** HYR Weekly Update
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** A NEWSLETTER FROM HOUSTON YOUNG REPUBLICANS
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** (View this email in your browser ([link removed]) )
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** MAY. 25
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Welcome to this week’s edition of the HYR newsletter, !

As we approach Memorial Day, we encourage you to pause to remember the true meaning and reason we observe the holiday–to honor the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to our country.

In Washington, President Trump confronted the South African President in a tense and highly charged Oval Office meeting. Speaker Johnson managed to squeak the “big, beautiful bill” across the finish line by the closest margin possible.

In Houston, Judge Lina Hidalgo’s taxpayer funded junket to France was shot down, but it hasn’t stopped her from cashing in other creative ways.

We break it down below.


** Matt Murphy
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** Political Director
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** “Can You Turn the Lights Down? I Want to Show You Something”
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President Trump brought CVS-length receipts to his sit-down meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa. During their viral exchange, President Trump pressed Ramaphosa on the matter of genocide in his country against White farmers–an issue which has been made a flashpoint of the immigration debate following the White House’s decision to expedite the asylum of ~50 South African refugees in recent weeks.

Ramaphosa downplayed or outright denied the violence plaguing his nation; President Trump called his bluff, and wheeled a TV into the Oval Office to roll a montage which completely gutted his assertion.

A condensed version of the rhetorical beat down can be viewed here ([link removed]) .

Some context is important here. White farmers in South Africa constitute ~0.066% of the population; PBS can spin it all they want, ([link removed]) but when a group is being murdered at a rate 1,500% higher than the national average, it’s targeted violence. Our readers can infer what they will, but Ramaphosa’s accumulation of wealth/rise to power ([link removed]) , and the historical roots of his political party ([link removed]) are relevant.

The political ramifications of this meeting reverberated across Capitol Hill this week, as Secretary Rubio testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding his work at the State Department shortly thereafter. His exchanges with Sens. Tim Kaine ([link removed]) [D-VA] and Chris Van Hollen ([link removed]) [D-MD] in particular stood out in a heated hearing –in which Sec. Rubio revealed that only 12% of every USAID dollar was reaching its intended recipient prior to the reformations the Trump Administration has ushered in under his tenure.

President Trump and his Cabinet made it abundantly clear this week–if you come to this administration with a hat-in-hand, you best have your house in order.


** Atomic Action and Spent Fuel
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Speaking of going nuclear, President Trump issued a common sense executive order proponents of energy proliferation have long awaited. The EO, aiming to quadruple American nuclear energy power over the next 25 years, would streamline the construction of nuclear reactors, and bolster and accelerate atomic research and development under the Department of Energy. Additionally, a partnering EO establishes a federal framework and vision for mining and enriching uranium domestically, ending our dependence on foreign nations for nuclear fuel.

Nuclear energy, far and away the most powerful and reliable source of renewable energy available today, has been vilified for decades by misguided and misinformed environmentalists. Unfortunately, their efforts have been effective. Since the Carter administration, only two nuclear reactors have been constructed and entered into commercial operation.

It was part of a headline-making week for Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. In a stunning revelation, Wright exposed his Democrat predecessors at the Biden-DOE for pushing out a staggering $93B in taxpayer money over the span of just 76 days. The timeframe in question? The days immediately following President Trump’s election victory–right up to the very last day of the Biden administration.

The Loan Program Office of the Department of Energy has only existed for ~15 years. Over that span it approved ~$40B in loans; the Biden administration rubber stamped nearly two and half times that amount during their last days in power, even (according to Wright’s testimony ([link removed]) ) to firms and entities which provided no business plans or financial documents. Sec. Wright committed to cleaning up the mess and clawing back every cent he possibly can–despite the Biden Energy Department making it as difficult as possible ([link removed]) to claw back their shameless slush fund. These people should be in jail!


** RIP Gerry Connolly
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9-term Congressman Gerry Connolly [D-VA-11] sadly succumbed to esophageal cancer this week at the age of 75. Politics aside, Connolly was widely respected and admired for his personality and sense of humor (his Senate colleague from the Virginia delegation, Mark Warner [D-VA] noted shortly after Connolly’s passing that his “best moments might not be for family ears”) on both sides of the aisle.

Connolly, shockingly, the third Democrat member of the House to pass while in office this Congress, leaves a huge hole both personally and politically to fill for House leadership.

Connolly was the sitting Ranking Member of the high profile (and oftentimes a circus) House Oversight Committee–a role he bested AOC [Champagne Socialist-NY-14] to attain. Four House Dems are reportedly eyeing his vacant seat, including Dallas’ own Jasmine Crockett [D-TX-30], the walking embodiment of “I’m not just wrong, I’m going to be loud about it too.”


** Big, Beautiful Breakthrough
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Ladies and gentlemen, we have a budget vehicle!

Speaker Mike Johnson [R-LA-4] pulled a rabbit out of his hat, and passed the long awaited reconciliation bill by the slimmest of all margins, on a 215-214-1 margin. Worth noting that two House Republicans missed the vote because they were asleep–in their defense, the House had been burning the midnight oil and more for several straight days.

Connolly’s departure from this world couldn’t have come at a worse time for Democrats.

Multiple members of Senate Leadership/Committee Chairs have indicated they intend to make some pretty significant changes to the House-passed budget framework. Some even think they may break the package into two separate parts (a strategy they’ve been publicly consistent on for months)–one purely focused on tax/financial policy and the other with everything else. However it shakes out, they better get results. Johnson did his part, and it took a herculean effort.


** What’s Cooler Than Being Cool? ICE Bold!
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Freshman Rep. LaMonica McIver [D-NJ-10] may soon find herself OutKast from Congress.

The other week, McIver was caught on tape elbowing an ICE officer ([link removed]) at a photo opp/political

grandstanding event outside an ICE detainment facility–in protest of the Trump Administration’s deportation agenda.


Actions have consequences. Alina Habba, personal lawyer for President Trump and acting US Attorney for New Jersey, federally charged McIver [WWE-NJ-10] with “assaulting, impeding, and law enforcement.” Legal issues may be only part of McIver’s problems; yesterday Rep. Nancy Mace [R-SC-1] announced plans to introduce a resolution to expel McIver from Congress altogether.

In a move that defies all rational thought, some House Democrats have taken this as a cue to double down and escalate their performative visits to federal alien detention centers. ([link removed]) For the sake of our ICE officers, let’s hope they’re donning elbow pads.


** In Other News
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* Sen. Tommy Tuberville [R-AL] has announced he will be running for governor.
* A gut wrenching revelation from a Senate hearing this week on Covid vaccine injuries: 82% of babies of women who were vaccinated during their first trimester did not survive. ([link removed]) This should be a source of nationwide outrage.
* RFK’s Make America Healthy Again Commission issued a report on childhood health; some of their findings are quite alarming ([link removed]) .
* Antifa and “Trantifa” (lmao) radicals violently assaulted attendees ([link removed]) at a public Christian worship event in Seattle. 23 have been arrested at time of writing.
* HYR favorite Rep. Tim Burchett [R-TN-2] publicly alleged that White House staffers with access to Joe Biden’s autopen signature were taking bribes for pardons. If that’s the case–these people should be in jail!
* The Mexican Navy crashed into the Brooklyn Bridge during a training exercise gone horrifically wrong, 2 people died and many were injured. Naturally, Sen. Chuck Schumer [D-NY] is blaming Elon Musk and President Trump. ([link removed])
* The Texas Legislature is on the verge of outlawing THC products. Tim Walz used the occasion ([link removed]) to invite Texans to “flee the nanny state” and “enjoy the land of the free” with him in Minnesota. A reminder, Governor Walz deployed the state national guard to enforce curfew during the George Floyd riots. And if Minnesota is the land of free anything, it’s free money–the FBI this week raided a Minneapolis area non-profit which conducted one of the largest pandemic fraud schemes in the country. Minnesota Democrats are implicated too ([link removed]) . Stay in your lane Tim.



** Harris County Democrats Showered with Lavish Gifts
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Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and two Democrat Harris County Commissioners were the beneficiaries of lavish gifts last year, as reflected in personal financial disclosures filed with the Harris County Clerk’s office.

Hidalgo’s personal financial disclosure ([link removed]) reflects that she and her husband, David James, received $40,316 from five couples last year to defray the costs of an engagement party.

Democrat Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis reported receiving gifts in the form of lodging at vacation homes ([link removed]) owned by prominent Democrat donors. Ellis was a guest at a Kailua Kona, Hawaii home owned by Karla Jurvetson, a California physician who has become one of the most prominent Democratic donors in America in recent years. Ellis estimated the value of Jurvetson’s hospitality to be $4,900.

Ellis’ personal financial disclosure also reflected two trips that were accepted under the honorarium exemption. One trip, funded by the State of Qatar, was for Ellis to participate in the 2024 Doha Forum. The flight and lodging for the trip had an estimated value of $14,000. Ellis also participated in “cultural and trade related meetings” sponsored by the Indo American Chamber of Commerce, with flight and lodging expenses valued at $5,000.

“While Progressives on Commissioners Court tax hardworking residents out of their homes—with a more than 15% property tax rate increase in just one year—they are doing just fine, living a life of luxury paid for by the donors keeping them in power. Pay raises for themselves, pay raises for their staff, pay raises for everyone in county government except what residents want most—fair compensation for our law enforcement to help keep our community safe,” said Alexandra del Moral Mealer.

On Thursday, Harris County Commissioners Court rejected an effort by Hidalgo to have taxpayers foot a $23,300 bill to have four staff members accompany her on an economic development trip to Paris. Hidalgo and Ellis voted in favor of the taxpayer-funded travel, with Ramsey, Briones, and Garicia voting against.


** Upcoming Events
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Author: Matt Murphy, Political Director, Houston Young Republicans

Editor: Courtney Trevino, President, Houston Young Republicans

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Copyright (C) 2025 Houston Young Republicans. All rights reserved.

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