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Good morning,

Some pearl-clutching Christian essayists want us to be embarrassed by Donald Trump. Personally, I'm not yet tired of winning. I end the week reflecting on the hire we made in selecting the republic's chief executive.

This is the Texas Minute for Friday, January 31, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

President Trump to Cancel Student Visas of Pro-Jihadist Protesters

• President Donald Trump has signed an executive order promising that the federal government will deport students who participated in “pro-jihadist” protests. Valorie Muñoz has the background.  
       
• Back in April, more than 30 students were arrested for physically assaulting and threatening staff, establishing encampments, and vandalizing property during a pro-Palestine protest at the University of Texas at Austin.
       
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said his agency will deny and revoke visas for those discovered to be Hamas supporters.
      
• The presidential order also gives federal agencies 60 days to review and present potential actions to combat antisemitism on university campuses

Gov. Abbott Directs State Agencies To Reject ‘Woke’ Gender Ideologies

• In a directive to state agency heads, Gov. Greg Abbott is instructing them to adhere to state and federal law. That includes, reports Sydnie Henry, President Donald Trump’s recent executive order rejecting “radical sexual orientation and gender identity ideologies.”
       

• The governor's directive follows several actions taken by the Trump administration to reverse policies implemented during the Biden-Harris era.

      
• Last week, President Trump issued an executive order designed to defend women from gender ideology extremism and restore biological truth to the federal government. Additional actions from Trump include protecting minors from chemical and surgical gender mutilation and disallowing “transgender” individuals from openly serving in the military.
       
• “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.” – Greg Abbott

Houston Mayor: Police Will Focus on 'Local Issues,' Not Deportations

• Houston Mayor John Whitmire said this week that his police department is not helping U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with operations. Joseph Trimmer reports there are estimated to be a half-million illegal aliens in the Houston area. 
      
• The mayor revealed that while ICE made arrests targeting violent, illegal alien criminals, the Houston Police Department did not participate. He said HPD would focus on enforcing local and state laws without regard to the immigration status of the people they investigate.

RELATED NEWS

• Olga Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the taxpayer-funded Harris Health, claimed patients do not have to answer questions about their immigration status, regardless of Gov. Greg Abbott’s order requiring hospitals to collect such data. 

Texas Tech Class Encourages CRT in H.R. Departments

• A class offered at Texas Tech University last fall encouraged students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in human resources development to embrace critical race theory. Luca Cacciatore has the details.
    
• The course was titled "Diversity and Cultural Competence in the Workplace." A quick analysis of the course’s required readings further emphasizes the focus on dismantling perceived power structures. In addition to critical race theory, the field includes other subfields like feminist theory and critical gender theory.
        
• In the course, students were told they would "appraise privilege," track "diversity consciousness," and discuss "sexual orientation and gender identity." 
      
• Texas Tech did not respond to inquiries about the coursework.

Investigation Uncovers Potential Violations of Law Protecting Girls' Sports

• A new investigation has revealed an Irving Independent School District administrator advising an undercover journalist on how to circumvent a state law protecting girls in school sports. Emily Medeiros has the story.
    
• Back in 2021, Texas lawmakers banned public school students from competing in an interscholastic athletic competition “designated for the biological sex opposite to the student’s biological sex.”
        
• Irving ISD’s Executive Director of Campus Operations Reny Lizardo, talking to an undercover journalist working for Accuracy in Media, described how to get around the law. For example, if a parent were to change the gender on their child’s birth certificate before moving to Texas, the district would be able to put their gender-confused son on the girl’s soccer team.
       
• Lizardo explained that he is not a lawyer, but “it’s not illegal if you don’t get caught.”
       
• “This Irving ISD Administrator should be fired on the spot,” wrote Gov. Greg Abbott when informed of the situation. “Both criminal & civil investigations must be taken against both the Administrator & Irving ISD.”
      
• Irving ISD said Lizardo has resigned.

Charges Dropped Against Two Former Harris County Judge Staffers

• Attorney General Ken Paxton has dropped charges against two former staffers of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. As Charles Blain reports, the staffers were charged with misuse of official information and tampering with government records.
       
• The charges stem from an $11 million COVID-19 outreach contract that was awarded to a 1-person firm, Elevate Strategies, despite it not being the most qualified or the lowest bidder. It has been alleged that Hidalgo staffers used their positions to help steer the contract to Elevate and its owner, a democrat operative.
        
• The dismissals filed by OAG prosecutors, which have not yet been signed by a judge, cite the “interest of justice” as the reason. Only Wallis Nader and Aaron Dunn have, so far, had their cases dismissed. Charges against former Chief of Staff Alex Triantaphyllis are still pending. 

Teacher Resigns Over Alleged Misconduct With Student

• Police are investigating a middle school teacher in the Killeen Independent School District following allegations of inappropriate conduct involving a student. As Erin Anderson reports, the unidentified teacher has apparently resigned.
        
• Eastern Hills Middle School Principal Jacqulyn Bridge told parents this week about the situation and said ISD officials are cooperating with law enforcement.
      

• Parents in the district have shared the teacher’s identity with Texas Scorecard, but since Killeen ISD hasn't confirmed it and police have yet to make an arrest, the name is being withheld. The teacher in question was hired and certified last fall but is no longer listed in the school’s staff directory or found anywhere on the Killeen ISD website.
      

• State law requires superintendents to report allegations of teacher misconduct involving a student to the Texas Education Agency within seven business days. As of Thursday, TEA was not investigating the teacher.

This Sunday on REAL TEXANS

RONIN COLMAN

Friday Reflection
Not Yet Tired of Winning

The first two weeks of the second Trump administration have been nothing short of extraordinary because the president has been making good on his promises. 

It must be easy to be opposed to Donald Trump because some on the “right” have made a pretty good living since 2016 being professional Never-Trumpers. In the days after Donald Trump was sworn in for this new term, The Atlantic ran a screed titled “Evangelicals Made a Bad Trade” by Peter Wehner.

A former speechwriter for George W. Bush, Wehner despises Donald Trump at a visceral level. The Christian charity he demands others show to the Murderous Left he refuses to give to the president or the president’s supporters.

While ostensibly a conservative and pro-lifer, Wehner’s hatred of all things Trump means he will not acknowledge major victories secured by the president. Among Donald Trump’s first actions was a reinstatement of the “Mexico City” language forbidding any taxpayer funds from going to abortion providers overseas. 

The president also pardoned pro-life activists who had been subject to politicized prosecutions by the Biden administration’s death cult. Yet Wehner excoriates churchgoers for having supported the Bad Orange Man. 

There is a class of professional Christian pearl clutchers who apparently would be happier if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were still allowing babies to be butchered on the taxpayers’ dime.

But those guys lost, and real evangelicals won. We hired someone to do a job, and Donald Trump is delivering in spades. The Never-Trump cult of Christian essayists is angry that the faithful have stopped accepting their “moral victories” and are instead cheering on real wins.

The pious charlatans falsely claim Christians are trading Jesus for Donald. That could be a horrific slander, but it more likely betrays either their own false faith or their very real confusion about the role of government in the real world.

Either way, these milquetoast Christians would keep serving up polite losers like the Bush clan. Instead, American evangelicals have opted for a fighter willing to slay giants in the real world.

You don’t have to like the kid running the drive-thru lane at McDonalds. You need him to do his job and let you move on down the road.

Same for a president.

We hired a man to do a job. Donald Trump is doing that job.

Sinfully grotesque theories on gender and sexuality are being eradicated from the federal government. Children are being protected from mutilating surgeries. The border is being secured.

This is the deal we made in hiring Donald Trump. And the effete crowd of Christian “thinkers” wants us to reject this? No way.

People of faith are winning in this revitalized Trump administration. And we’re nowhere near being tired of it.

Quote-Unquote

"Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong."

– Calvin Coolidge