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Tennessee governor backs Trump plan to nix Department of Education, sees bellwether on new school choice bill

Tennessee governor backs Trump plan to nix Department of Education, sees bellwether on new school choice bill

Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee told Fox News Digital that he believes President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory signals success for a second school choice bill introduced to the state legislature this week after his first proposal failed this year.  Lee said he agreed with Trump’s promises to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, echoing the president-elect’s concern over the federal bureaucracy becoming entrenched with gender and race ideology rather than learning. “I think it is a great idea to dismantle the Department of Education federally. And I’m a strong believer that policy at the state level should be handled by states, that states know best,” Lee told Fox News Digital. “In this case, states certainly know best. We know best in Tennessee what our children need and how best to educate our kids. The parents of this state should be given a greater influence on how their kids are educated, and that will happen if the federal Department of Education is dismantled and those funds are delivered to states to be used in a more efficient and more effective way.” Lee said the political environment on the ground in the state is not what it was months ago when the first school choice proposal failed in the state legislature. Since then, the election saw a wave of pro-school choice candidates win at the state-level, and Trump succeeded in his bid for the White House. TRUMP PLANS TO SHIFT SCHOOL FUNDING CONTROL TO LOCAL COMMUNITIES, HAS YET TO PICK DOE SECRETARY “President Trump has long believed that school choice is important for the people of this country and that education freedom is something that all Americans could have. He’s talked about it. He campaigned on it,” Lee said. “One thing is very evident about what happened last week. And President Trump is very clear about what his policies are, and Americans were very clear about their acceptance of those policies last week. They, with a strong mandate, said we like what we hear. We want him to execute on those things and that President Trump has a significant understanding and a clear understanding and is the leader, frankly, on the issue of school choice. All of those things benefit us as we move into this next session.” Lee’s new school choice bill, titled the Education Freedom Act of 2025, was jointly introduced to the state House and Senate on Wednesday. Drawing from funding already approved by the state legislature, the bill would allow the state Department of Education to award up to 20,000 scholarships – valued at about $7,000 each – for the next school year to be spent on tuition, tutoring, technology and examination expenses. The first 10,000 scholarships would be set aside for low-income students whose parents might not otherwise afford to send their children to institutions other than the public schools in their districts.  Democrats have painted school choice as disenfranchising low-income students, but Lee said he feels the opposite. “Every kid is unique. Every kid has different learning styles. Every kid has a different life situation. And every family ought to have the opportunity to choose the best path for their kid,” the governor said. “In particular, I don’t think that only the wealthy families that can afford a private option, that those families should be the only ones and those children should be the only ones that have that option for choice.” “Oftentimes, opponents will say that school choice initiatives hurt public schools. I think that’s just the opposite,” Lee said. “This legislation that we’re actually bringing forth is an education policy initiative. It’s not just an Education Freedom Scholarship bill. It includes historic funding for public schools, bonuses for teachers, for public school teachers. We will include alongside with this legislation a teacher pay raise plan that will put us in the top 15 states for teacher pay raise in the country.” BETSY DEVOS JOINS TRUMP’S CALL TO ‘DISBAND’ THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND ‘RE-EMPOWER’ FAMILIES Lee noted that about 30 states already have school choice, 12 of which have universal school choice, and several of those states have passed their initiatives in recent years.  “Americans are in growing numbers, and now the majority of Americans, as evidenced by the past elections, have come to believe that school choice is the way of the future,” Lee said. “It is the answer to challenging the status quo. It is the way that we take America’s rankings and educational outcomes that used to be the top in the world from way down the list as it relates to other countries back up into the outcomes that we hope for this country.” “This is a way to challenge and change and bring innovation into an education system that’s grown stale and bloated and bureaucratic,” Lee said. “And we see it happening all across America. We believe it’s going to happen in Tennessee. It is an incredibly important moment in our country for parental rights and for the future of children and their education.”  Lee said his schooling growing up in Tennessee happened before the U.S. Department of Education was established in 1979.  “We knew how to do it then. We know how to do it now,” Lee said, explaining that Tennessee created a funding formula that “uniquely recognizes the needs of children with disabilities, with dyslexia and with English as a second language. “We know how to fund education for Tennessee children. We know much better than they do in a bureaucratic institution like the federal Department of Education. I think President Trump is exactly right. I think it’s a great idea.” “As a governor, I would welcome the partnership with President Trump in allowing states to choose and determine how best to spend education dollars for their kids,” he added. If Trump goes through with eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, experts expect the process could take several years.  With Cabinet nominations underway, Fox News Digital asked Lee who he would like to see as Trump’s

Trump goes full MAGA as he picks allies and loyalists to fill his second administration

Trump goes full MAGA as he picks allies and loyalists to fill his second administration

As he aims to turn the nation’s capital upside down, President-elect Trump is turning to allies and supporters of his MAGA movement and America First agenda as he quickly moves to assemble his second administration. The former and future president is clearly placing plenty of emphasis on loyalty as he makes increasing provocative picks for top cabinet posts. And unlike eight years ago, when the first-time politician first took control of the White House, he is not in the market for establishment types or those who served in his first administration, but in his mind, proved disloyal. Case in point – This week’s announcement from the president-elect that he was nominating as attorney general Rep. Matt Gaetz, the controversial conservative lawmaker from Florida who has been one of Trump’s biggest defenders in Congress as he’s repeatedly claimed the criminal investigations into Trump were “witch hunts.” WHAT HAPPENS TO THE POTENTIALLY DAMAGING GAETZ HOUSE ETHICS REPORT? In making his announcement – which sent shock waves through the nation’s capital – Trump highlighted that “Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization.” Gaetz, following the nomination, stepped down from Congress, ahead of a potential damaging report by the House Ethics Committee into sexual misconduct allegations that the lawmaker has denied. GAETZ FACES POTENTIAL GOP SENATE OPPOSITION TO HIS CONFIRMATION On Wednesday afternoon, the president nominated his former rival in the presidential race – turned staunch advocate – Robert Kennedy Jr., as Health and Human Services Secretary. Kennedy endorsed Trump shortly after suspending his campaign, and has since hit the campaign trail while touting his plans to “Make America Healthy Again” under a potential Trump presidency.  In making the announcement, Trump said “I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump turned to another loyalist – former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate turned MAGA rock star who this year became a Republican and a top campaign trail surrogate for the former president – as his pick for Director of National Intelligence. A day earlier, Trump named combat veteran, Army National Guard officer and Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth, another major supporter, as his choice for Defense Secretary. In announcing that Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York was his pick to serve as ambassador to the United Nations, Trump noted that “Elise is a strong and very smart America First fighter… She was the first Member of Congress to endorse me and has always been a staunch advocate.” TRUMP PICKS THIS FORMER DEMOCRAT TURNED REPUBLICAN TO LEAD THE NATION’S INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES And Trump called former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York, whom he is aiming to install as Environmental Protection Agency administrator, “a true fighter for America First policies.” He named South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a conservative firebrand and MAGA-world star who has long been a fierce Trump ally and supporter, as his choice for Homeland Security secretary. Noem will work with Stephen Miller, whom the president-elect has picked as his incoming deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller was the architect of much of the first Trump administration’s hard-line policy on immigration and border security. She will also collaborate with Thomas Homan, who, as acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director during the first administration, was often the face of Trump’s controversial immigration policies. The president-elect has named Homan as his incoming “border czar.” And Trump named Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his choice for Secretary of State. Rubio was a rival to Trump during the combustible 2016 Republican presidential nomination battle, but over the years has become a strong Trump ally in the Senate. Trump also named Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida as his national security adviser. Waltz, a former Army Green Beret, is a longtime Trump ally. VANCE IS THE FRONT-RUNNER, BUT HERE’S WHO ELSE MAY RUN FOR THE 2028 GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION Dan Eberhart, an oil drilling chief executive officer and a prominent Republican donor and bundler who raised big bucks for Trump’s 2020 and 2024 campaigns, noted that Trump is in a very different situation than he was eight years ago, when he first won the White House. “He’s got a stronger mandate because he won the popular vote, and he won all seven swing states,” Eberhart emphasized. “I also think he knows what he wants, and he knows better how to get what he wants out of Washington. He’s going to have a more cohesive, more MAGA team, that’s hopefully able to accomplish more.” A leading strategist in Trump’s political  orbit, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News that “one thing that is noticeable this time around is that instead of a team of rivals who are all over the place ideologically, Trump is largely bringing people on who are aligned with his America First agenda.” Matt Mowers, a veteran Republican consultant and 2020 GOP congressional nominee in New Hampshire who worked on Trump’s 2016-2017 transition and served in the first Trump administration, told Fox News that Trump has “decided he needs everyone aligned.” “What he’s doing is he’s choosing a lot of people who aren’t just going to undo the Biden polices but really try to take a hammer to the bureaucracy… which is what he calls the ‘deep state,’” Mowers added. Those whom the president-elect feels have not shown their loyalty to him appear to be iced out. Trump this past weekend announced in a social media post that he would not ask former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley – who served as ambassador to the U.N. in his first administration – and former Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas – who served as CIA director and then Secretary of State in

Trump ally Sen. Tim Scott’s new mission to help incoming president: ‘increase the majority’

Trump ally Sen. Tim Scott’s new mission to help incoming president: ‘increase the majority’

EXCLUSIVE – The incoming chair of the Senate Republican campaign committee says his game plan for the 2026 elections is simple: “increase the majority.” Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, after his fellow GOP lawmakers in the Senate chose him to chair the National Republican Senatorial Committee over the next two years, told reporters that his “passion” is to make sure that President-elect Trump “does not have two years with a Republican majority in the Senate, he has four years in control.” In his first interview following his election as NRSC chair, Scott told Fox News Digital this week that “what we’re going to do is defend the seats that we have and expand the map so that we can increase the majority brought to us by the Trump victory.” JD VANCE IS THE HEIR APPARENT TO TRUMP, BUT HERE ARE SOME OTHER REPUBLICANS WHO MAY RUN FOR PRESIDENT IN 2028 Republicans won back control of the Senate in last week’s elections, ending four years of majority control by the Democrats. And it’s expected that once a mandated state recount is completed in the Senate contest in Pennsylvania – where GOP challenger Dave McCormick leads Democratic Sen. Bob Casey by roughly 25,000 votes – the Republicans will hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate come January. While not as favorable as the 2024 Senate map, the 2026 electoral landscape does give the Republicans some opportunities to flip seats. Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Gary Peters of Michigan are up for re-election in two years in key battleground states Trump flipped last week. And Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire will be up for re-election in a perennial swing state that Trump lost but over-performed from his 2020 showing. In Virginia, where Trump lost by just five points last week, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner will be up for re-election. HERE ARE THE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY EVENTUALLY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028 “How do you expand the map,” Scott said. “You look at Georgia, and Michigan, and New Hampshire, and Virginia. And if you’re stretching – take a look at New Mexico and Minnesota. President Trump was very competitive in those states.” But Republicans will also have to play defense. GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is up for re-election in a reliably blue state. And Sen. Thom Tills of North Carolina is also up in 2026, in a battleground state Trump narrowly won. Scott emphasized that “the good news is as long as Susan Collins is running, I think we have a shot to win. Last time she won by several points. This time she’ll win by several points. Thom Tillis staying in North Carolina is good for our party.” In the 2022 election cycle, when the Republicans blew a chance to win back the majority, NRSC chair Sen. Rick Scott of Florida was criticized for a hands-off approach in the GOP Senate primaries.  This past cycle, outgoing NRSC chair Sen. Steve Daines of Montana got involved in Senate Republican nomination battles. Asked if the NRSC will take sides in competitive Republican Senate primaries during his tenure the next two years, Scott told Fox News “I think the best thing for us to do is have a family conversation next year about what we’re looking at. How we’re going to defend that map and then make the best decisions we can as it relates to making sure that we end up with more seats than we currently have.” “Thank God we’re at 53. I’d like to see 55,” Scott added.  Asked if 55 seats was his goal, Scott joked “if it were up to me, we’d have 100 seats.” Scott last year unsuccessfully ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, before ending his bid and endorsing Trump. The senator was a high-profile surrogate for Trump on the campaign trail this year. In last week’s election, unlike in 2016 and 2020, Trump outperformed many of the GOP’s Senate candidates. Scott said he wants Trump to participate as much as he can in the 2026 Senate contests. “Every day and every way, President Trump, I know you have a full-time job. I’m going to ask you to have two full-time jobs. Let’s expand this map,” Scott emphasized. He said “that means that every single day we need President Trump on the campaign trail, doing fundraisers, talking to folks, because this is President Donald J. Trump’s party, and we need to make sure we expand it, from the man to the movement. We need him to do it.” A big part of Scott’s duties as NRSC chair will be fundraising. The senator was a top Republican fundraiser during the 2022 cycle, when he easily cruised to re-election in red-state South Carolina. “We have to have more resources than we’ve had in the past so we are competitive in the states where we can win. I think we can win in more states than ever. President Donald Trump has actually given us a lot of runway. It’s our responsibility to have the resources to win those seats,” Scott said. The rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was chaired during the 2022 and 2024 cycles by Peters, who won’t be signing up for a third tour of duty as he is up for re-election in Michigan. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who easily won re-election last week in blue-state New York, is making a pitch to chair the DSCC. Senate Democrats will hold their leadership elections later this year. David Bergstein, the DSCC communications director for the past couple of election cycles, highlighted that “in a challenging political environment, Democrats made history. We won multiple races in states won by Trump. We dramatically over-performed the presidential results. And for the first time in over a decade, Senate Democrats have won multiple races in states won by the opposite party’s presidential nominee.” “The outcome of this cycle puts Senate Democrats in the strongest possible position to reclaim the majority in 2026,” Bergstein touted.