Proposal to enhance Texas’ pioneering junk science law approved by Texas House
Last year, lawmakers waded into a dramatic feud over the case of death row inmate Robert Roberson, seen as the embodiment of the failures of Texas’ junk science law.
Harvard University president takes 25% pay cut amid Trump administration funding freeze
Harvard University President Alan Garber has agreed to voluntarily take a 25% reduction in pay for the 2025-26 school year, amid funding cuts imposed by the Trump administration, amounting to about $2.2 billion. A Harvard University spokesperson told Fox News about the pay cut, adding that other leaders across the institution are making their own voluntary contributions, given the significant challenges the school faces. The university announced a hiring pause in March, also asking “schools and administrative units to scrutinize discretionary and non-salary spending, reassess the scope and timing of capital renewal projects, and conduct a rigorous review of any new multi-year commitments,” the spokesperson noted. Additionally, schools within the central administration at Harvard announced there would be no merit pay increases for faculty and staff for fiscal year 2026, which runs from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. The school also paused non-essential capital projects and spending. HARVARD SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER ‘UNLAWFUL’ MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR BUDGET CUTS This is not the first time Garber has taken a voluntary pay reduction. In April 2020, then-Provost Garber took a voluntary 25% pay cut as the school faced financial challenges caused by the pandemic. The Harvard Crimson reported that past presidents have made up to $1 million annually. Harvard has become a target of Trump’s broader crackdown on universities, much of which is in response to last year’s anti-Israel unrest that erupted on campuses across the country. TRUMP FROZE FUNDING FOR HARVARD. MONEY TO THESE UNIVERSITIES MAY ALSO BE ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK On April 11, the Trump administration sent a letter to Garber and Harvard Corporation Lead Member Penny Pritzker outlining the institution’s failures and a list of demands from the White House. In the letter, the administration accused Harvard of failing to uphold civil rights laws and to foster an “environment that produces intellectual creativity.” The Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding if Harvard did not reform governance and leadership as well as its hiring and admissions practices by August of this year. The letter emphasized the need for Harvard to change its international admissions process to avoid admitting students who are “hostile” to American values or support terrorism or antisemitism. HARVARD PRESIDENT SAYS HE HAS ‘NO CHOICE’ BUT TO FIGHT TRUMP ADMINISTRATION Harvard refused to comply with the demands, with Garber saying that “no government… should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.” The Trump administration then froze $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard and is reportedly looking to slash another billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The university later filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its “unlawful” freezing of funds. Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.
Houston midwife accused of illegal abortions appeals clinic closures
In an appeal filed this week, Maria Rojas’ attorneys accused Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office of a careless investigation.
Texas House bill on lawsuits shelved after critics label it harmful to free speech
House Bill 2988 was centered on who pays the legal fees of those who successfully defend themselves against libel or defamation lawsuits.
Bill to limit out-of-state donations to Texas candidates gets House approval
The bill would cap out-of-state political donations to a candidate or lawmaker to $5,000 for a statewide election, $2,500 for a district office and $1,000 for a county office.
House progressive backs down from Trump impeachment push after pressure from fellow Dems
A lone House Democrat pushing to impeach President Donald Trump has backed down from his effort to force a vote on the measure – after pressure to do so from fellow liberals. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., aimed to force a vote on his seven articles of impeachment against Trump this week, via a mechanism known as a privileged resolution that forces the House to reckon with a piece of legislation within two days of being in session. Democratic leaders made their opposition to the effort known, however, with House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., telling reporters he believed it was a “distraction.” Thanedar later announced on X that he would back off trying to force the vote. ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION It comes after Democrats including House Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar, D-Texas, pushed back on the effort. He said he would vote against the measure and called it “unserious,” according to Punchbowl News. “This doomed impeachment vote is not about holding Trump accountable, but instead seems to be about the interest of the bill sponsor,” Casar said. House GOP leaders had planned a vote to table the measure, a procedural motion blocking a House-wide vote, but called it off after Thanedar apparently missed his window to force the vote. Thanedar said in a statement on X afterwards, “In the fifteen days since I filed seven articles of impeachment against President Trump, he has committed more impeachable offenses, most dangerously, accepting a $400 million private jet from Qatar, which even Republican Members of Congress have called wrong.” “So, after talking with many colleagues, I have decided not to force a vote on impeachment today. Instead, I will add to my articles of impeachment and continue to rally the support of both Democrats and Republicans to defend the Constitution with me,” Thanedar said. Later, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said the situation “speaks for itself” when asked whether he pressured Thanedar to drop the motion. Thanedar’s resolution has caused a modest political headache for Democratic lawmakers, at a time when the party has struggled with messaging in the wake of the 2024 election. “I have said before from this podium, this is not the right approach we should be taking,” Aguilar said at his weekly press conference. “I’ll join members of the leadership team in voting to table that motion.” Thanedar acknowledged his colleagues’ concerns about his move during his own press conference Wednesday morning, though he insisted it would not deter him. MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE “Even some Democrats call me a lunatic, just like the president has called me lunatic,” the Michigan Democrat said. “But they have never said, nobody has said to me, ‘Mr. Thanedar, the seven articles of impeachment that you presented to the U.S. Congress, they’re a piece of s—. They’re not good. You missed it, missed the point. They are not legally right.’ They didn’t do that. No one says that.” However, Aguilar said hours later that it was not the right time to push an impeachment effort. “This is such an impactful moment, and our colleagues are locking themselves in a room for 24 hours to protect and defend healthcare. We shouldn’t be talking about this proposal that is not right, not timely,” Aguilar said, referring to the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s meeting on budget reconciliation, which has been ongoing since 2 p.m. Tuesday. “This president is no stranger to impeachments, he’s been impeached twice. Impeachment is a tool that can be used, but it takes weeks, months to do. Right now the issue of the day is, will hill Republicans stand up and support healthcare in this country?” Hours before the expected vote, NBC News reported that House Democratic leaders pressed Thanedar not to show up for the chamber’s 5 p.m. vote series – which would have meant he could not force the vote. Republicans, meanwhile, seized on the disarray. “House Democrats have demonstrated once again they are willing to abuse the Constitution in their effort to impede the agenda of the American people,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a statement before the vote. “Their latest sham impeachment charade against President Trump is another embarrassing political stunt. Today, House Republicans will move promptly to discard it.” When reached for comment on Thanedar’s push on Tuesday, White House spokesperson Liz Huston told Fox News Digital, “Every action taken by President Trump and his administration is fully lawful and firmly rooted in the will of the American people. President Trump is doing exactly what he promised: securing our border, bringing in trillions of dollars in investment to America, and restoring common-sense leadership.” “Meanwhile, Democrats are once again showing where their true priorities lie — siding with illegal immigrants over the safety, security, and well-being of hardworking American citizens. This desperate impeachment stunt is nothing more than a reckless political act that the American people see right through,” the White House said. Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder arrested protesting Senate hearing: ‘RFK kills people with hate’
Ben Cohen, one of the co-founders of the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s, was arrested on Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon during a Senate hearing involving Health and Human Services (HHS) Department Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. United States Capitol Police (USCP) confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Cohen was among seven people arrested after they disrupted the hearing. While Cohen was only arrested on charges of obstruction, others involved in the protest were arrested for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer, Capitol Police said. However, it is unclear how many people were charged with the more severe violations. WATCH: NEWARK MAYOR COMPARES SELF TO BIBLICAL HERO IN WAKE OF ICE PROTEST ARREST: ‘THIS IS OUR DAVID MOMENT’ “RFK kills people with hate!” a protester yelled during the hearing as Kennedy delivered his opening statement. “RFK kills people with hate!” the chant continued, with more voices joining in. “RFK kills people with hate!” Multiple people were eventually escorted out of the room, and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), paused the hearing. In video of the disruption posted on X by The Daily Caller, Cohen can be seen being forcibly pulled out of the hearing room by a Capitol Police officer. MOOD FLIPS AT COLUMBIA U AFTER QUASHING OF LATEST PROTEST, TRUMP PRESSURE TAKES HOLD “Members of the audience are reminded disruptions will not be permitted while the committee conducts its business. Capitol Police are asked to remove the individuals from the hearing room,” Cassidy said as Cohen was being wrangled out of the room. “That was a made-for-C-SPAN moment,” Cassidy quipped after things settled down. Wednesday wasn’t the first time Cohen has been arrested while protesting in the nation’s capital. In 2023, he was arrested outside the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for blocking the entrance to the Department of Justice (DOJ) building in Washington, D.C., where he was protesting the detainment of Julian Assange. Ben & Jerry’s is frequently a target of Republicans, who have slammed the company and its founders over their support of progressive activism and politicians. They are also frequent critics of Trump. DHS WARNED NOT TO ARREST HOUSE DEMS AFTER NJ PROTEST TURNED TENSE CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Ben & Jerry’s has been known for its left-leaning advocacy since its founding in 1978, and the Vermont-based ice cream maker was able to maintain an independent board of directors to continue its progressive activism even after it sold to Unilever in 2000. One of those moments included a decision by Ben & Jerry’s in 2021 that ended the sale of its products to Israelis in the West Bank, which the company refers to as “Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Red state treasurer reveals why state financial officers have ‘obligation’ to combat ESG, DEI
EXCLUSIVE: As Republican state financial officers across the country move to rid the government of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social and governance (ESG), Fox News Digital spoke to Utah’s state treasurer about the importance of bringing meritocracy and fiduciary responsibility back to markets and investments. “ESG introduces another motive or another motivation to address societal issues through the capital markets or through investment, and when you do that, you violate the fiduciary standards that all of us as financial officers are committed to,” Utah State Treasurer Marlo Oaks told Fox News Digital at the State Financial Officers Foundation conference in Orlando, Florida. “And, so, because of that dual mandate, you really have problems when you’re managing money for other people. If a single person wants to do it or a family wants to invest their money that way, that’s their choice. But when you are managing money for other people, we don’t have that choice. We have an obligation to do what’s in their financial best interest.” Oaks has been at the forefront of the fight against ESG, an investing principle critics say companies and institutions utilize to enact “woke” agendas, authoring several letters on the subject. WHITE HOUSE HIGHLIGHTS OVER $2B IN SAVINGS FROM DEI CUTS DURING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S FIRST 100 DAYS “When you talk about managing money for the benefit of other people, which is what a lot of state treasurers do, we have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the beneficiary,” Oaks explained. “So, we have the duty of loyalty and a duty of care. “And it is really focused on the financial outcomes for the beneficiaries. They are depending on this money for their retirement, and, so, it is our financial obligation or fiduciary obligation to act in their best interests.” Oaks said firefighters, teachers and police officers who depend on state pensions end up being harmed when states or companies are investing based on factors other than protecting investors. DEI IS DEAD. HERE’S WHAT SHOULD COME NEXT “ESG introduces another motive or another motivation to address societal issues through the capital markets or through investment, and when you do that, you violate the fiduciary standards that all of us as financial officers are committed to,” Oaks said. Oaks and the other Republicans at the SFOF conference have also been vocal opponents of DEI measures and praised President Trump for his efforts to roll back DEI in government. Oaks told Fox News Digital ESG and DEI are closely related and that his opposition to DEI also links back to the desire to do what’s best for shareholders in his state. “DEI — diversity, equity, inclusion — that’s really the S portion, the social portion of ESG, and, again, it’s important because a lot of the push by activist folks in the financial markets is to push an agenda onto corporate America, to have them adopt policies at companies that really are not in the best interest of the companies. And companies have a fiduciary obligation to their shareholders,” Oaks said. “When they introduce things like DEI, you change hiring practices, not for merit-based, it moves to other discriminatory hiring practices and ultimately harms companies and their financial output. And, so, that ultimately harms the teachers, the firefighters, the police officers that you’re trying to help with their retirement.” Oaks was one of two dozen state financial officers who sent a letter in March to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), asset managers, proxy advisors and public companies, sounding the alarm on the financial risk of prioritizing a political agenda, like DEI, over financial returns. Oaks told Fox News Digital that when DEI is introduced at the state financial officer level, “we are potentially introducing financial harm.” “And we’ve seen that with companies like Target, like Bud Light, you know, other companies that have adopted policies that are not in the financial best interest of the shareholders. They have harmed the shareholder value, and that ultimately harms the outcomes that these hardworking public servants and teachers, et cetera, that have worked so hard, retire with the money that they need.” Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report
Gabbard moves presidential daily intelligence brief staff from CIA to ODNI
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard moved the Presidential Daily Brief staff from the CIA to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Fox News Digital confirmed. A senior intelligence source told Fox News Digital that the director of National Intelligence “has always controlled” the presidential daily brief (PDB) and that Gabbard “is just moving it physically to ODNI from CIA in a streamlining effort and a continuity of workforce.” The President’s Daily Brief (PDB), according to the intelligence community, is a daily summary of high-level, all-source information and analysis on national security issues produced for the president and key cabinet members and advisers. It is coordinated and delivered by the ODNI with contributions from the CIA as well as other elements from the intelligence community. It has been presented to the president since 1946. GABBARD FIRES ‘DEEP STATE’ HEADS OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL TO ROOT OUT ‘POLITICIZATION OF INTEL’ The move comes after Gabbard, on Tuesday, also moved the National Intelligence Council from the CIA to ODNI. NIC, according to senior intelligence officials, has always been a DNI component.” “It makes sense for them to be physically located at DNI,” a CIA official told Fox News Digital. Another senior intelligence official pointed to Gabbard’s confirmation hearing, in which she said her “priority was to deliver timely, accurate and actionable intelligence as the President’s principal intelligence advisor.” “The PDB staff and the NIC are the primary apparatus that feeds her this advisory material, so moving them physically closer gives her the best support,” the official said. “In other words, having them in closer proximity gives her less lag time and faster responsiveness to fill that role as principal intelligence advisor.” DNI GABBARD REFERS INTEL OFFICIALS TO DOJ FOR PROSECUTION OVER ALLEGED LEAKS OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION The official added: “Both moves are about providing the President more timely and actionable intelligence.” The moves come as Gabbard has taken steps to root out leakers and alleged “deep state holdovers” who officials say are politicizing intelligence analysis and “trying to sabotage President Trump’s agenda.” FLASHBACK: BIDEN CAMPAIGN, BLINKEN ORCHESTRATED INTEL LETTER TO DISCREDIT HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY, EX-CIA OFFICIAL SAYS So far, Gabbard has referred three intelligence community professionals to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution over alleged leaks of classified information. Fox News Digital first reported on those criminal referrals in April. An ODNI official at that time told Fox News Digital that the intelligence community professionals allegedly leaked classified information to the Washington Post and The New York Times. Fox News Digital, on Tuesday, exclusively reported that Gabbard had fired the top officials leading National Intelligence Council, whom whistleblowers described as “radically opposed to Trump.” Gabbard fired Mike Collins, who was serving as the acting chair of the National Intelligence Council, and his deputy, Maria Langan-Riekhof, Tuesday, senior intelligence officials told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital reached out Langan-Riekhof for comment and did not immediately hear back, and couldn’t immediately find contact information for Collins. Collins also has whistleblower complaints against him for political bias and “deliberately undermining the incoming Trump administration,” officials said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP They added that Collins was closely associated with Michael Morrell, the former deputy director of the CIA who worked to write a public letter in 2020 claiming that Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” and to get signatures from top ex-intelligence officials. As for Langan-Reikhof, officials said she has been a “key advocate” for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and is someone who whistleblowers allege is “radically opposed to Trump.”
Parade of camels welcome Trump motorcade to Qatar
President Donald Trump and his motorcade were greeted by dozens of mounted camels after his plane landed in Qatar Wednesday morning as he continues his four-day trip to the Middle East. “We appreciate those camels,” Trump said Wednesday while meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. “I haven’t seen camels like that in a long time. And really, we appreciate it very much.” The motorcade traveling from the Doha airport to the Amiri Diwan, which serves as the central hub of the Qatari government, also included red Tesa Cybertrucks in an apparent nod to Tesla CEO and Trump ally Elon Musk, as well as men on horseback. SAUDIS DEPLOY MOBILE MCDONALD’S FOR TRUMP’S TRIP TO THE KINGDOM Trump signed a series of agreements with al-Thani Wednesday as part of the trip, including a purchasing agreement by Qatar for Boeing aircraft, as well as letters of intent and “joint cooperation” between Qatar and the U.S. Trump arrived to Doha Wednesday morning, and met with local leaders as well joined a Qatari State Dinner. TRUMP SIGNS AGREEMENTS WITH QATAR ON DEFENSE AND BOEING PURCHASES Wednesday’s deals follow Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia Tuesday, when he signed a “strategic economic partnership” with Saudi Arabia for energy, defense, mining and space-based agreements that amount to $600 billion. Trump said the deal could lead to the creation of two million jobs in the U.S. Saudi Arabia also welcomed Trump with grand gestures, including sending fighter jet escorts to welcome Air Force One to the ground and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greeting Trump on the tarmac. The Saudis also rolled out a mobile version of Trump’s beloved fast-food joint, McDonald’s, in Riyadh during his trip.