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** HYR Weekly Political Update
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** February 7th, 2025
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USAID EXPOSED: TRUMP GUTS GLOBAL SLUSH FUND IN HISTORIC SHAKE-UP


** Welcome to This Week's HYR Newsletter!
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Big changes are unfolding in Washington. The Trump administration just took a sledgehammer to USAID, exposing a taxpayer-funded slush fund that's been bankrolling media influence, shady international dealings, and even the Wuhan lab at the heart of the pandemic. Meanwhile, the Senate is locked in a confirmation showdown, with Kash Patel's FBI nomination delayed after a 30-hour Democrat filibuster meltdown. On the House side, budget battles intensify as conservatives push for massive spending cuts.

Here in Texas, Governor Abbott's State of the State Address laid out bold conservative priorities: property tax relief, school choice, and a crackdown on DEI bloat. With the legislative session now in full swing, expect the fight for a stronger, freer Texas to heat up fast.

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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DOGE v. USAID

The Trump administration announced its intent to severely slash the budget and size of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and bring it under the jurisdiction of the State Department—delighting America First Republicans and fiscal conservatives, and infuriating performative-virtue-signaling Democrats and international money launderers.

This move put the USAID under intense public scrutiny, and rightfully so given what’s come out of the woodwork since—truly ludicrous wasting of taxpayer money.

Many (shoutout to Houston’s-own Wesley Hunt ([link removed]) [R-TX-38]) have extensively ([link removed]) chronicled how absurd ([link removed]) these USAID expenditures are, some of them are literally beyond parody ([link removed]) . While these public disclosures are good for a quick laugh, following the fiscal breadcrumbs raises some serious issues.
1. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), under the “leadership” of Anthony Fauci, combined with USAID to gift $40M ([link removed]) of taxpayer-funded money to a scientist in Wuhan China for research on bat-coronaviruses. That same scientist eventually became the first known person to become infected by Covid-19. Take some time to digest that. Think upon the lives and livelihoods ruined by the pandemic. Your taxpayer dollars, at least in part, funded it all.

2. USAID was funding thousands of journalists across hundreds of media outlets ([link removed]) in other countries, even NGO’s (i.e. non-governmental organizations, which are unable to secure taxpayer-provided funding unless explicitly awarded so by the government)—including 9/10 of the largest media outlets in Ukraine. But the feds didn’t stop there. Domestic outlets like Politico ([link removed]) and the (failing) New York Times ([link removed]) were also being subsidized on taxpayer dime. Their legacy media counterparts often parroted ([link removed]) “breaking” “stories” and “investigations” by these outlets to mold public sentiment and prevailing narratives
([link removed]) all over the world. Calling this a globalized propaganda operation doesn’t even begin to do it justice.

3. And if all that wasn’t enough to make your head spin—there’s reasonable, concrete evidence ([link removed]) that the USAID and CIA coordinated together in kickstarting the 2019 impeachment of President Trump.

It’s understandable why Democrats are losing their collective minds in this context. The USAID was their golden goose when it came to currying favors and influence abroad, controlling the media, engaging in covert intelligence operations—and even propping up the Taliban ([link removed]) (hope the $15M in condoms ([link removed]) they got were used for contraception and not IED’s).

The good news is that USAID constitutes only ~1% of the current federal budget, it’s not even the tip of the iceberg of wasteful/corrupt federal spending. The DOGE has a lot of work ahead ([link removed]) of them, and the theatrics have only just begun ([link removed]) . Buckle up and grab some popcorn.

Update: President Trump has responded in kind ([link removed]) by slashing 97% of USAID jobs.
Keeping Men Out Of Women's Sports
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On Wednesday, President Trump issued an EO ([link removed]) federally solidifying a common sense position which he ran on during his campaign—that biological men, regardless of what hormones they ingest or level of self-delusion they operate under, have no business competing with biological women in competitive athletics. I still cannot believe that this was even a point of political debate.
The Senate
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Confirmations/Nominations Continued

Democrats pulled an obstructive, but not historically uncommon procedural maneuver to delay confirmation votes on President Trump’s Cabinet appointees—they refused to cede the maximum allowed time allotment for debate on a single nominee, and instead spent 30 straight hours ([link removed]) screeching on the Senate floor. Kash Patel’s (FBI) confirmation vote has been pushed to next week accordingly, as Senate Republicans no longer have enough floor time to procedurally clear him before their Conference retreat with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago this weekend.

Russell Vought was confirmed to serve as OMB Director on a 53-47 party-line vote ([link removed]) Thursday.

Both Tulsi Gabbard (DNI) and RFK (HHS) cleared their respective committee votes, and appear on track for final confirmation.

For the sake of brevity, I won’t delve further into other pending nominations, but they can be tracked here ([link removed]) .

Eye on 2026: Jon Ossoff [D-GA] is up for his first re-election bid in 2026--his race may very well become the most expensive Senate race in history given Georgia’s a red state, and GOP campaign operatives view his seat as very vulnerable. There are rumblings ([link removed]) the two-term sitting Governor, Brian Kemp [R] may challenge him.
The House
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Budget Reconciliation Continued

The House Budget Committee punted on marking-up (a process in which members of a Congressional committee/subcommittee can offer and vote upon amendments to a bill before it’s taken up for further formal consideration) a budget resolution for at least another week. This development presents a new headache for Speaker Johnson [R-LA-4], as he must now navigate a stalemate within the House GOP Conference on numerical specifics over budget cuts.

Johnson initially presented the House Freedom Caucus, a group of hardline fiscal conservatives (boasting at least 31 members; the Caucus doesn’t officially publicize membership, so it’s quite likely their ranks are larger than that) with plans for $500 billion in cuts. The HFC countered with $700B. Ralph Norman [R-SC-5], a member of both the HFC and Budget Committee, is lobbying for $2 trillion in cuts—which is wildly impossible given budget reconciliation procedural rules, and President Trump’s insistence that Social Security and Medicare remain off the chopping block.

The longer the House GOP goes without formal budgetary action, the more impatient their Senate counterparts will become. Things are coming to head on this front; Johnson and House leaders visited the White House Thursday ([link removed]) to iron things out—here’s hoping they left with a winning strategy.
Other Notable Developments and Updates
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• We at HYR are thankful for surviving the Great North America Trade War [2/25/25-2/25/25]. While a great deal happened this week regarding tariffs and international commerce this week (Canada and Mexico backing off of retaliatory measures, the Trump administration targeting the European Union and Chinese gas with tariffs, etc.) the situation is too fluid to dig into with any certainty for the purpose of this newsletter. One thing is certain regardless of personal politics on international commerce: Trump’s Tariff Critics Are Trading on Overblown and Unfounded Fears ([link removed]) .

• PETA is advocating for a vegan gender reveal cake ceremony ([link removed]) in lieu of Groundhog Day traditions. Even Governor Josh Shapiro [D-PA], a finalist for Kamala Harris’ VP running-mate, had the good sense to tell them to pound sand ([link removed]) .

• Tik-Tokers rejoice, President Trump may have very well saved ([link removed]) the app.

• Another Babylon Bee headline ([link removed]) has unfortunately come to life ([link removed]) .

• We did it ([link removed]) ! The NFL has finally ended racism ([link removed]) ! This newsletter’s author will be pulling hard for the Eagles over the Chiefs on Sunday; in a throwback to 1776, much of the country will be yet again pulling for a scrappy group of Philadelphia underdogs to topple the tyrannical reign of Red Coats ([link removed]():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(979x153:981x155)/kc-arrowhead-stadium-snow-8-011224-612c875eea99420b8d1537b5455b39f8.jpg) . Enjoy the big game!
This Week in Texas

Mark McCaig

The State of the State

Speaking behind a podium emblazoned with the words “Building a Stronger Texas,” Governor Greg Abbott delivered his State of the State address Sunday night.

During his speech, Abbott announced seven emergency items: property tax relief ([link removed]) , water infrastructure, ([link removed]) teacher pay raises ([link removed]) , expanding career training ([link removed]) , school choice ([link removed]) , bail reform ([link removed]) , and the creation of the Texas Cyber Command ([link removed]) .

By designating these subjects as emergency items, the Legislature may now pass bills related to these items. Under the Texas Constitution, the Legislature generally cannot pass bills during the first 60 days of the legislative session unless the bill is related to an emergency item.

Abbott called for at least $10 million in property tax relief this session, building on the $18 billion in property tax relief ([link removed]) that was passed in a special session of the Legislature in 2023. The Governor was also critical of local governments, such as Harris County, that used loopholes in the law to hike property taxes. Abbott also called for these loopholes to be banned, in addition to requiring two-thirds voter approval of property tax increases.

“I want at least $10 billion in new property tax relief. But that will only work if local authorities cannot use loopholes to jack up your property taxes like Harris County did. They increased property taxes more than 10% last year. Loopholes that increase your property taxes must be banned. No taxing entity should be able to raise your property taxes without a two-thirds approval by voters. No approval, no new taxes,” said Abbott

Abbott was expected to designate school choice, an issue on which he has been particularly vocal in his support over the last several years, as an emergency item.

“Government-mandated schools cannot meet the unique needs of every student. But Texas can provide families with choices to meet those needs. The majority of Texans support school choice. More than 30 states already have a form of school choice. We will continue to fully fund public schools and raise teacher pay, while also giving parents the choice they deserve,” remarked Abbott, who also applauded the work of State Senator Brandon Creighton and State Representative Brad Buckley on the issue.

Creighton, who serves as Chairman of the Education Committee in the State Senate, is the author of SB 2—the Senate’s priority school choice bill ([link removed]) . Buckley served as chairman of the public education committee in the Texas House during the last legislative session.

SB 2 passed out of the Senate Education Committee by a 9-2 vote last week ([link removed]) and is expected to come to the Senate floor for a vote later this week.

In addition to the emergency items, Abbott also expressed support for making housing more affordable, adding more power generation including nuclear power, spending $500 million for school security, banning DEI in public schools, public universities, and “any entity that receives taxpayer dollars,” stronger laws to remove squatters from private property, increased funding for firefighters, “prohibiting hostile foreign nations and their agents from buying Texas land,” election integrity initiatives, and requiring state agencies and local governments to cooperate with the Trump administration’s efforts on illegal immigration.


**
UPCOMING EVENTS

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

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

General Meeting w/ Shawn Thierry
Feb. 18 - Get FREE tickets here. ([link removed])

ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER

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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