** A NEWSLETTER FROM THE HOUSTON YOUNG REPUBLICANS
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** (View this email in your browser ([link removed]) )
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** APR. 27
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Welcome to this week’s newsletter, !

Our thoughts are with the Roman Catholic community in wake of Pope Francis’ death on Easter Monday.

In Washington, President Trump’s Cabinet continued to claw back remnants of the Biden administration, and reshape the landscape of the Executive Branch. In Congress, a shakeup in Senate leadership is on the horizon, and the debate over immigration policy rages on.

In Texas, Houston area taxpayers have unwittingly been on the hook for a significant amount of legal fees.

We break it down below.


** Matt Murphy
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** Political Director
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** Student Loans Come Due (Again)
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Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced that starting May 5th, the federal government will resume collections for student loans in default. The federal student loan portfolio stands at ~1.7 trillion dollars, constituting ~4.7% of the total national debt; only ~40% of borrowers are currently in repayment. The move marks a course reversal by the Trump administration compared to the illegal taxpayer funded bailout implemented by the Biden White House.

Taxpayers who never attended college should not have to bear the collective financial burden of those who did, particularly those who pursued impractical degree tracks not tailored for the workforce. There’s nothing inherently wrong with pursuing a humanities major (as this author can unfortunately attest)--it’s another thing entirely to demand blue collar families and hard working Americans subsidize your debt-laden, incredibly poor life decision. After 42 months of interest free extensions, 5.3 million people are still in default on their student loans. It’s time to pay up.


** Ain’t No Lie, Bye Bye Dye
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HHS Secretary Kennedy announced the government will begin phasing out petroleum-based synthetic dyes from our food supply. Under this directive the food industry will have roughly two years to make the full transition.

Of the 36 FDA approved food dyes, 9 of them are petroleum based; it’s well documented that much of the feedstock and ingredients used in mass produced food in America are not allowed or approved for use in many developed countries across the globe. Red Dye #3 in particular has been linked to cancer, and is used in over 9,200 different food items in America. 11 states have implemented bans or restrictions in the dye already. Kennedy indicated the approval process for naturally derived alternatives/replacements will be expedited, but of course properly scrutinized and vetted beforehand.

In another noteworthy but unrelated development, Kennedy announced his intent to delist the Covid vaccine from the CDC’s official pediatric vaccine schedule ([link removed]) –which begs the question: if it’s the elderly and immunocompromised most at risk from the virus, why do babies and infants need it in their first 15 months of life anyways?


** Extreme Makeover: State Department Edition
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On Tuesday, Secretary Rubio unveiled the first phase of a major structural and organization overhaul of the State Department. Rubio’s proposal would eliminate several niche bureaus dedicated to international conflicts and 132 domestic State Department offices,including several hundred DC-based positions. The plans are not only in-line with the EO directive to reduce the federal bureaucracy by 15%, but go above and beyond—Rubio’s plan would constitute a 22% reduction in workforce.

The announcement comes just a week after White House plans were revealed to slash the State Department budget in half, including the closure of dozens of embassies and consulates.

Rubio and his proxies were busy on other fronts this week as well. Foreign affairs and trade representatives have ratcheted up talks to secure a peace deal to end the Russia/Ukraine war. A working trade framework between the US and India (one of China’s largest commercial trade partners) has been reached, but specific details are still being hashed out at time of writing. Rest assured we’ll keep you posted on any significant movement on either front.

Update: President Trump and Zelensky had a viral one on one sit down ([link removed]) at the Vatican, presumably regarding a peace deal. Here’s hoping they made significant progress.


** Durbin’s Last Dance
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Democrat Senate Whip Dick Durbin [D-IL] has announced he will retire at the end of his term in 2026, and will seek re-election to a sixth term. His announcement means that the second most powerful position in the Senate Democrat Caucus will be up for grabs relatively soon.

There is already internal jostling for the soon-to-be-open position within the ranks of Senate Democrats.

The presumptive frontrunner is Brian Schatz [D-HI], who currently has the inside track for the gig given his current role as chief deputy whip. Reports also indicate Amy Klobuchar [D-MN] plans to throw her hat in the ring; Klobuchar has a known penchant for throwing binders and phones at her staffers ([link removed]) (and eating salad with a comb) so a hat throw should be a relatively easy task.


** “Maryland Man” Madness
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia, otherwise known as “loving father, community member, and Maryland man” by establishment media outlets, has become the face of the immigration debate in recent days. For those unaware, Garcia was deported to El Salvador despite a judge issuing a decision to hold up deportation proceedings against him. Leftist political advocates and elected officials have repeatedly argued Garcia was denied “due process” in his deportation. I have some thoughts:
* A lone judge ruled Garcia should not be deported. What liberal media outlets and talking heads casually ignore is the fact that two other judges ruled in favor of his deportation.
* Garcia is associated with MS-13, and reportedly involved in their human trafficking operations. He is a domestic abuser who physically assaulted his wife. His ethical and moral compasses are beyond broken, if they even exist at all.
* Garcia sympathizers (it’s insane I’m even typing that phrase in the first place) argue that because he was deported to El Salvador as opposed to his original intended destination country, was denied due process. If we were to walk that thought out, “due process” would entail flying him back to America just to immediately deport him again elsewhere.
* Due process is a legal privilege reserved for American citizens, not illegal aliens. Garcia flouted American law entering the country in the first place, I will lose no sleep over the fashion in which he exited our country.

None of that deterred Congressional Democrats from deciding that “due process” for Garcia was a worthwhile hill to die on. Four members of the House and Sen. Chris Van Hollen [D-MD] decided it was a good use of their time to fly to El Salvador to advocate for his release. In Van Hollen’s instance, his travel was paid for by taxpayer money. Van Hollen was strangely silent on the immigration issue when a gang member and illegal alien savagely murdered Rachel Morin, a 37 year old mother of 5 who resided in Maryland, and was one of Van Hollen’s constituents. Apparently the Senator’s time and your taxpayer dollars are a reasonable expenditure when virtue signaling in El Salvador–addressing the issue of mass illegal immigration in his own backyard is not.

Bending over backwards to defend a criminal illegal alien is not a phenomenon unique to Democrats in Congress either, the flabbergasting philosophy is shared by their colleagues on the judicial bench as well.

This past week, Joel Cano, a former county judge in Las Cruces, was arrested for sheltering a member of Tren de Aragua (a transnational gang organization originating in Venezuela) in his home. In Milwaukee, judge Hannah Dugan was arrested by the FBI and charged with 2 felony counts of obstructing an immigration arrest operation; Dugan steered an illegal alien–who was facing charges of domestic violence, through a side exit of her courtroom to help them evade

arrest.

The lengths leftist judges and members of Congress will go to champion illegal aliens is almost beyond parody, but that won’t stop me from trying ([link removed]) .

In Other News

* Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had her bag stolen in a DC restaurant. Her bag contained her driver’s license, medication, apartment keys, passport, DHS access bag, a checkbook, and (oddly) ~$3,000 in cash. The thief has since been caught, and, unsurprisingly, is an illegal alien. If you thought Kilmar Garcia got it bad, imagine the fate of a man who stole the personal valuables of the DHS secretary.
* The White House gave an entertaining facelift ([link removed]) to their official webpage concerning the coronavirus.
* Some of our readers may remember the Senate staffer who was fired from former Sen. Ben Cardin’s [D-MD] office for recording lewd sexual acts in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing room, referred to online as the “Senate Twink.” He has since resurfaced in Sydney Australia, and stated in an interview ([link removed]) that his “dream in life is to open a pigeon sanctuary.”
* New York Attorney General Letitia James is suspected of committing insurance fraud.
* VP Vance has conditioned a working trade deal with England on the repealment of their Orwellian “hate speech” laws.
* Speaking of the UK, their government is set to begin atmospheric geoengineering experiments ([link removed]) to dim the sun to fight the “climate crisis.” When your government is borrowing ideas from the villain arcs of famous Simpsons specials ([link removed]) it might be time to renew your passport and fire up Zillow.
* Disgraced former Congressman George Santos [R-NY-3] has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for wire fraud and identity theft. ([link removed])



** Harris County Taxpayers Have Paid Over $14.1 Million to Outside Lawyers Since 2023
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Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee has emerged as one of the frontrunners to succeed the late Sylvester Turner to represent Congressional District 18 in the Houston area.

Some have raised questions about Menefee’s management of the County Attorney’s office since assuming the role in 2021, with many concerns centered around using outside lawyers to represent or advise Harris County in various legal matters.

According to his biography on the Harris County Attorney’s Office website ([link removed]) , Menefee “manages an office of 250+ attorneys and staff who represent the county, its 60 elected officials, and its 18,000+ employees in all civil matters and lawsuits.”

Despite having an office that rivals the size of some of the largest law firms in the state, Harris County has outsourced a significant amount of legal work to outside law firms.

In response to an open records request, the Harris County Attorney’s Office provided data showing that Harris County taxpayers had paid over $14.1 million to 40 outside law firms since January 1, 2023.

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Author: Matt Murphy, Political Director, Houston Young Republicans

Editor: Courtney Trevino, President, Houston Young Republicans

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