Trump tariffs will bring Mexico to the table, Texas Democrat says
A Texas Democrat believes President-elect Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Mexico will get the country to come to the table “so we can solve the problem about immigration and fentanyl.” Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas’ 28th Congressional District – which borders Mexico in the southern part of the state – made the comment Tuesday during an interview on NewsNation. “If it means a 25 percent tariff to potentially fix the border, would you favor that?” Cuellar was asked. “Well, let me put it this way: Laredo’s the largest port; we handle 40 percent of all the trade between the U.S. and Mexico. I know this is a way to negotiate, get some leverage. I know that Mexico will come to the table,” he responded. TRUMP LIKELY TO MAKE SEVERAL BORDER SECURITY MOVES ON FIRST DAY, SAYS EXPERT “But nobody wants a 25 percent tariff on them, and the Mexicans are threatening to do the same thing, and we don’t want to get into that,” Cuellar added. “But I think this will definitely get Mexico to the table so we can solve the problem about immigration and fentanyl.” Trump has vowed to impose tariffs on Mexico when he returns to the White House in January. “As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before,” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social. “Right now a Caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, seems to be unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border.” “On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” Trump continued. “Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem,” he declared. “We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!” MEXICAN PRESIDENT MIGHT BE CHANGING VIEW ON US AS TRUMP WIN SENDS WARNING TO RULING SOCIALISTS A source told Reuters that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a “good discussion” with Trump regarding trade and border security following that Truth Social post. Trump also said Monday, “I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail.” “Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America,” he added. In response to that, the China Daily newspaper – which is run by the Chinese Communist Party – published an editorial Tuesday saying, “The excuse the president-elect has given to justify his threat of additional tariffs on imports from China is far-fetched,” according to Reuters. The editorial added: “There are no winners in tariff wars. If the U.S. continues to politicize economic and trade issues by weaponizing tariffs, it will leave no party unscathed,”
University of Austin weeds out DEI, replaces it with merit-based initiatives: VP
The University of Austin (UATX) welcomed its first cohort of students this fall, and instead of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the private liberal arts university is touting freedom of speech, open debates and merit-based admissions. “They talk about safe spaces. We want to create an environment that’s safe for ideas to be explored and where there’s not risks to the student for taking positions as they explore,” UATX Vice President Michael Shires told Fox News Digital. The university, which is currently unaccredited, was founded in 2021 by a group of academics and public figures, including former New York Times reporter Bari Weiss, who were concerned about the decline of free speech across college campuses. STATE LAWMAKERS, COMPANIES PREPARE TO PUSH BACK AGAINST DEI, ‘WOKE’ INITIATIVES: EXPERTS While its inaugural students are not eligible for federal financial aid, the university has had significant support from private donors, including billionaire Bill Ackman and activist Harlan Crow, allowing it to offer free tuition to its first cohort. “As we look ahead, obviously this is a time when people are trying to figure out how to foster free speech on campus,” Shires said. “Oct. 7 was a critical juncture in the last year and a half that really showed some of the holes in the environment we’re in.” While the university was founded prior to Donald Trump’s re-election, Shires said the “Trump administration is an exciting time for us to build an institution in an environment where there’s value on open discourse and dialogue.” Trump has signaled he would also roll back DEI and “woke” policies within federal agencies, including dismantling the Department of Education, signaling a potential for more schools to adopt UATX’s model. He has also said he would sue and tax “excessively large private universities” who implement “woke” policies. DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKER RANTS ABOUT ‘THE WHITE MAN’ DURING HEARING ON THE DISMANTLE DEI ACT The threat of what constitutes hate speech has been a major concern for many public universities in recent years – leading to the rise of what critics call censorship and cancel culture – but Shires said defining the term depends “what are the value systems you’re applying to those.” “And you know, for us, that’s our goal, is to create an environment where there’s civil discourse and where, basically, respect for the other person, and you’re debating and maybe even disagreeing on ideas,” he said. TRANSGENDER WOMEN TO BE BANNED FROM CAPITOL HILL FEMALE BATHROOMS UNDER NEW HOUSE GOP PROPOSAL UATX employs the Chatham House Rule to encourage open classroom discussions. Under the rule, students can share ideas or information they hear in class but cannot attribute them to specific individuals. At institutions like Harvard, only 3% of faculty identify as conservative, while more than 75% identify as liberal, undergirding the ideological gap that UATX founders aim to address. According to Shires, while the school has an admissions constitution that accepts students based on a variety of merit measures, he said UATX’s “students are all over the place, ideologically, politically, philosophically.” “We are an institute, so we don’t believe the institution should have a position or an orthodoxy or an ideology,” he said. Over the last four years, several universities have faced legal challenges concerning their DEI policies, including the California Community College system, Northwestern University Law School, Stanford University and Fordham University. In March, the University of Florida announced its plan to eliminate the chief diversity officer position and DEI staff, earmarking the funds to be spent elsewhere in the university.
Empowering India’s Future Innovators: Highlights From Entrepreneurship Cell IIT Kharagpur’s EAD-LSM 2024
Entrepreneurship Cell, IIT Kharagpur, proudly conducted the Entrepreneurship Awareness Drive (EAD) and Local Startups Meet (LSM) 2024 – one of its flagship initiatives aimed at fostering and strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem across India.
A third woman has died under Texas’ abortion ban as doctors reach for riskier miscarriage treatments
Porsha Ngumezi bled to death as she was miscarrying after her doctor opted against an emergency procedure used to end pregnancies.
Meet the new Texans in Congress
Five Texans were newly elected to Congress this year, four of whom are set to serve in January.
Community college “deserts” deter Texas students from getting a degree, report says
Black and Hispanic high schoolers who have to drive more than 30 minutes to a community college are less likely to pursue a degree, the report found.
How David Cook went from Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan’s ally to lead the movement to replace him
The two-term Republican caught many Capitol observers off guard when he emerged as the standard-bearer for a coalition that wants to depose Phelan and reshape how the House operates.
Nagaland Dear Indus 1 PM Lottery Result November 27: Wednesday Lucky Draw DECLARED at 1 PM, check full list here
The lottery results for Nagaland State’s “DEAR INDUS MORNING” at 1 PM, “DEAR CUPID EVENING” at 6 PM, and “DEAR PELICAN NIGHT” at 8 PM will be released today.
History of the Thanksgiving turkey pardon: When the White House began the long-held holiday tradition
The White House turkey pardoning ceremony, a long-held Thanksgiving tradition formalized 77 years ago, traces its origins back decades further. Since the 1800s, it has been customary for the sitting president to be gifted a turkey as a festive gesture, with several presidents hinting that the bird would be featured on their holiday menu. However, in recent decades, sitting presidents launched a new tradition of “pardoning” the bird, essentially sparing its life and ensuring it will spend the remainder of its time on a farm. The turkey is brought to Washington, D.C., during the week of Thanksgiving, gets a room at the five-star Willard Hotel and is eventually “pardoned” by the president. However, the history of exactly when the pardon began “gets tricky,” as described by the Obama White House archives. RETAILERS ANNOUNCE ‘INFLATION-FREE’ THANKSGIVING DINNER DEALS According to the George Bush national archives, former President Lincoln spared the life of the Thanksgiving turkey upon request from his son, Tad Lincoln. The White House turkey was again spared in 1947, when former President Truman began an annual tradition of the animal being gifted by the National Turkey Federation. However, the Truman Library and Museum said they have “found no documents, speeches, newspaper clippings, photographs, or other contemporary records in our holdings which refer to Truman pardoning a turkey that he received as a gift in 1947, or at any other time during his presidency.” SANDRA LEE REVEALS WHY BIGGER THANKSGIVING TURKEYS AREN’T ALWAYS BETTER In 1963, former President Kennedy also decided to spare the life of that year’s Thanksgiving turkey, saying “we’ll just let this one grow.” Former President Reagan did it informally during the ceremony in 1987. Reagan was asked by reporters about potentially pardoning individuals from the Iran-Contra affair, but he pointed at the turkey and said he would “pardon him” instead. However, it wasn’t until 1989 when former President George H. W. Bush officially presented the turkey with a presidential “pardon,” an annual tradition that has been honored in the decades since. “Let me assure you and this fine Tom Turkey that he will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy. He’s granted a presidential pardon as of right now and allow him to live out his days on a children’s farm not far from here,” Bush said in 1989. Since Bush, every president has participated in the turkey pardoning ceremony as part of the White House Thanksgiving week celebration. President Biden has been pardoning two turkeys for the last three years. He participated in the 77th annual turkey pardon on Monday, the last one of his presidency, sparing “Peach” and “Blossom” in the Rose Garden on the South Lawn of the White House. “This event marks the official start of the holiday season here in Washington. It’s also my last time to speak here as your president during the season,” Biden said during the ceremony. “It’s been the honor of my life. I’m forever grateful that today my wife, Jill, and I will travel to Staten Island, New York, for a ‘friendsgiving’ with members of the Coast Guard and their families to demonstrate our gratitude for their service and sacrifice, like my son.” Some critics, such as animal rights group Farm Sanctuary, have called the tradition “little more than a photo op.” However, presidents and spectators have enjoyed the ceremony as a fun event for the holidays.
Legal challenges on administrative reach expected in Trump’s deregulatory scheme, experts say
Experts expect President-elect Donald Trump to take aim at federal agencies and Biden-era regulations after campaigning on deregulation of the administrative state. “The first thing is that on day one of [Trump’s] presidency, we’ll see a lot of executive orders, which will order agencies to review the administration regulations to determine whether they should be retained, amended or repealed,” Robert Glicksman, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law at George Washington University Law School, told Fox News Digital. Mark Chenoweth, president of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, particularly pointed to Biden-era regulations, saying they could be on the chopping block once Trump takes office, telling Fox News Digital, “the Biden administration did a lot of things that lacked statutory authority completely.” ‘EFFICIENT AND ACCOUNTABLE’: GOP-LED DOGE BILL AIMS TO SLASH OUTFLOW OF FEDERAL DOLLARS Chenoweth noted that the Biden administration has already been the target of lawsuits over its regulations and said that if Trump were to take those regulations on, “I think they’ll enjoy a lot of success.” Trump has already been vocal about his intentions of cutting back on federal agency power and slashing the flow of federal dollars. The president-elect has also announced he has tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The entity will act as an advisory panel, not a government agency, and will be aimed at suggesting ways to dismantle government bureaucracy and restructure federal agencies in order to save costs and improve efficiency, according to Trump’s transition team. Regarding DOGE, Glicksman stated the Trump administration will “certainly take seriously” DOGE’s guidance on “cutting back on regulations, streamlining executive agencies, possibly even eliminating some agencies.” Both Chenoweth and Glicksman said they can foresee labor regulations becoming a target come January. Glicksman said climate change and environmental regulations could also come under fire. COMER TO CREATE DOGE SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRED BY MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE TO WORK WITH ELON MUSK, VIVEK RAMASWAMY “In the labor area, because [the Biden administration has] been so radical, they really reached well beyond what the statutory authority that was given to NLRB or the Department of Labor with a lot of what they’ve done. So that’s one area that I could foresee,” Chenoweth said. Likewise, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to overturn the Chevron doctrine in June of this year in its Loper Bright decision. The doctrine previously gave deference to an agency’s interpretation of a federal regulation. In its holding, the Supreme Court effectively scaled back administrative power in holding that “Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority.” ELON MUSK SAYS ‘ALL ACTIONS’ TAKEN BY DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY WILL BE ONLINE: ‘TRANSPARENCY’ Chenoweth, whose organization litigated on the matter, applauded the Loper Bright ruling, saying it “goes back to empowering Congress rather than the administrative agencies.” “For the last 40 years, the administrative state has been burgeoning because of this ability to, kind of, write law and create law itself when there’s a gap or ambiguity in the statute,” Chenoweth said. “Now, they’re not going to able to do that so much. And so it’s going to throw it back to Congress if we need to have reform in an area or new legislation.” Glicksman, however, said Loper Bright could “boomerang” on the Trump administration instead. “Had Chevron remained in effect, it would be Trump administration initiatives that would get the benefit of Chevron deference, but that’s no longer the case,” Glicksman said. “And so it’s possible that courts will look more rigorously or apply greater scrutiny to Trump administration initiatives in administrative law issues in administrative ones than they would have done had Loper Bright not been decided.” Glicksman said he can foresee such legal challenges unfolding specifically in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which notably tends to lean conservative in its rulings. Likewise, Glicksman predicts Democrat-led challenges to appear in the Ninth and D.C. Circuits. “I think you’ll see blue states led by California challenging those regulations, starting off probably in the Ninth Circuit and the D.C. Circuit, which are more friendly to agency authority than the Fifth Circuit and some other circuits. So you’ll see a skewing of litigation,” Glicksman said. Chenoweth stated that because so many Biden-era regulations “are so lacking in authority,” the circuit in which the lawsuit is started may very well not make much of a difference.