary cities,” and opened a tent city at the military base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, that houses the accused masterminds of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack — all in the name of defending a border that feels quieter than it has in years. A record-breaking swell of migration during the Biden administration had largely receded by the time Mr. Trump took office last month.

Crossings fell even further during his first weeks in office, officials and aid groups say, as he closed the door to asylum seekers and ordered deportations and a sweeping crackdown inside the country. In South Texas, shelters that held dozens of migrants just before Mr. Trump took office are now down to a few families. A shelter in McAllen said its population had fallen to about nine by the end of January, from 97 on Jan. 20. In San Antonio, a shelter run by Catholic Charities plans to shut its doors entirely because of a lack of new arrivals. Along the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, about 150 miles west of San Antonio, Texas National Guard troops stood guard along the border near a stray dog on Inauguration Day. As the dog lazed in the dirt in Shelby Park, one guardsman ruminated about new missions to alleviate the boredom. The numbers do show a steep decline. Last week, the new Border Patrol chief said that apprehensions in one seven-day period were down by 91 percent from the same time a year ago. In Tucson, Ariz., which was once the busiest section of the entire border, apprehensions and other encounters with immigrants have fallen to about 450 per week from 1,200 per week in late January, officials said. One day last week, just 22 people were being held in custody in the Tucson sector, compared with 500 a month ago.

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Houston Chronicle - February 14, 2025

Texas Senate greenlights new property tax cuts despite concerns over mounting costs

The Texas Senate moved swiftly this week to advance property tax relief, one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s emergency items this session. On Thursday, the chamber voted unanimously to increase the state’s homestead exemption on school district taxes from $100,000 to $140,000. A homestead exemption lowers the taxable value of a home. The move would save homeowners an average of $363 annually, said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican who authored Senate Bill 4 and has led the chamber in property tax relief in previous sessions. Increasing the homestead exemption would cost the state roughly $3 billion over two years and add to a growing tab. Since 2019, the Texas Legislature has passed $51 billion in property tax relief, which must be included in the state’s budget for the upcoming biennium. That represents roughly 14% of the state’s total spending.

In debate on the Senate floor Thursday, lawmakers from both parties expressed concern that they wouldn’t be able to continue to carve out such a large part of the state budget to buy down homeowners’ property taxes. The tax cut doesn’t apply to second homes or businesses. “We're building a large obligation and it's going to detract from things we absolutely have to do if we're not careful,” said state Sen. Charles Perry, a Lubbock Republican. Local property taxes fund public school districts, and raising the homestead exemption means districts will collect fewer dollars. To make up the difference, the state promises to reimburse districts for any lost tax revenue. “We are keeping the school districts whole,” said state Sen. Mayes Middleton, a Republican from Galveston, in a committee hearing on Tuesday. Public school advocates worry that in future years, when the state doesn’t have such a large budget surplus, lawmakers will be forced to cut funding to schools or other big-ticket items to pay for property tax cuts passed during flush years.

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State Stories

Dallas Morning News - February 14, 2025

Greg Abbott offers details on what Texas offers in return for $11 billion for border costs

Gov. Greg Abbott, back on Capitol Hill to request an $11 billion federal refund for state border security costs, provided more details Thursday about what Texas offers in return. Abbott’s plan involves making 4,000 detention beds available free of charge to President Donald Trump and border czar Tom Homan as they implement mass deportations of those in the country without authorization. “About 2,000 of them are areas in several prison units that we have the ability to make sure those beds are available,” Abbott said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also would have access to land capable of holding another 2,000 beds in “soft-sided facilities,” or tents, that could be erected in days, Abbott told The Dallas Morning News.

The state would waive rental fees typically collected when federal authorities use detention beds, Abbott said. The state also would not charge to house federal troops or agents at two military bases the state built in Eagle Pass and Del Rio, he said. “It’s not as if we’re getting some money for nothing for the United States of America,” Abbott said. “We’re making sure that the United States of America is receiving tangible assets in return for any money they may be providing to us.” Abbott was in Washington for Trump’s inauguration last month. He returned last week to meet the president in the Oval Office and was scheduled for more meetings with White House staff Thursday afternoon. The governor started his trip Wednesday at the U.S. Capitol, where he met first with Texas Republicans and then U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. The speaker was asked by reporters about the $11 billion request as he walked into his office for the Abbott meeting.

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Houston Chronicle - February 14, 2025

Texas' plan to expand family leave has one missing piece – participants

In 2023, shortly after state lawmakers began banning nearly all abortions, they passed what they called an innovative, business-friendly way to expand paid parental leave to millions of working Texans. The law lets businesses buy paid leave insurance to offer employees alongside other benefits like health or dental coverage. Unlike in some Democratic-led states, where paid leave is mandated, the Texas insurance option is completely voluntary. “This product is a market solution to the growing market demand for paid family leave,” state Rep. Lacey Hull, a Houston Republican who authored the legislation, told lawmakers at the time. Yet two years later, there's little to show for it in a state where most parents say they don’t have the ability to care for their newborns at home while still getting paid. So far, only two insurers have signed up to offer family leave plans in Texas. Neither would say how many companies have enrolled, and it's unclear if any employees have received benefits.

The law did not require the companies or the state insurance department to collect data on enrollment, making it impossible to fully gauge the program's success. In New Hampshire, one of eight other states that took a similar approach and one of the few with available data, 3% of the workforce enrolled in a paid leave insurance plan in its first year. And that was after a public awareness campaign, autoenrollment for state employees and financial incentives for companies that sign up – none of which was included in Texas' law. South Carolina’s insurance director noted in December that none of the six insurers that had signed up for its program had sold a single policy. Kristin Smith, director of the Policy Research Shop at the Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College, is doubtful that the insurance offering in Texas will spur broader change in the availability of paid family leave. Employers have had decades to provide their own leave policies or offer other types of insurance – like short-term disability – that can sometimes be used for family leave. “Private sector employers have had 30 years to offer this,” Smith said. “And my read is, those who can and want to are already offering this.” Texas has led the country in cracking down on abortion access since 2021, when it became the first state to ban abortions past six weeks. It became the biggest state to ban the procedure in nearly all cases, after the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal protections the next year. At the same time, state lawmakers have done little to ease the financial burden that millions of new parents face.

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Dallas Morning News - February 14, 2025

Mavs will be relying on this to salvage the season and controversial Doncic-Davis deal

I don’t think it’s unfair to say the Dallas Mavericks staggered into the All-Star break Thursday night even if the team has been winning more than losing during these trying times. The club is reeling from a trade that is, to be overly kind, “controversial’’ all the while building up an injured list that knows no limits. Against the Miami Heat at the AAC Thursday, the Mavs had eight players out and nine players in. With possibly an entire starting five out of the lineup, Dallas still won 118-113 against a ragged Miami Heat team. The Mavs overcame 40 points from Tyler Herro, and you might have expected 19 from Max Christie because that’s about what he has produced every night since coming from LA. Not sure any of us anticipated 27 from Dante Exum. “We missed (Exum) after day one of training camp,’’ Head Coach Jason Kidd said. “Not having him for most of the season, that’s a big hole but we never complained. We just waited for him to get back.’’

If Exum doesn’t shoot an improbable 11 for 13 Thursday, the Mavs probably don’t win. Regardless, Dallas hit the All-Star break with a 30-26 record, good for eighth in the West. If the playoffs started now Kidd is grateful they don’t), Dallas would go to Minnesota for a play-in game and, failing to win that, would have a do-or-die home date against Sacramento or Golden State for the final playoff spot. Kyrie Irving was among those ruled out Thursday, not because of a debilitating injury but because Kidd was running him into the ground, trying to keep the team from going over the side of a cliff. In the last five games before Thursday, Irving played 42, 40, 42, 44 and 40 minutes and he scored 42 points late Wednesday night in Dallas’ 111-107 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Irving’s next game will be Sunday’s All-Star Game in San Francisco. He is Anthony Davis’ injury replacement even though he deserved to make the original 12-man squad with the season he’s having ( 24.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists). Irving’s 41.3% shooting from the arc is the third-best of his 14-year career and he’s flirting with having his fifth 50-40-90 season (percentages on field goals, threes, free throws) and second in Dallas.

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Dallas Morning News - February 14, 2025

Texas’ status for top research universities is growing. Here’s what to know

After nearly two decades of concerted effort to bolster Texas’ standing as a go-to destination for top research universities, the state has significantly expanded the number of schools reaching the tier 1 status. Southern Methodist University and UT Southwestern Medical Center are among the 16 Texas institutions that are now R1 research universities, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education announced Thursday. That classification is awarded to schools that show significant spending on research as well as a high production of research doctorates. The status is a key driver in attracting top faculty, students and even industries to areas. That can, in turn, mean more grant funding and drive innovation as the quality of faculty improves, university officials say. Texas leaders had long lamented that the state lagged far behind others in research schools, with only three Texas universities having the R1 designation in 2008.

A combination of state incentive funding, private donations and industry partnerships helped more schools get closer to the mark. Then the Carnegie Classification revamped how to qualify for this year’s designations, which included eliminating a cap. The result is an expanded number of schools on track to reach the status. A dozen public universities and four private schools make up the state’s R1 institutions. The University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Arlington and UT Dallas are Dallas-area schools with the status. Across the country, 187 institutions received R1 designation this year. Meanwhile, the state has new schools rising up to the R2 level, including Texas Woman’s University, East Texas A&M University in Commerce and Abilene Christian University. Texas now has 16 schools with that designation, with 139 institutions receiving it nationwide this year.

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Houston Chronicle - February 14, 2025

Houston's 22 departments suffer misuse of city credit cards, widespread inefficiencies, analysis shows

A sweeping study of Houston’s 22 city departments revealed potential misuse of credit cards, inefficient contracting practices with city vendors and a pressing need to streamline city government to make it more responsive to the public, according to an executive summary obtained by the Houston Chronicle. The review, conducted by the accounting firm Ernst & Young, pinpointed long-standing problems with the way city government operates, and offered solutions at the request of Mayor John Whitmire. Among the findings:

The review found significant concerns with the city’s contracting procedures. Only a few vendors held around 80% of the city’s contracts. Some departments had multiple contracts with the same vendor, and other departments had multiple vendors for the same service. Authorized city employees can obtain purchasing cards, or “p-cards,” that essentially act the same way as a corporate credit card so they can make purchases for city business. The study found that p-card payments were split to allow for larger purchases that would have typically been over spending limits, and that some items were purchased from unauthorized vendors. Around 42% of city managers only have one to three people who report to them, the report shows, and the city has challenges with pay equity and competitive compensation. The report also notes that career pathways gaps created opportunities for “fake promotions” of employees into management roles that didn’t oversee anyone.

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Houston Chronicle - February 14, 2025

A Texan is taking over the USDA as it targets funding for food stamps and school nutrition

For the first time in the nation’s history, a Texan will be leading the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which runs federal nutrition programs like school lunches and food stamps. That became certain on Thursday as the U.S. Senate voted, 72-28, to confirm North Texas Republican Brooke Rollins to be President Donald Trump’s secretary of agriculture. Rollins, who is from a small town outside of Fort Worth, sailed through confirmation hearings while emphasizing her family’s deep roots in farming and ranching in Texas. "Farmers and ranchers are the cornerstone of our nation's communities,” she said during a hearing last month. “If confirmed, I will do everything in my ability to make sure our farmers, ranchers and rural communities thrive."

While the agency has key oversight over farming and ranching, it is also a major piece to food nutrition programs like the national food stamp programs and school lunch programs. Those types of programs have been in the crosshairs of some Republican groups that accused former President Joe Biden’s administration of going too far in expanding them. Project 2025, the conservative blueprint written by Republican groups in preparation for a new Trump administration, has called for increasing work requirements on families who get benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the primary food stamp program. They also have advocated for reducing school lunch programs so they are targeted to only truly needy children while they are enrolled in school. Rollins was not part of the drafting of Project 2025, but she faced a series of questions during her confirmation hearing on how she would handle food nutrition programs, including school lunch programs that go to more than 3 million Texas school children. Rollins, a Texas A&M graduate and former legislative advisor to former Gov. Rick Perry, said she has a “real heart” for helping people in federal nutrition programs.

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Houston Chronicle - February 14, 2025

Judge orders New York doctor to stop mailing abortion pills to Texas patients

A Collin County judge on Thursday ordered a New York doctor to stop prescribing and mailing abortion pills to patients in Texas and fined her more than $100,000, according to The New York Times. The first-of-its-kind case that is expected to ascend to the U.S. Supreme Court has the potential to settle an ongoing conflict as blue states like New York have attempted to shield abortion providers from litigation and prosecution by red states with broad abortion bans. The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in December, alleged that Dr. Margaret Carpenter sent abortion pills to a woman by mail, even though Carpenter isn’t licensed to practice in Texas. Under Texas’ law, abortion is only allowed if the mother’s life is at risk and abortion pills cannot be sent by mail.

New York and seventeen other states have passed so-called shield laws trying to protect officials and agencies that refuse to cooperate with subpoenas and other legal maneuvers in cases that go after abortion providers, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Paxton’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Carpenter. Julie F. Kay, executive director of the group Carpenter founded, the Abortion Coalition of Telemedicine, stressed that medication abortion "remains safe, legal, and available via telemedicine." "The ruling in Texas does not change that under Shield Laws, patients can access medication abortion from licensed providers no matter where they live," Kay said. Since Texas filed its suit, Louisiana filed a criminal case against Carpenter and has attempted to extradite her. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she will not allow that to happen, setting up a likely legal battle.

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Dallas Morning News - February 14, 2025

The NYSE just made ‘Y’all Street' more crowded in Dallas. But here’s how Texas can benefit

The Texas Stock Exchange made waves when it debuted in June 2024 with $120 million in backing from financial giants like BlackRock and Citadel Securities. Apparently, the impact was so strong that the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq — who have long held a duopoly over the U.S. equity market — felt the need to move in next door. The Big Board raised eyebrows on Wednesday by moving to reincorporate its Chicago branch in Dallas under the new name NYSE Texas, in the wake of the Nasdaq putting a new regional management division in Irving. The TXSE and its backers have clearly “rattled NYSE and NASDAQ,” said Kirti Sinha, a University of Texas at Dallas assistant professor of accounting. “If you look at other stock exchanges like the Miami Stock Exchange that opened in 2020, nothing really happened,” Sinha noted.

“Nobody did anything. But NYSE and NASDAQ are both starting their offices in Dallas, so that does say that they are considering the Texas Stock Exchange as their competition,” she adds. It remains to be seen whether TXSE can actually peel away businesses from NYSE and Nasdaq, and grab its own major listings. There’s still a prestige to listing on the Big Board, experts say, while Nasdaq has made its name hosting tech giants like Apple and Alphabet. In the short term, however, industry observers say “Y’all Street” getting more crowded validates the growth of the Texas economy, and the emergence of the Dallas-Fort Worth region as a major player on the financial stage. But in the long term, the competition between the exchanges can further juice the state’s growth, establish it as a hub in the global financial system, and help address systemic issues in the public market. Modern stock trading happens electronically, and TXSE ? on track to go live in early 2026 ? will be no different. But that’s a far cry from making geography obsolete. “Texas is the most powerful economy in the nation, and now we will become the financial capital of America,” said Gov. Greg Abbott in a statement. “With the launch of NYSE Texas, we will expand our financial might in the United States and cement our great state as an economic powerhouse on the global stage.” The Texas Stock Exchange sees a major opportunity in Texas and, more broadly, the U.S. Southeast.

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Austin American-Statesman - February 13, 2025

Texas lottery jackpots are vulnerable to money-laundering operators, Senate panel says

The Texas Lottery Commission, already under fire by a state oversight agency for lax management and providing gambling activities outside of the letter of the law, was accused by a legislative panel Wednesday of allowing its jackpots to be used as a potential vehicle for money laundering. The accusation came during a contentious Senate Finance Committee hearing in which several lawmakers showed flashes of anger when the lottery's executive director and members of the governor-appointed commission that oversees the agency struggled to explain why it lets third-party vendors sell tickets by way of a smartphone app for high-jackpot drawing games. The statute that established the Texas Lottery in the early 1990s expressly forbids using telephones to sell tickets. The app sales, several senators told lottery representatives, could be used by minors, and they accused the so-called courier companies that operate the apps of allowing single buyers to purchase tens of millions of dollars' worth of tickets for a single drawing of Lotto Texas, effectively buying up all, or nearly all, the possible number combinations.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, referenced the cash value of a Lotto jackpot won in April 2023 by someone who had made a multimillion-dollar bulk purchase from a retailer in North Texas as a possible exercise in money laundering. "If I was trying to launder money into this country, I would buy $25 million worth of lottery tickets and not only launder my bad money, my suspect money, I (would get) a 2-to-1 return on a $50 million jackpot," Bettencourt said. "I bring this up because we can't gloss over this; we can't look the other way. We have to look directly at this. This is a 99% probability of money laundering." When lottery Executive Director Ryan Mindell said he "couldn't commit" to the lawmaker's assertion as being true, Bettencourt summoned Lottery Commission Chairman Robert Rivera and two commission members to the witness chair and asked them if they should have suspected money laundering in the matter. All agreed that, in hindsight, they should have. The Texas Lottery, already the subject of a scathing report by the state's Sunset Commission for poor management and oversight, faced the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday as it seeks to justify its biennial budget request. And least one member of the committee is seeking to trim the lottery's sales after it recently opened a back channel that lets players buy tickets through phone apps.

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Dallas Morning News - February 13, 2025

Sen. Ted Cruz urges Texas House speaker to hold firm on ‘school choice’ bill

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz this week urged Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows to resist any moves to water down “school choice” proposals. “I urge you to support the most substantial universal Education Savings Accounts bill possible this session,” Cruz said in a letter. “Do not be swayed by attempts to compromise or weaken this critical, life-altering legislation. It is also essential that the final bill provide a pathway to expand the program in the future, ensuring every student in Texas has access.” Republican budget writers have proposed spending $1 billion of the state’s nearly $24 billion surplus to create education savings accounts for Texas schoolchildren. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has estimated about 90,000 students could access the fund.

A longtime national proponent of school choice, Cruz has expressed chagrin that in his estimation Texas lags Florida and other right-leaning states on the issue. The Texas Republican often refers to school choice as “the civil rights issue of our time.” In an interview at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, Cruz said he sent Burrows the letter because the Texas Legislature has an opportunity to pass historic legislation. He said he will keep fighting for the strongest version possible until it is signed into law. “This year is the year, and I think, ironically, the opponents of school choice will come to regret killing it two years ago because I think what is going to happen in Texas is we are going to pass a much bigger and bolder school choice bill than could possibly have passed two years ago,” Cruz said. Gov. Greg Abbott made school choice an emergency item during his State of the State address and the Texas Senate quickly approved Senate Bill 2. Past proposals to use taxpayer money to help families pay for private school education have died in the House. Supporters say the approach empowers parents. Opponents say it takes public money away from public schools and delivers it to private ones not subject to the same standards and scrutiny.

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Dallas Morning News - February 13, 2025

SMU, UTSW receive coveted top research university status

An overhaul by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education to its classification system meant more schools — including medical institutions — could qualify for R1 status this year. The American Council on Education, or ACE, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching revamped how it classifies schools to more accurately reflect work on campuses and to minimize the unwarranted competition between schools, officials said. Most notably, R1 status was previously determined on a sliding scale with 10 metrics and capped at a certain number each year. The new system has a clear threshold that requires schools to have reached at least $50 million in research spending and award 70 research doctorates annually. “Before these updates, it was not clear what was required for institutions to earn a research designation,” Mushtaq Gunja, executive director of the Carnegie Classification systems and senior vice president at ACE, said in a statement. “This confusion created distractions and unproductive competition between colleges and universities.”

Some medical centers could not qualify under the previous criteria despite hitting key benchmarks, such as hundreds of millions of dollars in research each year, because of the complex grading in the previous system. ow, UT Southwestern Medical Center joins the Baylor College of Medicine as well as the University of Texas System’s health science centers in Houston and San Antonio in receiving the status, according to Carnegie. That brings Texas’ total of R1 schools to 16, including the University of North Texas and the UT schools in Arlington and Dallas, which previously achieved the status. Texas had only three universities reaching that designation in 2008. With Dallas being one of the fastest growing metro areas in the country, the area needs robust research universities to be a driving force in attracting industry and spurring innovation, Nair said. [SMU is a supporter of the Education Lab.]

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram - February 13, 2025

Johnson County declares disaster over PFAS contamination

Johnson County commissioners have issued a disaster declaration after tests found forever chemicals in soil, water and animal tissue on agricultural land. The unanimous vote on Feb. 11 paves the way for federal help for those whose land has been contaminated by PFAS in fertilizer made from sewage sludge. They also passed a a resolution urging Gov. Greg Abbot to declare an emergency related to the use of biosolids containing the forever chemicals. The disaster declaration comes almost a year after five farmers living near Grandview sued the EPA after their livestock died or were born with deformities, alleging the agency failed to regulate forever chemicals. The farmers are also suing Synagro Technologies Inc. and its Texas subsidiary, which manufactures fertilizer made from sewage sludge. Synagro contracts with Fort Worth to manage the city’s biosolids program, which involves separating solids in the sewage treatment process and recycling the waste into granulate fertilizer. After the sludge is treated in Fort Worth, it is sent to farms in Johnson, Hill and Wise counties. Commissioners

Commissioners said they are concerned about public health and public safety because forever chemicals don’t break down and can accumulate in humans and animals. Forever chemicals, also known as PFAS, are man-made synthetics used in a range of products, including carpet, clothing and nonstick cookware. They don’t break down, and they accumulate in the human body and in the environment. They’re in the blood of people and animals across the world, as well as the air, water and soil, according to the EPA. They are also known to cause health problems such as cancer. “That’s what we’re here to discuss today is to declare an emergency in Johnson County due to the profound contamination that we have found in this county due to soil, groundwater, surface water, animal tissue and fish tissue,” Precinct 4 commissioner Larry Woolley said. “No other county in the state of Texas has ever stepped out of this box largely due to the fact that county commissioner courts don’t have jurisdiction over land application over biosolids.” The five farmers who filed the lawsuit allege a neighbor spread the fertilizer on his land which then contaminated their property. They did not use the product. Johnson County spent $30,000 to test the soil, groundwater, surface water and tissue from dead cattle and fish. Detective Dana Ames, an environmental investigator for Precinct 4, conducted an investigation that lasted for over a year. The nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility conducted the tests and sent the samples to a lab approved by the Texas Commission on environmental Quality. “The contaminant numbers that we’ve revealed, that our test data has shown are so profound and so astounding that they know they have a public obligation to assist us,” said Woolley, the commissioner, referring to the federal government. During the meeting some in the audience expressed concerns that a disaster declaration could affect property values. “I understand that there is a concern about property values, but we can’t put profit over people,” Ames said.

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Houston Chronicle - February 14, 2025

In Texas, Trump didn't just win at the ballot box. He outraised Kamala Harris 2 to 1.

President Donald Trump didn’t just prove that Texas remains red at the ballot box back in November. New campaign finance reports show Texas remained one of the few big states in America where Trump was able to outraise former Vice President Kamala Harris even as she shattered national fundraising records by raising more than $1 billion. Harris outraised Trump in California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan. But in Texas, it was a different story. Trump raised $44 million from donors compared to $39 million Harris raised here. And that doesn’t include the more than $250 million Elon Musk, who now lives in Texas, gave to a super PAC to help Trump win in swing states. For her part, Harris raised more out of Texas than any previous Democratic presidential candidate in history thanks in large part to Austin and Houston donors who both gave her more than $7 million each. She raised more than twice as much money from those two cities combined than Trump pulled in. She also outraised Trump in Dallas and San Antonio.

But outside of those major cities, it became a very different story. Trump outraised her everywhere else in Texas by a 2 to 1 margin. That included outraising her in Fort Worth, Midland, Plano, Lubbock, Beaumont, Waco and Corpus Christi. Both candidates spent a lot of time in Texas during the campaign. Just days after Harris jumped in the race she was in Houston for speeches and fundraising. Trump meanwhile started his entire campaign Waco and made a final fundraising push through Texas in early October that included stops in Houston and Midland.

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Dallas Morning News - February 13, 2025

Hopper files House bill to abolish the Texas Education Agency

A North Texas Republican wants to abolish the state agency that oversees primary and secondary public education. Freshman state Rep. Andy Hopper, R-Decatur, this week filed House Bill 2657, a proposal to transfer the powers and duties of the Texas Education Agency and the education commissioner to the State Board of Education, TEA’s policy-making body. The bill, filed with no co-authors, also would transfer the public school finance and fiscal management responsibilities to the state comptroller, whose new duties would include adopting an annual budget for the Foundation School Program, a key source of funding for Texas school districts. Hopper’s bill came as President Donald Trump has backed abolishing the U.S. Department of Education.

Hopper called the TEA “a largely useless state bureaucracy” that “exemplifies rampant, unaccountable bureaucracy and bloat.” “President Trump has called upon every level of government to eliminate inefficiencies and waste,” Hopper said in a statement. “Texans pour billions into this state [agency] with the expectation that it will somehow improve education, but have been consistently and profoundly disappointed in the results.” The agency’s annual budget for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 is more than $38 billion. In the TEA’s legislative allocation request for fiscal years 2026-27, Education Commissioner Mike Morath said learning disruptions from the COVID 19 pandemic still “exacerbate disparities in student outcomes and achievement.” Morath also said student enrollment is at an all-time high with a racially and ethnically diverse student population. More than 60% of school-age children are economically disadvantaged, he said, and more than 1 million students’ first language is something other than English.

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Border Report - February 14, 2025

Pope Francis encourages South Texas nun to help the unfortunate

Fresh off her trip to the Vatican, Sister Norma Pimentel says she is heartened by a recent letter from Pope Francis condemning the deportation of immigrants. In his letter to U.S. bishops, the pope called the mass deportations a “major crisis that is taking place in the United States.” President Donald Trump has promised his administration will deport millions of immigrants who he says have no right to remain in the country. “The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality,” the pope wrote. Pope Francis did say countries have a right “to defend itself and keep communities safe from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival.” But he added “the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”

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National Stories

Politico - February 14, 2025

Senior Republican senator ‘puzzled and disturbed’ by Hegseth’s Ukraine remarks

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made a “rookie mistake” when he said a return to Ukraine’s pre-war borders was “unrealistic,” Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker said Friday. Hegseth on Thursday pulled back some of the comments he made about Ukraine a day earlier, where he said that NATO membership for Kyiv was off the table and that the country could not return to its internationally recognized borders. “Hegseth is going to be a great defense secretary, although he wasn’t my choice for the job,” the Mississippi Republican told POLITICO on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “But he made a rookie mistake in Brussels and he’s walked back some of what he said but not that line."

"I don’t know who wrote the speech — it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool," Wicker said, referring to the pro-Putin broadcaster. Speaking to Jonathan Martin at the POLITICO Pub in the Munich conference, Wicker — a staunch Ukraine supporter — said he was “surprised” by Hegseth’s original comments and “heartened” that the new defense secretary had reversed course. Wicker said he favors a firm posture with Moscow. “I prefer we didn't give away negotiating positions before we actually get started talking about the end of the Russia-Ukraine war,” Wicker said. President Donald Trump this week held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war; Vice President JD Vance will meet in Munich Friday with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Hegseth wasn't freelancing. Trump on Thursday said there was a "good possibility of ending that horrible, very bloody war." He also said it was not "practical" for Kyiv to join NATO and "unlikely" that Ukraine could return to its 2014 pre-invasion borders.

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Politico - February 14, 2025

Swing-district Republicans are questioning Mike Johnson’s budget

Speaker Mike Johnson has cleared a major hurdle toward unlocking the massive, party-line bill he’s pursuing to enact President Donald Trump’s vast domestic agenda. Now he’s got more jumping to do. On Thursday, as Republican hard-liners celebrated a concession they won from party leaders to force deeper spending cuts as part of the GOP’s sweeping policy push, centrists expressed deep alarm about the trajectory of the massive legislation that will include border security, energy, defense and tax provisions. The emerging fault lines are many: GOP members in high-tax blue states are concerned that the plan doesn’t leave enough room to expand the state and local tax deduction. And Senate Republicans and some House hard-liners aren’t ready to give up on a competing two-bill plan.

But Johnson’s most immediate problem comes from swing-district Republicans who believe that the steep spending cuts Johnson wants across Medicaid, food assistance and other safety-net programs for low-income Americans could cost them their seats — and Johnson his razor-thin GOP majority. “I don’t know where they’re going to get the cuts,” said Rep. David Valadao, who represents a heavily Democratic district in central California, as he left the Capitol on Thursday. The House Budget Committee cleared the fiscal blueprint for the massive policy bill on a party-line vote late Thursday night, and Johnson intends to bring it to the floor when the House returns from recess later this month. But with a two-vote majority, Johnson has virtually no room for error. And opposition from members like Valadao could force him and committee chairs to go back to the drawing board. Low-key and soft-spoken, Valadao is the stylistic and ideological opposite of the fire-breathing hard-liners on Johnson’s right flank. His district in California’s Central Valley is one of the six Hispanic-majority GOP seats where more than 20 percent of households receive food aid benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is being targeted under the GOP budget for some $230 billion in spending cuts.

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Washington Post - February 14, 2025

Trump administration directs agency heads to fire most probationary staff

The Trump administration on Thursday moved swiftly to fire thousands of workers and directed agency heads to terminate most trial and probationary staff — a move that could affect as many as 200,000 employees, according to four people familiar with internal conversations who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly. It was not immediately clear how many of those hired by the federal government within the last two years would be affected. One person familiar with the matter said some employees, such as those working on public safety and law enforcement issues, would be spared, and agency heads could exempt others. Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the largest union representing federal workers, said in a statement his union would “fight these firings every step of the way,” including by pursuing “every legal challenge available.”

“Employees were given no notice, no due process, and no opportunity to defend themselves in a blatant violation of the principles of fairness and merit that are supposed to govern federal employment,” Kelley said. Agencies appeared to move quickly on Thursday to carry out the directive, according to interviews with dozens of federal employees and records obtained by The Washington Post. Thousands of workers were laid off in messages delivered through prerecorded videos and on group calls. Some were ordered to leave the building within 30 minutes. Others were told they would be formally fired by emails, which never arrived. The latest data shows there were more than 220,000 federal employees within their one-year probationary period as of last March, according to Fedscope. These workers typically have little protection from being fired without cause. “It’s stripping out, likely, a whole new generation of talent for our government, who are targeted not because of evidence of poor performance but because they are easier to get rid of,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on improving government.

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Washington Post - February 14, 2025

U.S. plan to award $400M vehicle contract removes reference to Musk’s Tesla

The State Department planned to spend $400 million over the next five years on a contract to build armored electric vehicles with Tesla, whose chief executive, Elon Musk, has been advising President Donald Trump on how to slim federal spending, according to government documents. The lucrative contract — which is projected to be awarded in September — was published on the State Department’s website last year in accordance with transparency laws aimed at boosting competition in the government’s procurement process and was amended Wednesday to remove Tesla as a manufacturer. After the website Drop Site News and other outlets reported on the possible contract going to a company owned by Musk, the document was updated to omit any reference to Tesla, changing the “Armored Tesla” contract to one for “Armored Electric Vehicles,” although the contract’s $400 million value remained the same. The potential contract was listed as being in the “planning” stage.

The original procurement forecast, which did not specify which of Tesla’s vehicle models could be purchased, is viewable online through the Wayback Machine. A State Department spokesperson said that the documents were a holdover from the last administration and that no contract had been awarded to produce armored electric vehicles for the department. “The solicitation is on hold and there are no current plans to issue it,” the spokesperson said. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment. The potential Tesla contract was listed on procurement projections as early as December, according to the Wayback Machine, after Trump’s election but before he took office. The document describes itself as a “projection of contracting opportunities” and also includes three other potential contracts for armored vehicles, including one with BMW, that total $130 million. The removal of the reference to Tesla in the disclosure added to the sharpened focus on the influential role played by Musk within the Trump administration. “This is what they call efficiency?” Richard Painter, a law professor and former White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said in a post on X. “Transparency is what builds trust,” Musk said Tuesday from the Oval Office, in response to a reporter’s question on whether he would disclose any potential conflicts of interest that arose from his role.

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Stateline - February 14, 2025

States debate prison spending as needs grow but budgets tighten

As governors and state legislatures shape their corrections budgets for the current and upcoming fiscal years, many are struggling to balance major investments in public safety with rising costs and slowing revenues. These budget discussions are unfolding against a national backdrop in which the Trump administration is prioritizing law and order. Many states, particularly Republican-led ones, are feeling pressure to align their legislative priorities, with some proposing increased public safety funding to target illegal immigration and drug trafficking. Still, states face new financial constraints after years of revenue growth, and lawmakers are looking for ways to cut back. So even though states might have increased spending on public safety in recent years, experts expect the corrections budgets for jails and prisons to level off, according to Brian Sigritz, the director of state fiscal studies for the National Association of State Budget Officers.

“The public safety requests will have to be weighed against the other funding priorities,” Sigritz told Stateline. In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed spending nearly $510 million and adding 36 new positions in various agencies to support federal immigration enforcement. He also has proposed $8 million for infrastructure improvements and more than $2 million for radio tower replacements and satellite phones for probation officers in rural counties. His budget would allocate roughly $3 million for corrections-related communications and security, which includes drone detection technology, thermal fence cameras and license plate readers. But while governors propose budgets that highlight their priorities, legislatures decide where the money actually goes. Lawmakers and corrections advocates have raised concerns about the Florida prison system’s aging facilities. Many built before 1980 lack central heat or air conditioning. Despite years of budget surpluses, efforts to improve conditions for inmates and staff have been limited, with DeSantis vetoing funding for new facilities in recent years.

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New York Times - February 13, 2025

Order to drop Adams case prompts resignations in New York and Washington

Manhattan’s U.S. attorney on Thursday resigned rather than obey an order from a top Justice Department official to drop the corruption case against New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams. Then, when Justice Department officials transferred the case to the public integrity section in Washington, which oversees corruption prosecutions, the two men who led that unit also resigned, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. Several hours later, three other lawyers in the unit also resigned, according to people familiar with the developments. The serial resignations represent the most high-profile public resistance so far to President Trump’s tightening control over the Justice Department. They were a stunning repudiation of the administration’s attempt to force the dismissal of the charges against Mr. Adams. The departures of the U.S. attorney, Danielle R. Sassoon, and the officials who oversaw the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, Kevin O. Driscoll and John Keller, came in rapid succession on Thursday. Days earlier, the acting No. 2 official at the Justice Department, Emil Bove III, had ordered Manhattan prosecutors to drop the case against Mr. Adams.

The agency’s justification for dropping the case was explicitly political; Mr. Bove had argued that the investigation would prevent Mr. Adams from fully cooperating with Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown. Mr. Bove made a point of saying that Washington officials had not evaluated the strength of the evidence or the legal theory behind the case. Ms. Sassoon, in a remarkable letter addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, said that Mr. Bove’s order to dismiss the case was “inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts.” “I have always considered it my obligation to pursue justice impartially, without favor to the wealthy or those who occupy important public office, or harsher treatment for the less powerful,” she said. “I therefore deem it necessary to the faithful discharge of my duties to raise the concerns expressed in this letter with you and to request an opportunity to meet to discuss them further.”

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USA Today - February 14, 2025

Senate confirms Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services

The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Health and Human Services secretary on Thursday, giving the longtime vaccine skeptic who has vowed to take on "big pharma" and ultra-processed food the power to oversee the nation’s food and health care systems. Kennedy, 71, a longtime environmental lawyer, was confirmed by a vote of 52-48. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who survived polio before Jonas Salk's breakthrough vaccine in the 1950s, voted against Kennedy after raising concerns about his position on vaccination. The former Republican majority leader has angered some of Trump's supporters for votes and views that conflict with the president's. At his confirmation hearing, Kennedy, who has no academic background in medicine or health care, said his “journey into the issue of health” began with his career as an attorney working with hunters, fishermen and communities along the Hudson River in New York.

“I learned that human health and environmental health are intertwined and inseparable,” he said. “The same chemicals that kill fish also sicken human beings.” Kennedy’s popularity among many, particularly mothers worried about additives and food dyes in the meals they consume, has largely been attributed to him calling out food companies. His platform is called "Make America Healthy Again." The mothers call themselves MAHA Moms. He has said he will “reorient federal health agencies toward chronic disease and rid them of Big Pharma’s influence," and ban hundreds of food additives and chemicals that are already banned in other countries. President Donald Trump, for his part, has said he’ll let Kennedy “go wild” on food, health and medicine. As the head of HHS, Kennedy will oversee the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ever since Trump announced Kennedy as his pick to head HHS, medical professionals and public officials had been sounding the alarm on Kennedy’s earlier statements undermining confidence in vaccines, including falsely linking them to autism. Decades of studies show vaccines do not cause autism.

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Religion News Service - February 14, 2025

'Millions will die,' Catholic humanitarian organizations warn, if halt in US aid continues

As the Trump administration put a 90-day hold on foreign aid payments in order to look for what it termed wasteful spending, leaders of Catholic aid groups are warning that even short delays will result in the deaths among aid recipients, as well as breaks in significant help being offered Sudanese threatened by famine, unaccompanied Ethopian refugee children, and Yazidis and Christians in Iraq. “It’s a complete stop. Millions of people will die, and hundreds of millions more will suffer,” said Alistair Dutton, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis, a federation of Catholic aid groups with 162 member organizations around the world. U.S. government funding made up 40% of all global humanitarian aid tracked by the United Nations in 2024, and Catholic organizations play a major role in running programs funded by that aid.

Catholic Relief Services, a U.S. member of Caritas Internationalis, is the top recipient of funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, which Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has largely dismantled. More than half of CRS’ revenue and support came from the U.S. government in 2023. Dutton explained that the U.S. government is also a major funder of United Nations’ humanitarian agencies that distribute funding and food to nonprofits, including other members of Caritas Internationalis. In the absence of U.S. aid, Caritas is trying to maintain services by tapping reserves, Dutton said.

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Newsclips - February 13, 2025

Lead Stories

Associated Press - February 13, 2025

US inflation got worse with rising prices on groceries and gasoline

U.S. inflation accelerated last month as the cost of groceries, gasoline and rents rose, a disappointment for families and businesses struggling with higher costs and likely underscoring the Federal Reserve’s resolve to delay further interest rate cuts. The consumer price index increased 3% in January from a year ago, Wednesday’s report from the Labor Department showed, up from 2.9% the previous month. It has increased from a 3 1/2 year low of 2.4% in September. The new data shows that inflation has remained stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% target for roughly the past six months after it fell steadily for about a year and a half. Elevated prices turned into a major political hurdle for former President Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump pledged to reduce prices on “Day 1" if elected, though most economists worry that his many proposed tariffs could at least temporarily increase costs. The unexpected boost in inflation could dampen some of the business enthusiasm that arose after Trump’s election on promises to reduce regulation and cut taxes. The Dow fell 400 points in mid-day trading Wednesday. Bond yields rose, a sign traders expect inflation and interest rates to remain high. “We’re really not making progress on inflation right now,” Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo. “This just extends the Fed’s hold.” AP correspondent Julie Walker reports US inflation worsened last month with cost of groceries and gasoline rising. Inflation often jumps in January as many companies raise their prices at the beginning of the year, though the government’s seasonal adjustment process is supposed to filter out those effects.

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Dallas Morning News - February 13, 2025

Gov. Greg Abbott is back in Washington in search of $11 billion payback for border costs

Gov. Greg Abbott returned to the nation’s capital Wednesday in his ongoing pursuit of $11 billion from the federal government to cover the cost of the state’s 4-year-old border security initiative Operation Lone Star. Making his second trip to Washington in eight days, Abbott met Wednesday with most of the Texas Republican congressional delegation, which is seeking to exert its leverage as the largest state GOP delegation in the House. Abbott later met with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who was asked by reporters about the $11 billion request as he walked into his office for the meeting. “I’m visiting with the governor right now and I’m not sure about any of that,” Johnson responded.

Abbott left the meeting a little over a half-hour later, providing no details beyond telling reporters, “The speaker’s always great.” Abbott and former President Joe Biden clashed regularly on border policies during the past four years. Abbott criticized Biden’s approach as too lax and said his failure to secure the border forced Texas to fill the void. Abbott’s initiatives included sending state troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers to the border, stringing buoys across the Rio Grande and erecting razor wire barriers in an attempt to block migrants from entering the country. He also bused more than 100,000 migrants to Democratic-run cities in other states. Those operations came with a price tag the governor has pegged at $11.1 billion, and he says the federal government should cover it. His reimbursement request comes as Republicans, facing slim majorities in the House and Senate, wrangle internally over what to prioritize in their budget plans.

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Dallas Morning News - February 13, 2025

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, ready to play ‘hardball’ for bail reform, says House is on board

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday he believes he has an agreement from the House to pass a bail reform package this session but warned he’s willing to play “hardball” to force special sessions if the legislation fails in the lower chamber. “I believe we have a commitment from the Texas House and from the speaker to pass this bail bond package,” Patrick said at a Capitol news conference. The Senate Criminal Justice Committee approved the package Wednesday afternoon on a series of 6-0 votes, with only Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, absent. Patrick, who presides over the Senate, said senators will pass the bills next week and send them to the House. In previous legislative sessions, Senate-passed measures to limit bail opportunities for violent offenses have failed to pass the House.

Patrick said he and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, met for 30 minutes Wednesday morning with family members of victims who say the bail system failed their loved ones. Patrick said Burrows, who’s serving his first term as speaker, was personally supportive of efforts to restrict bail but cautioned that he needed to look at why bail reform hadn’t previously passed the House. The Senate’s bail proposals would require two amendments to the Texas Constitution to allow bail to be denied for undocumented immigrants who are accused of felonies and for people jailed for violent or sexual crimes. Proposed amendments require support from two-thirds of the House and Senate. In the House, where there are 88 Republicans, that means 100 votes. “I am putting my faith in him that he will find 12 Democrats” to join House Republicans to pass the bills, Patrick said of Burrows. “I would think it should pass unanimously. There should not be one ‘no’ vote in the Senate or the House on this legislation.” Burrows’ office did not respond to two emails seeking details of his meeting with Patrick and victims’ family members.

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Wall Street Journal - February 13, 2025

How Mexico’s leader is rewriting the rules for handling Trump

When President Trump called her last week, President Claudia Sheinbaum was prepared to speak with a U.S. leader who wouldn’t yield on tariffs. Instead, she negotiated a deal that world leaders are studying for their own trade talks with the U.S. The Feb. 3 call was tough, often tense and ran long, almost 45 minutes, according to people familiar with the matter. Sheinbaum—who alternated between an interpreter and speaking English to make an emphatic point—stayed on message, they said, parrying Trump on trade, drugs and migration in ways that caught his attention without escalating into a disagreement. “One must speak in Trump’s language,” said a person familiar with the discussions. The coup de grace was her administration’s idea: Mexico would deploy 10,000 troops to the border to fight fentanyl flows and help with border security, matching Trump’s own show of force along the Rio Grande.

They agreed to pause tariffs for a month to see how the border enforcement went, with a similar agreement for Canada. By the end, Trump liked her toughness, but at the same time she played ball, these people said. For example, troop deployment is something that Trump loves, one Mexican official said. Later that day, Trump said he “had a great talk with Mexico.” “President Sheinbaum is a woman I like very much,” Trump told reporters, before adding that whether he liked her or not, he still had to stop drugs and illegal immigration. Sheinbaum’s surprise deal with Trump showed Canadian officials that there was a path to avoiding the punitive tariffs the U.S. had announced on Feb. 1, said a senior Canadian government official. The U.S., Canada and Mexico have a joint trade deal that tariffs would upend, dealing each country economic pain but especially for America’s neighbors. Canada at first wasn’t sure what it could put forward that would match Mexico’s offer to move 10,000 troops to the border, but then settled on creating the new position of a fentanyl czar and investing $140 million in a new unit to gather intelligence on organized crime.

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State Stories

Houston Chronicle - February 13, 2025

Greg Abbott responds to pope on deportation criticism: ‘The Bible calls for strong borders’

Pope Francis’ rebuke of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation operation apparently did little to shake Gov. Greg Abbott’s faith in the effort. A spokesman for the Texas Republican, who is a practicing Catholic, responded to the pope with a statement Wednesday saying: “The Bible calls for strong borders and law and order.” “And Jesus guided others to follow the laws of the land,” the statement said.

The response came as Abbott was in D.C. Wednesday meeting with Tom Homan, Trump’s “border czar,” who is overseeing the mass deportation regime. “Texas finally has a partner in the White House who will restore law-and-order at our southern border,” the governor wrote on the social media site X. The pope this week wrote an open letter to U.S. bishops saying that he has “followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations.” Francis, an Argentine Jesuit and the first Latin American pope, wrote that a nation has the right to defend itself and keep its communities safe from those who “have committed violent or serious crimes.” But, he wrote, “deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”

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Dallas Morning News - February 13, 2025

Can Texas chip away at its child care waitlist?

Child care significantly impacts the quality of life in Texas, so lawmakers must do more to expand access for more seats and ensure it’s affordable for working families, advocates say. They plan to stress that message in Austin during a Wednesday hearing when they urge legislators to funnel more money to a Texas Workforce Commission program that helps families pay for child care. Over 2.1 million children under six live in Texas, with 65% of their parents employed, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, excluding providers who solely serve school-age children, the Texas Workforce Commission can only provide daily subsidized child care to 114,000 kids, which excludes 560,000 other low-income children, according to the nonprofit Children at Risk.

Oak Cliff resident Stephanie Sadler described being a “nervous wreck” when her day care center closed during the onset of COVID-19 and her family couldn’t find an affordable one that was open. She and her spouse were essential workers who needed to be in-person for their jobs. Eventually, she received assistance from the Texas Workforce Commission and found another center for her daughter and son. “I don’t think people really realize how important it is to have access to affordable, good child care,” Sadler said. “It’s hard right now with the economy to live on one income, and I can’t imagine what we would do without our child care as well.” The average cost for infant care in Texas is $777 per month, or $9,324 per year — nearly 14% of the state’s median household income of $67,321, according to research from the University of Texas at Austin. The workforce commission’s Child Care Services program provides partial and full scholarships for qualifying families. The advocacy group Texans Care for Children estimates that adding $90 million a year to the program could serve about 10,000 more children.

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Houston Chronicle - February 13, 2025

Lawmakers call for inquiry into $95M Texas Lottery jackpot as lawyer accuses state officials of fraud

The Texas Lottery Commission and its former director aided and benefited from a massive fraud on the people of Texas when they helped a single player win a guaranteed $95 million Lotto Texas jackpot in April 2023, according to written testimony given at a state legislative hearing Wednesday. The drawing, in which an entity called Rook TX ensured it would win by purchasing virtually every one of the 25.8 million possible six-number combinations, has been the subject of an ongoing Houston Chronicle investigation. In his written testimony, Houston lawyer Manfred Sternberg said he represented clients “victimized by a long-running criminal conspiracy” between the Texas Lottery Commission, its former head Gary Grief and a Texas online ticket vendor, Lottery.com.

Although state officials had been alerted to numerous red flags suggesting wrongdoing, he said his clients had grown frustrated that no action has been taken against either the lottery agency or the online ticket vendor. Grief retired early last year. Sternberg said a detailed 22-page letter outlining the allegations was sent earlier this year to Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Comptroller Glenn Hegar and “multiple Texas officials including Senators, Representatives, the Lt. Governor, and the Sunset Committee.” “Our clients have been ignored by the State of Texas, and the State of Texas has been silent on investigating and prosecuting those responsible for serious crimes,” Sternberg wrote. Texas Lottery Director Ryan Mindell has said in the past that “the integrity of the game was not compromised” in the April 2023 drawing and that agency policies had been changed to make similar mass purchases more difficult in the future. Grief could not be reached for comment. Lottery.com’s chief operating officer, Greg Potts, said the company “was not in a position to comment on the letter now.”

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The Hill - February 13, 2025

Rep. Brandon Gill circulates petition to deport Omar

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) is circulating a petition for his supporters to sign to deport a fellow member of Congress, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). Gil had previously called on Omar to be deported, arguing she is more loyal to undocumented immigrants in the United States from her native Somalia than to the United States. The petition and an email circulated by Gill were first reported by Axios. Omar became a U.S. citizen in 2000 after fleeing her native country due to civil war. The Minnesota representative has been the target of Republican insults following her staunch criticism of President Trump during his first administration. “Friend, we should have never let Ilhan Omar into our country. And frankly, America would be a much better place if she were to be sent back to Somalia,” Gill wrote in the email which included a picture of him next to President Trump. As in the past, he criticized Omar for discussing how to evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram - February 13, 2025

3 arrested in child grooming investigation at Texas charter school

An Arlington charter school teacher has been arrested and fired after he was accused of having an improper relationship with a student, and the school’s principal also faces charges related to failing to report the abuse, according to court records. Another terminated employee faces a charge of child grooming, and several other school employees have been placed on leave during the ongoing investigation. The Newman International Academy Police Department first arrested Ruel Barbee, 53, who had been working as an instructional aide at the academy’s Gibbins school in Arlington since 2023. Campus police received information about the alleged improper relationship between Barbee and a student on Feb. 6, during a separate unrelated investigation, according to a news release from the charter school’s law enforcement department. Newman International Academy Police Department officers and detectives investigated the allegations and interviewed witnesses before getting an arrest warrant for Barbee. Police did not release further details of the allegations.

A second employee, 20-year-old Gabrielle Little, was arrested on Feb. 10, and she faces a charge of child grooming, according to court records. School officials said Little also was fired, but it’s unclear what her job was at the school. The Gibbins campus’ principal, Richard Adams, also was arrested on Wednesday, Feb. 12, according to Tarrant County Jail records. He faces charges of failure to make a required child abuse report, tampering with evidence and tampering with a witness, the records show. A bond amount for Adams, 63, has not been set and it’s not clear whether he has a defense attorney to represent him. Adams, along with the campus’ athletic director, head varsity girls’ basketball coach and an assistant football coach have been placed on administrative leave with pay until the criminal and administrative investigations are completed, school officials said in a news release on Wednesday. “School district police officers and detectives continued to investigate the conduct of district staff and campus level staff assigned at Gibbins in connection to these arrests,” the release states

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Houston Chronicle - February 13, 2025

Catholic Charities in Houston lays off 120 employees due to Trump's pause on refugee resettlement

A Houston-area Catholic Charities organization that provides a large share of refugee resettlement services in Houston laid off 120 employees this week because of the Trump administration's suspension of refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston officials said the organization laid off employees mainly in the charity’s program that supports refugees, citing the freeze on federal funding. President Donald Trump suspended the U.S Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) in an executive order in January, and halted funding for organizations across the country that work in refugee resettlement services. “Due to the recent freeze in federal funding, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston made staffing adjustments that allow the agency to continue its mission in providing essential humanitarian services to individuals and families in need. The loss of federal funding is forcing a reduction of 120 staff, primarily in our program that serves refugees,” the organization said in a statement to the Chronicle.

The suspension of USRAP left Houston-area refugee resettlement organizations in a dire state, as they scramble to figure out how to continue services for newcomers. Jeff Watkins, chief international initiatives officers for the YMCA of Greater Houston previously told the Chronicle the hiatus is something organizations like his have to adapt to. “Our concern is it is delaying protection for those already identified as refugees,” Watkins said in January. Three national and local faith-based refugee resettlement organizations, as well as nine individuals who have received refugee services in the U.S, sued the Trump administration Monday over the suspension of USRAP and the funding freeze. The organizations said in a news release that Trump’s executive order has caused “mass layoffs and restrictions on their ability to provide services for refugees in the resettlement pipeline, as well as recent arrivals.

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Dallas Morning News - February 13, 2025

Dallas Rep. Jasmine Crockett takes aim at Musk’s role in federal cuts during hearing

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, accused Republicans Wednesday of handing their constitutional role of controlling the federal purse strings to Elon Musk, whom President Donald Trump has tasked with rooting out waste in the federal government. “People said that they were upset about TikTok, but I’m upset about the guy that runs Twitter,” Crockett said during the first hearing of the new House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency. She said Democrats support efforts to scrutinize federal spending, particularly at the Pentagon, and would welcome forensic auditors going over the government’s books. In contrast, Musk is an unelected bureaucrat who needs to be stopped, she said. “It is time for us to do our jobs and rein in this rogue actor known as Elon Musk,” Crockett said.

The House DOGE subcommittee, which shares the acronym of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, began the hearing with its chair, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., promising to launch a “war on waste.” Republicans described DOGE as a natural response to Americans’ anger at stories of wasteful spending and federal payments. They endorsed Trump’s executive orders empowering Musk and his team and said the president was making good on campaign pledges to cut government waste. The national debt has driven up inflation, making it difficult for everyday Americans and small businesses to survive, Greene said. “Our massively growing debt and interest are the chains and shackles harnessed to every American and their children and every generation to come,” Greene said. Expert witnesses testified at the hearing about federal programs being hacked by criminals who siphon off taxpayer money, aided by outdated systems and regulations that block efforts to root out improper payments. They said the government could save large sums with simple steps such as bolstering systems to verify payment recipients. Democrats pushed back by saying the hearing was intended to obscure a Republican agenda bent on helping Musk and other wealthy individuals at the expense of everyday people. U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, highlighted Musk’s business dealings with the federal government and noted the Trump administration has dismissed various inspectors general, who are supposed to be watchdogs keeping an eye on federal spending.

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Dallas Morning News - February 13, 2025

NYSE comes to Dallas with rebranded branch as Texas Stock Exchange eyes launch

The New York Stock Exchange will reincorporate its Chicago branch in Texas, it announced on Wednesday, rebranding it as NYSE Texas and moving to Dallas. With the upstart Texas Stock Exchange taking shape and the Nasdaq expanding its reach in the Lone Star State, the Dallas region is about to find out if “Y’all Street” is big enough for three players. Timing of the Big Board’s “fully electronic” Texas equity market will depend on regulatory filings, the NYSE said. The announcement comes as a number of big companies flock to Texas as a whole, drawn in by its low taxes and business-friendly regulation. “As the state with the largest number of NYSE listings, representing over $3.7 trillion in market value for our community, Texas is a market leader in fostering a pro-business atmosphere,” Lynn Martin, president of NYSE Group, said in a statement.

“We are delighted to expand our presence in the Lone Star State, which plays a key role in driving our U.S. economy forward.” New York’s NYSE and Nasdaq have had a near duopoly on the U.S. securities market for decades, but both apparently see a formidable challenger in the Dallas-based upstart TXSE. The startup has gotten $161 million in initial backing from financial giants like BlackRock and Citadel Securities, and is on track for an early 2026 launch. Late last month, it filed for U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approval. The TXSE’s goal is to lower the costs of getting listed while also raising standards for who gets to be listed, in order to reincentivize companies to go public while taking advantage of Texas’ robust business community.

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San Antonio Express-News - February 13, 2025

Deborah Beck: Private school vouchers are bad for students, education and communities

(Deborah Beck is the Christie and Stanley E. Adams, Jr. Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts and professor of classics at the University of Texas at Austin.) The Texas Senate recently passed Senate Bill 2, which would provide at least $10,000 per child in “education savings accounts,” also known as school vouchers. These funds for families whose children attend private schools would come from tax dollars meant for public schools. Gov. Greg Abbott has made school vouchers a priority for years, most recently in his 2025 State of the State address. Despite claims from the governor, vouchers are not good for kids. They are not good for education. They are not good for our communities. They are only good for lining the pockets of private school operators and their supporters. Anyone who genuinely cares about education in Texas should oppose Senate Bill 2.

The real problem our schools face is a lack of state investment. The $10,000 per child is more than the average public expenditure per student in Texas, $9,871, and much more than the state’s basic allotment per student, $6,160, which has not budged since 2019. SB2’s $10,000 allocation per student shows the state doesn’t spend enough money on public education. Vouchers will do nothing to address that problem. More state money for public schools will. Rural school districts have consistently opposed school vouchers because they are useless in those areas. The typical rural community does not have private schools where vouchers could be used. Moreover, the public school often serves as a community linchpin. The local school matters to everyone in a small town, not just the children who attend. Despite the higher allotment for children with disabilities, $11,500, school vouchers are potentially meaningless for such kids. Public schools must admit all children and provide services to those eligible for special education according to individualized educational plans that are tailored to each child’s circumstances. Private schools can reject any student they please.

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KERA - February 13, 2025

Majority of Texas school districts aren’t in compliance with armed security requirement

A majority of Texas’ more than 1,200 school districts haven’t yet complied with a state law requiring armed security on every campus. State lawmakers passed House Bill 3 in 2023 after the deadly Uvalde school shooting. Among other things, it mandated updated emergency preparedness plans with audits at least once every three years, mental health training for school employees, and the development of emergency notification system for parents and guardians. A January report by the Texas Senate Education Committee found the vast majority of districts are in compliance with aspects of HB3, but less than half — about 45% — have complied with the armed security requirement. There are more than 8,000 campuses in the state. Slightly more than half — about 52% — requested and received a waiver known as a good cause exception, that allowed them to come up with an “alternative standard,” such as arming a school marshal or trained teacher..

To pay for armed security, HB3 provided districts $10 a student (increased from $9.72), and $15,000 per school. But in a large district like Dallas ISD, board officials told KERA in 2023 that qualified, armed security costs upwards of $85,000 a year, not $15,000. And with 240 schools, that security bill soars. Nearly 63% of large school districts — those with 26 or more campuses — requested good cause exceptions. In addition to funding issues, the report said many districts raised concerns with the “availability of DPS school safety certification training for handgun instructors,” as well as mental health professionals. “Many school districts seek a psychological evaluation before allowing an individual to be armed on campus,” the report read. “Our Committee heard testimony regarding the need to seek mental health professionals in other states due to the lack of available workforce in Texas.” The committee recommended the state increase the pool of trainers for armed employees and marshals, and that the state “continue to explore the appropriate balance between a mixed state-local funding partnership in a heightened environment of increased threats in school settings.”

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Austin American-Statesman - February 13, 2025

UT national security scholars: Texas lawmakers in DC must halt destruction of USAID

(Larry Andre, Josh Busby, Aaron O'Connell and Jeremi Suri are teach at UT.) The following letter was sent to the Texas Congressional Delegation on Monday and was shared with the American-Statesman Editorial Board for publication. We are scholars and practitioners of national security at the University of Texas at Austin. We come from diverse ideological and professional backgrounds but share a deep commitment to the national security of the United States. We are alarmed that the Trump administration appears prepared to abruptly dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). We fear the administration’s hasty and ill-conceived efforts have done grave damage to signature programs like the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), President George W. Bush’s AIDS initiative which has saved more than 25 million lives. USAID and foreign assistance play a vital role in protecting America, reducing the risk of instability, migration and disease coming to our borders. We know from experience that investments in foreign assistance can be a much less expensive way to protect the country than sending our soldiers into harm’s way overseas. USAID works with other agencies across the federal government, including the State Department and the Department of Defense, to further U.S. national interests as critical instruments of national power that combine development, diplomacy and defense.

Eliminating development from the toolkit will make the country less safe. Dismantling USAID would be a catastrophic national security mistake by the administration, leaving the global playing field of influence to adversaries of the United States. It will make the United States less safe and less respected around the world and contribute to both instability in already fragile states as well as make the United States vulnerable to infectious diseases like bird flu and Ebola. Proposals to shrink the USAID workforce from 10,000 to 300 are contrary to what the United States needs. At a moment when China is increasing its global footprint around the world, the United States should be doing more with its foreign assistance, not less. Eliminating USAID would be a gift to China and Russia. For example, the proposal to shrink USAID staff to 300 would reduce the number of USAID officials covering Asia from around 1400 in field offices and 140 in Washington to 8 individuals in Washington. You can’t counter China with 8 people. Our national security is at risk if we close USAID. The United States is the leading provider of foreign assistance to fragile states like Colombia which could fall back into conflict again without support. We have spent $1.7 billion since 2017 in development and security assistance to help Colombia emerge from a civil war against narco gangs and paramilitary groups. Colombia has also accepted millions of Venezuelan migrants. If Colombia goes the way of Venezuela, more migrants will come to America. USAID funding supports monitoring of the emergent bird flu outbreak in 49 countries. The freeze in funding has halted those efforts.

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Austin American-Statesman - February 13, 2025

Details emerge in death of child in Texas foster care; court upholds judge's removal

Four months after a three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals removed federal Judge Janis Jack from a major, yearslong case against Texas’ foster care system and vacated her latest contempt order against the state, a divided 5th Circuit on Tuesday declined to reconsider the decision. In a seven-page dissenting opinion joined by four other judges, Judge Stephen Higginson wrote that he believes the decision by a majority of his colleagues puts “abuse and neglect … out of sight of the law once more.” “It is fundamental in our historic liberties that the state may not set aside due process of law in the care of its wards,” Higginson wrote. “But today, we turn away the children protected by those guarantees and shut the doors of this court.”

The order, decided by a 9-5 vote, came down just hours after court monitors assigned by Jack filed a new report suggesting the state might still be failing to sufficiently investigate group foster homes for reports of abuse. In one of several deaths highlighted in the report, investigators found that an 11-year-old boy died during a group movie theater outing in November after foster care staff members ignored signs of extreme medical distress, including the boy “screaming and crying in pain” hours earlier, having difficulty walking and soiling himself while in his seat. The home had a history of violating state regulations. National child welfare advocacy group Children's Rights filed the case in 2011 against then-Gov. Rick Perry, arguing Texas was violating foster children's constitutional right to be free from an unreasonable risk of harm. Both Jack and the 5th Circuit affirmed that finding, Higginson noted. A Better Childhood later joined as a second plaintiff.

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City Stories

Fort Worth Star-Telegram - February 13, 2025

Deborah Peoples files to run for Fort Worth City Council

Deborah Peoples, the former Tarrant County Democratic Party chair and two-time mayoral candidate, is taking another crack at a Fort Worth office. Peoples filed paperwork Feb. 12 to run for the the district 5 city council seat being vacated by Mayor Pro Tem Gyna Bivens. The district covers areas of the city east of East Loop 820 stretching toward Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. It also includes a handful of neighborhoods west of East Loop 820, including White Lake Hills, Woodhaven, and Stop Six. Peoples will join a crowded field of six candidates vying for the open seat. This is Peoples’ fourth attempt running for elected office. Her most recent attempt was in 2022 when she ran unsuccessfully for Tarrant County judge against Tim O’Hare. Peoples later threatened to sue O’Hare over his assertion her 2022 campaign orchestrated a ballot harvesting campaign.

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Big Bend Sentinel - February 13, 2025

Taxidermy grease-trap battle ends with closed business, dismissed case

A city citation charge against an Alpine taxidermist shop for not having a grease trap was dismissed by a prosecutor on February 4 after it was clear to city officials that the business was closed and its building is listed for sale. “Since the property is for sale, there is no longer going to be a compliance issue because the business will no longer be operating,” City of Alpine Secretary Geo Calderon wrote in an email. Alpine Municipal Court records confirmed the dismissal with two stated reasons: “In the interest of justice” and “Other: property subject to sale.”

The Hip-O case ignited controversy in Alpine in November after some residents accused city officials of government “overreach” for their continued assertion that the shop needed to follow city code and install a grease trap because it processed meat. For then-head of Alpine building services, Robert Rückes, the issue was clear: follow the ordinance, which states that if you discharge grease or oil as a business — without quantifying how much — you need a trap. (Rückes resigned in early December and is now running for City Council in the May 3 election.) Hip-O’s owner, Howard Parsons, objected and after several months of tense discussion with city officials, he elected to go to trial to fight the $500 citation from Rückes. He then also decided to shut down after Hip-O’s 15 years in business. “Due to the actions taken by the City of Alpine restricting our ability to operate our business, we will be closing shop,” he posted on Facebook in November. Many Facebook users commented that it could significantly impact Alpine-area hunters, because there are no other nearby options for processing game. Parsons told The Big Bend Sentinel at the time that he would likely close for good in early December after they finished final mounting projects already underway. According to a letter from Parsons’ attorney to the city, the key to their defense was that Hip-O is on East Highway 90 on an annexed piece of land with no city water or sewer service. Thus, whatever they were putting down their small sink would go to a septic tank and not hurt the city’s water system. (Grease will clump and clog city wastewater lines without a trap to capture it.)

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National Stories

Washington Post - February 13, 2025

Musk team kicks off federal layoffs as White House eyes big cuts

Billionaire Elon Musk’s team has initiated sweeping layoffs of federal employees, as the Trump administration races to shrink the government’s civilian workforce. An official with the Office of Personnel Management, which is now run by Musk allies, emailed staff Wednesday morning stating that widespread layoffs — known as “reductions in force” — have begun and are already overwhelming the small agency that functions as a human resources department for the government, according to a copy of the message obtained by The Washington Post. OPM has also begun to assert more control over all federal hiring, according to four employees of the agency and additional internal communications also obtained by The Post. Meanwhile, White House officials are eyeing cuts to agency budgets of between 30 and 40 percent, on average, across the government — centered on significant staff reductions, according to two other people briefed on internal conversations, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to recount private deliberations. That target would vary greatly, and it’s expected to exempt agencies favored by President Donald Trump, such as the Defense Department and the Homeland Security Department.

Late Wednesday, a federal judge also lifted a pause on a deferred resignation program that would pay workers through September if they quit now, and the administration said it would not accept new applications. The developments reflect the accelerating pace of the effort by Trump and Musk to defang the federal workforce, a campaign they view as necessary to enact their conservative agenda and slash spending. On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order telling agency heads to “promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force,” and formally giving Musk’s team power over agency hiring in its drive to shed civil servants. If Musk and Trump succeed, they could bring about one of the most substantial transformations of the nation’s civilian workforce in decades, leaving Trump with even more power while also dramatically scaling back what regulations agencies attempt to enact and enforce. But legal roadblocks have emerged that could thwart many of their ambitions. Critics are warning of unintended consequences for vital services, and budget experts point out gutting the civil service won’t do much to lower the federal deficit, which is primarily driven by spending on large programs such as Medicare, Social Security and the military.

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Courier-Journal - February 13, 2025

Mitch McConnell: Kentuckians can't afford the high cost of Trump's tariffs

Little under a century ago, an ill-fated law helped spiral the Wall Street crash of 1929 into a worldwide depression. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff encompassed roughly one-quarter of all imports, flaring tensions with U.S. trading partners and halving American imports and exports as a result. Caught in the crosshairs, Americans learned the hard way that trade wars are expensive, and today, we ought to be careful deciding with whom to pick them. In recent weeks, the president sought to impose sweeping tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, as well as key imports, such as steel and aluminum. While the administration walked back plans to levy 25% duties on imports from Mexico and Canada — paused now for 30 days as both nations brokered deals to tighten border security and crack down on illegal drugs — the president’s aggressive proposals leave big, lingering concerns for American industry and workers.

Indeed, it’s high time for America’s closest neighbors to take the crisis at our border seriously. But no matter our best intentions, tariffs are bad policy. As Sen. Rand Paul, put it: “Tariffs are simply taxes… Taxing trade will mean less trade and higher prices.” So Republicans ought to be clear-eyed about the full, unadulterated impact of tariffs as we work to restore sound fiscal policy to our government. Blanket tariffs make it more expensive to do business in America, driving up costs for consumers across the board. These aren’t just abstract concerns. Broad-based tariffs could have long-term consequences right in our backyard. Consider our state’s 75,000 family farms that sell their crops around the globe, or the hardworking Kentuckians who craft 95% of the world’s bourbon, or our auto industry that relies on global supply chains to support the livelihoods of thousands of workers in the commonwealth.In Kentucky, local storeowners are already hearing about their suppliers’ prices going up. One estimate suggests the president’s tariffs could cost the average Kentuckian up to $1,200 each year. And it’s not just about rising prices here at home. During the last Trump administration, retaliatory tariffs from trade partners set off a broader trade war that hit wide swaths of American industry, from agriculture to manufacturing to aerospace and motor vehicles to distilled spirits. Already, Canada announced retaliatory measures that take direct aim at Kentucky production, targeting products like peanut butter and whiskey.

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The Hill - February 13, 2025

OPM: 75,000 workers took Trump, Musk government buyout

Roughly 75,000 federal workers across government have accepted a buyout offer, taking an unusual deal spearheaded by the Trump administration as it looks to reduce the federal workforce. A senior administration official confirmed the figure in the hours after a court rejected a bid by unions to quash the program. The court ruling allowed the government to officially close what was known as the Fork in the Road program. The buyout offered federal workers eight months of pay and benefits for those who wished to leave government as President Trump forges ahead with a return to office mandate. The figure – 3.75 percent of the nation’s 2 million federal employees – falls short of the projected 5 percent to 10 percent of federal employees the White House expected to take the deal. “OPM is pleased the court has rejected a desperate effort to strike down the Deferred Resignation Program,” the agency said earlier Wednesday.

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New York Times - February 13, 2025

Linda McMahon faces confirmation hearing for Education Secretary

Linda McMahon, a sports entertainment mogul and longtime booster of President Trump, will face lawmakers on Thursday for the beginning of confirmation hearings as she seeks to lead the Department of Education. A former executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, Ms. McMahon has been tapped to run an agency in the middle of intense upheaval, whose very reasons for being have been challenged by the president. Mr. Trump has repeatedly said he would like to smother, if not disassemble, the department, setting up a Senate hearing on Thursday with few parallels in American history. Ms. McMahon will list off her qualifications to oversee the health of the country’s schools in the midst of open discussions in the White House about whether to close the department down. Less than a day before Ms. McMahon was scheduled to appear for the hearing, Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he wanted to see the department shuttered “immediately,” calling it “a big con job.”

Senators will almost certainly explore the confusion around what Ms. McMahon’s role might be if the administration plans to dissolve the department. Ms. McMahon is expected to speak about the dismal results documented last month on a national exam, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which showed pervasive learning loss across the country’s public schools since the Covid-19 pandemic. Conservative think tanks and lawmakers have pointed to the results as evidence that the nation’s education system requires deep changes, and as justification for policies aimed at expanding access to private and religious schools. She is also expected to speak about the priorities Mr. Trump has already set for the agency through executive orders in recent days. One of the orders focused on school choice, a topic she will most likely highlight. The administration’s other priorities revolve around cultural issues, such as gender, race and sexuality, and combating antisemitism. Recent appointees of Mr. Trump have already taken steps to turn the department into a vehicle to clamp down on schools and organizations perceived as hostile to the president’s agenda. On Wednesday, the department started new investigations into two interscholastic sports associations in Minnesota and California, which had signaled they would allow transgender athletes to continue compete on teams corresponding to their gender identity.

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Fox News - February 13, 2025

Senate to hold final vote on RFK Jr nomination to serve as Trump's Health secretary

The Senate is expected on Thursday to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary in President Donald Trump's cabinet. The final showdown over Kennedy's controversial nomination was set in motion after the Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday - in a 53-47 party-line vote - invoked cloture, which started the clock ticking toward the final confirmation roll call. Kennedy, the well-known vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump, needs a simple majority to be confirmed by the Senate.

Kennedy survived back-to-back combustible Senate confirmation hearings late last month, when Trump's nominee to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the nation's food and health faced plenty of verbal fireworks over past controversial comments, including his repeated claims in recent years linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research. During the hearings, Democrats also spotlighted Kennedy's service for years as chair or chief legal counsel for Children's Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times, including a challenge over the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for children.

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Associated Press - February 13, 2025

White House says it has the right to punish AP reporters over Gulf naming dispute

The White House said Wednesday that news organizations that refuse to use President Donald Trump’s new name for the Gulf of Mexico were telling “lies” and insisted it would continue to bar Associated Press journalists from presidential events. Trump has decreed that the international body of water — which borders Mexico, the United States and other nations — be called the Gulf of America. In its influential Stylebook, the AP said it would continue to use Gulf of Mexico, while also noting Trump’s decision, to ensure that names of geographical features are recognizable around the world. The White House’s outright attempt at regulating language used by independent media — and the punitive measures attached to it — mark a sharp escalation in Trump’s often fraught dealings with news organizations.

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The Hill - February 13, 2025

Chevron to lay off up to 20 percent of its workforce

Chevron plans to lay off up to 20 percent of its workforce, according to a company spokesperson. Vice Chairman of the Chevron Corp., Mark Nelson, said that the company “is taking action to simplify our organizational structure, execute faster and more effectively, and position the company for stronger long-term competitiveness” in a statement emailed to The Hill. “This work includes optimizing the portfolio, leveraging technology to enhance productivity, and changing how and where work is performed, including the expanded use of global centers,” Nelson added. “We believe changes to the organizational structure will improve standardization, centralization, efficiency and results, unlocking new growth potential and helping Chevron drive industry-leading performance now and into the future.”

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Newsclips - February 12, 2025

Lead Stories

NBC News - February 12, 2025

Inflation report to show U.S. price growth remains elevated, posing challenge to Trump

The final inflation report covering the Biden administration shows President Donald Trump inherited an unfavorable inflation situation. Still, some economic policymakers say that, overall, the U.S. economy remains in solid shape. Prices for so-called core items, which exclude food and energy, were expected to have remained unchanged in January, at about 3.2%. That is well above the Federal Reserve’s official 2% goal. The core measure does not include data like egg prices, which have soared as a result of the ongoing effects of avian flu, putting further pressure on consumers. Instead, the biggest source of increase for economists’ preferred inflation measure is housing costs. Analysis from the data group CoreLogic shows demand remains strong in the Northeast, while there are indications that building materials costs have climbed in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs.

Without further progress in slowing price growth, Trump may face growing pressure to take more aggressive action. Already, at least one Trump economic adviser has signaled the administration may look to curb overall consumption, which would most likely entail a slowdown in growth and even increase unemployment. Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told CNBC on Monday that reducing demand and increasing the labor supply could address the pace of price growth. Markets have so far ignored those remarks. Instead, many investors have zeroed in on the uncertainty Trump has created through his tariff actions. On Monday, he announced he would impose 25% duties on all steel and aluminum imports, a move many parts of the business community have seen as problematic. Last month, Trump announced an additional 10% levy on all goods from China. The combined effect of price increases from Trump’s tariffs themselves and the implied uncertainty surrounding them and Trump’s broader economic plans could impede progress on the “disinflation” sought by economic policymakers. “We continue to believe that the Trump Administration’s trade, fiscal and immigration policy agenda would be mildly inflationary,” Bank of America analysts said in a new note to clients.

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Associated Press - February 12, 2025

Musk appears at White House defending DOGE’s work but acknowledging mistakes

President Donald Trump’s most powerful adviser, Elon Musk, made a rare public appearance at the White House on Tuesday to defend the swift and extensive cuts he’s pushing across the federal government while acknowledging there have been mistakes and will be more. Musk stood next to the Resolute Desk with his young son as Trump praised Musk’s work with his Department of Government Efficiency, saying they’ve found “shocking” evidence of wasteful spending. The Republican president signed an executive order to expand Musk’s influence and continue downsizing the federal workforce. Despite concerns that he’s amassing unaccountable power with little transparency, Musk described himself as an open book as he took questions from reporters for the first time since joining the Trump administration as a special government employee. He joked that the scrutiny over his sprawling influence over federal agencies was like a “daily proctology exam.”

He also claimed that DOGE’s work was being shared on its website and on X, the social media platform owned by Musk. However, the DOGE website has no information, and the postings on X often lack many details, including which programs are being cut and where the organization has access. The White House has also been moving to limit independent oversight. The inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development was fired a day after warning that it had become nearly impossible to monitor $8.2 billion in humanitarian funds after DOGE began dismantling the agency. Musk defended DOGE’s work as “common sense” and “not draconian or radical.” “The people voted for major government reform, and that’s what the people are going to get,” he said. “That’s what democracy is all about.” Musk acknowledged, in response to a question about false statements that the U.S. was spending $50 million on condoms for Gaza, that some of the claims he’s made about government programs have been wrong.

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Austin American-Statesman - February 12, 2025

Texas Gov. Abbott signals he's open to legislative 'clarity' on abortion ban but defends law

Several weeks after three influential GOP state officials said Texas should clarify its abortion ban to protect mothers at risk of death, Gov. Greg Abbott signaled he is open to changing the law while defending its meaning as "clear." "I look forward to seeing what type of clarity may come forth in any proposed legislation," Abbott said in a Friday interview. "But it's important that people stop playing politics with this. Everybody on every side needs to understand (that) protecting the life of the mother is of paramount importance in this and that any doctor who fails to do that is actually violating their duty as a physician." Abbott's comments come after Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a Jan. 19 interview with WFAA that the law should be amended to protect pregnant patients at risk of death and their doctors, and at least two other GOP elected officials — state Sen. Bryan Hughes of Mineola and state Rep. Jeff Leach of Plano — have also said the near-total abortion ban might need tweaking for clarity.

In January, Hughes told the American-Statesman he was "working on language" related to a potential clarification. "We don’t want to give doctors or hospitals any excuse not to help those moms in those situations," Hughes told WFAA's "Inside Texas Politics" in July. Texas has banned all but lifesaving abortions since August 2022, when House Bill 1280, also known as a "trigger ban," went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. An earlier law, Senate Bill 8, authorized people to sue people suspected of terminating pregnancies illegally beginning in September 2021. Abbott, a Republican, signed both bills into law. A number of Texas OB-GYNs and women who have faced pregnancy complications have argued that the law's exception is too narrow and too vague to allow doctors to intervene before a patient reaches a point of no return, highlighting several ProPublica reports on women who died in hospitals while they were denied abortion care for miscarriages. The most recent statistics from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission show that physicians terminated 135 pregnancies between January 2022 and September 2024 under the life-of-the-mother exception, an average of about three abortions per month. Abbott said those numbers prove the law is clear, though he also said "there needs to be a better understanding" of its meaning.

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Dallas Morning News - February 12, 2025

Texas Senate panel approves $140,000 property tax homestead exemption

roposals to cut property taxes by raising the Texas homestead exemption to $140,000 cleared a key hurdle Tuesday when a bipartisan committee voted unanimously to approve and send two bills to the full Senate. Senate Bill 4 and Senate Joint Resolution 2, proposing an amendment to the Texas Constitution allowing the higher exemption, are priorities of Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate. Sen. Paul Bettencourt, the Houston Republican who filed the bills, told the Local Government Committee that SB 4 would build on years of effort by lawmakers to bring down taxes while the cost of living continues to climb in other areas.

“You’ve got inflation baked in everywhere,” Bettencourt, chair of the committee, said during Tuesday’s hearing in the Capitol. “The one place it’s not baked into is Texas’s ISD property tax bill. That’s a big, big advantage for homeowners.” In 2023, voters approved raising the school-district tax exemption from $40,000 to $100,000 after a hard-fought battle by lawmakers to enact an $18 billion property tax package that included some $12.7 billion in new cuts. That was estimated to have saved Texas homeowners an average of $700 on their bills. The new homestead exemption amount would save homeowners an additional $363 per year on average, Bettencourt said. Nearly $3.5 billion in school district tax compression — using state funds to buy down maintenance and operations taxes — included in the Senate’s budget proposal would save residential and commercial homeowners an additional $133.13 on average on their tax bill, Bettencourt said. Texas had the third highest property taxes in the country a few years ago but has dropped to 10th place after lawmakers have worked on the issue for several legislative sessions, Bettencourt said.

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State Stories

Border Report - February 12, 2025

Hundreds of Texas National Guard troops headed to Laredo to help Border Patrol

About 300 Texas National Guard are headed to the South Texas border town of Laredo, according to Border Patrol. Laredo Sector Chief Patrol Agent Jesse Muñoz on Friday told the Laredo Morning Times that over 300 Texas National Guard soldiers will arrive in the Laredo Sector within a month to enhance border security. The new troops will be allowed to perform immigration officer duties under the supervision of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. This is under a new memorandum of understanding between CBP and the Texas National Guard that allows some in-state active-duty soldiers the authority to question immigration status under Title 8. “Under Title 8, they will have the authority to make arrests, but I want everybody to understand. We are not going to tell them, ‘Hey you guys go and take this area,’ and we don’t put Border Patrol agents out,” Muñoz told the Laredo Morning Times. ““They are going to work under direct supervision of the Border Patrol. If there’s a case where they make an apprehension, there will be Border Patrol agents close by that will come and assist.”

Last week, Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar issued a statement that U.S. residents should take precautions when traveling into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, which is across the Rio Grande from Laredo. On Feb. 3, there were several reports of gunfire incidents in Nuevo Laredo, and even close to an international bridge, the newspaper reported. Cuellar deployed Operation Lone Star resources, which include Texas National Guard troops and DPS troopers, near the international bridge and Laredo College to maintain a visible presence on the border, the newspaper reported. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week visited Sunland Park, New Mexico, where he said the thousands of troops coming to the Southwest border will be a “force multiplier” for immigration agents. Play VideoSecretary of Defense Hegseth visits El Paso “What President Trump has done – whether it’s Border Patrol, (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) or the military – is it’s going to take the handcuffs off our ability to do our job,” Hegseth told reporters. “And that allows us to get at the problem in ways the previous administration was not serious about.”

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Houston Chronicle - February 12, 2025

Houston Chronicle Editorial: Lotteries run on trust. Texas’ top lottery official gambled it away.

Some 33 years ago, at a humble animal feed store near Austin, a sacred pact was made. Wearing a bold, red-and-yellow pantsuit adorned with gold buttons so big they rivaled her trademark silver coiffure, then-Gov. Ann Richards ceremoniously handed over a $1 bill in exchange for the very first Lone Star Millions scratch-off ticket. With it, she cemented a promise: not only would the newly inaugurated Texas lottery benefit schoolchildren and veterans, but, unlike back-alley gambling, it would be strictly regulated. The Texas Lottery Commission has shattered that pact. Charged with guarding the multimillion-dollar state lottery’s integrity, the commission has utterly failed to hold up its side of the bargain. As revealed by Houston Chronicle investigative reporter Eric Dexheimer and a state audit, the commission’s longtime director Gary Grief went out of his way to help shady businesses game the state lottery, potentially cheating everyday honest players out of their hard-earned cash. He would have gotten away with it, too – if it weren’t for a major tell. Under Grief’s leadership, the commission had raked in record-breaking sales even as it battled a general decline in lottery participation rates.

Then, last year, Grief abruptly announced his departure from the Texas Lottery Commission, ending a 32-year tenure. His retirement, which took many by surprise, came just as the agency was set to be comprehensively reviewed by the state’s Sunset Advisory Commission. It also came on the heels of a highly publicized Lotto Texas win so improbable it had raised suspicions. Two years ago, a limited partnership aptly named Rook TX materialized just in time to buy up nearly 26 million tickets days before a draw. That amount, it turned out, was the same number of possible winning combinations for the $95 million Lotto Texas jackpot. What millions of players who’d hitched their hopes on the jackpot didn’t know was that a group of investors, with Grief's help, had a near lock on winning the money. As the state’s recent Sunset Review report put it, over the years, Grief had gotten “quite comfortable operating in a gray area” of the Texas Lottery Act. State law requires over-the-counter, in-person purchases at a licensed brick-and-mortar store. But the law's authors didn’t anticipate the rise of app-based courier companies that purchase tickets in people’s stead and deliver them DoorDash-style to real buyers. As early as 2016, Grief’s legal team flagged serious legal and policy issues with the courier business model. Over and over Grief ignored these concerns, not only passively allowing courier companies to flourish but going on to actively enable them to expand unchecked. Through a series of letters, Grief granted private, unregulated entities official approval to process lottery transactions “on behalf of the Texas Lottery.” App-based sales surged, becoming an increasingly critical source of revenue for the lottery agency. Today, they represent nearly 10% of the state’s draw ticket sales.

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Dallas Morning News - February 12, 2025

Dallas County replaces voter check-in vendor ahead of May 3 election

With three months until voters return to the polls, Dallas County officials are not waiting to see if its current voting equipment provider can fix problems that caused thousands to vote in the Nov. 5 election with incorrect ballots. The Dallas County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a $7.6 million contract with St. Louis-based KNOWiNK to buy 4,500 poll pad devices for voter check-in and licensing and support services for two years. The vendor will replace Election System & Software’s electronic pollbooks, which malfunctioned during the Nov. 5 election and resulted in nearly 4,000 voters casting ballots tied to precincts where they did not live. As a result of the problems, the Texas Secretary of State in December decertified that version of ES&S’ pollbook software, which was used in 66 jurisdictions. The company will present an updated version to the state in early March, which an ES&S spokesperson said resolves the issues.

But Dallas County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia said if ES&S’ updated pollbooks fail state certification next month, it will be too late to secure another vendor, leaving the county without critical equipment required to run its May 3 elections. It’s a risk commissioners were not willing to take. “We can’t promise you they’ll get certified,” Garcia told the Commissioners Court on Tuesday. “If that day the answer is oops, they didn’t pass, we’re dead.” Pollbooks are used to verify voters’ identity, check their registration and assign correct ballot types based on their residency — a job that would be unfeasible by hand in a jurisdiction as large as Dallas County, Garcia said. The new contract comes at a cost, which will be partially deferred by state grants. If the county extends this initial two-year contract, a five-year agreement for services with KNOWiNK could cost $10.5 million — $1.8 million more than what the county has paid ES&S over the past five years, Garcia said. But accounting for inflation, that increase is essentially voided, Garcia said.

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Dallas Morning News - February 12, 2025

Jim Whaley: How Texas vets can thrive under new VA leadership

(Jim Whaley is the CEO of Mission Roll Call. He is the former director of communications at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. As a 20-year veteran of the Army, his awards and decorations include the Master Army Aviator Badge, Legion of Merit, Air Assault Badge and Humanitarian Service Medal.) The new secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins, has the potential to drastically change veterans’ experiences for the better. It can often feel like what’s happening on Capitol Hill is only distantly linked to our lives, but the reality is the decisions Collins and his team make will immediately be felt by veterans nationwide. As Collins enters his new role, his top priority must be making the VA work smarter for all veterans. This means listening to voices outside of Washington. As Collins aims to address ongoing challenges within the VA, his leadership will be vital for Texas veterans. Home to the largest veteran population of any state, Texas has over 1.5 million veterans who rely on VA services for health care, benefits and employment support. This concentration of veterans means that the VA’s policies, programs and shortfalls have an outsize impact on Texas veterans specifically. This is especially the case in major cities where many veterans live, such as North Texas, San Antonio, Houston and El Paso.

Homelessness remains a major issue for Texas veterans. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, in 2023, there was a 19% increase in Texas veterans experiencing homelessness — one of the largest jumps nationwide. While major cities have made progress in addressing these concerns, there are still many veterans facing homelessness every day. Fortunately, past action indicates what an effective strategy may entail. For instance, between 2023 and 2024, Texas reported a 10% decrease in veteran homelessness due to VA programs Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing and Supportive Services for Veteran Families. Collins needs to double down on what’s working. The VA should collaborate with Veteran Service Officers, local housing and policy experts, and veterans themselves to prioritize stable housing availability for veterans. Health care is a major component of providing stability for veterans. For Collins, this means ensuring VA benefits are holistic and accessible to urban and rural veteran communities. As of 2023, Texas had an estimated 462,513 rural veterans — about 28.3% of the state’s veteran population — many of whom face significant barriers to care, including long travel distances and provider shortages. Moreover, a Mission Roll Call poll found that 93% of veterans want the option to choose their mental health providers, even outside the VA system. Collins has the opportunity to address these challenges to support veterans in Texas and beyond by strengthening the VA’s partnerships with local health care providers and streamlining access to community-based care. Another critical issue that Collins will have to contend with is the tragic reality of veteran suicide. Texas, in particular, has one of the highest veteran suicide rates in the country. Texas veterans need more robust support and access to resources. In his new role, Collins can begin to implement improvements to existing systems to this end.

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram - February 12, 2025

Fort Worth HOA hires former Bass lawyers to fight Keller ISD

A Fort Worth-based law firm with deep ties to some of the city’s most prominent power brokers has been enlisted in the fight against a proposed split of the Keller school district. Kelly Hart & Hallman, whose past clients include the members of the Bass family, Hillwood and American Airlines, have been retained by the Heritage Legal Task Force. The firm also successfully represented the city of Fort Worth in its fight to ban eight-liner gambling machines. “This significant step underscores Heritage’s commitment to ensuring that any decision to divide the district is made with the full participation of the community,” the press release said. The Hillwood-developed community encompasses roughly 3,400 homes straddling Heritage Trace Parkway between Riverside Drive and Ray White Road

The legal task force has raised $40,000 through private donations, and is soliciting additional funds through a GoFundMe campaign, according to the press release. The GoFundMe raised $6,340, as of 4:05 p.m. on Feb. 11. At least three Fort Worth city council members — Michael Crain, Charlie Lauersdorf and Alan Blaylock — have contributed. The press release also credited Mayor Mattie Parker’s support for helping to raise funds in Heritage’s legal effort. “It’s on!!” Lauersdorf wrote in a Facebook post supporting the GoFundMe campaign. Both he and Blaylock have come out in opposition to the proposed split, citing a lack of transparency from the Keller school board. Lauersdorf helped confirm rumors swirling in early January that the board was discussing a potential split. His account was backed up by board members Chelsea Kelly and Joni Shaw Smith who noted the plan had been discussed during a Dec. 19 executive session meeting. Board members supporting the split have argued the move is needed to address funding challenges brought on by dropping enrollment and the failure of the state legislature to raise per pupil funding to keep up with post-pandemic inflation.

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D Magazine - February 12, 2025

The Mavericks must stop acting like enormous dweebs toward their fans

Yesterday, Matt Goodman dropped a piece about the weekend that was in Mavs-land. It contained a very appropriate title: “The New Dallas Mavericks Have Introduced Themselves, and Dissent Will Not be Tolerated.” Presuming they read our stuff, a sensible organization would have a long, hard think about why a social media user quoted in that piece compared the feeling of being at Saturday’s win over Houston to living in the North Korean dictatorship. It would then conclude, rather sensibly, “Hmm, yeah, maybe an entertainment product should not do that.” Alas, last night gave us further proof that organization is not this organization. Multiple fans were removed from the American Airlines Center in last night’s loss to the Kings for messages—one of whom mouthed “fire Nico” while being broadcast on the Jumbotron, which was also written across two signs—calling for general manager Nico Harrison to be fired. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon received statements from the team explaining why the ejections took place; they allegedly boiled down to a violation of the NBA’s fan code of conduct, specifically a rule claiming that “Clothing, garments or signs displaying explicit language, profanity or derogatory characterization towards any person(s).” (The team also alleged that the fan who appeared on the Jumbotron “was also intoxicated, disruptive and uncooperative.”)

Provided it’s true, that last bit is its own matter. As for the messages calling for Harrison’s job, well, let’s break those down. The phrase “Fire Nico” contains zero profanity, so that’s out. It is not—*dons my Serious English Language Scholar ascot*—a derogatory characterization toward any person, given that it is an action ordered against his professional status versus anything directly referring to Harrison’s personhood. So that leaves explicit language, which this clearly isn’t in the most popularly accepted sense of the phrase. But it could be construed as such if you’re going with Merriam-Webster’s primary definition of “explicit”: fully revealed or expressed without vagueness, implication, or ambiguity; leaving no question as to meaning or intent. Barring some unknown detail the team has declined to share publicly (and why wouldn’t they if there was one, considering it would only make them look better?), that’s what this is about. Everyone with the slightest awareness of the modern basketball landscape—this city, other cities, their fans, other teams’ fans, the media, fellow executives, current and former players—believes the Dallas Mavericks made one of the worst trades in sports history and has said as much in very direct terms, through seemingly every legal avenue, over and over again, for 10 days and counting. For their part, the Dallas Mavericks would really like everyone to stop doing that. And the Dallas Mavericks, run by a family with a history of suppressing messaging they don’t like and a former corporate suit bulwarked by PR flaks when he worked for the biggest shoe company on Earth, think the best way to get everyone to stop is through brute force. And, hoo boy, they do not seem to realize how doomed that strategy is. This comes as no surprise considering the people getting criticized are folks who either are used to getting what they want and previously occupied positions at a very far remove from anyone who could levy serious criticism at them.

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Dallas Morning News - February 12, 2025

As Luka Doncic fallout mounts, injury-bitten Mavericks may only see things get worse

Luka Doncic’s welcome to Los Angeles looked like fun. Fans chanted his name and LeBron James wore a Luka T-shirt. And if the new guy’s debut wasn’t as dazzling as Anthony Davis’ the other day, at least he was around for the end of it. On top of everything else, one of the celebrities who turned out at Crypto.com Arena for the unveiling of a new era was Dirk Nowitzki, showing support for a player he called “my guy.” One former face of the franchise to another. The hits just keep on coming, don’t they? On the same night Laker fans got Luka T-shirts, 1,500 miles and another universe away, protesting Mavs fans got the boot, the old owner got in a shouting match with someone other than officials, the new owner got booed and the media got stiffed when the head coach skipped the postgame presser after a 129-128 OT loss to the Kings.

Jason Kidd didn’t send a note explaining his absence, but he might have been at a loss to explain what the Mavs will do Wednesday against the Warriors now that Daniel Gafford, the last center still standing in Nico Harrison’s Great Wall of Dallas, is out for two weeks and maybe a month or more after spraining his right knee in the second quarter. Remember Nico rhapsodizing about a frontcourt of Davis, Gafford, Dereck Lively II and P.J. Washington? Might be a month before it’s assembled, if then. Remember Nico saying fans will get over the loss of Luka once the Mavs start winning? Could be a while if Kylor Kelley is the man in the middle. Win-now mode? Maybe later. Much later. Monday’s atmosphere at American Airlines Center was a wild mood swing from Saturday’s, when a warm welcome for Davis and Max Christie in a rout of the Rockets suggested maybe this could work out after all. The first clue that it wouldn’t came when Davis crumpled in the third quarter after not so much as a shove. He’s reportedly out a month, if not longer. Which is about par. For all the complaining about Luka’s availability, he leads Davis in games played, 423-367, since he entered the league.

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Houston Chronicle - February 12, 2025

HISD releases board’s ‘confidential’ evaluation of Superintendent Mike Miles. Here’s how he did.

State-appointed Houston ISD Superintendent Mike Miles lost several points in his annual performance evaluation from the board for failing to effectively communicate with community members and for not prioritizing a positive culture, according to recently released district records. Miles earned 66.7 of the 100 possible points on his evaluation, meaning he received a bonus of $126,730, or 66.7% of the maximum possible bonus of $190,000, according to the evaluation the Board of Managers approved in an 8-1 vote in October meeting. HISD initially said in October that the results of the evaluation were confidential, but it released the full scores to the Chronicle in response to an open records request. According to an amendment to Miles' contract, 60% of his evaluation is based on whether he met four specific student outcome goals and honored the constraints that the board set in November 2023, while the remaining 40% is based on how he scored on an executive leadership and vision rubric.

He earned 35 of 60 available points in the student outcomes section and 31.7 out of 40 points on the executive leadership and vision rubric. Miles earned a perfect score from board members for demonstrating vision, as well as high marks for making effective decisions and maintaining an effective budget. The board also determined that he had effectively maximized human capital and worked well “as part of a high-performing team.” However, he lost points for falling short on the district’s goal for third-grade student performance on the reading STAAR during the 2023-24 academic year. Board members also determined he had not been effective at constructing a positive communications strategy or prioritizing a positive culture and people wellness, according to the scores. HISD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the results of the evaluation.

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Houston Chronicle - February 12, 2025

Baylor, MD Anderson among Houston research institutions that could lose millions under NIH grant policy

Houston’s largest health care institutions stand to lose tens of millions of dollars under a new National Institutes of Health policy that slashes grant funding for medical research, triggering widespread concern among researchers and university administrators. The funding in question, also called “indirect costs,” reimburses grant recipients for overhead costs associated with research, such as the cost of support staff and maintaining lab space. The policy change would not affect direct costs, which go directly toward specific research projects. The NIH on Friday announced plans to dramatically lower the rate at which it reimburses indirect costs, drawing a lawsuit from 22 states (not including Texas). A federal judge blocked the policy in those 22 states Monday afternoon. On Monday night, the judge expanded the order to apply nationwide. In Texas, many university leaders and researchers remained anxious about what the future holds. Research institutions in the Houston area collected a combined $263 million in indirect costs last year from the NIH, according to an agency database.

“Within a short order, there would probably have to be personnel decisions,” said Darren Woodside, vice president of research at the Texas Heart Institute. “The long term consequences are dire. You’re really talking about the U.S.’s leadership role in medical research being affected.” The new NIH policy caps reimbursements for indirect costs at 15%. Until now, large research institutions have been paid considerably higher reimbursement rates – some greater than 50% – to account for their high overhead expenses. In announcing the decision, the agency said it is "obligated to carefully steward grant awards to ensure taxpayer dollars are used in ways that benefit the American people and improve their quality of life," adding that indirect costs are "difficult for NIH to oversee." The policy change could have devastating impacts in and around the Texas Medical Center, officials said. Rice University – which received $24.6 million in NIH grant funding last year – would lose $9.1 million this fiscal year and at least $11 to $12 million in every future fiscal year, according to a university spokesperson. The University of Houston estimated that it could lose about $10 million annually and braced for the possibility of further cuts from other federal agencies. “We must consider the possibility that other federal agencies may adopt similar policies, further compounding the challenges faced by research institutions nationwide,” the university said.

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D Magazine - February 10, 2025

After appellate court ruling, Dallas still can’t enforce its short-term rental ordinances

The city of Dallas failed to convince a three-judge panel that it should be allowed to enforce regulations against short-term rentals while a lawsuit wends its way through the courts. After public outcry from homeowners who lived next to short-term rentals that hosted large parties and other disruptions, the City Council voted to ban rentals through platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO in most of the city in June 2023. Council employed a two-pronged approach: restricting where they could operate by amending the zoning ordinance, and adopting a set of requirements for short-term rental operators. Those requirements include registering their properties with the city, providing off-street parking, and having a designated individual who could come to the property within an hour if necessary. The two measures were due to go into effect in December of that year, but four operators and the Dallas Short-Term Rental Alliance filed suit against the city in Dallas County district court that October. They also requested—and received— a temporary injunction to prevent the city from enforcing its new rules. At the time, Judge Monica Purdy found that the operators had made their case; an injunction was necessary “to prevent imminent and irreparable harm.” The plaintiffs provided sufficient evidence, she said, to argue that the city had pulled the rug out from under operators when it adopted the ban. Many of the impacted owners had been following the rules and paying their hotel occupancy taxes to the city for years.

“There is no adequate remedy at law because it will be impossible to quantify the near decade of investments Plaintiffs made in their STR businesses, including the hiring of employees, acquisition of numerous properties, and improvements on those properties made in reliance on the City’s representations that STRs were and are a lawful business,” she wrote. A three-judge panel with the Dallas Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Purdy’s ruling. In an opinion issued on February 7 and authored by Senior Justice Yvonne Rodriguez, the panel found several of the city’s arguments to be faulty. The opinion cautioned that finding for an injunction only means that the applicants successfully made their case for continuing the status quo until a trial can be held about the merits of the actual lawsuit. The trial date for the lawsuit has not been set yet—and it may not be. David Coale, who represented the short-term rental operators during the appeal, said that “it’s not unusual” for the arguments and findings during the injunction proceedings to ultimately resolve the dispute. “There’s not much point in a trial when the real dispute is about the law, and when the law is settled by an appellate opinion as we have here,” he said. Lisa Sievers, who is the president of the Dallas Short-Term Rental Alliance, said her group of operators prefers to work out regulations both the city and operators can live with. “While we are happy that short-term rental owners and operators are able to continue to operate under the injunction, our goal has always been to sit down with the City of Dallas and get a fair and reasonable ordinance passed,” she said. “We worked for several years on three different City of Dallas STR Task Forces to craft a good registration ordinance. We’d like the City to return to the original ordinance and work with us to get the job done.”

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National Stories

Washington Post - February 12, 2025

Trump executive order vows substantial cuts to federal workforce

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that requires federal agencies to work with the U.S. DOGE Service to cut their existing workforce and limit future hiring — the most explicit statement yet by the president that he supports “large-scale” cuts to the federal workforce. The executive order gives billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE, tasked with finding government inefficiencies, even more power than it has amassed in the first three weeks of the new administration. The order installs a “DOGE Team Lead” at each agency and gives that person oversight over hiring decisions. DOGE stands for Department of Government Efficiency. The directive instructs agency heads, after the hiring freeze expires, to recruit no more than one employee for every four who depart from the federal government, with exemptions for personnel and functions “related to public safety, immigration enforcement, or law enforcement.” And it orders agency heads to “promptly undertake preparations to initiate large-scale reductions in force, consistent with applicable law.”

Eliminating 25 percent of federal employees would cut the overall budget by about 1 percent. Semafor first reported that Trump would sign the executive order “We are going to be signing a very important deal today,” Trump said from the Oval Office. “It’s DOGE.” He said that his administration had found “billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse.” Beside him was Musk, who said: “If the bureaucracy is in charge, then what meaning does democracy actually have?” “It does not match the will of the people, so it’s just something we’ve got to fix,” he added. Neither Trump nor Musk provided specifics about the corruption they found or how they plan to address it. Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said Tuesday evening in a statement that “the arbitrary firing of thousands of employees across multiple federal agencies outlined in tonight’s executive order would decimate government services critical to the American public.”

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Politico - February 12, 2025

Florida’s immigration battle may be over soon. But will Republicans’ good times last?

The standoff between the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis over illegal immigration may be coming to a close. But a new era for the state’s governing party is just beginning. Despite a contentious intraparty civil war that turned hostile at times online, Republican legislative leaders and the governor crafted a sweeping new proposal behind closed doors that aims to help President Donald Trump carry out his massive deportation effort. This type of compromise negotiation had fallen out of fashion in Florida recently, as DeSantis enjoyed unprecedented sway and was able to push legislators to follow his lead. The question now is whether it will continue — and how it will shape the upcoming legislative session, where DeSantis has both budget recommendations and additional high-profile policy pushes on the line. The final legislation expected to be passed this week includes items that DeSantis wanted. But it also had notable changes, including eliminating the ability of the governor to unilaterally transport migrants out of state like he famously did in 2022, when the state shipped migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard.

“We have shown the world we are serious about the legislative branch, we have shown the world we can think for ourselves,” state Senate President Ben Albritton said Tuesday morning at an annual Florida Chamber of Commerce event held in Tallahassee. Legislative leaders — and more notably DeSantis — have hailed the new immigration proposals as the toughest in the country, even though some measures appear destined to draw legal challenges. When announcing the deal, the acid-tinged commentary of the past few weeks evaporated. Albritton, along with House Speaker Daniel Perez, thanked DeSantis, while the governor also praised legislators for moving ahead. “All in all, I think this is really, really strong,” DeSantis said in a video he posted on social media. “I commend the Legislature for stepping up to the plate.” It was a turnabout from recent weeks. Before Trump took office, DeSantis called for legislators to hold a special session in late January to consider immigration enforcement changes, among other major issues.

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Washington Post - February 12, 2025

Education pick McMahon has a record at odds with Trump’s radical agenda

Hours before President-elect Donald Trump announced that Linda McMahon was his choice for secretary of education in November, McMahon posted on X about education. But her message wasn’t about closing the Education Department or combating “woke” teaching or restricting transgender athletes. It was about apprenticeships, a low-key issue with bipartisan support. The post was fitting, in a way. In the 15 years since McMahon first held public office, she’s taken moderate positions on many education issues, reflective of her home state of Connecticut. Serving on the state school board, she backed diversity and equity initiatives, board documents show. During an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate in 2010, Democrats accused her of wanting to shutter the Education Department, but McMahon pushed back, saying that was not her position. Yet, if confirmed, McMahon, 76, will be joining an Education Department that under Trump has already launched an intensely ideological agenda.

The White House is preparing an executive order aimed at eventually closing the Education Department and, in the short term, dismantling its staff and functions. Even before her possible arrival, the U.S. DOGE Service, helmed by billionaire Elon Musk and a team of young aides, has entered the agency headquarters and begun slashing spending and staff. The department also has scrubbed its websites of any mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion and put about 100 employees on administrative leave because of alleged ties to DEI, though many simply participated in diversity training during Trump’s first term. And the White House has ordered the agency to deny federal funding to any school that teaches about “gender ideology” — the idea that one’s gender identity can differ from their biological sex at birth, or “discriminatory equity ideology,” a label the order attaches to a range of ideas related to systemic racism. McMahon is expected to be pressed on all of the above Thursday at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Democrats have signaled that they are more concerned with Trump’s education agenda than McMahon’s education record. And so far, all of Trump’s nominees to Cabinet positions have been confirmed by the Senate.

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Fox News - February 12, 2025

Freed American hostage Marc Fogel lands in US after years in Russian captivity

Marc Fogel, an American who had been detained in Russia since 2021, landed back in the U.S. on Tuesday. Fogel, a history teacher who was working at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, returned to the U.S. after his release from Russia following talks with the Trump administration. He was serving a 14-year sentence after his arrest in August 2021 at a Russian airport for possession of drugs, which his family said was medically prescribed marijuana. Fogel was seen in a picture posted by the White House on social media smiling and raising his fist while wrapped in an American flag as he walked off the plane on U.S. soil.

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Religion News Service - February 12, 2025

Faith-based groups challenge Trump orders in two court cases

More than two dozen religious groups pushed back on President Donald Trump’s actions and executive orders, filing two lawsuits a day apart challenging the president’s attempt to effectively freeze the federal refugee resettlement program and defending a rule that prevents immigration law enforcement agencies from raiding houses of worship and other sensitive locations. On Tuesday (Feb. 11), 27 religious groups filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington arguing that Trump’s decision to rescind a 2011 government rule banning immigration raids in houses of worship, hospitals and schools, violates the groups’ constitutional rights. The plaintiffs include the Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the Union for Reform Judaism, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Latino Christian National Network and Mennonite Church USA.

“Unannounced raids into our sanctuaries and other church spaces presents very real danger to both our members and our communities, most of whom are black and brown people,” said Bishop W. Darin Moore of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in a statement about the suit. The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, said, “By joining this lawsuit, we are seeking the ability to gather to fully practice our faith and follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbors as ourselves.” In a separate statement to Religion News Service, an Episcopal Church spokesperson said, “We joined the suit because Episcopal congregations across the United States have already seen decreased attendance at worship services and social service ministries due to fears of ICE actions. In some places, even congregants with documented legal status are choosing to stay home for fear they may be mistakenly arrested based on their appearance.”

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Newsclips - February 11, 2025

Lead Stories

Wall Street Journal - February 11, 2025

Trump’s conflicting business policies sow economic uncertainty

It usually takes years for a president to leave his mark on the economy. Donald Trump has done it in just a few weeks. His plan to raise tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China has rattled markets and boardrooms. Some businesses are seeing signs that deportations could affect their workforces. More than 40,000 federal employees are preparing to resign and others are rethinking their futures under pressure from Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. At the same time, President Trump’s pro-business, pro-fossil fuel agenda has excited many businesses who have made multibillion-dollar investment announcements. The end goal seems to be an economy with a smaller role for imports, immigrants and the federal government and a bigger one for private investment. But the execution has generated intense uncertainty—among business owners, workers and trade partners—that could damp growth, at least temporarily. While Trump’s election was fueled in part by voter concerns about inflation and standards of living, he nonetheless inherited a solid economy.

Gross domestic product was up 2.5% from a year earlier in the fourth quarter, and Friday’s employment report from the Labor Department showed that the economy added 143,000 jobs in January while the unemployment rate ticked down to a low 4%. Inflation has fallen sharply from its 9% peak in 2022, though is still closer to 3% than the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Many firms are bullish about Trump’s presidency, with surveys of chief executives, chief financial officers and small-business owners after the election showing notable increases in optimism. The Institute for Supply Management reported earlier this month that its index of manufacturers’ new orders in January rose to the highest in nearly three years. But events since the inauguration have dented that optimism. The S&P 500 rose 5% in the first five days after the election and has since moved sideways. The University of Michigan on Friday said its preliminary index of consumer sentiment, based on surveys conducted since Trump’s inauguration, dropped in February. Preliminary results of a small business survey by Vistage Worldwide for The Wall Street Journal show that a postelection pop in confidence was reversed in February. Wall Street just ended the quietest January in a decade for mergers and acquisitions announcements.

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Dallas Morning News - February 10, 2025

Texas House speaker vows to pass ‘school choice’ bill

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows has vowed to pass a “school choice” law this session in response to public statements from President Donald Trump. “The Texas House must now pass School Choice to deliver a gigantic Victory for Texas students and parents,” Trump said in a recent post on Truth Social, his social media platform. “I will be watching them closely.” Burrows’ response was simple. “We will,” the newly elected speaker said on X, attaching Trump’s post. Similar proposals to use taxpayer money to help families pay for private school education have died in the House in recent years. This year could be different, and with Burrows’ endorsement of the policy, it now appears momentum is behind the Republican-led effort.

“I support empowering parents to decide the best educational option for their children, and I believe the votes are there in the House for a universal school choice program to pass this session,” Burrows said in an emailed statement Monday. “The House is prepared to lead on this issue and, importantly, on securing meaningful investments for public education and teacher pay raises.” Gov. Greg Abbott has made passing a school choice bill his top policy goal for this year’s legislative session. Abbott has said he believes the votes are there after the governor worked to unseat several House members who helped block voucher-style efforts in 2023. The Senate quickly approved a school choice measure, Senate Bill 2, last week after Abbott made it an emergency item during his recent State of the State address. The bill passed largely on party lines and arrived in the House on Thursday. Trump congratulated Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and SB 2 author Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, in his post. Republican budget writers have proposed using $1 billion of surplus money to create a school choice fund.

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Washington Post - February 11, 2025

Trump’s NIH challenges the model that underlies U.S. scientific dominance

At Mark Peifer’s University of North Carolina lab, scientists study the elaborate machinery that cells use to communicate with one another, which often goes awry in colon cancer. Last week, the “cold room” on his floor went down. No cold room, no experiments — at least until university facilities personnel were able to fix it. The maintenance of research facilities is included in about $208,000 for “indirect costs” that are part of Peifer’s nearly $600,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health — money that allows his whole enterprise to continue functioning.

But in a bombshell announcement Friday night, NIH said it would immediately impose a dramatic cut in funding for such indirect expenditures, the latest abrupt action by the Trump administration. On Monday afternoon, a federal judge in Massachusetts issued a temporary restraining order that halts the move in 22 states that sued to stop it. That evening, a coalition including three large higher education associations and some of the country’s most elite universities filed a more sweeping lawsuit seeking to stop the cuts nationwide. “Without overhead, universities cannot support labs like mine,” Peifer said in an email. “The aging building in which I work will literally fall apart around me if the maintenance is removed. No new faculty will be hired. I guess I’ll have to manage my $375,000/year budget with a calculator?” For 80 years the great research institutions of America have enjoyed a special relationship with the federal government, one that has powered scientific and technological innovation and made the nation’s universities a magnet for the world’s most brilliant scientists and engineers. Research leaders contend that the NIH decision will damage America’s ability to compete with China and other nations on the frontier of biomedicine. Although it is framed as a simple cost-cutting move, it is part of aggressive actions from the administration that have shaken the scientific and medical establishment. In a post on X, NIH said the cap on indirect costs would save $4 billion per year. The agency said in a guidance notice that about $9 billion of the $35 billion it awarded to researchers in fiscal 2023 were indirect costs. About 80 percent of the NIH budget goes to outside institutions.

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Fox News - February 11, 2025

Texas confirms growing measles outbreak affecting school-aged children

Officials at the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) warn there is a growing measles outbreak involving school-aged children. The report said that 10 cases have been identified in Gaines County and eight of the cases are school-aged children, of which two are under the age of 5. All were unvaccinated cases, said officials. "Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities," the alert said. Seven of the cases have been hospitalized, according to the Texas DSHS.

The rise in cases comes more than two decades after measles was reported eliminated by health agencies in 2000. This week’s alert went on to advise that additional cases are likely to occur soon. "Due to the highly contagious nature of this disease, additional cases are likely to occur in Gaines County and the surrounding communities," they said. Officials urged people to immediately report any suspected cases to their local health department with the infected person in their presence. DSHS said the virus can be transmitted through direct contact with infectious droplets or airborne and spread when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. They also warned that the virus can remain infectious in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area. Vaccination is the best way for people to avoid infection from measles and other preventable diseases, the advisory said. "Children too young to be vaccinated are more likely to have severe complications if they get infected with the measles virus," DSHS said.

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State Stories

Dallas Morning News - February 10, 2025

How will Gov. Abbott's priorities impact career training programs in Texas' high schools?

Texas faces an urgent need to prepare students for the future workforce, as nearly two-thirds of projected new jobs will require post-high school training over the next five years, advocates say. But too many graduates lack the skills to meet the demand. Texas faces an urgent need to prepare students for the future workforce, as nearly two-thirds of projected new jobs will require post-high school training over the next five years, advocates say. But too many graduates lack the skills to meet the demand.

“High schools must provide more career training programs so that students can go directly from graduation into a good paying job,” Abbott said during his recent State of the State. About 63% of jobs in Texas will require education or training beyond a high school diploma by 2030, according to the Republican governor’s proposed state budget for the next two years. But less than 40% of students earn a degree or workforce credential within six years of graduating high school, according to Abbott’s proposal. Meanwhile, only 32% of workers have skills for those jobs, according to the Texas Workforce Commission’s labor marker information. In 2015, Abbott set a goal for 60% of Texas' 25- to 34-year-old workforce to obtain a postsecondary degree or credential by 2030. By that year, Texas wants 550,000 of its higher education students earning a certificate, associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree. Workforce training advocates say additional funding opens the doors for more students to participate in programs that get Texas closer to the goals and help break the cycle of poverty. Only 26% of young adult Texans in 2022 earned enough to afford essential expenses, including food, shelter and health care, according to research from the nonprofit Commit Partnership. (Commit is a supporter of the Future of North Texas initiative at The Dallas Morning News.)

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Austin American-Statesman - February 10, 2025

Stacey McKenna: Fentanyl test strips save lives. Why are they still illegal in Texas?

(Stacey McKenna is a resident senior fellow for the Integrated Harm Reduction Program at the R Street Institute.) Last year, a fentanyl-contaminated batch of crack cocaine killed at least 12 people and led to 70 overdose 911 calls in just 72 hours in Austin. Such a tragedy underscores the gravity of Texas’ overdose crisis and should be a wakeup call to state lawmakers. Fortunately, there are tools — simple test strips that indicate whether a drug is tainted with a dangerous substance like fentanyl — that help people make safer choices when it comes to substance use and reduce their overdose risk. Unfortunately, those tools are illegal in Texas. But a new piece of legislation, introduced by a Republican state representative, could change this and save countless Texans’ lives. Illicit drug use has never been completely safe — an unregulated supply means there’s minimal transparency or quality control. But a decade ago, when I was conducting field work with people who used methamphetamine, my participants could assume their supply would be opioid-free. And those using heroin rarely worried that their usual dose would be 50 times stronger than expected.

Now, however, the rise of synthetics has resulted in a market dominated by the highly potent opioid fentanyl, with a roster of novel adulterants — substances added to the drug supply to enhance experience, add weight or improve delivery efficiency — waiting in the wings. Indeed, recent research from many states, including Texas, found that up to 15% of stimulant samples now contain fentanyl, too. And the animal tranquilizer xylazine has made its way into the Texas supply. These adulterants in the illicit supply are serious public health threats. People who primarily use stimulants or psychedelics often lack protective tolerance against fentanyl, making them especially vulnerable to an overdose. And, because fentanyl is so potent and fast-acting, even people who have used opioids for decades are at risk. Meanwhile, xylazine complicates overdose because it depresses breathing but does not respond to the overdose reversal medication naloxone. Checking drugs by using test strips, or more advanced technologies, to test a small amount of a drug for adulterants such as fentanyl or xylazine, can provide people with the information to make safer decisions about their drug use, reducing their overdose risk. Texas is one of just four holdout states in which possession, free distribution and sale of this life-saving equipment remains a crime. That glaring legislative gap is likely part of why the state is seeing a smaller decline (about 10 percent) in overdose deaths relative to its neighbors (between 20 and 28 percent) — all of which have authorized some form of drug checking equipment — and the rest of the country. This is why Texas State Rep. Tom Oliverson, a Republican and an anesthesiologist, has introduced a single, straightforward piece of legislation that could save a lot of lives.

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Houston Chronicle - February 11, 2025

State requests help from attorney general's office to ensure compliance of Harris County Jail

The Texas agency overseeing jail standards will heighten its response to Harris County's years-long struggle to meet state guidelines and tackle overcrowding — less than a month after it was issued a notice for failing to complete face-to-face observations of inmates. During a Thursday meeting in Austin, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards requested the Texas Attorney General’s Office’s help to enforce Harris County Jail to comply with minimum standards. No details about what the attorney general’s office will do to ensure future compliance were discussed during Thursday’s meeting. Harris County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Harris County Jail has struggled to meet minimum jail standards for years. A remedial order was first issued in 2023, leading the sheriff’s office to increase staffing and outsource inmate housing, resulting in a certification of compliance in August 2024.

Phillip Bosquez, assistant chief of detention operations command, told commissioners Thursday the sheriff’s office has worked to increase its staffing in recent years and is in discussions with the Commissioners Court to add more open positions. The jail also spent $50 million last year to outsource local inmates to privately operated jails in Garza and Jefferson counties, as well as in Louisiana and Mississippi to help with overcrowding. Commissioner Duane Lock said he is concerned about the deaths of outsourced inmates that have happened out of state in recent years. Since 2022, three Harris County men awaiting trial died after being transferred to the Louisiana correctional center. “I am asking you because of the standards that we have here in Texas versus whatever standards, I don't know the standards in Mississippi, nor do I know them in Louisiana,” he said during Thursday’s meeting. “My question is centered on trying to keep the inmates in the state where we have and understand our standardized set of standards across each county.” Advocates with Communities Not Cages, a group fighting against jail expansion and for de-carceration in Harris County, characterized Thursday’s decision as a step in the right direction that proves the county’s efforts to fix the jail have been unsuccessful.

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Houston Chronicle - February 11, 2025

Cy-Fair ISD superintendent says new gender policy won’t change current practice

A controversial gender policy closely resembling one in Katy ISD was approved by Cy-Fair ISD trustees in a 6-1 vote Monday night, putting roughly 200,000 students in the Houston area under a similar rule. The policy could force staff to “out” a transgender student to their parents if they request to use a pronoun or name at school that differs from their biological sex. It also prohibits district staff from providing treatment for gender dysphoria and bans material that “promotes” gender identity and gender fluidity. The policy first passed in Katy ISD, a 96,000-student district in west Houston, at the beginning of last school year and has since been discussed by neighboring Conroe ISD with 72,000 students, where newly elected trustees have pledged to take a second look at it.

Speakers used religion to argue both for and against the policy in the 118,000-student Cy-Fair ISD Monday night. Student Valeria Patino said that as a Catholic, she is “appalled” by the policy. “You claim to stand by faith, values and righteousness, but know this, you are the ones casting judgment. You will bear the weight of these students' suicides caused by your action. It's not protection, it's harm,” Patino said. During the invocation of the meeting, Rev. Heather Tolleson prayed that the trustees would think of all students when leading the district. “May we represent this deep and vast school district in all of its diversity and everyone who makes it up, especially our students, regardless of race or gender or class or our gender identity or expression or sexual orientation. May you let us lead each and every student with dignity and respect, showing them that they are a valued member of our school district that makes us strong. May you allow us to leave our own convictions behind …” Tolleson said.

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Dallas Morning News - February 11, 2025

Dallas Morning News Editorial: Don’t reimburse Gov. Abbott for Operation Lone Star without audit

Gov. Greg Abbott has said multiple times that he wants the federal government to pay up for Operation Lone Star, the border security initiative he launched in 2021 that has cost Texans more than $11 billion. Abbott recently made his pitch directly to President Donald Trump, and some Republicans in Congress have indicated they will support federal reimbursement. Not so fast. Texas needs to show receipts first. While Operation Lone Star has become a punching bag for the left, Abbott was right to take action as illegal border crossings skyrocketed and the Biden administration sent mixed messages. The governor deployed state troopers and members of the Texas National Guard to detain people trying to cross the border undetected, turning over migrants to U.S. Border Patrol. Abbott also installed more border barriers and began busing asylum-seekers to cities in other states.

Migrants riding the buses did so voluntarily, and some said they were grateful for the trips. The busing relieved pressure on overwhelmed Texas communities and forced Democratic leaders to confront concerns about unchecked illegal immigration. However, some aspects of Operation Lone Star have raised serious concerns — concerns that have been exacerbated by a lack of transparency since the initiative launched. Operation Lone Star created something akin to a standalone legal system to process migrants on criminal trespass charges, some of which were later tossed in court. A year into the initiative, journalists found that hundreds of criminal charges and pounds of seized fentanyl attributed to Operation Lone Star weren’t related to the border. We were also alarmed by reports in 2023 that state officials placed barrels wrapped in barbed wire in the Rio Grande, where migrants couldn’t see them, and allegations that some troopers were instructed not to help migrants in distress, including children. Abbott’s antagonism toward then-President Joe Biden also put Texas at odds with Border Patrol over the placement of concertina wire along the border.

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Dallas Morning News - February 11, 2025

Glenn Hamer and Nicole Nosek: Texas should learn from California’s failures in housing policy

(Glenn Hamer is the president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business. Nicole Nosek is the chair of Texans for Reasonable Solutions.) For decades, Texas has been a beacon of opportunity — a place where the American dream is not only within reach, but readily available for all who seek it. Whether you work for one of the more than 50 Fortune 500 companies that call Texas home, or you’re an entrepreneur building and expanding your business operations, Texas has the resources and economic engine to make sure you can reach your full potential. However, with Texas projected to gain as many as 5 million new people by 2036, our state’s rapid population growth and lack of housing supply to keep pace have fueled a clear housing crisis, putting a key pillar of the American dream — securing a stable, affordable place to live — further out of reach for more Texans. We know that when residents cannot find housing to fit their needs, businesses suffer because they struggle to recruit and retain the workforce they need. Skyrocketing housing costs were a major reason why states like California have hemorrhaged major corporations to states like Texas and Florida in recent years, according to a study by the Hoover Institution, a public policy research center at Stanford University.

Will we learn from the housing affordability failures in states like California? State leaders have already sounded the alarm on the urgent need to address this crisis in order to keep our economy strong. Last August, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar warned that, even with the Legislature’s historic property tax relief and reductions in regulations last session, our state’s housing crisis “remains daunting” and that addressing it will be “key to our continued overall economic health.” During his recent State of the State address, Gov. Greg Abbott made clear that the Legislature must take steps to make housing more affordable, acknowledging that “we need to make it easier to build, slash regulations and speed up permitting.” Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is directly acting on housing affordability for Texans by prioritizing SB 15 to remove barriers to affordable housing. There is perhaps nowhere more emblematic of the increased burden of high housing costs than in the rapidly growing Dallas-Fort Worth area. In fact, a recent public opinion poll conducted on behalf of the Texas Association of Business Foundation revealed that an overwhelming majority of Dallas-Fort Worth-area voters believe there is a critical short supply of reasonably priced homes, with nearly half saying it is a “serious” problem and a majority indicating they want more housing options. Thankfully, there are commonsense solutions to this crisis. In addition to continuing to provide property tax cuts to reduce high costs of living, there are several measures supported by Texas voters that would meaningfully move the needle in addressing our state’s emerging housing affordability crisis. First, to address the relentless demand outpacing supply, Texas needs to affirm the fundamental right for property owners in new neighborhoods to build detached townhomes on their own land. In new neighborhoods, Texas landowners with at least five undeveloped acres should have the power to build housing that’s more accessible and meets the needs of their communities — cutting through restrictive regulations and unleashing the full potential of Texas’ housing market. In the D-FW area, the TABF poll demonstrated that almost 7 out of 10 support this policy.

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San Antonio Express-News - February 11, 2025

La Pryor ISD superintendent placed on leave after alleged assault of 6-year-old

When Helena Diaz’s six-year-old daughter returned from school with bruises on her body, she assumed the child had fallen off the monkey bars or taken a tumble on the playground. It was a total shock when Child Protective Services knocked on her door four days later. A social worker came to ask Diaz for permission to pull her daughter’s student records. The request came as part of an investigation that would later result in the suspension of La Pryor Independent School District’s top leader. “Everyone was aware and said nothing,” Diaz said on Monday. “The whole system failed her.” The incident occurred at La Pryor ISD’s elementary school on Friday, Jan. 31. According to Diaz, witnesses and board members who saw surveillance footage said her daughter had stepped out of the classroom and was walking around with a special education employee when they ran into Superintendent William Arevalo.

Diaz said her daughter, a kindergarten student who is being tested for an emotional disorder, likely left the classroom to calm down after becoming frustrated. She said witnesses reported her daughter being noncombative when Arevalo allegedly dragged her down the hallway and “picked her up and threw her” into a room. “These are people who work at the school saying he threw her so hard that she hit the wall and fell,” Diaz said. “When the woman who was walking with my daughter tried to intervene, he became aggressive and hostile towards her, and she said she was in shock. He closed the door and said he was going to do it his way.” Diaz said the employee tried to find somebody to de-escalate the situation while her daughter screamed for help. She said it took 45 minutes before another staff member entered the room to find the child “in the fetal position crying and asking why no one came to help.” The mother of two said the school was concerned enough to send her daughter to the nurse’s office after the incident. She said she gets calls when her daughter gets a paper cut or trips outside, but there was no notification this time. To this day, Diaz said the only communication she’s received from the district was a call asking why her two daughters have not been attending school.

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San Antonio Express-News - February 11, 2025

Hill Country city could become home to gas-powered AI data center

A data center geared toward serving artificial intelligence companies is being planned for the San Marcos area — and it will be powered by natural gas. The Dallas-based company Energy Transfer LP announced Monday that it has entered an agreement to supply up to 450,000 MMBTu — or million British Thermal Units — per day from its Oasis Pipeline subsidiary to the Denver-based company CloudBurst Data Centers for a data center campus outside San Marcos. The gas will be enough to generate up to 1.2 gigawatts of electricity for at least 10 years, according to the news release. A gigawatt is a unit used to measure electrical power; it is equal to 1 billion watts. CloudBurst expects the data center to be operational in the third quarter of 2026, according to the release.

Additional details for what CloudBurst calls its “flagship” data center are scarce. The company doesn’t appear to have disclosed exactly where it will be built, or just how large it will be. On its website, it says the data center is “designed for expansion in the near-term” and that the power will be supplied in part by rooftop solar panels. The project appears to be linked with a data center that is planned on 199.5 acres of ranchland at the crossing of Francis Harris Lane and Grant Harris Road. The property straddles the southern border of San Marcos city limits, about two miles south of Interstate 35, according to documents from the city of San Marcos. The San Marcos Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday is scheduled to consider a request by the current owners of two properties comprising the site to clear the way for the center to be built by changing the properties’ designation in the city’s growth plan from the so-called “comprehensive/cluster,” indicating areas where development should be discouraged, to a commercial designation.

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San Antonio Express-News - February 11, 2025

North East ISD to close three schools amid budget shortfall, declining enrollment

Standing on the sidewalk beside his older sister, five-year-old Kassius Reyes held up a sign displaying his classmates’ colorful handprints and four words. “Keep our school open!” the handmade poster read. But later Monday night, at a crowded board meeting, the North East Independent School District board voted 7-0 to close Driscoll Middle School, Wilshire Elementary School and Clear Spring Elementary School to cope with an enrollment loss of 12,000 students over the past decade. The cost-cutting plan is expected to save the district $5 million annually to offset an estimated $39 million budget deficit. Kassius was one of a few dozen community members who gathered outside the NEISD boardroom Monday to protest the proposal. Before the meeting, advocates passed out black ribbons to mourn the loss of their schools.

A kindergarten student at Clear Spring Elementary School, Kassius said he was sad to hear that he won't return to the campus next year. “It’s sad we can’t have our friends anymore,” he said. “We have to make new friends at new schools.” Next year, students who attend Clear Spring will be split between El Dorado, Serna and Royal Ridge elementary schools. Driscoll will be consolidated with Garner and Harris middle schools, and Wilshire will be consolidated with Northwood and East Terrell Hills elementary schools. Attendance boundaries and transportation routes will be adjusted to accommodate the influx of new students to existing campuses. The district said it will work to relocate all staff to their new campuses and give affected employees priority for open positions. NEISD officials shared plans for supporting families through the transitions, including holding one-on-one meetings with families to ensure all special education students receive proper services at their new campuses. The district is also extending the deadline for affected families to apply to its school choice and magnet programs.

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Fort Worth Report - February 11, 2025

As new Texas Hispanic caucus leader, Romero prepares for fierce battle over immigration

Almost immediately after assuming his new role as chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, state Rep. Ramón Romero Jr., D-Fort Worth, left no doubt that he planned an activist trajectory as he fired off statement after statement during the opening days of the 2025 Legislature. One such statement assailed President Donald Trump’s emerging immigration policies as a threat to “the very fabric of our nation.” Another vowed the caucus’ opposition to possible immigration raids in Texas schools. Romero lamented a House rule change blocking Democrats from chairing committees but at the same time held out hope that lawmakers were embarking on “a productive session where all Texans will benefit.” Interviewed in his office on the fourth floor of the State Capitol, Romero said the caucus, widely known as MALC, is facing daunting challenges as Trump presses ahead on beefed-up immigration enforcement with support from Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans who control state government.

“There’s a lot of people in the political world right now that are looking for a scapegoat, and they point to the Latino community,” said Romero, 51. “We all know that the immigration issue has been top of mind.” One of Romero’s first major initiatives includes the appointment of a six-member committee within MALC to produce a strategic plan for border development. The project would be funded with $11 billion that Abbott is seeking in reimbursement to Texas for the cost of border security and wall construction during the Biden administration. The money, Romero said, should be used to “address the real needs of our border communities,” including infrastructure, workforce development, trade and security, with an overall goal “to rebuild the border and keep jobs in Texas.” He named Rep. Eddie Morales Jr., an Eagle Pass Democrat, to head the project. In taking the reins of what is widely known as the oldest and largest Mexican American legislative caucus in the nation, Romero marks another step in a personal journey that started in childhood poverty in east Fort Worth and followed with self-made success in business and politics.

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Dallas Morning News - February 10, 2025

Richardson ISD under review as Texas AG expands scrutiny of transgender student policies

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants the Richardson school district to turn over any documents it has related to policies and procedures regarding transgender student athletes. On Monday, Paxton expanded his ongoing review of Texas schools’ actions regarding such students to include Richardson and Hutto. His office requested similar documents from the Dallas and Irving districts last week. The demand for information comes after a group called Accuracy in Media used hidden cameras to record various school administrators talking about how their districts would treat transgender students.

In a video recorded in the Richardson school district, a person posing as a prospective parent — later identified as an “undercover journalist” — asked whether her transgender daughter would be able to stay with the rest of the girls on overnight school trips. A person identified as a district administrator is heard saying that it would be determined on a case-by-case basis. She added that in cases where that has occurred, all the students in the room were friends and “the parents were OK with it.” The attorney general office’s letter to the district notes that it is “implied in the video that your district allows the participation of biologically male students in girls’ sports in violation of state law.” In a statement, Richardson ISD officials said they will comply with the request for documentation. “RISD closely follows Texas law, including the UIL requirement that student athletes must compete according to the gender on their original birth certificate,” they wrote. “The district is not aware of any instance whatsoever where this requirement was not followed in RISD.”

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Tech Crunch - February 10, 2025

Lyft to launch Mobileye-powered robotaxis ‘as soon as 2026,’ starting with Dallas

Ride-hail giant Lyft plans to bring fully autonomous robotaxis, powered by Mobileye, to its app “as soon as 2026” in Dallas, with more markets to follow, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. The news comes a day before Lyft reports its fourth-quarter financial results, coinciding with Waymo’s preparations to launch a commercial robotaxi service with Uber in Austin and, later, Atlanta. Tesla has also shared plans to start an autonomous ride-hail operation in Austin in June. Marubeni, a Japanese conglomerate with experience managing fleets, will own and finance the Mobileye-equipped vehicles that will show up on Lyft’s ride-hailing app. While Lyft has not yet disclosed which carmaker it is partnering with for the launch, Mobileye’s advanced driver-assistance technology is already integrated into vehicles from Audi, Volkswagen, Nissan, Ford, General Motors, and more.

Lyft also didn’t share how many vehicles it would launch in Dallas to start, but Jeremy Bird, Lyft’s executive vice president of driver experience, told TechCrunch that the plan is to scale to thousands of vehicles across multiple cities after the Texas debut. The Marubeni partnership is a non sequitur for Lyft: The Japanese company owns subsidiaries across almost every industry, from food and real estate to agriculture and energy, but doesn’t have a large presence in ride-hail or autonomous vehicles. That said, over the past few years, Marubeni has begun to dabble. In 2021, the company partnered with Mobileye and transit planning app Moovit to launch an on-demand mobility service in Japan. TechCrunch has reached out to learn if that collaboration is still active. Mobileye served as the intermediary between Lyft and Marubeni, said Bird. For Lyft’s asset-light business model, finding a partner to commit to owning the fleet is crucial.

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D Magazine - February 10, 2025

The new Dallas Mavericks have introduced themselves, and dissent will not be tolerated

Caglar Ozerdim and Julie Shaddox can’t tell their love story without the Dallas Mavericks. It began a dozen or so years ago, when he invited her to a game because he didn’t have anyone else to go with. They fell in love, got married, had two kids, purchased season tickets a decade ago in section 116. They rode out the end of Dirk Nowitzki’s career and watched as their team somehow outwitted the Suns, Kings, Hawks, and Grizzlies to nab an ascendent, generational talent named Luka Doncic in the 2018 draft. Then, two weekends ago, news broke that general manager and former Nike executive Nico Harrison had traded the 25-year-old to the Los Angeles Lakers for aging star Anthony Davis, the young flyer Max Christie, and a lone future first-round draft pick. On Saturday afternoon, about an hour before the Mavs tipped off against the Rockets for their first game in Dallas since the trade, Caglar and Julie waited on a DART train at Market Center Station to take them to Victory Park. They wore Mavs shirts but covered the team’s logo with blue construction tape. They held two signs: she with “NO LOYALTY NO CULTURE,” he with “GO BACK TO SELLING SHOES NICO.” “You said you were physically angry when you woke up,” Julie said to her husband. “That night I had a dream you left me for another guy,” Caglar replied. Caglar and Julie had a border collie named Sam who was struck and killed by a driver. “This pain is similar,” Caglar said. “It was just so sudden.”

Ten days after they embarked on a five-game road swing, the Mavs returned to the American Airlines Center very different from how they left. Their environment was even less familiar. Fans raised more than $16,000 to pay for digital billboards near the arena. Police with leashed K9 units flanked the entrances. (Harrison had apparently received death threats.) Staffers set up barricades in Victory Plaza, creating a pen for protesters. The guys with the coffin were back, and this time they brought a megaphone. About two dozen fans sang “Halleluka,” sportswriters and podcasters Isaac Lee and Jason Gallagher’s flip of the Leonard Cohen original that they once performed in the stadium in front of Luka. Fans chanted, “He’s not fat, bring him back,” and posed for pictures next to a life-size cardboard Nico, his face obscured by a clown nose. “It’s the closest thing I’ve felt to genuine heartbreak,” said Omar Alfarawati, a sales manager who lives in Richardson. “I didn’t watch basketball before Luka.” Matt Robinson wore a shirt of Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson also sporting a red clown nose. “Someone was handing these out; I didn’t have one before 30 minutes ago,” he said. Neal Ghanta put on a suit, drove down from Oklahoma, and pulled a brown paper bag over his face. “Don’t be sorry for me,” said the recent OU grad. “There’s a whole city of fans who are in pain.” Security corralled the anger outside. Fans wearing shirts that denigrated Harrison weren’t allowed into the stadium. Ushers reportedly asked fans to remove tape covering the team logo. There were no crowd shots broadcast onto the Jumbotron. The sole crowd bit involved a man who nailed the lyrics to Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the U.S.A.” with such ease that a sportswriter friend of mine texted to say he thought he was a plant. “The game felt very North Korea-y,” posted one fan on Twitter.

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City Stories

Houston Chronicle - February 10, 2025

EPA finds cancer-causing toxin at site of Fifth Ward community center in Houston

Community leaders blame a history of “corporate greed,” negligence and environmental racism for cancer-causing contamination found at Hester House in Houston’s Fifth Ward, officials said during a Monday news conference Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis and Congressman Sylvester Turner led a discussion on the results of a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The study identified “detectable levels” of dioxin, a known carcinogen, in the soil on the site of the community center that was five times the screening limit for children’s safety under agency standards.

Ellis said under advisory by the agency that a fence would be put around the perimeters of an open field adjacent to the center’s day care facility, which will remain open. The public announcement was an effort to give the community some clarity beforehand. “I did not want to put a fence up … and give people cause for alarm, and not explain why we were putting it up,” he said. While the agency’s results maintain that the levels of dioxin are not an “immediate threat,” they are “deeply troubling," said Ellis, whose office operates the center. “No amount of carcinogens in our community or any other community is acceptable,” he said. Results from properties near the site show that “nearly all detected chemicals were below the agency’s conservative screening levels,” according to a statement from the agency. Further testing would focus on dioxins found to be above screening levels, the statement says. Dioxins are commonly found in areas that are densely populated and have a history of industrial activity, and it is “premature to identify a source before the entire testing and evaluation process is completed,” the agency’s statement details.

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National Stories

Stateline - February 10, 2025

Health insurance for millions could vanish as states put Medicaid expansion on chopping block

Republican lawmakers in several states have Medicaid expansion in their crosshairs, energized by President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and a GOP-controlled Congress set on reducing spending on the public health insurance program for low-income people. As the feds consider cuts to Medicaid, some states are already moving to end or shrink their expanded Medicaid programs. Legislators in Idaho have introduced a bill that would repeal voter-approved expansion, while Republicans in Montana are considering allowing their expanded program to expire. Some South Dakota lawmakers want to ask voters to let the state end expansion if federal aid declines. Nine other states already have trigger laws that will end their expansion programs if Congress cuts federal funding. Meanwhile, discussions have stalled in non-expansion states such as Alabama, as lawmakers wait to see what the Trump administration will do.

Many conservatives argue that Medicaid expansion has created a heavy financial burden for states and that reliance on so much federal funding is risky. They argue that expansion shifts resources away from more vulnerable groups, such as children and the disabled, to low-income adults who could potentially get jobs. In South Dakota, where voters approved Medicaid expansion in 2022 by a constitutional amendment, Republican state Sen. Casey Crabtree wants to bring expansion before voters again with a trigger measure. He told Stateline via text that his proposed amendment to the state constitution “empowers voters to maintain financial accountability, ensuring that if federal funding drops below the agreed 90%, the legislature can responsibly assess the state’s financial capacity and the impact on taxpayers while still honoring the will of the people.” But even some Republicans are uneasy about what repealing expansion would mean for their constituents. “Quite honestly, I have received hundreds of emails from constituents that have said, ‘please do not repeal.’ I have received zero asking me to repeal, which I think is very telling,” said Idaho state Rep. Lori McCann, a Republican who represents a swing district in the northern part of the state. McCann said she’s interested in reining in Medicaid costs, but skeptical about a full expansion repeal. More than 89,000 Idahoans could lose their coverage if the state repeals its expansion, according to the latest numbers from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. McCann said she learned this month that only a fraction of those would qualify to buy discounted insurance on the state exchange.

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The Hill - February 11, 2025

Democrats step up talk about using shutdown as leverage against Trump

Democrats in Congress are growing louder with threats to force a shutdown in March to put the brakes on President Trump’s and Elon Musk’s efforts to overhaul the federal government by freezing spending and dismantling agencies. A growing number of Democratic lawmakers think the March 14 deadline for funding the government gives them the best leverage to pressure Trump and Musk to back off their plans to pick apart the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other agencies. But they are divided over how hard to push the threat of a shutdown, fearing that Democrats might get blamed for a funding lapse that would furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers and interrupt government services across the country.

Democrats say they traditionally try to do everything to avoid shutdowns but now warn one may be inevitable if Trump doesn’t rein in Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “I never support a shutdown, but I can see where it could happen in this situation. It’s an extreme situation,” said Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.). Durbin, the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, pointed to Vice President Vance’s comments over the weekend suggesting the White House may not heed court rulings blocking its executive actions as a major provocation. “One step away from a constitutional crisis. Let’s be very blunt about this. If he believes the executive branch can ignore the directives coming down from the judicial branch, it’s an invitation to a constitutional crisis,” he said.

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The Hill - February 11, 2025

Trump’s proposal for Gaza entangles Arab allies

President Trump’s proposal to permanently resettle Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is complicating relationships with allies in the Arab world. His meeting Tuesday with Jordan’s King Abdullah II stands to be an awkward moment as Trump continues to suggest Abdullah’s country take in more Palestinians, who by some estimates already take up about half the population. But Trump’s proposal has been met with steep opposition from the greater Arab world, who see Palestinian resettlement as a nonstarter, in addition to going against decades of U.S. foreign policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Arab nations and global leaders have been clear in their opposition to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the urgent need to rebuild Gaza so its people can live with dignity and security,” said Iman Awad, national director of policy and advocacy at Emgage Action, a Muslim American advocacy group, in a statement.

“In particular, we expect that the upcoming meeting with the Jordanian King will reinforce these concerns, underscoring the necessity of upholding international law and preventing the displacement of millions of Palestinians,” Awad added. Trump sent shockwaves through the Middle East last week when he proposed the United States would take control of the Gaza Strip and rebuild it. He since has offered some new details of his vision, including that U.S. troops would not get involved, while sending mixed messages about the fate of Palestinians. The president for weeks has said he would like to see Jordan, Egypt and other nations in the region take in Palestinians who would be relocated out of Gaza.

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NBC News - February 11, 2025

Trump threatens ‘all hell is going to break out’ if Hamas delays hostage releases

The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was at risk of faltering Tuesday after President Donald Trump warned “all hell is going to break out” if the Palestinian militant group does not release “all” remaining hostages this week. The war in Gaza is on pause following a complex agreement in which remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are incrementally exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israel. But Hamas said late Monday that it was indefinitely postponing the next hostage-prisoner swap Saturday, accusing Israel of continuing to shoot at Palestinians, stopping them from moving back to the northern part of the Strip, and delaying the entry of medical supplies and shelters. An exchange slated for this Saturday was set to see three more hostages freed from Gaza. But Trump responded to Hamas’ delay by demanding all 76 remaining captives, 44 of whom are believed alive, are freed.

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CNN - February 11, 2025

‘Gulf of America’ arrives on Google Maps

The body of water formerly known in the United States as the Gulf of Mexico is now listed for US-based users of Google Maps as the Gulf of America. The change follows an executive order by US President Donald Trump renaming the area. Google has previously said it has “a longstanding practice of applying name changes when they have been updated in official government sources.” “People using Maps in the US will see ‘Gulf of America,’ and people in Mexico will see ‘Gulf of Mexico.’ Everyone else will see both names,” it said in a statement Monday. Google said last month it would also change the name of Mount McKinley, the nation’s highest peak, from Denali following Trump’s order. Former President Barack Obama renamed the Alaska landmark to Denali in 2015 as a nod to the region’s native population. But that change hasn’t been made on Google Maps as of Tuesday.

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Politico - February 11, 2025

Trump’s Justice Department moves to drop charges against Eric Adams

Federal prosecutors moved to drop their case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams Monday, which would clear him of all corruption charges as he seeks reelection in June. A top Justice Department official, Emil Bove, directed the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to seek a dismissal of the charges against Adams, saying in a memo to the office the case has “improperly interfered” with the mayor’s reelection campaign and could hurt his ability to support Trump’s immigration agenda. The move was first reported by The New York Times. Adams has made clear he supports Trump’s efforts to deport certain undocumented migrants from the city. Should a judge sign off on tossing all five counts against Adams, who was indicted in September, the mayor would no longer face the prospect of jail time or a trial as he runs for reelection.

A spokesperson for the Southern District, Nicholas Biase, declined to comment on how the office planned to respond and a spokesperson for Adams confirmed the news. The mayor’s legal team cast the decision as proof the justice department never had a case to begin with. “As I said from the outset, the mayor is innocent—and he would prevail,” Alex Spiro, the mayor’s attorney, said in a statement. “Today he has.” This move continues an emerging pattern of the administration of President Donald Trump dropping politically charged criminal cases he inherited when resuming the White House last month. And it shows the extent of the alliance between the Republican president and the Democratic mayor — an alliance that stands to hurt Adams in a Democratic primary. “The pending prosecution has unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that escalated under the policies of the prior administration,” the letter from Bove reads.

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Associated Press - February 11, 2025

Elon Musk-led group proposes buying OpenAI for $97.4 billion. OpenAI CEO says 'no thank you'

A group of investors led by Elon Musk is offering about $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit behind OpenAI, escalating a dispute with the artificial intelligence company that Musk helped found a decade ago. Musk and his own AI startup, xAI, and a consortium of investment firms want to take control of the ChatGPT maker and revert it to its original charitable mission as a nonprofit research lab, according to Musk’s attorney Marc Toberoff. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman quickly rejected the unsolicited bid on Musk’s social platform X, saying, “no thank you but we will buy Twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.” Musk bought Twitter, now called X, for $44 billion in 2022. Musk and Altman, who together helped start OpenAI in 2015 and later competed over who should lead it, have been in a long-running feud over the startup’s direction since Musk resigned from its board in 2018.

Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, sued the company last year, first in a California state court and later in federal court, alleging it had betrayed its founding aims as a nonprofit research lab that would benefit the public good by safely building better-than-human AI. Musk had invested about $45 million in the startup from its founding until 2018, Toberoff has said. The sudden success of ChatGPT two years ago brought worldwide fame and a new revenue stream to OpenAI and also heightened the internal battles over the future of the organization and the advanced AI it was trying to develop. Its nonprofit board fired Altman in late 2023. He came back days later with a new board. Now a fast-growing business still controlled by a nonprofit board bound to its original mission, OpenAI last year announced plans to formally change its corporate structure. But such changes are complicated. Tax law requires money or assets donated to a tax-exempt organization to remain within the charitable sector.

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Newsclips - February 10, 2025

Lead Stories

Dallas Morning News - February 10, 2025

Dallas Fed economist: Texas is ‘in the line of fire’ for proposed tariffs on Mexico

The Trump Administration’s proposed 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada have been delayed, but Texas will be “in the line of fire” if they are eventually put in place, a government economist warns. Pia Orrenius, vice president and senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, described the coming year as a “balancing act” between headwinds and tailwinds. She spoke on Friday at the institution’s economic outlook event. On one hand, Orrenius cited the palpable optimism within the business community for potential deregulation and lower taxes that would bolster growth. But on the other, tariffs, lower immigration and government spending cuts could hinder growth, she told reporters. The Trump Administration has already begun a crackdown on illegal immigration. And though its future is unclear, a federal spending freeze has thrown Biden-era grants into chaos. Tariffs, though, could hit Texas the hardest.

“We’re really in the line of fire here on tariffs, if they come, to place those tariffs on Mexico,” Orrenius said. Long before Mexico usurped China as the No. 1 importer to the U.S., it was Texas’ biggest trading partner, and that relationship continues to this day. Orrenius said her team had done a “back of the envelope” calculation into what a 25% tariff on Mexico could do to the Texas economy, and found a 15-30% decrease in GDP growth. At a baseline, many economists view tariffs as inflationary, lowering consumer purchasing power, pushing up prices and potentially curbing consumption. That, in turn, becomes a drag on economic growth. However, Orrenius pointed out that because of production sharing between the U.S., Mexico and Canada, tariffs can also amount to a tax on domestically manufactured products, both nationally and statewide. For example, a General Motors plant in Mexico manufactures transmissions that can be used in the SUVs produced at GM’s assembly plant in Arlington. Mexican-built GM trucks, meanwhile, can use engines made in the U.S. An interconnected supply chain exists across companies and industries; if products are taxed each time they cross the border, that can have a ripple effect on manufacturing and costs. “We can do a base-case impact on growth of tariffs, but can we figure out what the impact is on inflation and growth when you have intra-industry trade? That’s like a whole [other] level, so that’s why we’re worried about tariffs,” Orrenius said.

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Wall Street Journal - February 10, 2025

For CEOs and bankers, the Trump euphoria is fading fast

It took less than a month for the second Trump administration to cool the enthusiasm of chief executives and dealmakers. Consumer sentiment is down and inflation expectations are rising, driven in part by worries about the impact of a threatened trade war. The deals market just ended its quietest January in a decade. A Justice Department that was expected to wave through acquisitions instead sued to block a big technology merger. Corporate bigwigs are now using phrases like “fragility,” “volatility” and “wait and see” to describe their outlooks. “Nobody knows what’s up,” Nick Pinchuk, chief executive of toolmaker Snap-on, said on a conference call Thursday. “It’s like being on Space Mountain at Disney World. You get on Space Mountain, you get in a car, and you’re in the dark and the cars go left and right, left and right and abrupt turns, you don’t know where you’re going, but you know, you’re pretty confident that you’re going to get to the right place at the bottom.”

The recent whipsaw on tariffs seemed to hit hardest on business leaders’ confidence. President Trump announced plans to stick 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, only to delay them for a month a few days later. A number of executives, as well as top investment bankers and other industry advisers, have said that priorities have shifted in recent days to navigating tariffs and other policy issues. They need to settle supply routes, discuss whether to raise their own prices and figure out what is even happening. That doesn’t leave much room for thinking about big bet-the-company deals. The reaction is evident in the deals market. Just under 900 deals were announced in the U.S. in January, according to data from LSEG. That compares with more than 1,200 transactions in the previous January and over 1,500 two years ago.Even the hope of a lighter regulatory touch has taken a knock. The Justice Department sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion deal to buy Juniper Networks. The companies, which make wireless networking products for large corporate customers, plan to defend the deal.

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Austin American-Statesman - February 10, 2025

How Dade Phelan assesses his two terms as Texas House speaker: No regrets on top issues

If state Rep. Dade Phelan has any regrets about not being able to win a third term as speaker of the Texas House, he's keeping them to himself. In fact, the Beaumont legislator said he wouldn't have changed a single thing on the three highest-profile actions he took during the 2023 legislative session that alienated a wide swath of the GOP base and turned a majority of his fellow House Republicans against him. Phelan, who was reelected in his Southeast Texas district in November but a month later ended his bid to keep the speaker's gavel, said awarding some of the chamber's committee chairmanships to the minority party was a decadeslong tradition that was worth preserving. Also, impeaching three-term Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton on charges that he had committed fraud and obstructed justice was the right thing to do, Phelan added. Had he been serving in the Senate, where he would have been a juror in the impeachment trial, Phelan said he would have voted to convict Paxton.

In May 2023, the House overwhelmingly voted to impeach Paxton on 20 impeachment articles. The state's top attorney was later acquitted of all charges by a mostly party-line vote in the Senate. And finally, though there were some elements in the 2023 school voucher package, sometimes called "school choice," that he personally supported, Phelan said it would have been improper of him as speaker to twist the arms of House Republicans who were against the proposal just to give into Gov. Greg Abbott's demand that a bill allowing public money to be used for private K-12 education be enacted into law. "The votes just were not there," Phelan said about the 2023 school voucher proposal. "It wasn't some secret agenda by (the speaker's office) to not have school choice. The votes just were not there." Phelan's comments came during a sit-down interview Thursday at UT's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs with Evan Smith, the co-founder and former CEO of The Texas Tribune. Phelan, who at 49 is a 10-year veteran of the House, said the question he asked himself as he was being assailed by some of the ultra-conservative elements of his party for being too cozy with Democratic House members was not whether he could have been elected speaker again, but whether he should be elected speaker.

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Houston Chronicle - February 10, 2025

Ken Paxton's megadonors helped put a top Texas judge in office. Now he wants to reform the system.

David Schenck, the new presiding judge on Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals, is on a mission to make sweeping changes to the rules governing judicial elections in the Lone Star State. Right now, Schenck points out, anyone can donate to a judge’s political campaign in Texas, even if they are in the middle of a case the same judge will decide. There are few restrictions on how much they can give. And nothing in the law or ethics rules stops judicial candidates, including sitting judges, from asking those people for contributions directly. “We need to do something about this,” Schenck, a Republican, said in an interview shortly before he took the bench in January. “The adults need to enter the room here.” Now that he has a leadership position on one of Texas’ two statewide courts, Schenck intends to make that happen — even though he and two of his newly elected colleagues just won their seats on the bench with unprecedented support from deep-pocketed special interests.

Ultraconservative billionaires including West Texas oilman Dan Wilks, Dallas telecom company founder Kenny Troutt and Houston software magnate Mike Rydin were all top contributors to a political action committee (PAC) supporting Schenck and the two other successful CCA candidates. The PAC raised $350,000, far more than any CCA hopeful has collected in the last decade, campaign finance records show. The fundraising blitz was set up by allies of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who vowed revenge against the CCA’s incumbent judges after they ruled that he could not unilaterally prosecute election fraud cases. Schenck said he never asked for help from Paxton or the PAC that supported him, and that he did not coordinate with them during his campaign. He also did not run at Paxton’s behest, and said he has been careful not to comment on how he would have ruled in the election fraud case that galvanized Paxton and his allies. Still, Schenck said that if any of the reforms he’s calling for make it harder for himself or his fellow judges to raise campaign dollars in the future, it’s worth the risk. “It makes you feel better about the office when you’re in it,” Schenck said.

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State Stories

Dallas Morning News - February 10, 2025

The Dallas Mavericks are not moving to Las Vegas, governor Patrick Dumont says

For 13 months, other than within high-level Mavericks meetings, few in Dallas have heard this side of Patrick Dumont. Dumont’s comments in an interview with The Dallas Morning News are his first since the Mavericks eight days ago shocked the basketball world by sending Luka Doncic, 25, to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a blockbuster trade that brought 10-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis, 31, to Dallas. Dumont, who stands behind the trade, says the backlash was anticipated. His tone and messaging to The News — and by extension fans — showed a dimension of his persona that had not publicly surfaced since his family’s purchase of the franchise’s majority interest on Dec. 27, 2023. Though he never raised his voice, his words at times were fiery, passionate and blunt, including when asked about an unsubstantiated and implausible narrative that has gained legs in the trade’s aftermath.

“The Dallas Mavericks are not moving to Las Vegas,” Dumont said. “There is no question in that. That is the answer, unequivocally. The Dallas Mavericks are the Dallas Mavericks and they will be in Dallas.” The Brooklyn-raised NBA fan, Johns Hopkins and Columbia graduate is the COO of Sands Corp., which is based in Las Vegas but operates properties in Macao and Singapore. When the Adelson and Dumont families purchased 67% of the Mavericks from Mark Cuban and several minority owners, the Adelson-Dumont Las Vegas roots were immediately noted, and some wondered whether the Dallas franchise could eventually move there. Aside from the absurdity of a franchise moving from the fourth-largest media market in the country to the 40th, there’s the reality that the NBA Board of Governors would never approve such a move. Yes, NBA franchises on occasion have moved, but none from a top-five media market that they weren’t sharing with another NBA team. Besides, when the NBA does grant a team for Las Vegas and perhaps Seattle, league owners will want the respective projected $6 billion expansion fees. The possibility of casino gambling being legalized in Texas is murky at best, but Dumont, again emphatically, says the Adelson-Dumont vision of Dallas with or without gaming is crystal clear.

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Houston Chronicle - February 10, 2025

What to know about ICE deportation raids in Texas and what's changing under Trump

President Donald Trump has said his mass deportation effort will focus first on criminals. But in his first weeks in office, he has also unleashed Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents to go after virtually anyone in the country without authorization. Trump has done away with restrictions on arrests around churches, schools and other “sensitive zones,” and has given ICE agents arrest quotas. And White House officials say the administration is working to deputize state and local police to help make arrests. Gov. Greg Abbott already signed an agreement empowering Texas National Guard soldiers to make arrests on immigration violations. ICE agents so far in Trump’s second term have been logging roughly 1,000 arrests a day, mostly by working off lists of immigrants with criminal histories that they have obtained from jails and prisons, said John Sandweg, an attorney who served as acting ICE director during the Obama administration.

But those lists will likely soon run out, and agents will begin to broaden their targets. Experts and attorneys say even as that happens, immigration officers and anyone helping them still have to follow certain rules and procedures, regardless of who they are targeting or where they are arresting them. “We can expect we’re going to see more immigration officers, and how they conduct their business will definitely vary location to location,” said David Donatti, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. “One thing we emphasize is that ICE cannot violate the Constitution.” “All of us have the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures,” Donatti said. “All of us have the right to remain silent. You have the ability to say, ‘I prefer not to answer that question.’”

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San Antonio Express-News - February 10, 2025

Abbott's call to fire teachers 'on the spot' over trans views is the latest in a fraying relationship

Dan Hochman has taught environmental science to a generation of Galveston ISD students and loves it. But if he’d known where things were headed in Texas he said he never would have become a teacher. “I love those kids to death, but man (the state has) made teaching really not a fun career to be in,” said Hochman, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the State Board of Education in 2022 as a Democrat. “And it’s getting worse, especially here.” Teachers like Hochman felt a sense of whiplash on Sunday listening to Gov. Greg Abbott’s State of the State address. The Republican governor called for public schools to be fully funded and made raising teacher pay an emergency item that he said lawmakers should fast-track. But he also named private school vouchers as a top legislative priority, accused public schools of “indoctrination” and declared that “any educator who tells students that boys can be girls should be fired on the spot.”

Some teachers said they see the comments as an escalation of the rhetoric Republicans have used against them, and worry it could have a chilling effect in the classroom. It comes as the Trump administration is waging war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at the federal level, a campaign that Abbott has publicly supported and is now building on in Texas. Education is expected to be a major issue at the Legislature this session as public school districts around the state are struggling. Many are running budget deficits due to inflation, soaring special education costs and stagnant levels of state funding. State lawmakers have earmarked billions of dollars so far in the state budget for public school funding increases. But even as more money for schools and teacher raises are on the table, Abbott’s comments indicate more restrictions may be coming too on how teachers can speak or act in the classroom. Asked whether Abbott’s remarks indicate support for any new policy or change to state law, a spokesman for his office pointed to an executive order he issued last week that said: “All Texas agencies must ensure that agency rules, internal policies, employment practices, and other actions comply with the law and the biological reality that there are only two sexes—male and female.”

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San Antonio Express-News - February 10, 2025

'A literacy crisis': San Antonio schools work to comply with new state law as dyslexia cases surge

The second graders could barely contain their excitement when dyslexia therapy teacher Jasmin Dean pulled out a stack of colorful flashcards. The five students jumped from their seats and lined up, their eyes wide and glued to Dean’s hands as she counted down from three. “Show us the word!” a boy yelled out. One by one, Dean flipped over the cards and revealed the text written in bold black ink. The pupils sounded out the words and screamed their answers. Whoever deciphered the word first got a point — but most rounds ended in a five-way tie. Six months ago, the students couldn’t write their names or identify every letter in the alphabet. Now, they can read Dr. Seuss to one another. “Teachers have the key to give literacy to every student,” said Dean, the founder and superintendent of Celebrate Dyslexia Schools.

students overcome dyslexia, a learning disability characterized by difficulty in reading, writing and spelling. The new campus comes as school districts across Texas cope with a spike in students being diagnosed with dyslexia due to increased screening efforts and heightened awareness. In the past five years, the number of dyslexic students in Texas has grown from about 195,000 to nearly 330,000, a 70% increase, according to Texas Education Agency data. And as they face this daunting increase, administrators must comply with House Bill 3928, a 2023 law that shakes up how school districts evaluate, identify and teach dyslexic students. It requires them to provide special education services to students with dyslexia. Districts have to develop and track specially designed instruction plans for all dyslexic students with specific academic goals by the start of the next school year. Before, students with dyslexia were granted accommodations in general classroom settings but often lacked access to individualized dyslexia instruction and comprehensive evaluations. The surge in evaluation requests and services has left school districts scrambling to hire dyslexia specialists from the same limited pool of applicants. Unable to offer competitive wages or benefits due to stagnant state funding and a reduction of federal special education dollars, many have leaned on already overburdened special education staff to take on the greater caseloads.

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San Antonio Express-News - February 10, 2025

Will the feds pick up the tab for Texas’ $11 billion border crackdown? Republicans are pushing it

The push to reimburse Texas for $11 billion the state has spent on Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security crackdown is underway as the governor heads to D.C. this week to make his case while Texas Republicans in Congress are gearing up for a funding fight. Abbott, who has urged congressional leaders to pay the state and met with President Donald Trump in the White House last week, is set to visit Capitol Hill Wednesday. The visit comes as Congress is working on government spending bills ahead of a mid-March deadline. Multiple members from Texas have filed bills to reimburse the state, which has sent thousands of soldiers and state troopers to patrol the border and constructed new sections of border barriers. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn has said Texas members of Congress should refuse to support other federal legislation until the payment is made.

U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a Weatherford Republican, is set to introduce a bill Monday that would allow Texas to submit border security expenses to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. That agency would review the expenses and decide what is eligible for reimbursement, then submit that list to Congress for funding. “Texas was forced to take on the job of the federal government and step up to protect our homes and communities from invasion,” Williams said in a statement. “I want to thank Governor Abbott for defending our nation in a time of crisis and agree that it is time Texans are repaid for footing the bill for Biden’s failures at the border.” U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican, has also been pushing a separate reimbursement bill he filed last month with U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Austin. That bill would make states that have spent more than $2.5 billion on border security in the past 10 years eligible for reimbursement by the federal government. The threshold at would appear to only make Texas eligible.

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San Antonio Express-News - February 10, 2025

Floresville ISD considers four-day school weeks to recruit and retain staff

Three-day weekends could be on the horizon for thousands of Floresville Independent School District students and staff. The school board voted unanimously this week to OK parameters for the development of a hybrid calendar — with both four- and five-day school weeks — for the 2025-2026 academic year. Trustees will vote on a final calendar in March, determining whether Floresville ISD will join dozens of Texas school districts that have made the drastic switch to four-day weeks in recent years. “One of the questions that has been raised quite frequently is, ‘Why are we looking at doing this?’’ Rhonda Wade, the district’s assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said at a previous board meeting. "The main reason is we are trying to provide the best teachers for our students."

The state modified the way classroom instruction was timed in 2015, changing from a required 180 days of classes to 75,600 minutes per academic school year. Since then, scores of districts across the state have opted to shorten their school weeks, most of them in rural areas that have struggled to fill teacher vacancies. Floresville ISD serves 4,073 students with 536 staff members in Wilson County, according to Texas Education Agency data. Neighboring La Vernia ISD shifted to a four-day school week last school year, joining Bandera, D’Hanis, Utopia, Charlotte and Natalia ISDs among nearby rural districts that have adopted it. Proponents say a four-day school week improves teacher morale, offers increased family time for students and provides cost savings for schools. Others, including Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath, have criticized the move for harming student performance and say boosting educators' job satisfaction shouldn’t come at the expense of academic outcomes. Floresville ISD spokesperson Blanca Martinez said the district is considering a shorter work week “to retain and attract quality teachers and staff and provide quality instruction for students boost student and staff well-being, and maintain strong student and staff attendance.” District officials estimated the cost savings to be around 1% of its annual budget, or $380,000.

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KUT - February 10, 2025

Austin to overhaul how it regulates Airbnbs and other short-term rentals

Austin is set to change how it regulates short-term rentals, with the intent of making it nearly impossible for people to rent their homes without a city-issued license. “We [currently] have no real leverage over an unlicensed operator of an STR,” Council Member Chito Vela, who represents parts of Northeast Austin, said. “The changes will bring everybody under the city’s licensing scheme.” A new city license costs roughly $800. If the ordinance passes, the city would require short-term rental websites to mandate owners provide a license number before advertising their homes for rent. A company like Airbnb wouldn’t be required to check that license numbers are active, or even real, city staff said. KUT asked Airbnb and Vrbo if they plan to comply with the city’s requirements if passed. Company spokespeople did not answer the question, but each sent a general statement saying they “welcome” and “appreciate” Austin’s work. Airbnb’s website suggests it does this in other cities.

The new rules, city staff say, would allow them to focus on responding to noise or trash complaints at so-called “party homes” instead of spending time tracking down owners of unlicensed properties. “[We are] effectively playing whack-a-mole,” Daniel Word, assistant director with Austin’s Development Services Department, told council members last week. “Trying to locate the properties that are operating, that put up an advertisement, then take it down and then put it right back up.” With more owners licensed, Word said, the city could have more power to enforce “nuisance” violations. If a property is cited for noise disturbances or other behaviors that prompt neighbors to call police, the city would have the right to revoke an owner’s license. Austin defines a short-term rental as a home that is rented out in whole or in part for fewer than 30 consecutive days. The city has required owners of short-term rentals to have licenses since it began regulating these homes in 2012, but data suggest the vast majority of owners don’t have one.

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San Antonio Express-News - February 10, 2025

CPS Energy: No personal customer data leaked in recirculating 2023 cyberattack

CPS Energy customers with identity theft or cybersecurity software are receiving notifications that their private information could have been exposed through a data breach, but the city-owned utility says it happened two years ago and didn’t include Social Security numbers or financial information. The situation stems from a 2023 incident in which a CPS third-party vendor, CLEAResult, was part of a “vulnerability exploit.” The utility said its own systems were not impacted and that the vendor had “taken steps to prevent future issues.” However, a hacker alleging to have information from the 2023 breach has been posting to a cybercriminal forum, prompting renewed concerns. It’s also a reminder of the escalating threat to critical infrastructure from cyberattacks.

CLEAResult, an energy efficiency consulting firm, used a file sharing program called MOVEit that was compromised in May 2023. A report from Emisoft, a cybersecurity firm, estimated that more than 2,700 organizations were affected by the attack and that the records of nearly 96 million people were exposed. Houston-based CenterPoint was also a victim. It told cybersecurity news site the Record it had no reason to believe its own network was compromised. CenterPoint told the Record it was still assessing the data that may have been exposed by the hacker making the recent forum posts. CPS said the compromised data did not include any identifying information of its customers. Utilities and health care providers are often targets of ransomware attacks, where hackers steal data to either sell on the dark web or extort money from institutions or businesses.

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Houston Chronicle - February 10, 2025

AG Ken Paxton appeals federal judge's decision that parts of SCOPE Act are likely unconstitutional

An Austin-based federal judge ruled Friday that some aspects of a Texas law limiting minors' access to digital platforms likely violate the First Amendment, a decision Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately appealed. Northern District of Texas Judge Robert Pitman in part granted a preliminary injunction against aspects of House Bill 18, or the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment Act (SCOPE Act), that would have unconstitutionally restricted protected speech. The law requires social media platforms and other websites to protect minors from "physical, emotional, and developmental harm," but Pitman ruled the law is not specific enough about what could be considered harmful.

"The final issue for HB 18 is that the law fails to define key categories of prohibited topics, including 'grooming,' 'harassment,' and 'substance abuse,'" Pitman wrote in his ruling. "At what point, for example, does alcohol use become 'substance abuse?' When does an extreme diet cross the line into an 'eating disorder?' What defines 'grooming' and 'harassment?' Under these indefinite meanings, it is easy to see how an attorney general could arbitrarily discriminate in his enforcement of the law." The law went into effect in September 2024 after successfully passing during the 88th Texas Legislative Session. SCOPE Act author State Rep. Shelby Slawson from Stephenville said it’s intended “to keep kids safe online by empowering parental involvement.” “Many young Texans are undeniably suffering from the harmful effects of overexposure to digital platforms, manifesting in increased rates of self-harm, suicide, substance abuse, sexual exploitation, human trafficking and other mental health issues,” Slawson previously told the Chronicle. However, critics of the SCOPE Act have argued it unlawfully restricts children's and teen's access to necessary information. In August, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sued Paxton on behalf of multiple plaintiffs, including a 16-year-old high school student who said the law unfairly blocks important content, like research on marijuana legalization for a school project.

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Dallas Morning News - February 10, 2025

South Asian North Texans wrestle with Trump’s push to limit birthright citizenship

Dinesh Hooda’s 10-year-old daughter was born in the U.S., has lived in Frisco all her life and pledges allegiance to the flag with her hand over her heart each morning at school. Still, he worries — more than he did 10 years ago — about whether or not she’ll be considered American. “You never know right? It shakes you up as an immigrant. You never know what future protocols are coming, because I came from this path, my daughter became a citizen through this path,” he said. After President Donald Trump issued an executive order to change the requirements of birthright citizenship, even people who live in North Texas legally like Hooda say they are worried about future actions the Trump administration might take.

The order has been a shock to many in the South Asian community in North Texas, which accounts for a significant portion of the region’s Asian American population. Under the order, announced Jan. 20, a child born to a mother who is unlawfully in the country or in the country temporarily and whose father is not a citizen or “lawful” permanent resident would not be granted citizenship. A day after Trump announced the order, U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Woodville, introduced a bill that would restrict automatic birthright citizenship. A federal judge in Seattle has temporarily blocked the order, setting it up for a court challenge. Last week, Trump told a group of reporters he thinks the Supreme Court will side with him on the case, according to a USA Today report. In August, Pew Research reported about two-thirds of the estimated 4.8 million people of Indian descent in the United States were immigrants. Many people in the Indian community are in the U.S. under student and work visas, said Chintan Patel, president of Indian American Impact, a national advocacy organization. India accounted for 279,386 — more than 72% — of the 386,318 H-1B petitions approved between October 2022 to September 2023, according to a Department of Homeland Security report to Congress last year. As of the 2022-2023 academic year, people from India accounted for more than 29% of the 1,126,690 international students in the U.S., according to the Open Doors report. The report is funded by the U.S. Department of State.

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Dallas Morning News - February 10, 2025

Arlington pastor stays silent on death penalty after Steven Nelson’s execution

Returning to the pulpit after two weeks abroad, First Baptist Arlington Senior Pastor Dennis Wiles spoke publicly Sunday for the first time since the execution of a man convicted of killing one of the church’s pastors more than a decade ago. Steven Nelson, 37, was executed by lethal injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville for killing Clint Dobson, a 28-year-old NorthPointe Baptist Church pastor, during a robbery in 2011. The church’s elderly secretary, Judy Elliott, was severely beaten and left for dead but survived. NorthPointe had been associated with First Baptist Arlington but has since closed. “I think many of you know, obviously, Clint Dobson’s story has been in the news once again,” Wiles said, measuring his words in the introductory remarks before his first Sunday sermon since returning from Rome.

“And I just want you all to know as a church,” he continued," that what we have been doing for the last 14 years is fulfilling our pastoral responsibility, and we have been pastoring Clint’s family and Judy’s family and even this past week, that’s what we were doing.” Wiles stopped short of commenting on Nelson’s execution. During a second livestreamed service in the morning, he said he had been invited to participate in a “conversation that became a referendum on the death penalty.” “I refused to be a part of that conversation because my responsibility, in my opinion, was to continue to lead this church [and] shepherd those two families,” he said. “And that’s what I intend to continue to do, and I refuse to be drawn into a conversation that I don’t believe is mine to be a part of publicly.” The brief remarks hint at the varied religious views on the death penalty in the U.S. A 2021 Pew Research Center survey found the majority of evangelicals and mainline Protestants were in favor of capital punishment. Though the survey found the majority of Catholics were in favor, the Catholic Church itself has condemned the death penalty as violating the sanctity of life. Pope Francis condemned executions as fueling revenge rather than justice, calling them “a dangerous poison for the body of our civil societies.”

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City Stories

Dallas Morning News - February 10, 2025

Dallas council members recommend increased hiring goals for new police officers

A Dallas City Council committee is recommending the city boost its hiring goals for cops this year despite warnings from the interim police chief the new benchmark could impact other areas of the department. The council’s public safety committee voted 3-2 on Monday to propose hiring 325 new officers by the end of September instead of 250 as planned. The proposal also calls for another 350 new cops by the end of September 2026 and 400 more officers by September 2027. The recommendation now goes to the City Council for a decision. Council members Cara Mendelsohn and Jesse Moreno voted against the recommendation, believing 400 new officers this year was a more appropriate bar to meet public safety needs. But interim Police Chief Michael Igo told committee members the department believes 300 is a more attainable goal and a higher tally would likely mean pulling officers off patrol and other areas to ensure the proper training of the recruits.

Later, when council member Gay Donnell Willis asked if hiring more than 300 officers this year meant Dallas would “temporarily go through a period of less safety by putting members out that we don’t have the capability to train right now,” Igo replied, “That’s correct.” Willis and council members Tennell Atkins and Kathy Stewart voted for the 325 tally. The recommendation was initially proposed by Mendelsohn, the committee’s chair, at 400, then revised by Atkins to 300. Stewart suggested 325 as a compromise, admitting it would be “a stretch” goal. “My concern is what sacrifices we will have to make in order to get to these numbers,” Stewart said. “But I know these numbers would make a huge difference in the long run.” Police officials on Monday said the department has hired 94 new officers since October while losing 48 of them over the same period. Igo said the department is on pace to hire 280 to 300 new officers this fiscal year, from October through September 2025. The department had 3,168 officers as of Friday, short of a new voter-approved charter mandate requiring the city to have a minimum of 4,000 officers. Another new charter change allows residents and businesses to sue the city if officials violate local and state laws. Dallas, Texas’ third-largest city, has the second-largest number of cops in any Texas municipality, trailing only behind around 5,300 officers in Houston’s department. San Antonio has 2,775 sworn police officers. Austin and Fort Worth both have around 1,800 cops.

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National Stories

Politico - February 10, 2025

The Senate gives Trump his Cabinet — and their compliance

Donald Trump is back, and it sure isn’t 2017 anymore in the Senate. Two of the president’s most controversial nominees are on a glide path to confirmation later this week. That caps off a notable three-week stretch that has seen more than a dozen Trump Cabinet nominees confirmed with near-unanimous Republican support. The sweep of successful confirmations is the latest sign from the Senate GOP that it wants to be viewed as a partner, not a problem, for Trump at the start of his second term. It’s a distinct shift from his first administration, when Trump had to withdraw one Cabinet pick weeks into his first term then later saw a small band of Senate Republicans scuttle the party’s marquee effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

“My goal was to make sure every one of President Trump’s nominees got confirmed,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said in a brief interview, adding that Senate Republicans vowed “to move ahead with speed, with urgency, and we’ve done just that.” Tulsi Gabbard is set to be confirmed as director of national intelligence later this week, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as HHS secretary likely to soon follow. That follows a high-drama vote late last month to confirm Pete Hegseth to be Defense secretary. A fourth controversial nomination, FBI director pick Kash Patel, also appears to be on track with Republicans, who can confirm Trump’s picks so long as they stay united. Senators quickly signaled after Trump’s November win that he would find a more pliant Republican conference — reflecting both the breathing room of a 53-seat majority and the conference’s MAGA shift since 2017. So far, they are outpacing their 2017 tempo of confirmations, clearing 13 nominees in the same amount of time it took Republicans to confirm six of Trump’s picks eight years ago.

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Washington Post - February 10, 2025

Eagles overwhelm Chiefs to win the Super Bowl, shut down a three-peat

The Philadelphia Eagles perhaps did not vanquish the Kansas City Chiefs’ NFL dynasty for good. But they emphatically placed it on pause and left absolutely no doubt that they, not the Chiefs, were football’s best and most complete team this season. The Eagles dominated from the start, scoring the first 34 points on their way to beating the Chiefs, 40-22, on Sunday night in Super Bowl LIX before a Superdome crowd that included President Donald Trump. The Chiefs failed in their attempt to become the first NFL team to win three straight Super Bowl titles. They were denied what would have been a fourth Super Bowl triumph in six seasons with Coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce in collaboration.

And it wasn’t competitive. The Eagles raced to a 24-0 lead during a first half in which Mahomes threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean. The Eagles’ Jalen Hurts scored on a push-play quarterback sneak and, following an interception by linebacker Zack Baun, threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver A.J. Brown. Hurts added a second-half touchdown throw to wideout DeVonta Smith in a 17-for-22, 221-yard passing performance. He also ran for 72 yards and was named the game’s MVP. “I do it to win,” Hurts said. “This team approaches it just to do the same thing. That’s what it’s about.” Jake Elliott provided four field goals. Philadelphia sacked Mahomes six times and forced him into a fourth-quarter fumble. Mahomes connected on 21 for 32 passes for 257 yards. He threw three touchdown passes, two of them to rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy. But those were cosmetic — the Chiefs were shut out until the final minute of the third quarter. Kelce was limited to a quiet four catches for 39 yards.

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The Hill - February 10, 2025

Trump says 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum coming Monday

President Trump said he will announce 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum on Monday, adding that he would also kick off reciprocal tariffs in the days after. Trump said that the steel and aluminum tariffs would impact “everybody” when asked what countries would be effected. “Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25 percent tariff — aluminum too,” Trump told reporters. “Twenty-five percent … for both.” He added that details of the reciprocal tariffs will be announced on Tuesday or Wednesday in a news conference. “Very simply, if they charge us, we charge them,” he said, adding that the tariffs would go into effect “almost immediately” and impact “every country.” Trump has signaled that he would impose sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum, as well as tariffs on semiconductor chips, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas. On Friday, he warned that reciprocal tariffs would also be announced early next week, adding that he thinks reciprocal as opposed to a flat-fee tariff is the fair approach.

“In terms of tariffs, I mean we’re going to have tariffs, mostly reciprocal tariffs,” he said. “But probably a reciprocal tariff where a country pays so much or charges us so much and we do the same, so very reciprocal. Because I think that’s the only fair way to do it, that way nobody’s hurt — they charge us we charge them … as opposed to a flat-fee tariff,” he added. Trump imposed 10 percent tariffs on China on Feb. 1, following through on a long-standing pledge to target Chinese goods. He delayed the 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a month after speaking with both nations’ leaders last week.

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Washington Post - February 10, 2025

Attacks on Catholics, Lutherans suggest new Trump approach on religion

In 1999, then-presidential candidate George W. Bush called for the funding of religious groups that fed the hungry and housed the homeless, part of what he called the “armies of compassion.” During his first month in office, in 2001, the Republican unveiled an office to help faith-based groups partner with government, calling them “some of the finest America has got to offer.” One Republican president later, high-level members of the Trump administration and allies of the president are leveling attacks on religious groups, including Catholics and Lutherans, who do the same work Bush praised, questioning their efforts to help migrants. These attacks may signal a new political approach toward religion, some experts say, one comfortable belittling faith groups — despite President Donald Trump’s self-described brand as a champion of Christians. More broadly, it has aligned some Republicans against religious groups that in some cases propelled their rise to power, Trump’s included. Several religious groups working overseas say they are facing a cash crisis after the Trump administration ended funding for programs to resettle refugees from around the world in the United States.

World Relief, the country’s largest evangelical refugee resettlement program, told its members in an email Wednesday that it is facing “an urgent $8 million funding gap.” The group said the funding lapse would immediately impact 4,000 refugees it works with. “This is just a complete reversal” of the Bush-era goal of bringing faith groups into public works and elevating their role in American life, said Melissa Deckman, a political scientist focused on religion and politics in America and chief executive of the polling firm PRRI. These actions are “a total abandonment of faith-based groups,” Deckman said. Since the beginning of Trump’s second term, signs have emerged that the administration’s relationship with some religious groups would be tested in new ways. Last month, Vice President JD Vance criticized the U.S. Catholic Church’s efforts to help immigrants and refugees, suggesting the Church is motivated by money, and alleged without evidence that it works with millions of “illegal immigrants.” (Catholic groups spend more money on immigrant services than they receive from the federal government, according to an annual financial audit.) On Sunday, on the social media site X, right-wing Trump ally Mike Flynn accused Lutheran organizations that receive federal grants to help the needy of committing “money laundering.” Flynn put quote marks around the word “Lutheran” — one of America’s largest Protestant groups — in the post. Billionaire Elon Musk’s then shared Flynn’s post, calling “illegal” multiple Lutheran organizations that work in the United States to provide health care to homeless people, run food pantries, and help migrants and refugees. “The @DOGE team is rapidly shutting down these illegal payments,” Musk said, referring to his U.S. DOGE Service, also known as the Department of Government Efficiency.

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Associated Press - February 10, 2025

Court grants request to block detained Venezuelan immigrants from being sent to Guantanamo

A federal court on Sunday blocked the Trump administration from sending three Venezuelan immigrants held in New Mexico to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba as part of the president’s immigration crackdown. In a legal filing earlier in the day, lawyers for the men said the detainees “fit the profile of those the administration has prioritized for detention in Guantanamo, i.e. Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) charges of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang.” It asked a US District Court in New Mexico for a temporary restraining order blocking their transfer, adding that “the mere uncertainty the government has created surrounding the availability of legal process and counsel access is sufficient to authorize the modest injunction.”

During a brief hearing, Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales granted the temporary order, which was opposed by the government, said Jessica Vosburgh, an attorney for the three men. “It’s short term. This will get revisited and further fleshed out in the weeks to come,” Vosburgh told The Associated Press. A message seeking comment was left for US Customs and Immigration Enforcement. The filing came as part of a lawsuit on behalf of the three men filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, and Las Americas Immigrant Advisory Center. The Tren de Aragua gang originated in a lawless prison in the central Venezuelan state of Aragua more than a decade ago and has expanded in recent years as millions of desperate Venezuelans fled President Nicolás Maduro’s rule and migrated to other parts of Latin America or the US.

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CBS News - February 10, 2025

Trump directs Treasury to stop minting new pennies, citing cost

President Trump says he has directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, citing the rising cost of producing the one-cent coin. "For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!" Mr. Trump wrote in a post Sunday night on his Truth Social site. "I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies." The move by Mr. Trump is the latest in what has been a rapid-fire effort by his new administration to enact sweeping change through executive orders and proclamations on issues ranging from immigration, to gender and diversity, to the name of the Gulf of Mexico. Mr. Trump had not discussed his desire to eliminate the penny during his campaign. But Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency raised the prospect in a post on X last month highlighting the penny's cost.

The U.S. Mint reported losing $85.3 million in the 2024 fiscal year that ended in September on the nearly 3.2 billion pennies it produced. Every penny cost nearly $0.037 — up from $0.031 the year before. The mint also loses money on the nickel, with each of the $0.05 coins costing nearly $0.14 to make. It is unclear whether Mr. Trump has the power to unilaterally eliminate the lowly one-cent coin. Currency specifications — including the size and metal content of coins — are dictated by Congress. But Robert K. Triest, an economics professor at Northeastern University, has argued that there might be wiggle room. "The process of discontinuing the penny in the U.S. is a little unclear. It would likely require an act of Congress, but the Secretary of the Treasury might be able to simply stop the minting of new pennies," he said last month. Members of Congress have repeatedly introduced legislation taking aim at the zinc coin with copper plating. Proposals over the years have attempted to temporarily suspend the penny's production, eliminate it from circulation, or require that prices be rounded to the nearest five cents, according to the Congressional Research Service.

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Newsclips - February 9, 2025

Lead Stories

Wall Street Journal - February 9, 2025

The mood of the American consumer is souring

The Trump bump in consumer confidence is already over. Tariff threats, stock market swings and rapidly reversing executive orders are causing Americans across the political spectrum to feel considerably more pessimistic about the economy than they did before President Trump took office. Consumer sentiment fell about 5% in the University of Michigan’s preliminary February survey of consumers to its lowest reading since July 2024. Expectations of inflation in the year ahead jumped from 3.3% in January to 4.3%, the second month in a row of large increases and highest reading since November 2023. “It’s very rare to see a full percentage point jump in inflation expectations,” said Joanne Hsu, who oversees the survey. Republicans have come off a postelection surge in confidence, she said, and Democrats and Independents also seem to believe that economic conditions have deteriorated since last month. Morning Consult’s recent index of consumer confidence, too, fell between Jan. 25 and Feb. 3, driven primarily by concern over the country’s economic future.

“I don’t like the turbulence. I don’t like the chaos in the market,” said Paul Bisson, a 58-year-old, who writes proposals for a flight safety company and co-owns a dog daycare in San Antonio. Bisson voted for Trump, but feels “his policies have led to that chaos.” Bisson is hoping to retire in the not-too-distant future, and is worried that won’t be possible if Trump follows through with his tariff threats rather than just using them as a negotiating tactic. “That will make the economy worse, and that’s not what we signed up for,” Bisson said. “We’ve already cut back. There’s no more cutting back to do.” Immediately after Trump’s November victory, consumer confidence surged, a move largely driven by new optimism among Republicans. The sentiment stayed elevated throughout the run-up to the inauguration. Trump won the election largely by campaigning on a pledge to improve the economy and bring down inflation. Economists warned that his tariff plans could have the opposite effect. The president himself has cautioned that tariffs could cause some pain but would ultimately lead to more jobs and a stronger economy. Trump has paused his plans to impose tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. But consumers are clearly worried about their potential effects.

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Dallas Morning News - February 9, 2025

Texas senator proposes cutting property taxes by raising homestead exemption

Legislation raising Texas’ property tax homestead exemption to $140,000 was filed in the Texas Senate on Friday, offering the first look at how the Legislature may handle one of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s emergency agenda items. Senate Bill 4, filed by Senate Ways and Means Chairman Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, included all but one of the senators signing on as a joint author. The bill is also a priority of Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the Senate. Because it proposes an amendment to the Texas Constitution, the legislation must receive approval from two-thirds of the Senate and House before it could go before voters in a November constitutional election, where it would require a simple majority to be enacted. The House has not yet filed a property tax bill, although it is expected to put forth its own plan in the coming weeks.

Abbott called for $10 billion in property tax relief Sunday but declined to specify how he wanted lawmakers to get there. Budget bills filed by both chambers earmarked $3.5 billion for new property tax relief by reducing school district tax rates statewide. SB 4 would raise the homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000. In 2023, voters approved an increase from $40,000 to $100,000 after a hard-fought battle by lawmakers to enact an $18 billion property tax package that included some $12.7 billion in new cuts. Combined with $3.5 billion in cuts included in Senate Bill 1, that chamber’s budget proposal, SB 4 would save homeowners an average of $133.13 on their tax bill, Bettencourt said. The bill includes a provision guaranteeing that if a school district loses funding because of the exemption, the state would make up the difference. “SB 4 will not only cut ISD property taxes, but the state pays the bill, guaranteeing that no school district loses out on critical funding,” Bettencourt said. “This measure is a win-win for taxpayers and everyone alike.” The only senator not to join SB 4 as a co-author was Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas. He could not be reached late Friday to comment.

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Washington Post - February 9, 2025

NIH cuts billions of dollars in biomedical funding, effective immediately

The Trump administration is cutting billions of dollars in biomedical research funding, alarming academic leaders who said it would imperil their universities and medical centers and drawing swift rebukes from Democrats who predicted dire consequences for scientific research. The move, announced Friday night by the National Institutes of Health, drastically cuts its funding for “indirect” costs related to research. These are the administrative requirements, facilities and other operations that many scientists say are essential but that some Republicans have claimed are superfluous. “The United States should have the best medical research in the world,” NIH said in its announcement. “It is accordingly vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead.” In a social media post, NIH said the change would save more than $4 billion a year, effective immediately. The note highlighted the multibillion-dollar endowments of Harvard University, Yale University and Johns Hopkins University, implying that many universities do not need the added federal funding.

The NIH policy, essentially a massive budget cut to science and medical centers across the country, was quickly denounced as devastating by universities and research organizations. Some scientists said the move could threaten research already underway and noted that their universities have a fraction of the endowments of schools such as Harvard and Yale. Industry leaders also questioned whether the move was legal, pointing to existing law governing NIH funding. “This is a surefire way to cripple lifesaving research and innovation,” Matt Owens, president of COGR — the Council on Government Relations, an association of academic medical centers and research institutes — wrote in an email. The funding is “part and parcel of the total costs of conducting world class research,” Owens added. “We are carefully reviewing this policy change as it contradicts current law and policy. America’s competitors will relish this self-inflicted wound.” Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, a nonprofit that works with university leaders, said some labs were in the process of shutting down over the weekend.

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CNN - February 9, 2025

Democrats plot strategy in shutdown fight against Trump: ‘Not a lot of good options’

Democrats have been powerless as they’ve watched President Donald Trump systematically move to dismantle federal agencies and push the bounds of his office with little concern about the fallout. But they do have one looming piece of leverage: the March 14 deadline to avert a government shutdown. House and Senate Democrats at the highest levels are now engaged in a fierce debate about what exactly to demand in their first big negotiation with Trump and how forcefully to push, according to conversations with more than two dozen members and senior aides. Trump and GOP leaders will need Democratic support in the Senate, where 60 votes would be required to advance the bill. In the House, they have to contend with a contingent of conservatives unlikely to vote for any spending bill. While rank-and-file Democrats are eager to play hardball with Trump, other senior Democrats are uncertain how firm of a line to draw, fearing they may be forced to capitulate in a funding feud and ultimately appear even weaker.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his Senate counterpart, Chuck Schumer, have been in talks about how best to use the funding deadline to counter Trump. But some top Democrats worry that even if they won policy concessions, Trump would only ignore the law — as they believe he has in some of his initial assaults on federal agencies — so a knockdown, drag-out battle and potential shutdown could be all for naught. “If the foundational role of Congress is the power of the purse, why would we ever believe them again on an appropriations deal?” said Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware. “It’s going to be harder for us to work together because it’s harder for us to trust each other.” And as one senior aide described the situation: “There’s just not a lot of good options for Democrats.” Many exasperated Democrats, even some from battleground House districts, insist a shutdown shouldn’t be off the table if Republicans can’t put up the votes themselves. But Schumer and other governing-minded senators are proceeding more cautiously, wary of provoking a damaging shutdown and getting a share of the blame.

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State Stories

Fox 7 - February 9, 2025

Concern grows after Leander ISD announces job cuts and school vouchers move past Senate

Leander ISD plans to cut more than 200 jobs because of a lack of state funding. That has parents and educators worried. What they're saying: Parents, both off-camera and on-camera, described Leander ISD’s decision on Wednesday to cut 215 positions in the next school year as "disappointing." "All the teachers and people who have to lose their jobs, it’s really unfortunate because they are here for the kids," said Saba Hernandez, a Leander ISD parent. Most of the frustrations heard from families were directed at lawmakers, especially after the state left $4.5 billion in its budget surplus last legislative session. "I just think it’s wrong that they are withholding the money from the public schools, and I believe that they should give the money that is owed to the public schools from the governor," said Hernandez.

Leander ISD’s decision to cut positions, including more than 150 teachers, counselors, and administrative roles, comes as it tries to overcome a $34 million budget deficit. "Leander is not alone," said Clay Robison, a spokesperson for the Texas State Teachers Association. "Many districts around the state are dealing with budget shortfalls, they’re cutting staff, they’re cutting programs, they are increasing class sizes because the governor and tax legislature did not adequately fund public education." Robison worries the senate's decision to pass school vouchers on Wednesday could lead to more schools cutting jobs. "If this voucher bill passes, it will make their finances worse," said Robison. The law would allocate at least $10,000 a year in public tax money to families who want to send their children to private schools. By 2030, it could cost the state $4.5 billion, but proponents argue it is worth every penny. "Government-mandated schools cannot meet the unique needs of every student," said Governor Greg Abbott in his State of the State address. "But Texas can provide families with choices to meet those needs."

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Dallas Morning News - February 9, 2025

Suspicions about student athlete’s gender care must be investigated, AG Ken Paxton says

Suspicions that a minor may be using testosterone as part of gender-affirming care requires state sports officials to investigate the student athlete’s eligibility to compete, Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote in an opinion released Friday. Questions about testosterone use also require a student athlete to prove eligibility, Paxton wrote. Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath requested an expedited opinion from Paxton’s office Tuesday, saying questions about the student athlete — who was not identified — arose during a University Interscholastic League competition that was underway. A UIL letter accompanying Morath’s request said coaches and parents had raised ”concerns about a female student athlete who may be taking testosterone … for gender-transitioning purposes.”

UIL’s rules bar students from participating in athletic competition sponsored or sanctioned by the league unless conditions are met: They won’t use steroids, they submit to random testing for steroids if they’re in high school, and a parent signs a statement acknowledging steroids are illegal and may be prescribed only by a licensed practitioner. The Education Code uses the Texas Controlled Substances Act’s definition of a steroid, which includes testosterone and “any substance that is chemically or pharmacologically related to testosterone.” Paxton affirmed in his nonbinding opinion that UIL should question the student athlete or their parents about steroid use. “The student-athlete’s eligibility has already been questioned by multiple sources,” he wrote. “UIL therefore has the obligation to investigate and the coordinate authority to remove the student-athlete from covered activities until they can prove eligibility by a preponderance of the evidence.” When student athletes’ eligibility is questioned, the burden of proof falls on them, according to UIL rules. “Whether the student-athlete fails or simply refuses that obligation does not change that UIL should, in either circumstance, conclude the student-athlete remains ineligible for participation,” Paxton wrote. “A refusal to cooperate with the valid, investigatory prerogative of UIL amounts to little more than a conscious choice to decline the burden that rests squarely with the student-athlete.”

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Dallas Morning News - February 9, 2025

Dallas could increase police recruitment goals in wake of voter mandate. Here’s how high

Dallas may ramp up hiring goals for new police officers this year. The City Council’s public safety committee on Monday is scheduled to discuss whether to recommend Dallas revise its plans to hire 250 new officers and set the target at 400. If approved, the recommendation would go to the full City Council for a decision, and a green light would affect the current budget. The proposal comes four months into the fiscal year, which runs from October through September, and after voters this fall approved Proposition U, a charter change mandating Dallas have a minimum of 4,000 officers. Another charter change allows residents and businesses to sue the city if officials don’t follow local and state laws. The department has 3,168 officers as of Friday, police spokesman Corbin Rubinson said.

Council member Cara Mendelsohn, who chairs the public safety committee, recommended the proposal. During the group’s Jan. 14 meeting, she announced she wanted the committee to consider a resolution to increase the police hiring goal to 400 officers. “Prop U made it clear the voters want more police, and the outcry from people all over the city is for more police officers,” Mendelsohn told The Dallas Morning News. “I think the department is working hard to recruit cadets. I would like to see a stronger focus on recruiting from Texas community colleges (and) from cities all over the state.” Council members Tennell Atkins and Kathy Stewart, two other members of the five-person committee, declined to say whether they supported or opposed the proposal. “I am aware of the agenda item,” said Stewart, the public safety committee’s vice chair. “We will work on this item as a committee on Monday.” Atkins, the council’s mayor pro tem, said he was waiting for more data on logistics before weighing in. “I need to know more about what the plan is to get there and if what we say is what we can do,” Atkins said. “Public safety is number one, but I need to know more about if it’s realistic or if we’re putting pie-in-the-sky numbers out there.”

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Dallas Morning News - February 9, 2025

Federal judge blocks parts of Texas law aimed at protecting minors from online content

A federal judge Friday partially blocked a 2023 Texas law that required digital service providers to protect minors from accessing harmful content online. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman of Austin found provisions of House Bill 18 — also known as the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act, or SCOPE Act — were unconstitutionally vague or violated free speech rights. Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, an organization that seeks to increase youth participation in policymaking, sued the state in August, alleging the SCOPE Act restricted a constitutional right to share and access information. The law, partially blocked before it took effect last September, required providers to protect minors by curbing exposure to violence, bullying, harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse on their platforms, including through age verification and algorithms.

The law also prohibited platforms from displaying ads targeted to minors without a verified parent’s approval and required providers to make a reasonable effort to prevent advertisers from using their platforms to target minors with content unlawful for Texas children to use or engage in. Citing the law’s requirements on monitoring and filtering, targeted advertising, content monitoring and age verification, Pitman said the plaintiffs had shown its restrictions on speech violated constitutional protections and should be invalidated. In addition, sections regarding a duty to prevent harm and additional duties on marketing and advertising were “unconstitutionally vague,” the judge wrote. Pitman’s preliminary injunction left other provisions of the law intact, including a requirement that digital service providers limit their use and collection of minors’ personal information and data, and another restriction on allowing minors to make financial transactions on their platforms. The ruling also did not affect a provision requiring tools for parents or guardians to control minors’ privacy and account settings. Attorney General Ken Paxton used the SCOPE Act as grounds to sue TikTok last year, saying the social media app illegally collects, stores and processes minors’ personal identifying information when they interact with the platform.

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram - February 9, 2025

Suburban development expands to Denton County along I-35

Johnnie Holcomb stood in the backside of his 5-acre lot just outside Justin city limits. The soil was mottled with sheep droppings and uneven patches of grass. A flock of roughly two dozen brown lambs, ewes and rams approached within a few yards and milled about before retreating to their pen as subtly as they’d come. The wind gusted and birds chattered and the occasional car buzzed past on the street beyond his southern fenceline, but the rest was silent. “I told my son, there are only two people who are going to move me, and that’s either the coroner or him,” Holcomb said. “My goal is to be walking across that pasture, one of these pastures, and fall over dead.” Holcomb, 78, and his wife moved to rural Denton County in 2005, having grown dissatisfied with the cramped surroundings and nosy neighbors of their suburban life in Haltom City. The world around his property today bears little resemblance to the country he’d escaped to two decades ago.

An RV storage lot and a warehouse-shaped church now blot out the horizon facing east. To the south, construction crews are piecing together houses and streets for Treeline, a Hillwood master-planned community promising 2,700 homes “amidst the serene allure” of the North Texas countryside. “It’s going to be a nice development. I’ve driven through it,” Holcomb said. “What aggravates me is, when I moved out here, I could sit outside and see the stars at night.” The change visible from Holcomb’s backyard is transforming the rest of southwest Denton County at feverish pace. Families and businesses are surging northward, where land is plentiful, scenic and well-situated. The flood is forcing generationally rural communities to undergo sudden and severe growth spurts. Farm roads have become makeshift freeways. Towns with a few hundred residents in the early 2000s are now churning out thousands of homes. The ranches and pastures that once offered respite to suburban sprawl are now succumbing to it.

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram - February 9, 2025

Man dies after in-custody suicide attempt: Tarrant sheriff

An inmate at the Tarrant County Jail died after a suicide attempt on Saturday, officials with the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The 36-year-old man, who was not identified by the sheriff’s office, was arrested on a parole violation in Palo Pinto County on Feb. 4, officials said. During the intake process, officers identified behavioral concerns and referred the inmate to Tarrant County My Health My Resources (MHMR), where he was cleared to remain in regular housing, according to the statement. The inmate was screened again on Feb. 6 and did not display any suicidal ideations or behaviors, Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office officials said. Later that day, he was found unresponsive in his cell by his cellmate and jail staff immediately began lifesaving measures, according to the statement. The inmate was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital, where he died Saturday, officials with the sheriff’s office said. Tarrant County detention officers have intervened in 24 suicide attempts so far this year, according to the statement.

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram - February 9, 2025

Federal judge dismisses Tarrant County from Johnson death suit

A U.S. district judge dismissed the claims against Tarrant County in the civil case brought by the family of Anthony Johnson Jr., who was killed at the county jail in April, according to the ruling issued Friday. In addition to the county, Judge Reed O’Connor dismissed six individual defendants named in the original case, the order states. The lawsuit will continue against the nine jailers most directly involved with Johnson’s death, including two who face criminal charges. Partial video released by the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office shows several jailers fighting with Johnson during a contraband search of his cell. Two jailers pepper-sprayed Johnson directly in his mouth, and after he was handcuffed face-down on the ground, a jailer kneeled on his back until he became unresponsive, according to the suit and video. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Johnson’s death a homicide caused by mechanical and chemical asphyxiation.

In the original suit, lawyers for Johnson’s family argued that Tarrant County was liable for the 31-year-old Marine veteran’s death under the “conditions of confinement” doctrine, according to the suit. O’Connor dismissed the county from the lawsuit on the grounds that Johnson’s death was caused by the actions of individual jailers instead of conditions at the jail such as overcrowding, he wrote in his ruling. The judge also wrote that the plaintiffs’ lawsuit did not clearly identify specific county policies that caused jailers to violate Johnson’s constitutional rights. O’Connor also determined that the six individuals dismissed from the suit were not shown to be responsible for Johnson’s death through use of excessive force or indifference to providing him necessary medical care. One example he noted is that two of those defendants placed Johnson in a wheelchair. Putting Johnson “in a wheelchair is taking some action, whether it was negligent or not,” the opinion reads. “That the others saw Johnson placed in a wheelchair and did nothing else does not establish that any of them was deliberately indifferent.”

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Austin American-Statesman - February 9, 2025

Elon Musk's shadow looms over this tiny Texas town. Can it cope with the rapid growth?

Jason Alley has owned his cattle farm for almost 13 years. Through his work on over 91 acres at the corner of Farm-to-Market 1209 and FM 969, he has watched Elon Musk’s companies expand over the surrounding land. Alley said he sees construction start months before he reads about it in the news. He said he receives inquiries three times a week about selling his land, occasionally from one of the tech billionaire’s companies. “I've got a lot of questions. I hear these things that may or may not happen. I don't know if they're true or not true. They just keep everything quiet. … Overall, I think it's a good thing. I mean, the land values have gone up,” Alley — whose farm’s market value is over $1.558 million — told the American-Statesman.

A movie studio, data centers, manufacturing facilities and plants alike have been flocking to this small town less than 30 miles east of Austin. The anticipated impact of these businesses could be transformative for the roughly 9-square-mile town. Yet, the potential economic boom of Musk choosing Bastrop for his business utopia could be even more profound. Owning more than 400 acres of land, Musk is transforming the area on FM 1209, south of FM 969, into his business utopia, dubbed “Snailbrook.” Musk announced in July his intent to move some of his companies’ headquarters to Texas. In September, he decided his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, would be joining the Boring Co. and SpaceX in Bastrop. The presence of the world's richest man in Bastrop, through his companies, is already being felt by residents and local business owners. Meanwhile, his influence in the White House as President Donald Trump’s closest ally is beginning to take shape. But perhaps not in the ways they might have expected.

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Houston Chronicle - February 9, 2025

DA Sean Teare fired prosecutors days into tenure over separate allegations of misconduct, lewd comments

District Attorney Sean Teare fired two prosecutors days into office after one lawyer was accused of misconduct at trial, leading to dismissed charges, and another was forced out for allegedly making lewd and racist comments toward female colleagues. Both prosecutors, Katherine Frisbie and Michael Ambrose, lost their jobs over allegations of incidents that spanned Teare and his predecessor’s administrations, according to disciplinary records obtained by the Chronicle. The ousted prosecutors were not among those cut by Teare in December as he prepared to take office. Neither responded to requests for comment. The Jan. 9 firing of Frisbie, who joined the office in 2022, followed claims in December she failed to disclose her communications with a security guard whose identification of a suspected shooter led to a man's arrest in a game room shooting. A jury never heard the testimony from the security guard, who was wounded in the shooting. Frisbie alleged he could not be found.

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Dallas Morning News - February 9, 2025

Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont makes first public comments after Luka Doncic trade

Be assured, Mavericks fans, that Patrick Dumont hears, feels and says he even appreciates the full force of your wrath. Nonetheless, 13 months into his family’s majority ownership of the Mavericks and his tenure as team governor, Dumont stands behind the controversial and widely panned trade of superstar Luka Doncic. Fully. Firmly. Unflinchingly. “It’s hard to make tough decisions,” Dumont said. “And it’s hard to make the right decisions when they’re tough. And it’s easy to do nothing. Be the smartest Mavericks fan. Get the latest news. “But when you want to pursue excellence in an organization, you have to make the tough decisions and stand by them and keep going.” Dumont’s comments to The Dallas Morning News are his first since the Mavericks eight days ago shocked the basketball world by sending Doncic, 25, to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a blockbuster trade that brought 10-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis, 31, to Dallas.

Davis’ 26-point, 16-rebound Mavericks debut Saturday afternoon signaled a previously unfathomable era, against the surreal backdrop of a “Rally for Luka” fan throng massed outside American Airlines Center while, inside, the Mavericks defeated rival Houston. Dumont says the backlash was anticipated. His tone and messaging to The News — and by extension fans — showed a dimension of his persona that had not publicly surfaced since his family’s purchase of the franchise’s majority interest on Dec. 27, 2023. Though he never raised his voice, his words at times were fiery, passionate and blunt, including when asked about an unsubstantiated and implausible narrative that has gained legs in the trade’s aftermath. “The Dallas Mavericks are not moving to Las Vegas,” Dumont said. “There is no question in that. That is the answer, unequivocally. The Dallas Mavericks are the Dallas Mavericks and they will be in Dallas.” His general message is that trading Doncic, while shocking and painful to fans, was a necessary step toward building a culture that wins NBA championships, plural.

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Austin American-Statesman - February 7, 2025

Leander ISD cutting to 200 school staff jobs: 'Heavy heart and conflict in emotions'

The Leander school district announced plans to slash more than 200 campus-level staff positions — including nearly 150 teachers — and $3 million in salaries from its central office to help reduce a $34.4 million budget deficit that administrators have forecast for the 2025-26 school year. Leander’s decision, announced Wednesday evening, comes as districts across the state make cost-cutting moves to trim growing deficits and desperately await decisions from state lawmakers this legislative session about possible boosts to public education funding. Gov. Greg Abbott has identified teacher pay raises as a key tenet of his education agenda, which also includes his signature priority of passing a school voucher program that would use public money to pay for children's private schooling. Leander Superintendent Bruce Gearing, in a video message released Wednesday afternoon, said announcing the job cuts comes with “a heavy heart and conflict in emotions."

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Houston Chronicle - February 7, 2025

Houston clean hydrogen startup Syzygy announces sweeping layoffs

Syzygy Plasmonics, a darling of the Houston startup community, said it would slash more than half of its staff by the end of March in what may be the first dramatic blow to the local clean tech industry connected to Trump administration policies aimed at focusing American energy development on fossil fuels, advanced nuclear, geothermal and hydropower. The company, which has raised more than $100 million in funding and last year received backing from Japanese industrial giant Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, has notified the state that it plans to layoff 68 employees beginning at the end of next month. In a pair of Workforce Adjustment and Retraining Notification notices filed with the Texas Workforce Commission Feb. 5, the company said that beginning March 31 it plans to lay off 58 employees at its headquarters on South Sam Houston Parkway in Pearland and another 10 employees at its office on Kirby Drive in Houston.

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National Stories

NBC News - February 9, 2025

'We are figuring it out': Democrats struggle to keep up with Trump's dizzying pace

At the start of the week, President Donald Trump warned ominously that the U.S. will retake the Panama Canal or “something very powerful is going to happen.” By week’s end, he announced that he was killing off a prior mandate for government to buy paper straws, the environmentally friendly sipping utensil that dissolves “disgustingly” in the mouth, he wrote on his social media site. The two pronouncements bookended a frenetic seven-day period in which Trump also made himself head of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with creative sway over performances, signed an order banning transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports and cheered on Elon Musk while a cadre of engineers swept into federal agencies to cut staff and programs with an aim to downsize government. Actions are coming at so dizzying a pace that it can be tough to track what Trump has done and what he's turned around and undone.

At a news conference Tuesday, Trump said that he would send U.S. troops into Gaza, if need be, to stabilize the bombed-out territory. He backtracked two days later in a social media post. The president imposed 25% tariffs on imports from two U.S. allies, Canada and Mexico, on Saturday, Feb. 1. Two days later, he paused the tariffs for a full month. A 25-year-old staff member working with Musk resigned Thursday after being found to have made racist comments online and was rehired the next day. The Denali — or rather, Mt. McKinley-size stack of executive orders gushing from the White House spans so many governmental and cultural fronts that disoriented Democrats appear unsure how to fight back. Last month, Senate Democrats had planned a news conference devoted to Trump's blanket pardons of those who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. But they scrubbed it to focus on a newer outrage: a freeze on trillions of dollars in federal spending. “We are figuring it out,” Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, said in an interview. “We don’t have the perfect plan yet.” A strategy at the start of Trump’s first term was to “flood the zone with s---,” as Steve Bannon, Trump’s former White House strategist, memorably described efforts to keep the news media off balance. But the speed at which Trump is moving this time around makes the phrase seem quaint. Trump allies and supporters have embraced a different term: “Shock and awe.” Indeed, an NBC News review shows that Trump signed more executive orders in 10 days than any of his recent predecessors did in their first 100. The 47th president, Trump, has left the 45th president, Trump, sucking wind. “He [Trump] is delivering on every single campaign promise at a record pace even as the Democrats keep trying to die on hills the American people don’t support them on, e.g., USAID [the U.S. Agency for International Development] funding to export a progressive social agenda out of touch with Main Street America,” Peter Navarro, the administration’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, told NBC News.

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Washington Post - February 9, 2025

U.S. intelligence, law enforcement candidates face Trump loyalty test

Candidates for top national security positions in the Trump administration have faced questions that appear designed to determine whether they have embraced the president’s false claims about the outcome of the 2020 election and its aftermath, according to people familiar with cases of such screening. The questions asked of several current and former officials up for top intelligence agency and law enforcement posts revolved around two events that have become President Donald Trump’s litmus test to distinguish friend from foe: the result of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to the people, who, like other interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. These people said that two individuals, both former officials who were being considered for positions within the intelligence community, were asked to give “yes” or “no” responses to the questions: Was Jan. 6 “an inside job?” And was the 2020 presidential election “stolen?”

These individuals, who did not give the desired straight “yes” answer, were not selected. It is not clear whether there were other factors that contributed to the decision. The questions were posed in direct interviews conducted by personnel hiring for the new administration. Political fealty has been a prerequisite for positions at all levels of the new administration, including for current civil servants seeking new assignments. But former national security and other officials said it is especially important for the nation’s security that intelligence professionals be able to give the president accurate information even if it does not align with his policy or political preferences. “It’s normal for a new administration to ask potential political appointees about their political views to assure that they align with the new administration,” said John Bellinger III, who served as the senior counsel for the White House National Security Council in the George W. Bush administration. “And it’s appropriate for a new administration to ask career officials if they are comfortable carrying out the new administration’s policies. But it’s not appropriate to condition jobs, especially in the intelligence and law enforcement community, on partisan political stances. We want career officials to interpret intelligence and enforce the laws in a neutral way without any partisan preference.”

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Associated Press - February 9, 2025

Trump says he's firing Kennedy Center board of trustees members and naming himself chairman

President Donald Trump says he is firing members of the board of trustees for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and naming himself chairman. He also indicated that he would be dictating programming at one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions, specifically declaring that he would end events featuring performers in drag. Trump’s announcement Friday came as the Republican president has bulldozed his way across official Washington during the first weeks of his second term, trying to shutter federal agencies, freeze spending and ending diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the government. “At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN. I have decided to immediately terminate multiple individuals from the Board of Trustees, including the Chairman, who do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” Trump wrote on his social media website. “We will soon announce a new Board, with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!”

In a statement later on its website, the Kennedy Center said it was aware of Trump’s post. “We have received no official communications from the White House regarding changes to our board of trustees,” the statement said. “We are aware that some members of our board have received termination notices from the administration.” The statement continued: “Per the Center’s governance established by Congress in 1958, the chair of the board of trustees is appointed by the Center’s board members. There is nothing in the Center’s statute that would prevent a new administration from replacing board members; however, this would be the first time such action has been taken with the Kennedy Center’s board.” Drag artists accused Trump of targeting them because of who they are in a country where freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Constitution. “This is about who gets to exist in public spaces and whose stories get to be told on America’s stage,” said Blaq Dinamyte, president of Qommittee, a national network of drag artists and allies. “Banning an entire art form is censorship, plain and simple. Americans don’t have to agree on everything, but we should be able to speak our minds and perform our art without bans, retaliation, or intimidation.” Unlike Democratic President Joe Biden and other presidents through the decades, Trump did not attend the annual Kennedy Center Honors ceremonies during his first term.

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Wall Street Journal - February 9, 2025

Federal judge blocks Elon Musk’s DOGE from Treasury system

A federal judge in New York temporarily restricted the ability of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to access the Treasury Department payment system, saying that doing so was necessary to prevent the potential disclosure of sensitive and confidential information. The early Saturday order by Judge Paul Engelmayer, an Obama appointee, precludes officials without proper background checks and security clearances from accessing the payment system through at least next Friday, including political appointees and special government appointees. It also orders any prohibited person who has had access to the records since President Trump’s inauguration to destroy them. The judge set a hearing for Friday. Some 19 blue-state attorneys general filed the case Friday evening, saying that Musk’s DOGE initiative risks interference with the payment of funds appropriated by Congress. Engelmayer said the states were likely to win on arguments that the Trump administration exceeded its authority in allowing broader access to the payment system. He also said the states faced irreparable harm without court intervention for now, including “the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking.”

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CNN - February 9, 2025

Elon Musk says he does not have plans to buy TikTok

Elon Musk is not interested in buying video-sharing platform TikTok, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX said during a virtual meeting at the WELT Economic Summit on January 28. “I’ve not put in a bid for TikTok and I don’t have any plans for what would I do if I had TikTok,” Musk said in a video released online Saturday by The WELT Group, which is owned by German media company Axel Springer. The Chinese-owned app, which has about 170 million monthly American users, was set to be banned on January 20 due to national security concerns. President Donald Trump gave ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, a last-minute lifeline by delaying the ban for 75 days. The extension has given TikTok more time to find a non-Chinese buyer, a condition in the bill signed by former President Joe Biden last April. ByteDance has said it doesn’t have plans to sell, though some investors have publicly stated they are interested.

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CNN - February 9, 2025

Consumer financial watchdog is ordered by acting director to stop fighting financial abuse

Russell Vought, the newly installed acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, sent an email Saturday night ordering all employees at the consumer watchdog to stop virtually all work — including fighting financial abuse. “Effective immediately, unless expressly approved by the Acting Director or required by law, all employees, contractors and other personnel of the bureau shall…cease all supervision and examination activity,” Vought wrote in the email, a copy of which was viewed by CNN. In practice, this means that the nation’s top consumer financial watchdog has effectively been pulled off the street, prevented from providing oversight over big banks, payday lenders and other financial institutions that could be hurting consumers. “This means that nobody is actually overseeing $18 trillion in consumer debt right now to make sure millions of Americans aren’t getting ripped off,” one former CFPB official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told CNN.

Vought posted on X on Saturday night that he “notified the Federal Reserve that CFPB will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not ‘reasonably necessary’ to carry out its duties” and that the CFPB had an “excessive” balance of $711.6 million. This new order from Vought goes a step further than the one sent by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on February 3 that ordered CFPB staff to stop issuing rules, suspend rules that have not yet been issued or published, not to issue public communications and to stop making court filings other than to seek a pause. Vought on Saturday night reiterated the tasks that Bessent ordered employees to stop, adding supervision to the freeze. Vought said in his email that President Donald Trump designated him acting director on Friday. “As Acting Director, I am committed to implementing the President’s policies, consistent with the law, and acting as a faithful steward of the Bureau’s resources,” Vought wrote. The CFPB did not respond to CNN’s request for comment. A letter signed by dozens of House Democrats on Saturday called on Bessent to “rescind what appears to be an illegal stop work order.” Vought, who leads the Office of Management and Budget, took over as CFPB acting director Friday night and officials from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency deleted the banking watchdog’s X account, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

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Newsclips - February 7, 2025

Lead Stories

New York Times - February 7, 2025

Trump’s power grab defies G.O.P. orthodoxy on local control

In the space of two weeks, President Trump threatened to halt a congestion pricing program intended to reduce traffic in New York City and intervened in California as it confronted ruinous fires, overruling local officials as he made decisions about how to manage the state’s complicated water system. He signed one executive order cutting off federal aid to elementary and high schools that allow transgender athletes to play in women’s sports, and another intended to end funding to medical institutions that use puberty blockers or hormones in gender-affirming treatments. On Thursday, his administration sued the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois in federal court, claiming that sanctuary laws are obstructing the federal government’s ability to enforce immigration policies. For decades, the Republican Party, more than the Democratic Party, presented itself as an advocate of federalism, yielding authority and power to state and local governments. But this once-central tenet of Republican thought has seemingly been scrapped, with little debate, as Mr. Trump remakes the Republican Party in his name.

“Republicans believe in federalism, of deferring to the states and the government closest to the people,” said Karl Rove, who was a senior adviser to President George W. Bush. “Not clear how much he shares that view.” The president’s attempt to dictate actions by the states — particularly the blue states — is the latest instance in which Mr. Trump has scrambled what remains of Republican orthodoxy. He has forced the party to abandon some of its ideological foundations on questions of foreign policy, deficit spending and, increasingly, respecting the rights of states to govern themselves and resist federal intervention. “Federalism was certainly the orthodoxy in the Republican Party from the 1960s on,” said Max Boot, the author of a recent biography of Ronald Reagan, who as president advocated sending power to the states. “If a Democrat were doing this to red states, Republicans would be screaming bloody murder.”

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Dallas Morning News - February 7, 2025

Club for Growth launches ‘six-figure’ Texas campaign to boost school vocuhers

The conservative advocacy group Club for Growth launched a statewide TV, print and digital advertising campaign Thursday to pressure lawmakers in the Texas House to support a “school choice” bill that would put taxpayer dollars toward private school education. The Texas Senate passed its version of the legislation, Senate Bill 2, Wednesday night. “Now, the onus falls on the Texas State House to pass this legislation without compromise,” David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, said in a statement. “House lawmakers must unite to pass SB 2 without compromising or reducing its universal nature. School freedom should be for every Texas student, not just some.” Club for Growth declined to reveal how much it was spending on the campaign, calling it a six-figure effort that could top $1 million, depending on its impact.

The campaign began Thursday with a full-page ad in the Austin American-Statesman encouraging constituents to tell state lawmakers to support Gov. Greg Abbott’s school choice plan. Additional ads will run Friday and Sunday, Club for Growth said. Television ads will begin airing during Sunday national political talk shows in the Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Waco markets. The 30-second spot begins with a narrator praising Texas as No. 1 in oil and gas production, job creation and innovation. Next up? “Texas must be No. 1 in educating our children,” Abbott says in a clip taken from his State of the State address Sunday. “Parents should be empowered to choose the school that’s best for their child.” The ad concludes with Abbott saying, “We must pass school choice this session,” as text appears encouraging viewers to phone their legislators. Wednesday’s passage of SB 2, creating a $1 billion voucher-style program in Texas, marked the sixth time the Senate has passed a school choice bill, only to see the efforts fail in the House under opposition from Democrats and rural Republicans.

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Houston Chronicle - February 7, 2025

Texas needs up to $33 billion in new, improved power lines. Who should foot the bill?

Everyday residents and small businesses could end up paying for much of the $30 billion-plus in new and upgraded long-distance power lines needed largely to support more data centers, oil and gas electrification and cryptocurrency miners. Almost half of those investments are required in just the Permian Basin, according to a plan for the region approved by state regulators last fall that is estimated to cost approximately $13 billion. Texas needs new power lines because the current electric grid “has really become fully utilized,” Pablo Vegas, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said at a Tuesday meeting of the grid operator’s board. In the coming years, electricity demand is expected to surge, especially as Big Tech companies race to build data centers to develop artificial intelligence technologies.

Transmission lines, the “superhighways” of the grid, are considered a public good. Thus, transmission costs are paid for by all Texas electricity consumers on their monthly electricity bill over decades. The allocation of those costs, however, is not uniform. Large industrial users can reduce their electricity consumption at strategic times to “very much reduce or even avoid their transmission charges,” said Olivier Beaufils, an ERCOT specialist at Aurora Energy Reseach, an energy consulting firm. “That means the rest of the costs gets higher for everyone else,” he said. Industrial facilities are the leading reason Texas needs an estimated $30.8 billion to nearly $33 billion in transmission investments, according to a recent ERCOT report. Yet these sectors could shift much of the costs to other consumers, such as households and small businesses. Examining how transmission costs are allocated is a priority for the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, which handles power grid issues, as lawmakers convene in Austin over the next several months. Sen. Charles Schwertner, chair of the committee, said in a January interview that he believes industrial consumers are “gaming the system, to an extent.”

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Washington Post - February 7, 2025

Layoffs hit contractors and small businesses as Trump cuts take effect

Private-sector employers and nonprofits are starting to lay off workers as a result of the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts and funding freezes, unleashing a wave of job losses that economists say could pick up steam in the coming weeks, threatening the broader labor market. The tally appears to be about several thousand private-sector jobs lost in the past two weeks since federal funding cuts and freezes took hold. More than 7.5 million Americans work in jobs directly connected to the federal government, according to the Brookings Institution, as contractors or grant workers — some of whom are already out of a job. And there are millions more who work in positions indirectly connected to federal funding delays. So far, the fallout includes rescinded contracting jobs in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Austin; layoffs at an independent-living facility in West Virginia that relies on federal funding to pay staffers; and furloughs at after-school programs in Maine and community health centers in Virginia facing federal funding delays.

“Having funding yanked so quickly means government contracts are at risk, health research is on hold, and millions of employees are getting conflicting messages about their jobs,” said Harry Holzer, a professor at Georgetown University and former Labor Department chief economist. “We don’t know where this is going to end up, but we can’t dismiss its effects on the economy.” Still, the labor market remains strong, and economists say it could take weeks or months before government-related job losses show up in national data. At 4. 1 percent, unemployment is low, and there are more open positions than people looking for work. New figures Friday are expected to show that job growth continued in January, with employers adding an estimated 165,000 new positions. Even so, economists say the new president’s funding cuts, tariff threats and deportations could quickly change the economic picture. The Trump administration has taken dramatic steps to shrink the federal workforce by making it easier to fire employees, putting nearly 10,000 USAID employees on leave and offering buyouts to millions of federal workers.

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State Stories

Houston Chronicle - February 7, 2025

Final ex-Lina Hidalgo staffer takes pre-trial intervention deal in COVID-19 contract case

The former chief of staff for County Judge Lina Hidalgo accepted a pre-trial intervention deal Thursday on one charge linked to a controversial COVID-19 contract, setting into motion the end of a years-long political saga that pitted two Democratic leaders against each other. The county worker, Alex Triantaphyllis, charged in 2022 with misuse of official information and tampering with records, was accused alongside two other county aides who handled a vaccine outreach contract given to Elevate Strategies, a bidder with Democratic political ties and little public health experience. Unlike his former colleagues, whose cases were dismissed, Triantaphyllis is required to carry out 10 hours community service before the case can reach the same fate in six months. Triantaphyllis suggested he work with Meals on Wheels as he stood before the judge.

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Fort Worth Star-Telegram - February 7, 2025

Bud Kennedy: To some in Texas House, honoring Beyoncé is a waste of time. They would know.

When Texans like George Strait, Willie Nelson or Kacey Musgraves won Grammys, nobody in the Texas Legislature complained. But this year was ... different. This year, some House members tried to start a stink. It so happens that the winner of Country Album of the Year was Beyoncé — a Black Texas woman. For some reason, a few white lawmakers said thanking her was a waste of time. It was a drowsy, warm afternoon Feb. 4 in the Texas Capitol when Houston lawmakers gathered to offer a routine congratulations to the Houston singer for her record Grammy haul. The House had just passed a series of other ceremonial resolutions without complaint. Nobody said it was a waste of time to declare Andrews County Day. Or Cedar Creek Lake Day. Or Wise County Day. Or Texas Association of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery Day.

But when lawmakers gathered to spend 5 minutes celebrating Beyoncé — she wasn’t there and they weren’t even declaring a special “day” — white state Reps. Brian Harrison of Ellis County and Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth threw a fit. According to a fellow Republican lawmaker quoted in the Quorum Report newsletter, a House sergeant-at-arms stepped between Harrison and Black lawmakers from Houston when Harrison went into a harangue about the lost time. Yes, about 5 minutes. After the resolution passed on a simple voice vote, 10 House members went out of their way to have the record show they voted “no” to congratulating one of the greatest singers in Texas history. “This is Operation Run Out the Clock,” a showboating Harrison fumed later at the microphone, saying the House just hasn’t done enough work yet and opposing a motion to take a long weekend off just like the Texas Senate was doing. So the House wasn’t wasting time Feb. 4 when it took up a series of typical thank-you resolutions. But of all the resolutions, Harrison and Schatzline just happened to pick the one about Beyoncé to complain. I wonder why. On X.com, Schatzline devotes a great deal of his energy to “banning DEI” — diversity, equity and inclusion — and touting a desire to “MAKE MERITOCRACY GREAT AGAIN IN TEXAS!” It is not clear whether he thinks Beyoncé merited a Grammy. Maybe he liked Post Malone.

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Dallas Morning News - February 7, 2025

Texas school district warns of school bus immigration raids

A Texas school district warned families this week that U.S. Border Patrol agents may be checking the immigration status of students riding on school buses. In a letter posted Wednesday to Facebook, Alice ISD said it received information that agents may plan to board buses headed to and from extracurricular activities, including athletics and band, at highway checkpoints around the Rio Grande Valley. Alice ISD later removed the letter from Facebook, local news outlets reported, but not before it began quickly circulating on social media. “We strongly encourage families to be aware of the potential implications of these encounters,” according to multiple screen shots of the letter. “If a student is found to be without proper documentation, they may be removed from the bus, detained, and possibly deported.”

Thursday evening, Alice ISD said it sent the initial letter out of an abundance of caution and to help parents make informed decisions. It said it has no knowledge of agents targeting school buses. “As are many school districts, the Alice ISD is trying to navigate immigration practices,” the district said, later adding, “Student safety, which has always been and will continue to be our priority, was the only motivation.” The initial letter, signed by Superintendent Anysia Trevino, went on to say that students who lie about their immigration status may not receive U.S. citizenship in the future. District officials are also considering appointing a designated chaperone vehicle to travel with school buses, the letter said.

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Dallas Morning News - February 7, 2025

OpenAI taps Texas for data center, eyes 16 other states as global competition heats up

The global battle for the future of artificial intelligence has begun in Texas. OpenAI is expanding its push to construct data centers as a $500 billion “Stargate” initiative with the U.S. government takes shape. Work in Abilene is already underway as part of its joint venture with Oracle and Softbank, OpenAI said in a call on Thursday. The cost and specifics of the facility were not immediately disclosed. Meanwhile, the maker of ChatGPT technology is weighing at least 16 future locations that are expected to flourish across the country, including Arizona, California, New York, Pennsylvania and Utah. Each campus will be able to generate at least 1 gigawatt of capacity and will be linked.

However, the Abilene site is seen as the linchpin of a massive infrastructure buildout, adding to the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s economic momentum. The city is the immediate beneficiary of a tranche of the four-year, $500 billion master plan that’s expected to buttress the regional economy. In ways big and small, data centers are starting to pepper the DFW landscape, with Magnum Economics estimating they generated more than $3.2 billion in state and local tax revenues last year. More projects are expected to reap an additional $3.7 billion in the near-term, the firm estimates. OpenAI’s ambitious data center buildout will also shape the emerging AI competition between the U.S. and China ? which shook global markets last week with the launch of DeepSeek, a cheaper ChatGPT competitor. “This is a very real competition and the stakes could not be bigger,” Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s vice president of global affairs, told reporters on a call.

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Dallas Morning News - February 7, 2025

Confirmed and sworn in, North Texas native Scott Turner joins Trump Cabinet

North Texas native Scott Turner is taking charge of the federal department responsible for supporting affordable housing at a time when high rents and home prices remain a top concern of inflation-weary Americans. “We all understand we have a housing crisis, a housing affordability crisis. We have a homelessness issue, we have disaster recovery,” Turner said Thursday as he addressed the workers he now leads as secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. “We have to find long-term solutions to make homes affordable, to spur business creation, to create economic opportunity for every American family,” he said. The Senate voted 55-44 Wednesday to confirm Turner’s nomination, and he was sworn into office later that day by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the White House. All Senate Republicans backed him, along with two Democrats, Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Peter Welch of Vermont.

Although most Democrats voted against the nomination, the opposition seemed to have little to do with Turner. U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, voted against the nomination. She told Roll Call she had been prepared to vote for Turner based on his recognition of the nation’s housing crisis before growing concerned about potential cuts by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. There’s no indication Turner would stop threats to key HUD programs, Warren said. Turner, the only African American picked by President Donald Trump as a member of his Cabinet, steps into a role that comes with competing pressures to lower costs for Americans while cutting the federal budget. During his confirmation hearing, Turner painted a picture of HUD failing at its “most basic mission” to support quality affordable housing despite record levels of funding.

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KVUE - February 7, 2025

'Unsustainable over time' | Restaurant owners say their businesses are suffering since customers are afraid of immigration operations

For Saul Aguero, the owner of Fogonero, a Venezuelan restaurant in Pflugerville - more empty chairs at empty tables is not a sight he likes to see. "Continuing this situation is unsustainable over time," Aguero said. But with authorities conducting immigration operations in the Austin area, it is something he is getting accustomed to with many of his loyal customers fearing for their lives. "They are afraid that they and their families will be arrested in an ICE raid and they will not be allowed to live safely," Aguero said. "They came to this country in search of a better opportunity." Those fears, Aguero says, are now taking a toll on his business. "In the mornings, there were always between 40 and 50 clients, and now there are no more than 10," Aguero said.

The sight of an empty restaurant is also a reality for Judith Medina, who owns Mexican restaurant La Casita in Pflugerville. Before, she had two employees, and now she is relying on only one since it's been slow. "We have days where there are no customers," Medina said. As business owners take in the quiet, they take assurance in the resilient spirit of the people they serve. "Hondurans, Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Mexicans are very hard working. They strive hard to do the job well," Medina said. "The immigrants are necessary in the United States." ICE officials recently said in San Antonio they "target only individuals with criminal records, convictions, gang members," and threats to national security. They also added there are no raids or checkpoints.

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Smart Cities Dive - February 7, 2025

Uber CEO outlines robotaxi fleet plan in Austin

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced yesterday that customers in Austin, Texas, can now sign up to join an “interest list” to be among the first to ride its autonomous vehicles in the city when they become available next month. Atlanta will follow in the summer, and the company plans to have hundreds of autonomous vehicles in these cities later this year, Khosrowshahi said. Uber is partnering with Waymo in Atlanta and Austin as it has in Phoenix since late 2023. “2024 was a turning point for the industry, as AV technology began to mature and more people experienced the magic of their first autonomous ride,” Khosrowshahi said on the company’s Feb. 5 earnings call. He made clear Uber’s aims: “Executing brilliantly on our AV strategy remains our highest priority.”

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Construction Dive - February 7, 2025

Dallas-based Jacobs sees strong demand despite tariff uncertainty

Jacobs CEO Bob Pragada said Tuesday he is not seeing client hesitation despite concerns over current and potential tariffs. “As the narrative is getting way out ahead, what this does represent for us is an opportunity to be a key and trusted advisor for our clients in how that might have an effect on their supply chains,” Pragada said regarding tariffs during a call with financial analysts to discuss earnings. “We’re not seeing it as a huge threat. Rather, we see it as an opportunity to assist our clients, while that political narrative continues to oscillate in different directions.” Pragada also noted deregulation efforts by President Donald Trump’s administration will help move projects forward. “Some of the deregulation is actually serving as a catalyst to accelerate some of these jobs that we have had either in our backlog or that are in the pipeline,” said Pragada.

The Dallas-based construction company reported strong growth in its infrastructure, water and advanced facilities segments, according to its fiscal first quarter earnings report. Major projects in these categories include a 10-year water treatment contract in Jackson, Mississippi, and infrastructure jobs in Europe and Australia. “We saw solid revenue growth year over year, mainly in our infrastructure and advanced facility segments,” said Pragada. “We’re demonstrating impressive revenue growth globally in water and environmental control, with all major geographies showing strength in Q1.” Data centers and manufacturing facilities are fueling growth expectations, said Pragada. Jacobs’ data center business posted double-digit expansion, while reshoring efforts in manufacturing are expected to drive additional activity later in the year, he said. “Data centers continue to be a real positive for us,” said Pragada. “It’s now to the size where you can actually see it. It’s still 40 to 50 basis points, but it’s actually contributing to the overall growth of the company.”

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The Barbed Wire - February 7, 2025

Houston’s top horn musician allegedly harassed Rice students for decades. And the school knew.

Myrna Meeroff hadn’t had a seizure in four years. But in 1995, on her first day of graduate classes at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, she had one. Recovering in the hospital, she missed the beginning of the semester. She entered the French horn studio a week behind her peers — “compromised in every way,” she said. Meeroff’s horn instructor, William VerMeulen, invited her to lunch off-campus in what seemed to Meeroff like a gesture of goodwill. VerMeulen gave her a lay of the land and caught Meeroff up on missed material. He reassured her about her absences and even offered to find her opportunities with community orchestras, she told The Barbed Wire. Everything would be alright, she remembered him saying. Then, she said, he placed his hand on her thigh. Why is this man touching me in any way? Meeroff remembered thinking. It gave her pause. Other teachers had touched her during lessons, placing their heads on top of hers to hear the horn’s sound — weird, she said, though not sexual — but this was different. She forced herself to brush it off.

A wave of #MeToo-esque reckonings rolled through the classical music world last year, prompted in part by a New York magazine report published in April. The article detailed sexual assault and misconduct allegations against two members of the New York Philharmonic who were fired in 2018, then reinstated through union arbitration. The uproar was swift: The Philharmonic commissioned an outside investigation into the organizational culture. More women came forward with additional allegations against both players, who were placed on leave then fired in November. The players have denied the allegations and sued the Philharmonic and players union. A federal judge recently dismissed a $100 million lawsuit filed by one of the players against the magazine. Online discussion erupted in the insular industry. And more allegations emerged. Two musicians were removed from the Calgary Philharmonic. Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music announced it had removed one of its professors. Then, in May 2024, Rice announced then-63-year-old William VerMeulen’s retirement, effective immediately. “Professor VerMeulen has been teaching at the Shepherd School since 1990, building one of the country’s most prominent horn studios — with numerous professional placements for his students, who are performing in many of the top ensembles around the world,” wrote Dean Matthew Loden in an email to music students and alumni, which The Barbed Wire independently reviewed.

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Houston Chronicle - February 7, 2025

30,000 tons of food stuck in Houston port after Trump halts foreign aid

Tens of thousands of tons of food purchased through a federal program to feed hungry people overseas is stuck at a warehouse in Houston's port after President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid, according to an email from an international food agency and an employee with the U.S. Agency for International Development. The pause comes as the Trump administration moves to dismantle USAID, one of the world's largest government aid organizations. The organization spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year through its Food for Peace program to distribute surplus crops from American farmers around the globe, according to the Congressional Research Service. The hold-up in food aid drew pushback from Democrats in Congress this week, who called on Sec. of State Marco Rubio to intervene.

"Purchases of commodities from farmers that power Food for Peace have stopped. Hundreds of tons of American-grown wheat are stranded in Houston right now," said U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, an Arkansas Democrat who serves as ranking member on the House Agriculture Committee. "This hostile takeover of USAID is illegal and unacceptable and creates uncertainty and instability for the agricultural economy." A White House spokesperson defended the move to stop food aid, saying it was "ensuring that taxpayer-funded programs at USAID align with the national interests of the United States, including protecting America’s farmers." "He will cut programs that do not align with the agenda that the American people gave him a mandate to implement and keep programs that put America First," the spokesperson said. Elon Musk, who is spearheading Trump's purge of the federal bureaucracy has moved to shut down USAID altogether, with the Trump administration ordering employees to stop coming to work this week.

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Dallas Morning News - February 6, 2025

John P. Hernandez and Chris Wallace: Texas businesses can help bridge cultural and political divides

(John P. Hernandez is senior vice president of Amegy Bank and a member of the Texas Business Leader Alliance Advisory Board. Chris Wallace is chief executive of the North Texas Commission. The commission is a partner of the Texas Business Leader Alliance.) A glance at the day’s headlines might suggest that more divides us than unites us. Border spending, property taxes, health care access and school finance dominate the political discourse in our state, sparking debates that cut across party lines. And as Texas navigates novel economic challenges, from energy transition to workforce development, a critical engine for prosperity has slowed to a sputter: civic engagement. This is where leaders in the business community are uniquely positioned to solve problems, with a respected voice that can transcend political divides to identify practical solutions. The Main Streets and boardrooms where Texas businesses operate may not agree on all the issues of the day, but one thing most do agree on is that democracy requires participation. And economic prosperity requires democracy. In a survey of 500 business leaders, including owners of large and small businesses, chamber leaders and C-suite executives from all areas of Texas, 97% view their participation in public policy discussions as crucial.

Yet, nearly two-thirds acknowledge that businesses could be doing more to engage on the issues that shape Texas’ future. This gap between aspiration and action represents a challenge, but also an opportunity to increase civic participation among the leaders themselves. Several areas of shared concern unite business leaders across the political spectrum. A near-unanimous 91% agreed that a strong, participatory democracy is crucial to a vibrant economy. However, concerns about civic health, including a widespread apprehension about political violence, tempered this. Moreover, a significant majority — 67% — of concerned business leaders cited a lack of bipartisanship as a key issue. Encouragingly, 81% of business leaders believe their customers would respond positively to their engagement with policy discussions. This suggests a unique opportunity for the business community to leverage its credibility — and shared frustration with political gridlock — to contribute to a more stable, constructive civic environment. The survey findings paint a clear picture: Texas business leaders share a common understanding of the challenges facing our civic institutions and the importance of engaged leadership in addressing these issues. Yet, there’s a collective sense that we could be doing more.

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Houston Chronicle - February 6, 2025

Houston congressman says he was wrong about TikTok. Now he's backing Trump's support for the app

A year after voting to ban TikTok in the United States, U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt now says he was wrong. The Houston Republican said on Wednesday that he regretted voting for the legislation that ordered TikTok’s China-based owner to sell or face being removed from U.S. markets. “My vote was a mistake, but I am committed to learning from it,” Hunt said in a statement. Hunt, starting his second term in Congress, said he understands the “risks associated with foreign access to American data” that prompted the bill, but said that data is at risk in so many other ways already.

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Austin American-Statesman - February 6, 2025

Dennis Powell: As a judge, I visited the border. It's not the chaos you've been led to believe

issues. Immigration had little impact in my little corner of the world. For Orange, Texas, “border crossings” consisted of U.S. citizens coming from Louisiana into Texas. I knew very little about immigrants, but in the past few years, that changed drastically. I pride myself on my fairness and reasonableness, but these aren’t traits you can simply put on like a robe. They require preparation and practice. Still, even the best preparation is limited to what’s presented in the courtroom. What I didn’t expect on this leg of my journey was how learning more about immigration and the border would fundamentally reshape my perspective. In May 2022, I was a retired judge, but I agreed to take an assignment to preside over cases under Operation Lone Star in Kinney County.

Operation Lone Star involved arresting thousands of immigrants for criminal trespass and my role was to preside over these criminal prosecutions. As I worked through hundreds of these cases, I began to reflect on the operation itself. From my perspective, Operation Lone Star seemed less like a vehicle to protect public safety and more like an opportunity for Texas to take on the border even though the law delegated that responsibility solely to the federal government. After presiding over a multitude of cases, I issued a decision against Operation Lone Star on constitutional grounds, addressing its discriminatory practices against migrant men. The issue arose from the fact that only men were being arrested and charged, while women and children were released. Out of hundreds of charges filed, not a single criminal trespass case had been filed against a woman in Kinney County during my assignment there. This raised significant concerns about arrests and subsequent prosecutions being determined by gender. What I saw in the courtroom fueled my desire to go to see it for myself. What I found was astonishingly different from the chaos often portrayed in the media and in legal circles. I saw a border that was secure, with helicopters patrolling and law enforcement officers working in an orderly process. Migrants waited for months in Mexican border towns for their turn to legally enter, going through extensive screenings, interviews and sponsor verifications. To call them "illegals" is not only misleading but dismisses the effort and legality of their actions. During my visit to the border, I met many people who left an impact on me, including one man who had been kidnapped by a cartel in Mexico. Cartels target migrants with U.S. sponsors, holding them for ransom in horrific conditions. Despite enduring such trauma, many of these individuals, including this man, were remarkably positive and eager to contribute to Texas and to this country. I was not looking at policies or political issues; instead, I saw people — families striving for safety and opportunity.

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Religion News Service - February 6, 2025

Second minister accuses T.D. Jakes of sexual misconduct in defamation suit filing

The Rev. Richard Edwin Youngblood, the brother of a minister who has accused Bishop T.D. Jakes of sexual misconduct, has made his own accusation against Jakes, claiming the Texas megachurch leader climbed into bed with him on a church business trip. The claims were made in a legal filing responding to a defamation lawsuit Jakes brought in November against Youngblood’s younger brother, Duane Youngblood, a Pennsylvania man who made allegations against Jakes in two 2024 interviews on the “Larry Reid Live” YouTube talk show. Jakes’ suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, includes denials by Jakes’ legal team of Duane Youngblood’s accusations that Jakes tried to groom and sexually abuse him. The suit also describes the younger Youngblood as being a parolee after convictions for sexual assault and corruption of minors.

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National Stories

The Hill - February 7, 2025

Sotomayor hits presidential immunity decision in first public comments since new Trump admin

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday doubled down on her opposition to the presidential immunity decision last summer and expressed concern about public confidence in the high court. In her first public remarks since President Trump took office about two weeks ago, Sotomayor said she worried that the Supreme Court has departed too far from public sentiment, when asked about dwindling public confidence in the court. “If we as a court go so much further ahead of people, our legitimacy is going to be questioned,” Sotomayor told an audience in Kentucky Wednesday evening. “I think the immunity case is one of those situations,” she continued. “I don’t think that Americans have accepted that anyone should be above the law in America. Our equality as people was the foundation of our society and of our constitution.” “I think my court would probably gather more public support if it went a little more slowly in undoing precedent,” she said.

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CNBC - February 7, 2025

Staffer at Musk’s DOGE resigns after racist social media posts exposed

A staff member in the so-called Department of Government Efficiency led by tech billionaire Elon Musk resigned after The Wall Street Journal asked the White House about a social media account that advocated for racism and eugenics, the newspaper reported. The DOGE staffer, Marko Elez, earlier in the day had been approved by a federal judge to have access to the payment system at the U.S. Treasury, but the judge restricted his ability to share data from the system. “I would not mind at all if Gaza and Israel were both wiped off the face of the Earth,” an account that the Journal linked to Elez tweeted last year.

The Journal said it had established links between 25-year-old Elez and a social media account on Musk’s platform, X, that was deleted in December. “The deleted @nullllptr account previously went by the username @marko_elez, a review of archived posts shows,” the Journal reported. “The user behind the @nullllptr also described themselves as an employee at SpaceX and Starlink, where Elez has worked, according to archives of Elez’s personal website.” Musk is playing a major role in efforts by President Donald Trump to slash federal government spending and employee head count. Elez had been designated as a special government employee. “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity,” @nullllptr tweeted on X in September, the Journal reported. ?‘Normalize Indian hate,’ the account wrote the same month, in reference to a post noting the prevalence of people from India in Silicon Valley,” the Journal wrote.

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Stateline - February 7, 2025

Trump wants states to handle disasters without FEMA. They say they can’t.

State and local emergency managers are facing a serious question in the wake of President Donald Trump’s first few weeks in office: When disaster strikes, will they be able to count on the federal government? Trump has called the Federal Emergency Management Agency a “disaster” and suggested it might “go away.” He said states would best take care of hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires on their own, with the federal government reimbursing some of the costs. He convened a council to review FEMA and recommend “improvements or structural changes.” But leaders in states that have been hit by disasters say they need more than the promise of an eventual federal check to manage catastrophic events. They say they’re not equipped to handle the roles FEMA currently plays — such as marshaling emergency resources from multiple federal agencies, providing flood insurance, conducting damage assessments and distributing billions of dollars in recovery funds.

“FEMA has been an absolute lifesaver for people,” said Vermont state Sen. Anne Watson, a Democrat who has been involved in the state’s recovery from devastating 2023 floods. “I don’t see [states and municipalities] as being able to replicate what FEMA does. The possibility of it going away leaves millions and millions of Americans in a very vulnerable position.” Meanwhile, Trump said last month that he wanted to make federal wildfire recovery aid to Los Angeles conditional on California enacting new laws requiring voter identification, adding further uncertainty about whether states can expect help from the feds. Trump and his allies also targeted the agency in the wake of Hurricane Helene, spreading lies that FEMA, under President Joe Biden, was diverting disaster money to immigrants without legal status; failing to provide helicopters; limiting aid to $750 per person; and cutting off support for Republican areas. State officials say that while there’s room for a conversation about state and federal roles in disaster response, eliminating FEMA altogether would be shortsighted.

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Politico - February 7, 2025

After Trump’s remarks on Gaza, some in Dearborn, Michigan ‘think we screwed up’

Donald Trump won Dearborn, Michigan, a traditionally Democratic Arab American enclave, thanks largely to outrage over Kamala Harris and the Biden administration’s stance on Israel. Some are starting to have regrets. After Trump unveiled a plan to “take over” Gaza and relocate nearly 2 million Palestinians to neighboring countries, two mayors in the region who had stumped for Trump have gone silent. And some Dearborn residents have been left horrified by the president’s attitude toward Palestinians. After Trump made his comments, people in Dearborn are responding “with extreme anger and disappointment with this president who lied to this community to steal some of their votes,” said Osama Siblani, editor of Dearborn’s Arab American News.

Siblani, who declined to endorse in the presidential race, predicted that the proposal will “fail” and that Trump is “acting like a leader of a gangster group and not the most powerful nation in the world. Disgrace.” One leader in Dearborn, granted anonymity to speak candidly, described a sense of remorse among some in the Arab American community who voted for Trump or sat out the election but now “think we screwed up but we’re not going to admit it.” Trump’s comments Tuesday, which shocked the world and were quickly recast by his own officials, caused a sense of whiplash in Dearborn, laying bare the deep political divisions in a community fractured by the conflict that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and decimated the region. Not long ago, Arab Americans were celebrating the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas — which some credited Trump for helping to reach days before his inauguration. Then came his remarks this week — and alarm over his desire to redevelop Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East.” Arab Americans for Trump, a group that helped with campaign outreach, rebranded itself as Arab Americans for Peace in the hours after Trump said the U.S. would take ownership of Gaza.

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The Hill - February 7, 2025

Trump announces task force to ‘eradicate anti-Christian bias’

President Trump announced plans Thursday to establish a task force and a presidential commission to protect Christians from religious discrimination. Trump addressed the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, where he laid out multiple steps he planned to take to address what he described as attacks on religious liberty and on Christians in particular. “While I’m in the White House, we will protect Christians in our schools, in our military, in our government, in our workplaces, hospitals and in our public squares,” he said. “And we will bring our country back together as one nation under God.” Trump said he would establish a presidential commission on religious liberty that “will work tirelessly to uphold this most fundamental right.” The president also said he would sign an executive order to make Attorney General Pam Bondi the head of a task force to “eradicate anti-Christian bias.” The task force will aim to stop “all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government,” Trump said.

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National Catholic Reporter - February 7, 2025

Catholic Relief Services lays off staff, cuts programs after USAID shakeup

Catholic Relief Services is bracing for massive cuts — as much as 50% this year — because of draconian reductions in U.S. foreign assistance ordered by the Trump administration, according to an internal email from the chief executive of the international relief organization. CRS is the top recipient of funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development, known as USAID, which the Trump administration has targeted with a spending freeze, office closure and extensive staff cuts this week. Layoffs have already begun as CRS has been forced to begin shutting down programs funded by USAID, which supplies about half of the Catholic organization's $1.5 billion budget, said CRS president and CEO Sean Callahan in a staffwide email sent Feb. 3. "We anticipate that we will be a much smaller overall organization by the end of this fiscal year," Callahan wrote in the email, which was reviewed by National Catholic Reporter.

CRS officials at its headquarters in Baltimore did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. bishops' conference, which created the organization 82 years ago, also did not respond to a request for comment. Retired Tucson, Arizona, Bishop Gerald Kicanas, a former board chairman of Catholic Relief Services, said eliminating USAID would be a huge mistake. "These are desperate people, living in desperate situations, struggling day by day, hour by hour," Kicanas told NCR. The cuts would amount to one of the biggest blows ever to CRS, a relief group founded in 1943 by Catholic bishops in the United States to serve World War II survivors in Europe. CRS reaches more than 200 million people in 121 countries on five continents, according to its website. Callahan said that CRS has already received notifications that some projects for which it is subrecipient have already been terminated and that more are coming. The staffing cuts and cost-saving measures would be across the board, impacting all divisions and departments of CRS, Callahan said. Temporary furloughs would not be enough to avoid staff cuts, he added.

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NBC News - February 7, 2025

Some Census Bureau data now appears to be unavailable to the public

Many databases from the U.S. Census Bureau appeared to be unavailable to the public on Thursday, with users being told access was “forbidden” when attempting to download common datasets. Several data experts told CNBC that they were receiving the same error message on files that are routinely available. “My staff tried numerous economic releases, and we could not access them through Census.gov,” said Maurine Haver, founder of Haver Analytics. The company is a leading global data provider, including to CNBC. Data experts were able to download some files through various workarounds. A few of the datasets that were unavailable to CNBC late Thursday include information on voter demographics, population changes by state and small businesses.

Economists were concerned that there could be wider implications. “When was the last time that Census just stopped publishing data? That just doesn’t happen,” said Michael Horrigan, president of the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Two data experts at the institute were also unable to download data from Census.gov. “It suggests that there may be internal pressures not to publish data that we rely on, and we need to figure out if that’s true,” Horrigan said. Some databases were still accessible to the public. It is unclear if the restricted data was due to a technical issue or as part of the changes around information and communication under President Donald Trump. Erica Groshen, former commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in the Obama administration, said the Census data is vital to decision-making across government and business.

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