Florida DOGE seeks information on every course taught at universities

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida’s DOGE team has asked state universities to turn over data on every undergraduate course offered at the 12 schools, including the syllabus and names of faculty members who are instructing it in the next two academic years.

The DeSantis administration sent its request Monday to the Board of Governors, which oversees Florida’s public universities, and wants the reams of data by Dec. 3. The governor’s office provided a copy of the letter to the Orlando Sentinel upon request Friday.

“As we continue our work to identify opportunities to improve higher education in Florida, we are seeking additional information regarding the rigor and performance of programs, majors, and departments within each university,” it reads.

The request comes as the DeSantis administration has taken deep dives into spending — launching controversial audits of numerous cities and counties, and universities. The effort is modeled on the federal Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, launched by Elon Musk right after President Donald Trump returned to office.

The letter sent Monday seeks more detailed information on performance at state universities, including names of each academic department and major offered, which majors each course accrues credit toward, if courses are taught in person, online or as a hybrid, how many students are applying and enrolling in honors programs and the syllabi for all courses.

—Orlando Sentinel

Sen. Mark Kelly invokes Kirk murder in pushback against Trump ‘sedition’ cries

Sen. Mark Kelly, D- Arizona, pushed back Friday against President Donald Trump’s call for the arrest and potential “execution” of him and five other Democratic lawmakers over their call for military service members to defy illegal orders.

Invoking the recent murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Kelly called out Trump for threatening the Democrats, saying it exposes the military veterans to potential violence from his legion of loyal supporters.

“It was just two months ago that Charlie Kirk was assassinated and now… Trump’s instinct is to call for our execution,” Kelly, a former astronaut and Navy pilot, said on MSNOW.

Rep. Maggie Goodlander, D- New Hampshire, said Trump’s should avoid pouring fuel on the fire of political violence that has impacted both sides of the political spectrum.

—The New York Daily News

Trump split with Marjorie Taylor Greene fueled by his inconsistencies

WASHINGTON— Marjorie Taylor Greene made her support for releasing the Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse files known long before she became a member of Congress.

“Despite what the Fake News Media says, this isn’t a conspiracy theory,” she wrote in July 2020 Facebook post about the case. “I will do everything under my power to bring down any and ALL pedophiles no matter who they are.”

After Greene, R- Ga., was elected later that year, she continued to push for public access to the Epstein files. She had a powerful ally: President Donald Trump, who did not win reelection in 2020 but remained a leading political figure.

But when Trump returned to the White House in 2025, more details emerged about his one-time friendship with Epstein. Trump also shifted, calling the effort to release the files a “Democratic hoax.”

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ICE video shows officers planned to ‘smash’ into Charlotte man filming Border Patrol

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After federal immigration officers in Charlotte saw a man taking photos of them, they chased him nearly two miles down a main road and made plans to “smash” into him, video played in court Thursday showed.

Then they broke his window, charged him with a federal felony and accused him of assaulting them.

Miguel Angel Garcia Martinez — a U.S. citizen and father of two young children — was “trying to protect immigrants,” his family said, as Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents patrolled Charlotte and made more than 300 arrests this week.

He did this by taking photos and sending them in an Instagram chat, where they were posted for the public to see. When agents spotted Martinez snapping pictures at multiple locations on Sunday, Nov. 16, they told him to leave, got out of their cars and tugged on his door handle.

Martinez was doing “citizen journalism,” and officers had no right to stop him, his lawyer argued Thursday in court.

—The Charlotte Observer

Sen. Klobuchar meets Pope Leo at the Vatican with Ukrainian delegation

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar met with Pope Leo XIV on Friday at the Vatican as part of a delegation visit from Ukraine that’s asking the church to help return more than 19,000 children who have been abducted during the ongoing war with Russia.

Klobuchar said she spoke with the first American pope for 20 minutes. They talked about the missing Ukrainian children and she thanked him for his support following the deadly Annunciation Catholic Church and School shooting in Minneapolis.

After the shooting in August, which left two children dead and two dozen others injured, the pope sent a personal message of condolence to Minnesota families.

In a public prayer after the shooting, speaking in English, he also denounced the shooting and called for an end to the “pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world.”

—The Minnesota Star Tribune