Texas bill changing control of higher ed curriculum goes to governor's desk
Governing boards at higher education institutions, which are appointed by the governor, will be able to review and strike down general curriculum requirements at the universities.
The new legislation also gives these boards more power over hiring, elimination of degrees with low enrollment and creates a new oversight office for noncompliance complaints.
The bill, which will likely be signed by the governor, is the latest effort among Republican states to control curriculum and other aspects of higher education institutions.
'The objective of this legislation is to provide consistency with respect to our curriculum and the degrees we're offering our students,' said Republican state Rep. Matt Shaheen, co-sponsor of the legislation, the Associated Press reported.
In places like Florida, it has become common place for similar boards to strip requirements for gender or diversity courses and replace it with civics classes.
The move comes as the Trump administration has also been exerting more pressure on universities, stripping them of funding if demands such as eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion aren't met.
'Political operatives have basically used their positions of power — political power, economic power — to demand that the institutions conform to their ideas,' said Isaac Kamola, director of the Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom at the American Association of University Professors, according to the AP.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Los Angeles Times
24 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Israel is in talks to possibly resettle Palestinians from Gaza in South Sudan
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel is in discussions with South Sudan about the possibility of resettling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the war-torn East African country, part of a wider effort by Israel to facilitate mass emigration from the territory left in ruins by its 22-month offensive against Hamas. Six people familiar with the matter confirmed the talks to the Associated Press. It's unclear how far the talks have advanced, but if implemented, the plans would amount to transferring people from one war-ravaged land at risk of famine to another, and raise human rights concerns. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to realize President Trump's vision of relocating much of Gaza's population through what Netanyahu refers to as 'voluntary migration.' Israel has floated similar resettlement proposals with other African nations. Palestinians, rights groups, and much of the international community have rejected the proposals as a blueprint for forcible expulsion in violation of international law. For South Sudan, such a deal could help it build closer ties to Israel, now the almost unchallenged military power in the Middle East. It is also a potential inroad to Trump, who broached the idea of resettling Gaza's population in February but appears to have backed away in recent months. Israel's Foreign Ministry declined to comment and South Sudan's foreign minister did not respond to questions about the talks. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said it doesn't comment on private diplomatic conversations. Joe Szlavik, the founder of a U.S. lobbying firm working with South Sudan, said he was briefed by South Sudanese officials on the talks. He said an Israeli delegation plans to visit the country to look into the possibility of setting up camps for Palestinians there. No known date has been set for the visit. Israel did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the visit. Szlavik said Israel would likely pay for makeshift camps. Edmund Yakani, who heads a South Sudanese civil society group, said he had also spoken to South Sudanese officials about the talks. Four additional officials with knowledge of the discussions confirmed talks were taking place on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them publicly. Two of the officials, both from Egypt, told AP they've known for months about Israel's efforts to find a country to accept Palestinians, including its contact with South Sudan. They said they've been lobbying South Sudan against taking the Palestinians. Egypt is deeply opposed to plans to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza, with which it shares a border, fearing an influx of refugees into its own territory. The AP previously reported on similar talks initiated by Israel and the U.S. with Sudan and Somalia, countries that are also grappling with war and hunger, and the breakaway region of Somalia known as Somaliland. The status of those discussions is not known. Szlavik, who's been hired by South Sudan to improve its relations with the United States, said the U.S. is aware of the discussions with Israel but is not directly involved. South Sudan wants the Trump administration to lift a travel ban on the country and remove sanctions from some South Sudanese elites, said Szlavik. It has already accepted eight individuals swept up in the administration's mass deportations, in what may have been an effort to curry favor. The Trump administration has pressured a number of countries to help facilitate deportations. 'Cash-strapped South Sudan needs any ally, financial gain and diplomatic security it can get,' said Peter Martell, a journalist and author of a book about the country, 'First Raise a Flag.' Israel's Mossad spy agency provided aid to the South Sudanese during their decades-long civil war against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum ahead of independence in 2011, according to the book. The State Department, asked if there was any quid pro quo with South Sudan, said decisions on the issuing of visas are made 'in a way that prioritizes upholding the highest standards for U.S. national security, public safety, and the enforcement of our immigration laws.' Many Palestinians might want to leave Gaza, at least temporarily, to escape the war and a hunger crisis bordering on famine. But they have roundly rejected any permanent resettlement from what they see as an integral part of their national homeland. They fear that Israel will never allow them to return, and that a mass departure would allow it to annex Gaza and reestablish Jewish settlements there, as called for by far-right ministers in the Israeli government. Still, even those Palestinians who want to leave are unlikely to take their chances in South Sudan, among the world's most unstable and conflict-ridden countries. South Sudan has struggled to recover from a civil war that broke out after independence, and which killed nearly 400,000 people and plunged pockets of the country into famine. The oil-rich country is plagued by corruption and relies on international aid to help feed its 11 million people – a challenge that has only grown since the Trump administration made sweeping cuts to foreign assistance. A peace deal reached seven years ago has been fragile and incomplete, and the threat of war returned when the main opposition leader was placed under house arrest this year. Palestinians in particular could find themselves unwelcome. The long war for independence from Sudan pitted the mostly Christian and animist south against the predominantly Arab and Muslim north. Yakani, of the civil society group, said South Sudanese would need to know who is coming and how long they plan to stay, or there could be hostilities due to the 'historical issues with Muslims and Arabs.' 'South Sudan should not become a dumping ground for people,' he said. 'And it should not accept to take people as negotiating chips to improve relations.' Mednick writes for the Associated Press. AP reporters Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Matthew Lee in Washington, and Samy Magdy in Cairo, Egypt, contributed to this report.
Miami Herald
24 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Lawyers in Hope Florida Medicaid settlement distanced clients from rushed deal
As DeSantis administration officials scrambled last year to craft a Medicaid overbilling settlement that diverted millions to the Hope Florida Foundation, lawyers for healthcare contractor Centene and the Florida Attorney General's Office tried to distance their clients from the agreement, a trove of newly released records shows. Over 22 days in September, then-Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard repeatedly removed references to his office in drafts of the settlement passed among negotiators. Centene's lawyers inserted language emphasizing that the company was 'directed by the state' to donate $10 million of its $67 million settlement to the foundation. The attorneys insisted that Florida's Office of Inspector General or attorney general be mentioned in the agreement. And they inserted language absolving the company from liability in 'any dispute that may arise' from how the money was used. The haggling was prescient. When the settlement was revealed this year, it ignited a firestorm among Republican lawmakers. Nearly all the $10 million donation to the state-created Hope Florida Foundation was diverted to a political committee created by Gov. Ron DeSantis' then-chief of staff James Uthmeier to run ads opposing last year's recreational marijuana ballot initiative. A top GOP lawmaker accused the DeSantis administration of illegally laundering federal Medicaid funds, and former federal prosecutors have said the transactions may have been illegal. Prosecutors in Tallahassee launched a criminal investigation related to the claims. The agreement had ramifications in Washington, as well. Guard, who eventually signed the settlement, has seen his nomination by President Donald Trump for federal judge held up after Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said he should face questions about it. Guard declined to comment. Emails and draft settlement agreements included among 1,000 pages of records reviewed by the Herald/Times detail how DeSantis' administration crafted the unusual legal settlement last fall, as mail-in ballots were set to go out to voters. At the time, DeSantis was crisscrossing Florida and spending millions of taxpayer dollars on ads to defeat an initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana. Centene and outside lawyers had asked the state repeatedly since 2021 to settle the company's claims that it overbilled Florida for prescription drugs, records show, but Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration didn't take action until a phone call with the company on Sept. 5, 2024. The initial draft of the settlement made no mention of the Hope Florida Foundation. Agency officials prepared to brief the governor's office on the settlement on Sept. 10. Whether the meeting happened, or who attended, is not reflected in the records. But the next day, the Agency for Health Care Administration's general counsel sent a version to Secretary Jason Weida that required Centene to give $5 million of its settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation. More changes followed. A draft sent to Guard on Sept. 12 removed all references to the state's Office of Inspector General. Guard pushed back. The agreement required the attorney general, instead of the Agency for Health Care Administration, to handle the remaining $62 million. Guard also questioned how much would have to be paid to the federal government, which oversees and mostly funds Medicaid. The agreement 'is different than I have seen in a settlement with Medicaid monies,' Guard wrote. He did not question the diversion of $5 million to the Hope Florida Foundation. The Agency for Health Care Administration's general counsel agreed with Guard and changed the settlement to make the agency receive and distribute the money on behalf of the state. He also increased the donation to the foundation to $10 million before sending another round of changes to Centene. The records do not show why the donation to Hope Florida Foundation was added to the drafts, or why it was doubled. The Agency for Health Care Administration did not answer questions asked by the Herald/Times. Centene's general counsel responded six days later with more changes apparently designed to protect the company. Money from Medicaid-related legal settlements belongs to state and federal taxpayers, and diverting it to charities or political committees could amount to theft of federal funds or other crimes, four former federal prosecutors told the Herald/Times in May. Centene held a phone call with the state's lawyers to discuss the changes on Sept. 20. The company's version of the settlement stated that the 'Attorney General directs' the company to donate the $10 million and that Centene wasn't responsible for how the money would be allocated. Centene lawyers also wanted to mention that the Office of Inspector General was one of the state entities authorizing the settlement. It's not clear why, as the office isn't typically a party to legal settlements. Centene resolved similar overbilling claims with at least 20 states, and only one other settlement that is publicly available mentions inspectors general, according to a Herald/Times review. 'We would like FL OIG to continue to be explicitly listed,' one of their attorneys wrote. When the Attorney General's Office received the newest draft, Guard balked. On Sept. 24, he deleted seven references to the Attorney General's Office and clarified that the Agency for Health Care Administration, not the attorney general, was directing the company to make the donation. 'I get that they [Centene] negotiated this in every other state with the AG,' Guard wrote to the agency's general counsel. 'But, they are negotiating this agreement with AHCA [Agency for Health Care Administration] and it is going to have to look slightly different.' After the health agency's attorney made most of the changes, Guard still seemed less than enthusiastic. He wrote that he didn't really want to represent the state in the legal settlement, 'but I am fine with this.' The assurances from the attorney general's office — the state's top law enforcement entity — seemed crucial to Centene's lawyers, however. On Sept. 27, they sent a draft that added back nine references to the office. Each reference clarified that both the Agency for Health Care Administration and the attorney general were directing Centene's payments. 'I think we are down to one real issue,' wrote Centene's general counsel, Chris Koster, the former attorney general for Missouri. 'I agree that we are down to one issue,' the agency's general counsel, Andrew Sheeran, responded. The two held a phone call later that afternoon, and Centene backed down. The final version, signed later that day, did not include the additional references to the attorney general or the inspector general. Centene declined to answer questions and pointed to its past statements on this issue. 'The terms in the settlement document speak for themselves,' the company said. 'Centene had no part in or knowledge of any decision by the Hope Florida Foundation regarding the subsequent use of any Foundation funds.' 'Red flags' DeSantis' administration kept the settlement secret until April this year, when Republican lawmakers and the Herald/Times obtained copies of the Hope Florida Foundation's Oct. 14 meeting minutes. The minutes showed the foundation received $10 million as a result of 'a longstanding dispute with the Agency for Health Care Administration.' Herald/Times reporting previously revealed that for years, the charity didn't keep meeting minutes, had no budget or bylaws and didn't file its tax returns. And the money did not stay with the foundation , a state-created charity designed to support the state's Hope Florida program to move people off government assistance. Within days, it was routed to two political nonprofits, which gave nearly all of it to a political committee controlled by Uthmeier that was dedicated to defeating the marijuana amendment. The leader of one of the nonprofits said Uthmeier called her to request the money from the foundation, according to a Republican lawmaker who investigated the matter. The nonprofit director later said that Uthmeier 'had limited involvement' and never told her what to do with the money. DeSantis has defended the settlement, saying that Centene's donation was a 'cherry on top' of what the company owed. Uthmeier, who was appointed attorney general by DeSantis this year, said he had nothing to do with the final settlement talks. He was involved in meetings with Centene in 2021, records show. Neither has disputed that the $10 million was used for political purposes. Uthmeier's office hadn't released any records about the transactions until last week, when it gave hundreds of pages to Politico Florida 'exclusive for the next two weeks,' according to copies of text messages between a reporter and Rep. Alex Andrade, the Republican representative who probed Hope Florida. The messages were obtained by the Herald/Times. Uthmeier's spokesperson, Jeremy Redfern, emphasized two things about the records, according to the texts from the reporter to Andrade: That they showed Guard was initially concerned about the legality of the settlement but eventually 'got it,' and that the money sent to the state in the settlement 'was more than three times the size of the state's actual financial loss.' The Attorney General's Office last week released 390 pages of documents – many of which were requested in April – after the Herald/Times threatened to sue. Reporters also obtained hundreds of pages of emails and draft settlements from sources. Redfern did not answer questions about the settlement or why the state first gave the records to Politico. He also said Uthmeier 'never participated in any settlement negotiations and doesn't know anything about' the scheduled September 10 meeting last year regarding the draft agreement. 'Your questions demonstrate that you are deliberately misreading the public records our office provided you on a very expedited basis,' Redfern wrote in an email. Medicaid statutes allow states to recover as much as three times damages. Centene's records show that other states received settlements based on the same formula. Part of that formula also included a baseline of $10.8 million to encourage states to settle with the company and not litigate their claims. Regardless, that doesn't mean the money can be divided for purposes that aren't related to Medicaid, Andrade said, pointing to 2008 federal guidance. 'It looks very much like red flags were raised by the attorney general's office and by Centene,' Andrade said after reviewing the records himself. 'They were at the 10-yard line. And while they had some heartburn about it, it wasn't sufficient to blow the whole thing up.' He added: 'The CYAs [Cover Your Asses] were evident.' Andrade said it was also clear the state understood the money transferred to the foundation belonged to Medicaid, which would restrict how it could be spent. When the agency's lawyers inserted the donation into the agreement, they also justified it by referencing how the Hope Florida program was expanding into Medicaid. The justification that remained in the final agreement was crafted by one of Centene's lawyers: the state Agency for Health Care Administration 'desires an expanded role for Hope Florida in the Medicaid program.' 'That says it all,' Andrade said.
Buzz Feed
24 minutes ago
- Buzz Feed
Lisa Kudrow's Viral MAGA Impression Stuns Viewers
A resurfaced clip of Lisa Kudrow doing a satirical impersonation of a far-right Republican spokesperson failing to debunk claims against the party is going viral thanks to a new tweet insisting she "nailed" the character. The impersonation comes from Kudrow's role in the Netflix mockumentary Death to 2020. And though the film released in that same year, people online can't help but feel striking similarities between Kudrow's character and the Trump administration today. To start, in the video, Kudrow, aka "Un-Official Spokesperson" Jeanetta Grace Susan, tells cameramen, "The whole impeachment thing was baseless, OK? So, the Democrats claim that Trump pressured Ukraine into digging up dirt on the Biden family. And their only real evidence of that is a transcript of him doing it." Someone offscreen asks Jeanetta what was said on the transcript, to which the character replies, "What transcript?" She's then pressed about the transcript she just mentioned, but Jeanetta doubles down by insisting, "Check your tape, I said no such thing." Later, she's asked, "In March, the president said the pandemic would simply get out of the way, didn't he?" By the end of the video, which has been viewed nearly one million times since it was shared on X, Kudrow claims she has "never supported Trump." In light of recent flip-flopping on the 'Epstein files' — you know, when Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed to have a "client list" of Jeffrey Epstein's on her desk, ready for review, only for the Department of Justice to release a memo stating there is no evidence of a client list — internet users latched on to the clip. The original tweeter said the clip reminded them of "literally every Republican." Others thought the clip reminded them of a very specific Republican: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Mostly, people thought the similarities between the satire and real life were "hysterical and depressing at the same time." On person wrote, "Oh my God! This is my experience of trying to reason with a MAGA, fact-check with a MAGA, and even trying to do some critical thinking with a MAGA. I have given up. I don't know what is up in their heads, but it is not brains or the gift of reason. I am beginning to believe that they are not just stupid and ignorant, but they just do not take in any information that is going to challenge their current mindset." "We literally listen to this everyday. MAGA believe and stake their lives on memes, but call any reporting or data into question and often see document records as a compelling reason to believe the opposite of what they indicate," another agreed. Overall, life felt better when this was all just a parody. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.
