Texas to execute man who kept changing his mind about appealing death sentence for killing two men
Richard Tabler called officials to brag about killing four people in Killeen in 2004. He was convicted for two of the deaths.
Texas now has more top-tier research universities than any other state, report finds
The designations come at a tumultuous time for universities as funding could be cut off and efforts to end tenure continue.
Critics of Texas House leadership spent big in this year’s speaker’s race. They fought years for that chance.
A pair of lawsuits filed by allies of West Texas megadonor Tim Dunn shut down laws that banned outside spending in the House leadership race, allowing for more political mudslinging and raising questions about ethics rules.
DOGE boasts dozens of contract cancellations on Wednesday, totaling over $150M in savings
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced the cancellation of at least 58 contracts on Wednesday, resulting in more than $150 million in savings for the American taxpayer. In a Wednesday evening post on X, the agency headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk said the contracts canceled fell under the media, DEI and consulting categories at various agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation. “58 cancellations with savings of >$150M in categories including Media, DEI, and Consulting. This includes $405K at DHS for ‘resilience, energy, and sustainability management program support services’ and ~4M at DoT for ‘DEIA program and project management support services,’” the post said. DOGE SLASHES MILLIONS MORE IN ‘NONSENSE’ CONTRACTS ACROSS SEVERAL FEDERAL AGENCIES Later Wednesday evening, DOGE also confirmed the Department of Education slashed its budget by canceling around $9 million in contracts that left students “no better off.” Those contracts included $4.6 million to coordinate zoom and in-person meetings, $3 million to write a report that showed prior reports were not utilized by schools, and $1.4 million to physically observe mailing and clerical operations, according to the DoE. DOGE described the aforementioned cancellations as a “good start.” “We want to ensure that every dollar being spent is directed toward improving education for kids – not conferences and reports on reports,” the DoE posted on X. ‘CATEGORICALLY UNTRUE’: KEY GOVERNMENT AGENCY PUSHES BACK AGAINST MEDIA NARRATIVES OF DOGE CHAOS DOGE also announced its website creating transparency in government spending officially launched under the URL doge.gov. Though certain aspects on the website are not yet available, the homepage includes all of DOGE’s posts on X, while other tabs feature a “consolidated government org chart” and a “summary of the massive regulatory state, including the unconstitutionality index ratio.” Two other highly anticipated categories, a running description of each cost reduction with receipts and an overall savings scoreboard, will hopefully be live by Valentine’s Day, DOGE said. “We will constantly be working to maximize the site’s utility and transparency. Please let us know what else you want to see!” DOGE said on X. President Donald Trump, who established DOGE via an executive order to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity,” has praised the agency’s efforts thus far by acknowledging “massive amounts” of fraud, waste, incompetence and abuse have been located and addressed.
Into the ring: Trump education chief pick McMahon to testify on cutting ‘red tape’ amid DOGE sweeps
FIRST ON FOX: Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Education, will testify before the Senate on Thursday, centering her opening remarks around creating “a better future for every American learner.” The Trump nominee, who was tapped in November, will kick off her confirmation process during a hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on Thursday morning. Republican Sens. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Katie Britt of Alabama will introduce McMahon before the hearing, Fox News has learned. McMahon will focus her remarks on enacting Trump’s vision with the idea that “education is the issue that determines our national success and prepares American workers to win the future,” according to an excerpt of her opening remarks, shared first with Fox News Digital. “I would like to thank President Trump for his confidence in me to lead a Department whose mission and authority were a special focus of his campaign. He pledged to make American education the best in the world, return education to the states where it belongs, and free American students from the education bureaucracy through school choice,” McMahon will say in her opening remarks. TRUMP EDUCATION DEPT LAUNCHES PROBE INTO ‘EXPLOSION OF ANTISEMITISM’ AT 5 UNIVERSITIES McMahon is being boosted to head the department that Trump has suggested he wants to dismantle during his term, recently saying that if McMahon is confirmed, he wants her to “put herself out of a job.” Trump said Wednesday just hours ahead of McMahon’s hearing that he wanted to close the Education Department “immediately.” “It’s a big con job,” he said. “They ranked the top countries in the world. We’re ranked No. 40, but we’re ranked No. 1 in one department: cost per pupil. So, we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, but we’re ranked No. 40.” His comments came as Trump’s executive agency, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) run by Elon Musk, continues its financial audit of the federal government. TRUMP’S KEY TO CABINET CONFIRMATIONS: SENATOR-TURNED-VP VANCE’S GIFT OF GAB McMahon previously served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term before stepping down in 2019 to “return to the private sector.” She plans to say during her opening remarks Thursday, “My experience as a business owner and leader of the Small Business Administration, as a public servant in the state of Connecticut, and more than a decade of service as a college trustee has taught me to put parents, teachers, and students, not bureaucracy, first.” “Outstanding teachers are tired of political ideology in their curriculum and red tape on their desks. This is why school choice is a growing movement across the nation: it offers teachers and parents an alternative to classrooms that are micromanaged from Washington, D.C.” The Trump nominee also plans to highlight antisemitism in schools and the issue of biological males competing in women’s and girls’ sports. “If I am confirmed, the department will not stand idly by while Jewish students are attacked and discriminated against,” her remarks read. “It will stop forcing schools to let boys and men into female sports and spaces. And it will protect the rights of parents to direct the moral education of their children.” In her opening remarks, McMahon will note that “many Americans today are experiencing a system in decline” but that “the opportunity before us these next four years is momentous.” “It is my great honor to announce that Linda McMahon, former Administrator of the Small Business Administration, will be the United States Secretary of Education,” Trump said in his nomination announcement in November. Before being tapped to head the Education Department, McMahon founded WWE with her husband in 1980, which has grown into a global wrestling entertainment network. “As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand ‘Choice’ to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families,” the press release added. “Linda served for two years on the Connecticut Board of Education, where she was one of fifteen members overseeing all Public Education in the State, including its Technical High School system.” After McMahon’s confirmation hearing, the committee will schedule a vote on whether to advance her nomination to a full floor vote.
New Income Tax Bill 2025: FM Nirmala Sitharaman tables the new income tax bill in Lok Sabha
New Income Tax Bill 2025: FM Nirmala Sitharaman tables the new income tax bill in Lok Sabha
EPA administrator Zeldin demands return of $20B in taxpayer money wasted by Biden administration
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin said Wednesday that his team has located $20 billion in tax dollars that the Biden administration purposely wasted. “An extremely disturbing video circulated two months ago, featuring a Biden EPA political appointee talking about how they were ‘tossing gold bars off the Titanic,’ rushing to get billions of your tax dollars out the door before Inauguration Day,” Zeldin said in a video posted to X, citing another video from December. “The ‘gold bars’ were tax dollars and ‘tossing them off the Titanic’ meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting it.” Zeldin said the EPA has plans to recover the “gold bars” that were found “parked at an outside financial institution,” which he does not mention by name. He said that “this scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history, and it was purposefully designed to obligate all the money in a rush job with reduced oversight” before Inauguration Day. TRUMP TAPS FORMER NEW YORK REP LEE ZELDIN TO LEAD EPA Zeldin said “there is zero reason to suspect any wrongdoing by the bank,” but he thinks agreement with the institution “needs to be instantly terminated” and all the money should be immediately returned. He also said the EPA needs to reassume responsibility for all of these funds, adding that his team will “review every penny that has gone out the door.” THROUGH THE EPA, WE CAN PURSUE ENERGY DOMINANCE, LEE ZELDIN SAYS | FOX NEWS VIDEO “The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over,” Zeldin said. “The American public deserves a more transparent and accountable government than what transpired these past four years.” He also said that he would be referring this matter to the inspector general’s office and that he would work with the Department of Justice to assist President Donald Trump in regaining control. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Now we will get them back inside of control of government as we pursue next steps. As President Trump has vowed, we’re going to usher in a new Golden Age of American success for the citizens of every race, religion, color and creed,” Zeldin said at the end of the video. Elon Musk also commended Zeldin on X for an “awesome job” saving taxpayer money.
Judicial pushback against Trump’s agenda will likely lead to one final face-off, experts say
President Donald Trump’s agenda has been met with a wave of lawsuits since he took office in January, and legal experts say many of them will likely end up in the Supreme Court’s hands. “President Trump is certainly being aggressive in terms of flexing executive power and not at all surprised that these are being challenged,” John Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government at the Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. Trump kicked off his second term with a flurry of executive orders and directives that have since been the targets of a flood of legal challenges. Since Trump’s day 1, more than 40 lawsuits have been filed over the administration’s actions, including the president’s birthright citizenship order, immigration policies, federal funding freezes, federal employee buyouts, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and legal action against FBI and DOJ employees. “Many of these cases may end up on the Supreme Court, but certainly the birthright citizenship,” Malcolm said. “If there ends up being a split among the courts, that issue will certainly be taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court.” FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ADMIN TO RESTORE PUBLIC HEALTH WEB PAGES Erwin Chemerinsky, dean at UC Berkeley School of Law, said Trump “has issued a myriad of orders violating the Constitution and federal laws” and noted that “Many already have been enjoined by the courts.” “The crucial question is whether the president will defy these orders,” Chemerinsky told Fox News Digital. “Almost without exception, throughout American history, presidents have complied with Supreme Court orders even when they strongly disagree with them.” In one of the most recent developments, a Rhode Island federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal funds, claiming the administration did not adhere to a previous order to do so. The Trump administration appealed the order to the First Circuit shortly thereafter, which was ultimately denied. AS DEMOCRATS REGROUP OUTSIDE DC, GOP ATTORNEYS GENERAL ADOPT NEW PLAYBOOK TO DEFEND TRUMP AGENDA “Judges ordering the federal government to spend billions of dollars when the administration is saying that that is not in the best interests of the United States, I would expect that issue to be on a fast track to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Malcolm said. Many of these lawsuits have been filed in historically left-leaning federal court jurisdictions, including Washington federal court and D.C. federal court. Various challenges have already been appealed to the appellate courts, including the Ninth and First Circuits, which notably hand down more progressive rulings. The Ninth Circuit, in particular, has a higher reversal rate than other circuit courts. “Judge shopping is nothing new,” Malcolm said. “So I’m not at all surprised that these lawsuits challenging the Trump administration are being filed, for the most part, in the bluest of blue areas where the odds are high that the judge who’s going to be considering the issue has a liberal orientation.” HOUSE DEMS ORGANIZE RAPID RESPONSE TASK FORCE AND LITIGATION GROUP TO COMBAT TRUMP AGENDA Despite the variety of ongoing legal challenges, Malcolm said he believes the Trump administration is on more solid footing when it comes to cases concerning firing political appointees. On Monday, Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden to lead the Office of Special Counsel, sued the Trump administration in D.C. federal court after he was fired on Friday. Malcolm said Trump’s second term will continue to see a wave of litigation as he continues to implement his agenda, similar to his predecessors, including Biden. Malcolm particularly noted the Biden administration’s efforts to redefine sex in Title IX as “gender identity.” A Kentucky federal judge blocked the Biden administration’s attempt in early January. “There are a lot of these issues that end up coming up,” Malcolm said, looking back on Biden’s Title IX legal challenges. “And I suspect that the same sorts of issues will come up during the Trump administration, and they’ll be full employment for lawyers throughout his entire term.”
Senate to hold final vote on RFK Jr nomination to serve as Trump’s Health secretary
The Senate is expected on Thursday to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary in President Donald Trump‘s cabinet. The final showdown over Kennedy’s controversial nomination was set in motion after the Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday – in a 53-47 party-line vote – invoked cloture, which started the clock ticking toward the final confirmation roll call. Kennedy, the well-known vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump, needs a simple majority to be confirmed by the Senate. TRUMP HEALTH SECRETARY NOMINEE RFK JR. SURVIVES HEATED HEARINGS Kennedy survived back-to-back combustible Senate confirmation hearings late last month, when Trump’s nominee to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the nation’s food and health faced plenty of verbal fireworks over past controversial comments, including his repeated claims in recent years linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research. During the hearings, Democrats also spotlighted Kennedy’s service for years as chair or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times, including a challenge over the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for children. HEAD HERE FOR LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE With Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee voting not to advance Kennedy, the spotlight was on Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician and chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP). Cassidy issued a last minute endorsement before the committee level vote, giving Kennedy a party-line 14-13 victory to advance his confirmation to the full Senate. Cassidy had emphasized during Kennedy’s confirmation hearings that “your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me,” which left doubt about his support. However, after speaking again with the nominee, Cassidy rattled off a long list of commitments Kennedy made to him, including quarterly hearings before the HELP Committee; meetings multiple times per month; that HELP Committee can choose representatives on boards or commissions reviewing vaccine safety; and a 30-day notice to the committee, plus a hearing, for any changes in vaccine safety reviews. “These commitments, and my expectation that we can have a great working relationship to make America healthy again, is the basis of my support,” the senator said. Earlier this week, another Republican senator who had reservations regarding Kennedy’s confirmation announced support for the nominee. “After extensive public and private questioning and a thorough examination of his nomination, I will support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine announced on Tuesday. Another Republican who was on the fence, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, also voted to advance Kennedy’s nomination. Murkowski noted that she continues “to have concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s views on vaccines and his selective interpretation of scientific studies,” but that the nominee “has made numerous commitments to me and my colleagues, promising to work with Congress to ensure public access to information and to base vaccine recommendations on data-driven, evidence-based, and medically sound research.” Former longtime Senate GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, a major proponent of vaccines, also voted to advance Kennedy’s nomination. Kennedy, whose outspoken views on Big Pharma and the food industry have also sparked controversy, has said he aims to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including overhauling dietary guidelines, taking aim at ultra-processed foods and getting to the root causes of chronic diseases. The push is part of his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign. “Our country is not going to be destroyed because we get the marginal tax rate wrong. It is going to be destroyed if we get this issue wrong,” Kennedy said as he pointed to chronic diseases. “And I am in a unique position to be able to stop this epidemic.” The 71-year-old scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, launched a long-shot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination against then-President Joe Biden in April 2023. However, six months later, he switched to an independent run for the White House. Trump regularly pilloried Kennedy during his independent presidential bid, accusing him of being a “Radical Left Liberal” and a “Democrat Plant.” Kennedy fired back, claiming in a social media post that Trump’s jabs against him were “a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims.” However, Kennedy made major headlines again last August when he dropped his presidential bid and endorsed Trump. While Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy – who were both assassinated in the 1960s – Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders due in part to his high-profile vaccine skepticism. After months of criticizing him, Trump called Kennedy “a man who has been an incredible champion for so many of these values that we all share.” Trump announced soon after the November election that he would nominate Kennedy to his Cabinet to run HHS. The final vote on Kennedy’s nomination comes one day after another controversial pick, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was confirmed by the Senate in a 52-48 vote.
Kash Patel’s nomination to lead FBI faces first major Senate hurdle
The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Thursday on whether to advance Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI director to the Senate floor after a fiery confirmation hearing last month. The vote is scheduled for 9 a.m. ET. If Patel passes through committee, his nomination will be up for a full Senate vote. Democrats had successfully delayed Patel’s committee vote last week in an effort to force the Trump nominee to testify a second time. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa., said attempts by Judiciary ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and others to force Patel to testify again were “baseless” as he already sat before the committee for more than five hours and disclosed “thousands of pages” of records to the panel, as well as nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers’ written questions. PATEL CAMP DECRIES DURBIN ACCUSATIONS AS ‘POLITICALLY MOTIVATED’ ATTEMPT TO DERAIL FBI CONFIRMATION This week on the Senate floor, Durbin alleged that Patel was behind mass firings at the FBI. Durbin said he’d seen “highly credible” whistleblower reports indicating Patel had been “personally directing the ongoing purge of FBI employees prior to his Senate confirmation for the role.” An aide to Patel denied Durbin’s claim, telling Fox News Digital the nominee flew home to Las Vegas after his confirmation hearing and has “been sitting there waiting for the process to play out.” Patel, a vociferous opponent to the investigations into President Donald Trump and who was at the forefront of his 2020 election fraud claims, vowed during his confirmation hearing that he would not engage in political retribution. However, the conservative firebrand was likely chosen for his desire to upend the agency. In his 2023 book, “Government Gangsters,” he described the FBI as “a tool of surveillance and suppression of American citizens” and “one of the most cunning and powerful arms of the Deep State.” Patel has said intelligence officials are “intent” on undermining the president, but he promised he would not go after agents who worked on the classified documents case against Trump. 4 OF THE BIGGEST CLASHES BETWEEN PATEL, SENATE DEMS AT HIS CONFIRMATION HEARING “There will be no politicization at the FBI,” Patel said. “There will be no retributive action.” Additionally, in another message meant to assuage senators’ concerns, Patel said he did not find it feasible to require a warrant for intelligence agencies to surveil U.S. citizens suspected to be involved in national security matters, referring to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). “Having a warrant requirement to go through that information in real time is just not comported with the requirement to protect American citizens,” Patel said. “It’s almost impossible to make that function and serve the national, no-fail mission.” “Get a warrant” had become a rallying cry of right-wing conservatives worried about the privacy of U.S. citizens and almost derailed the reauthorization of the surveillance program entirely. Patel said the program has been misused, but he does not support making investigators go to court and plead their case before being able to wiretap any U.S. citizen. Patel also seemed to break with Trump during the hearing on the pardons granted to 1,600 persons who had been prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, particularly around those who engaged in violence and had their sentences commuted. “I have always rejected any violence against law enforcement,” Patel said. “I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual that committed violence against law enforcement.” Patel held a number of national security roles during Trump’s first administration – chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, senior advisor to the acting director of national intelligence, and National Security Council official. FORMER TRUMP OFFICIALS REJECT WHISTLEBLOWER CLAIM THAT FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE KASH PATEL BROKE HOSTAGE PROTOCOL He worked as a senior aide on counterterrorism for former House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, where he fought to declassify records he alleged would show the FBI’s application for a surveillance warrant for 2016 Trump campaign aide Carter Page was illegitimate, and served as a national security prosecutor in the Justice Department. Patel’s public comments suggest he would refocus the FBI on law enforcement and away from involvement in any prosecutorial decisions. In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, he suggested his top two priorities were “let good cops be cops” and “transparency is essential.” “If confirmed, I will focus on streamlining operations at headquarters while bolstering the presence of field agents across the nation. Collaboration with local law enforcement is crucial to fulfilling the FBI’s mission,” he said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Patel went on: “Members of Congress have hundreds of unanswered requests to the FBI. If confirmed, I will be a strong advocate for congressional oversight, ensuring that the FBI operates with the openness necessary to rebuild trust by simply replying to lawmakers.” Fox News’ Breanne Depisch contributed to this report.