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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) signed a bill to establish the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office (TREO), likening it to the national Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
👥 Who’s Involved: Governor Greg Abbott, Texas legislature, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Senator Phil King, President Donald J. Trump, and Elon Musk.
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📍 Where & When: Texas, United States; bill signed on Wednesday.
💬 Key Quote: Abbott on social media: “Texas will now have our own DOGE… This will make government more efficient and less costly.”
⚠️ Impact: The TREO aims to streamline state regulations by identifying and eliminating unnecessary rules to increase efficiency and promote economic growth.
IN FULL:
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has officially enacted a law establishing the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office (TREO), drawing inspiration from President Donald J. Trump‘s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which technology and space exploration mogul Elon Musk advises. Signed into law late Wednesday, the TREO is designed to reduce state bureaucracy by identifying superfluous and ineffective regulations, thereby mirroring the objectives of the federal DOGE.
The Texas Legislature had previously approved the bill, which was introduced by Republican Senator Phil King. The bill also calls for the creation of an advisory council to recommend the elimination of excessive regulations found to be redundant or that hamper economic growth. Additionally, it mandates the launch of an online portal where Texans can access state agency regulations, coupled with a requirement for agencies to simplify language in regulatory documents.
“Signed SB 14 into law today at the Texas Capitol. Texas will now have our own DOGE, known as the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office,” Gov. Abbott wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) late Wednesday. “This will make government more efficient and less costly. Texas continues to move at the speed of business.”
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has expressed support for the initiative, noting that it is expected to foster continued economic prosperity in Texas by reducing regulatory red tape. The Republican Lieutenant Governor described the initiative as “DOGE, Texas-style” and emphasized that the agency will be tasked with identifying and ending “unnecessary and ineffective rules.”
However, not all Texas Republicans support the new agency. Texas State Representative Brian Harrison (R), who opposed the bill creating TREO, argued during the legislative debate: “The point of DOGE is to cut government, reduce spending, and shrink the bureaucracy. Unfortunately, this bill does the exact opposite.”
Harrison and other opponents contend that TREO’s regulatory prerogatives already overlap with existing bodies like the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission. Critics argue this will create more government waste rather than less.
TREO is set to begin operating in September.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: Harvard University faces a U.S. Department of Education probe over $1.1 billion in foreign contributions, including $100 million from China, amid allegations of incomplete disclosures.
👥 Who’s Involved: Harvard University, U.S. Department of Education, Secretary Linda McMahon, Open The Books, and foreign entities, including those linked to China and the Palestinian territories.
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📍 Where & When: Investigation announced in Washington, D.C., on April 18, 2025, following Open The Books’ report released on April 17, 2025.
💬 Key Quote: Secretary Linda McMahon stated, “Harvard has not been fully transparent or complete in its disclosures, which is both unacceptable and unlawful.”
⚠️ Impact: The probe could lead to penalties for Harvard, including loss of federal funding, and raises national security concerns over foreign influence, particularly from China, in U.S. academia.
IN FULL:
Harvard University faces increasing government scrutiny over its funding sources, with allegations emerging that it made “incomplete and inaccurate disclosures” regarding over a billion dollars in foreign contributions. Since 2017, the Ivy League institution has accepted $1.1 billion from foreign entities, with over $100 million coming from China. Additionally, it is believed Harvard took $1.6 million from organizations associated with the Palestinian territories.
The revised financial data comes from an investigation by Open the Books, which released its report on foreign gifts to Harvard on Thursday. On April 18, the U.S. Department of Education announced it was launching a probe into the university’s foreign funding, accusing Harvard of not being forthcoming with accurate data.
“As a recipient of federal funding, Harvard University must be transparent about its relations with foreign sources and governments,” President Donald J. Trump’s Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, said at the start of her department’s investigation. “Unfortunately, our review indicated that Harvard has not been fully transparent or complete in its disclosures, which is both unacceptable and unlawful.”
“This records request is the Trump Administration’s first step to ensure Harvard is not being manipulated by, or doing the bidding of, foreign entities, which include actors who are hostile to the interests of the United States and American students,” Sec. McMahon added.
The report released by Open the Books found that Harvard provides very little detail regarding what projects or programs received the Chinese money, though several million dollars were earmarked for research projects headed by a Chinese-designated lead. Financial arrangements that essentially guarantee the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can designate individuals to serve in key roles raise serious national security concerns, given the numerous examples of Chinese nationals having engaged in corporate espionage and foreign spying in the past.
Harvard is currently locked in a protracted legal battle with the Trump administration over the university’s refusal to limit pro-Hamas and antisemitic protests on its campus. The Ivy League school faces losing potentially billions of dollars in federal funding.
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U.S. military recruitment is surging under the Trump administration and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth—in spite of relentless attacks from the mainstream media and Democrats.
The details: According to data released by the Department of Defense, recruitment is up big in every branch of the military. In February 2025 alone:
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- Army: +23,586 (115 percent of goal)
- Navy: +16,201 (105 percent of goal)
- Air Force: +5,847 (106 percent of goal)
- Marines: +13,329 (100 percent of goal)
- Space Force: +299 (100.1 percent of goal)
Hegseth weighs in: Speaking to Fox News, the Defense Secretary said:
- “These recruiting numbers don’t surprise me… one bit. They’re a reflection of a yearning from the American public, of young people to be proud of their country.”
Zoom out: Hegseth embodies the ‘warrior ethos’ and brings a breath of fresh air to the position as a former Army infantry officer with deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since taking the reins, he’s reshaped the Defense Department away from woke DEI standards and towards “lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards, and readiness.”
- But if you ask him, he says: “There is no better recruiter in my mind for our military than President Donald Trump.”
Back up: Recruitment officially reached crisis levels under Joe Biden:
- 🚨 Army missed its recruitment goal in 2022 by 25 percent
- 🚨 Navy missed its recruitment goal in 2023 by 20 percent
- 🚨 Air Force missed its recruitment goal in 2023 by 10 percent, the first time in over 20 years.
In spite of attacks: While young Americans flock to serve under this administration, the mainstream media has been relentless in its attempt to scandalize Hegseth—most recently overhyping the report that a journalist was accidentally added to a Signal chat where a successful bombing of Houthi terrorists was discussed.
Trump touts success: “Since November 5th, it’s all happened. Enrollment in the military is at a record. We’re setting records and six months ago we couldn’t get anybody.”
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U.S. military recruitment is surging under the Trump administration and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth—in spite of relentless attacks from the mainstream media and Democrats. show more
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