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** HYR Weekly Political Update
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** January 31st, 2025
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** Welcome to This Week's HYR Newsletter!
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Confirmation battles ramped up in the Senate this week, with key nominees facing intense scrutiny, while the House navigates budget reconciliation delays. Meanwhile, Ibram X. Kendi’s taxpayer-funded “anti-racism” center is shutting down, and the DNC is doubling down on its losing strategy. In Texas, conservatives are making big moves as the Texas Education Freedom Act gains momentum. With strong backing from Governor Abbott and Lt. Governor Patrick, school choice is set to be a top priority this session.

Thank you for being part of HYR, and we look forward to keeping you informed and connected.

Matt Murphy
Political Director, Houston Young Republicans
The White House
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Executive Order Ramifications
A Monday night memo from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was met with pushback from federal and state stakeholders across the country. The directive ordered an immediate freeze on federal grant and loan programs to examine them on a case-by-case basis. While the White House specified individual assistance programs—Medicare, Social Security, and disaster aid for instance—were not impacted, Democrats wasted no time characterizing the cut-and-slash maneuver as “lawless, destructive, and cruel,” in the words of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer [D-NY].

Senator Patty Murray [D-WA], Ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, further sowed discord and panic, saying “thousands of federal programs” could be impacted, including those benefitting veterans, firefighters, law enforcement officers, suicide hotlines, and military preparedness—things the ranking member apparently ardently champions now that she’s not part of a Senate majority.

It’s fair to say the EO could have been more micro-focused—the spirit of it was to weed out DEI initiatives, and ludicrous, unnecessary federal expenditures (Rand Paul [R-KY] chronicles annually ([link removed]) in his ‘Festivus Report’). In application, however, a blanket pause on federal grant and loan programs was logistically untenable, and something even staunch fiscal conservatives couldn’t ultimately stomach.

The EO was rescinded. It remains to be seen whether the EO will be reworded and reissued to target the programs and grant monies the Trump administration wants to gut—but I suspect that will be the case.

Justice for Laken Riley
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President Trump signed the Laken Riley Act ([link removed]) into law. The law requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain illegal aliens arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting—and authorizes individual states to sue the federal government for failure to enforce immigration law. The bill was named in honor of Laken Riley, the Georgia nursing student who needlessly and tragically lost her life at the hands of an illegal alien. The bill passed with a 64-35 ([link removed]) and 263-156 ([link removed]) margin in the Senate and House respectively.
[link removed]
The Senate
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Confirmations/Nominations Continued

Schumer indicated his conference will be zeroing in on only a few nominees they perceive to be vulnerable and expending what little political capital the minority wields to try to derail their confirmations—Russell Vought (OMB), RFK, and Tulsi Gabbard, for instance.
* Gabbard performed admirably ([link removed]) during her confirmation hearing this week to serve as Director of National Intelligence. However, as discussed in our last edition, her confirmation may be in serious jeopardy. Her path forward appears to hinge upon Sen. Susan Collins’ [R-ME] vote. At the time of writing, she has not yet indicated whether she intends to support or oppose Gabbard, although she has stated she thought Gabbard performed well in her hearing.


* RFK’s hearing for Secretary of Health and Human Services provided for some contentious exchanges, notably between he and Sens. Liz Warren ([link removed]) [D-MA-Cherokee Nation] and Bernie Sanders ([link removed]) [Socialist-VT]. Even in the throes of a high-pressure hearing, RFK was able to have a moment of Zyn ([link removed]) . While his margin of error is not quite as tenuous as Gabbard’s, it appears he’ll be able to squeak through confirmation.


* Kash Patel’s hearing for FBI Director frequently became heated ([link removed]) ; Patel even dropped a racial slur which will forever be enshrined in the Senate record describing some of the abuse he’s received while standing for Constitutional principles in the intelligence community. I will not speculate as to his final vote count, but Patel should ultimately be confirmed, barring any unforeseen theatrics.


* Former Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s [R-OR-5] path to Labor Secretary is going to be an interesting one to watch. Her hearing will likely be scheduled for the week of Feb. 10, but has not yet been procedurally finalized. Her biggest point of contention may well be her former support for the PRO Act ([link removed]) —legislation which was so absurdly pro-union, it could have been written by the left-wing activists of the AFL-CIO ([link removed]) . Her track record as a very moderate Republican will likely cause defecting votes (i.e. D's and R's will split ranks from the party to vote for/against her) in her favor from both sides of the aisle. While it’s expected she’ll ultimately be confirmed, it’s notable it’ll likely be a bipartisan effort.


Swing-state seat opening
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Gary Peters [D-MI] has announced he will not seek re-election. His seat is up for grabs in 2026, and will be a hotly contested race in Michigan, a state that veered Republican last election cycle.
The House
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Budget Reconciliation Continued

Initially, Speaker Johnson [R-LA] was optimistic that the House could cobble together a sweeping budget reconciliation by Easter, but he now expects May to be more realistic soft deadline. There is a host of policy issues ([link removed]) complicating the matter—SALT (state and local tax) and Social Security among them, but with Elise Stefanik’s [R-NY-21] pending confirmation, Speaker Johnson has a one-vote margin to cling to through early April.

The House was in recess this week as each party had its respective retreat; there was little actionable news to report on that front.
Other Notable Developments and Updates
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* Famous purveyor of critical race theory, Ibram X. Kendi, is having his Boston University-based research center for “anti-racism” shut down ([link removed]) . His operation received tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funded grants; good riddance.
* The DNC apparently hasn’t learned a single thing from their election cycle failures. At a candidate forum for potential party chairs, they repeatedly ([link removed]) doubled-down ([link removed]) on their failed policy platform, unanimously blaming (in part) their 2024 defeat on racism and misogyny ([link removed]) . Here’s hoping they stay the course.
* Mark Zuckerberg is having some serious trouble ([link removed]) keeping internal communications at Meta internal.
* Point of clarification: that $50M in taxpayer funded condoms for Gaza, was not actually for Palestine ([link removed]) . What a relief.
* The outrage on the left ([link removed]) over DOGE’s efforts to slash spending was poignantly framed ([link removed]) to me this week.
* We extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the flight from Kansas which crashed above Reagan National Airport—especially the fiancée of the 28-year old American Airlines pilot. We are tracking, and will note any further concrete developments as they arise. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will be holding an investigatory public hearing in the near future.

This Week in Texas

Mark McCaig

School Choice Bill Filed in Texas Senate

The Chairman of the Texas Senate’s Education Committee filed legislation dubbed the “Texas Education Freedom Act” on Friday to create an Education Savings Account (ESA) program in Texas. The bill, Senate Bill 2 by State Senator Brandon Creighton ([link removed]) , is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Education Committee on January 28.

The issue of school choice is a priority for Governor Greg Abbott and leaders across the legislative branch. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has described school choice as his “top priority” ([link removed]) for the current legislative session. The passage of “universal school choice” was also among the issues included in the Texas Conservative Commitment ([link removed]) , a policy agenda signed by more than 40 Republicans in the Texas House, including newly elected Speaker Dustin Burrows.

Initial budget proposals filed in the Texas House and Texas Senate each include $1 billion to fund an educational savings account program.

Under Senate Bill 2, a child participating in the ESA program who is enrolled in a private school will receive $10,000 in their account that can be used to pay for tuition and other eligible educational expenses. That amount is increased to $11,500 if the child has a disability.

Should the number of students who apply for the ESA program exceed the number of spots available, 80% of the spots will be allocated to students, to be chosen by lottery, who previously attended a public school and are either a member of a low-income household or have a disability. The remaining spots in the ESA program will be filled by lottery.

Prominent school choice advocates in Texas have praised Senate Bill 2.

Mandy Drogin, campaign director for Next Generation Texas at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said, “Senator Creighton’s bill would establish the largest day one ESA program in the nation. Additionally, the universal eligibility would ensure that no children are left out and every single parent will have the opportunity to make educational choices for their children. In doing so, every Texas kid will reap the benefit of a stronger education system—whether public, private, charter, or homeschool.”

James Dickey, Executive Director of the school choice advocacy group Liberty for the Kids, posted a detailed thread on X ([link removed]) that addressed concerns raised by some about school choice legislation.
“Providing these additional educational options does not remove the “public free schools”, but is proven to improve the “general diffusion of knowledge”, and based on the indoctrination we’ve seen far too often lately, is much more likely to lead to the “preservation of the liberties and rights of the people,” wrote Dickey, who also addressed concerns about potential government overreach


**
UPCOMING EVENTS
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Red, White & Brews: HYR Happy Hour
Feb. 5 - Kirby Ice House

TX Legislative Process Training Class
Feb. 8 - RSVP to (713) 364-9868

Galentine's Sip & Paint
Feb. 15 - Buy tickets here ([link removed]) .

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As an HYR Member, you receive this newsletter as a benefit of your membership. These weekly updates are designed to keep you informed with the most pressing political issues of the week.

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