Senator Bill Cassidy(R-LA) on Thursday announced that the Senate will investigate American Muslims for Palestine’s activities on college campuses, alleging that nine individuals associated with the group have ties to Hamas or Hamas-linked organizations.
“I launched an investigation into American Muslims for Palestine demanding answers about their activities on college campuses,” the Louisiana Republican said at a hearing discussing rising anti-Semitism on college campuses. “This group’s leaders have ties to Hamas and helped create the group Students for Justice in Palestine.”
Cassidy launched the investigation under the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which he chairs.
In a letter to AMP, Cassidy accused the group of having “extensive” ties to Hamas, which is a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). He added that the group has been actively involved in organizing college students and helped create and fund Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which has been banned or suspended on several campuses for creating security concerns.
In the letter, he listed the nine individuals who were identified by Jonathan Schanzer, the Executive Director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, with troubling ties.
They include AMP board member Salah Sarsour, who helped raise money for the Holy Land Foundation, which was founded by Hamas’s Deputy Director, Mousa Abu Marzook. The Holy Land Foundation was shuttered by the United States government after it sent $12.4 million out of the United States to “willfully contribute funds, goods, and services to Hamas.” Sarsour also reportedly sent funds to Adel Awadallah, who helped lead Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades before he was killed by Israeli forces in 1998.
Others listed who helped raise funds for the Holy Land Foundation include AMP event speakers Jamal Said and Kifah Mustafa. Mohammed El-Mezain, who helped lead the Holy Land Foundation, spoke at an AMP-sponsored event in 2023 was also listed.
AMP’s executive director, Osama Abuirshaid, is listed due to his previous work for the newspaper of Islamic Association for Palestine, which was founded with startup money from Marzook and provided “media, communications, and fundraising services” to the Holy Land Foundation. According to Cassidy’s letter, in the newspaper Al-Zaytounah, he “published interviews that highlight his communications with Hamas leader Abu Marzook and other Hamas leaders in Gaza . . . [and] in 2014 . . . was featured on the website of Hamas’s self-declared military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades.”
Rafeeq Jaber, who helped prepare tax forms for AMP’s partner organization, AJP Education Foundation, was listed. He previously served as president of the Islamic Association for Palestine along with Sufian Nabhan,who is also listed for being a former member of AMP’s national board and serving as Michigan representative for the Islamic Association for Palestine.
Abdelbaset Hamayel, who is also listed on AMP tax forms and was described in 2014 as AMP’s executive director also served as “secretary general” of the Islamic Association for Palestine and a representative for KindHearts which was also shuttered for its ties to the Holy Land Foundation. Kindhearts’ founder, Khaled Smaili, reportedly worked for Global Relief Foundation, which was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2002 for funding al-Qaeda.
AMP Chairman Hatem Bazian  was “a frequent speaker at IAP events” and “helped raise money for Kindhearts in 2004,” and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania according to the letter.
Abuirshaid has addressed students directly at Columbia University, George Washington University. Bazian has addressed students at UC Berkeley and where he teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.
Cassidy’s letter goes on to say that AMP has helped to recently organize SJP conferences at college campuses including at Rutgers Universities and the National Students for Justice in Palestine conference at UCLA.
“These campuses have become sites for a combined total of approximately 300 arrests and detentions,” Cassidy <a href="https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025-03-26-BC-to-Hatem-Bazian.pdf">wrote</a>. “UCLA, where AMP helped to organize the National SJP conference, has been the site of more than 200 arrests or detentions.”
Cassidy said that AMP’s ties to SJP groups “raise serious questions about AMP’s involvement in planning, organizing, and funding campus demonstrations that have posed significant threats to campus safety.”
Cassidy’s letter added that more than 60 colleges and universities are under investigation for Title VI violations relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination.
In a letter to AMP, Cassidy demanded documents about the group’s actions on college campuses including their financial ties and its associates&#8217; ties to Hamas and Hamas-affiliates by April 9.
Cassidy sent letters to several colleges and universities, including UCLA, George Washington University, Columbia University, and Barnard College, requesting information about the activities of SJP and AMP. Additionally, Cassidy sent a letter to the Justice Department outlining the investigation and seeking further information.

Senate HELP Committee Holds Hearing On Steward Health Care Bankruptcy

Senate Launches Investigation Into Pro-Palestinian Group For Ties To Hamas

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Students for Justice in Palestine

President Donald Trump&#8217;s desire to dismantle the Department of Education could be fully realized with legislation being put together by a top Republican senator.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced plans to introduce a bill shortly after Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-signs-order-dismantling-department-of-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> an executive order on Thursday to &#8220;facilitate&#8221; the closure of a federal agency the current administration feels has not adequately helped student achievement and &#8220;return education authority&#8221; to the states and local communities.
&#8220;I agree with President Trump that the Department of Education has failed its mission,&#8221; Cassidy said in a statement <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-signs-order-dismantling-department-of-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">given</a> to The Daily Wire. &#8220;Since the Department can only be shut down with Congressional approval, I will support the President’s goals by submitting legislation to accomplish this as soon as possible.&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s second-term administration has already taken steps toward paring back the Cabinet-level agency, however, because Congress passed a bill to create the Department of Education that was signed by then-President Jimmy Carter in 1979, another one is needed in order to fully take it apart.
Cassidy is the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, meaning whatever bill he puts forth will have positive momentum within the GOP-led Senate.
Still, Cassidy&#8217;s legislation faces the prospect of a filibuster. A three-fifths majority — or 60 votes — would be needed to overcome that threshold. As Republicans only have a slim majority in the Senate, they would need a handful of Democrats or independents to support moving forward with the bill — an unlikely outcome.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, <a href="https://x.com/Heritage/status/1899821520655896837" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> a video earlier this month suggesting possible workarounds, such as using the budget reconciliation process that requires only a simple majority, moving to repeal the agency&#8217;s mandatory programs, or acting on recision requests from the president.
On the House side, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has already introduced a bill for this session of Congress that simply declares the Department of Education &#8220;shall terminate on December 31, 2026.&#8221; That bill, which has 32 co-sponsors, has so far been <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/899/all-actions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referred</a> to the House Committee on Education and Workforce for consideration.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) <a href="https://x.com/RepOgles/status/1902856097385587093" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> on X that he was &#8220;drafting the Make Education Great Again Act to codify [Trump&#8217;s] historic executive action gutting the woke and wasteful Department of Education. It’s time for Congress to return education to the states and defend the rights of parents across our nation.&#8221;

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)

GOP Senate Chairman Prepping Bill To Help Trump Finish Off Education Dept

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Dr. Jay Bhattacharya promised on Wednesday to bring sunlight to the National Institutes of Health if confirmed as the agency’s director. 
Speaking before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Bhattacharya rebuked the NIH for its behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, which he said did great damage to trust in scientists and academic institutions. Bhattacharya, an outspoken critic of the COVID lockdowns, was one of the first to express concerns about the safety and efficacy of vaccine mandates. 
A professor at the Stanford School of Medicine, Bhattacharya promised to bring greater transparency to the American people about the NIH&#8217;s research, which he said had failed in its fundamental mission.
&#8220;The mission of the NIH is to address the health needs the American people have and to expand life expectancy of the American people. And we have not achieved that. It&#8217;s flatlined,&#8221; he said.
This failure, paired with a massive loss in &#8220;trust in the public health establishment&#8221; during COVID, made clear the need for the NIH to reestablish trust with the American people, Bhattacharya said. 
Bhattacharya rose to prominence for his opposition to COVID lockdowns and later his concerns that COVID vaccines posed some health risks, specifically for young men. 
&#8220;Science should be an engine for freedom. Knowledge and freedom &#8230; it shouldn&#8217;t be pushing mandates for vaccines like the COVID vaccines,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The role of the scientist should not be to say that you can&#8217;t send your kid to school for two years.&#8221;
Reflecting on his experience during the COVID pandemic, Bhattacharya said that he was &#8220;tremendously proud&#8221; to advise Florida&#8217;s response to the pandemic, which sent kids back to schools way earlier than California with little to no negative impact.
Bhattacharya condemned the censorship that was pushed by the Biden administration against critics of the vaccine mandates at the time. He said during the pandemic there was a problem of &#8220;censorship and restriction&#8221; of science&#8221; and that the &#8220;root problem was that people who had alternative ideas were suppressed.&#8221;
Bhattacharya said that he himself was the victim of pressure campaigns by the Biden administration and that the Freedom of Information Act requests he filed during the pandemic were returned fully redacted.
&#8220;You can&#8217;t have trust unless you are transparent,&#8221; Bhattacharya said, saying that that Americans should be able to &#8220;see all of the activities of the NIH openly.&#8221;
Other topics discussed during the hearing included proposed cuts to NIH funding of universities and research institutions, as well as vaccines and autism. Moderate Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) pushed Bhattacharya to disavow Trump&#8217;s cap on funding for indirect funding, which he said he would evaluate if confirmed.
Bhattacharya would help allocate tens of billions of dollars in funding if confirmed by the Senate.

NIH Director Nominee Jayanta Bhattacharya Testifies In Senate Hearing

Jay Bhattacharya Promises To Bring Accountability To NIH After COVID Failure

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Republicans will head into 2025 with the White House, control of both the U.S. House and Senate, and big expectations from voters to do something with it. Influential conservative activist Charlie Kirk says the party should make lawmakers that get in the way of the Trump agenda pay the price, but warned that the base will have to carefully pick its spots.
Kirk, 31, sat down with The Daily Wire at Turning Point USA’s America Fest in Phoenix, Arizona where he candidly broke down which Republicans are on his primary list. The Turning Point USA founder is a staunch Trump supporter who often speaks with the president-elect, and he is one of the top high profile conservative voices arguing that Republicans owe it to the American people to fall in line with Trump&#8217;s agenda.
&#8220;I find it very perplexing that Joe Biden gets all of his nominees and Republicans are happy to vote for many of them,&#8221; he told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Some Republicans give a harder time to Donald Trump&#8217;s nominees than Joe Biden&#8217;s nominees. There are Republicans that voted for Merrick Garland. There are Republicans that voted for [Alejandro] Mayorkas. There&#8217;s Republicans that voted for Lloyd Austin. No questions. And yet when it comes to Donald Trump&#8217;s nominees, it&#8217;s like the most challenging thing.&#8221;
Kirk said he has an exact &#8220;criteria&#8221; for Republicans that should be challenged through a primary in a way that won&#8217;t be &#8220;reckless or irresponsible&#8221; for the party.
&#8220;We&#8217;re gonna find Republican senators that have the following criteria. Number one, they&#8217;re in deep, deep, deep red states. So if we were to replace them, there will not be a general election issue, right? So we don&#8217;t want to try to go after someone like Thom Tillis, who I&#8217;m not a huge fan of, who might be in a razor thin race in North Carolina which would lose us a senate seat.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/charliekirk11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@charliekirk11</a> says he has a criteria for which Republicans should face a serious primary challenge.
1) They represent a &#8220;deep, deep red state&#8221; 
2) A pattern of not listening to voters on core issues 
3) They don&#8217;t support Trump&#8217;s cabinet nominees <a href="https://t.co/IRXDBua9bM">pic.twitter.com/IRXDBua9bM</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1873774698066248154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
&#8220;Number two, we&#8217;re gonna find people that have a repeated pattern of not listening to the will of their voters on very core issues that matter to them, border, immigration, foreign aid, size and scope of government, and then of course, whether or not they voted for Trump&#8217;s impeachment and also Trump&#8217;s cabinet,&#8221; Kirk continued. &#8220;And the final thing is this: we want to try to create, not a lesson, but I guess that&#8217;s one way to say it, where senators get out of line, they will be removed.&#8221; 
One senator on his list is Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who was first elected in 2014.
&#8220;He voted for the impeachment of Donald Trump,&#8221; said Kirk. &#8220;People don&#8217;t remember that. Bill Cassidy voted for the impeachment of Donald Trump. He&#8217;s trying to play like he&#8217;s some sort of, you know, friend of Donald Trump now. He&#8217;s got to go. He has routinely been the biggest supporter of sending money to Ukraine despite our border being wide open, which is not popular with the voters of Louisiana. So he&#8217;s on the top of the list.&#8221; 
Cassidy, who has met with a number of Trump nominees in recent weeks, including <a href="https://x.com/petehegseth/status/1866988332292747431?s=46">Pete Hegseth</a> and <a href="https://x.com/kash_patel/status/1869834089961754716?s=46">Kash Patel</a>, met with Trump in June 2024 and <a href="https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cassidy-releases-statement-following-meeting-with-president-trump/">issued a statement at the time</a> promising to work with Trump if he became the next president. In a a Saturday statement to The Daily Wire, a spokesman for the senator said, &#8220;Senator Cassidy continues to work for the state of Louisiana and for the United States. He looks forward to working with President Trump so that our country does great again over the next four years. This is what Louisiana voters care about.”
But not all the senators that have found themselves on the other side of the conservative base meet Krik&#8217;s criteria. Kirk and others are unhappy with Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa for her recent behavior towards Trump nominee Pete Hegseth, but she doesn&#8217;t fully meet their criteria for the primary list, particularly since she&#8217;s going to be in a competitive race.
&#8220;And here&#8217;s how it would work,&#8221; he noted, &#8220;if we were to remove Joni Ernst, the National Republican Senate groups would be like, &#8216;Oh, your fault.&#8217; They would rather make an example out of us try to make an example out of Joni Ernst. So we&#8217;re trying to be wiser than that.&#8221; 
<div id="attachment_850599" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/charlie-kirk-has-thoughts-on-which-republicans-need-a-primary-challenge/conservatives-gather-in-phoenix-for-annual-americafest-5" rel="attachment wp-att-850599"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-850599" class="wp-image-850599 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2190485533-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2190485533-864x576.jpg 864w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2190485533-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-2190485533-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>PHOENIX, ARIZONA &#8211; DECEMBER 22: Turning Point USA executive director Charlie Kirk is silhouetted against a large video of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump during Turning Point USA&#8217;s AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona.  (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)</div>
The Turning Point founder also mentioned Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, James Risch in Idaho, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who is part of leadership.
&#8220;There needs to be consequences when you don&#8217;t listen to the will of the voters,&#8221; Kirk said. &#8220;So we&#8217;ll see how they vote for the cabinet. That will definitely play into this.&#8221;
&#8220;Bill Cassidy, there&#8217;s nothing he can do at this point,&#8221; he added. &#8220;He voted to impeach Donald Trump, of which we believe you need to be retired.&#8221; 
Rounds and Capito did not respond to requests for comment, but a spokesman for Risch told The Daily Wire: “Senator Risch will vote to confirm President Trump’s nominees, just as he did during President Trump’s previous term.”
Questioned on what role he believes Trump will play on all of this, Kirk said he doesn&#8217;t think Trump would actively campaign against incumbents, but that his silence could be just as impactful.
&#8220;I think his silence will be the most powerful thing,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Not endorsing a candidate will end up being an endorsement if that were to happen, because look, he has to still work with the US Senate. He&#8217;s got to get ambassadors through, he&#8217;s got to do stuff. I don&#8217;t imagine him endorsing challengers. Bill Cassidy, he might, I don&#8217;t want to speak for him or for his team, but someone who actually voted to impeach him, I think that would probably reach to a level where he might do something, but probably not.&#8221; 
&#8220;It&#8217;s gonna be primary season sometime soon,&#8221; he added with a grin. 
As for what role Turning Point would play in primary season, Kirk appeared energized and ready to go. He says his organization will play a &#8220;heavy role,&#8221; including drafting the candidates, invigorating the grassroots, raising money for independent expenditures, and ballot chasing. 
&#8220;Republican primaries are different than general elections,&#8221; he explained,  &#8220;Our ask is not something extreme, the Washington insiders are trying to say Turning Point is just trying to cause problems. Well, not really, they&#8217;re the ones that cause the problems for not listening to their voters. If you vote like Ted Cruz or vote like Mike Lee, we think you&#8217;re a hero. You decided to vote a certain way that is against what your voters want.&#8221;
&#8220;We just want a Republican Party that is as conservative as its voters,&#8221; he argued. &#8220;Some people would say, and it sounds good, &#8216;Oh well, Charlie, we just won a huge election. Why are you picking these fights?&#8217; That&#8217;s exactly actually why — because the people gave us a mandate and the senators aren&#8217;t listening to that mandate.&#8221;
&#8220;So it&#8217;s time for some sorting out,&#8221; he concluded.

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Charlie Kirk Has Thoughts On Which Republicans Need A Primary Challenge

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Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/bernie-sanders" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bernie Sanders</a> (I-VT) introduced a bill Wednesday that would shave 8 hours off the standard 40-hour work week that has been around for several decades.
A <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/32-Hour-Workweek-Act_Fact-Sheet_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">summary</a> from Sanders said the legislation, called the &#8220;Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act,&#8221; would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 by lowering the maximum hours threshold for overtime compensation for non-exempt employees.
The <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/WIL241041.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> would require overtime pay at time and a half for workdays longer than eight hours and overtime pay at double a worker&#8217;s regular pay for workdays longer than 12 hours, the summary said. It would also &#8220;protect&#8221; workers&#8217; pay and benefits to ensure no loss in pay.
&#8220;Moving to a 32-hour workweek with no loss of pay is not a radical idea,” Sanders said in a <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-introduces-legislation-to-enact-a-32-hour-workweek-with-no-loss-in-pay/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. &#8220;Today, American workers are over 400 percent more productive than they were in the 1940s. And yet, millions of Americans are working longer hours for lower wages than they were decades ago. That has got to change.&#8221;
He added, &#8220;The financial gains from the major advancements in artificial intelligence, automation, and new technology must benefit the working class, not just corporate CEOs and wealthy stockholders on Wall Street. It is time to reduce the stress level in our country and allow Americans to enjoy a better quality of life. It is time for a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay.&#8221;
As chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), he held a <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/workers-should-benefit-from-new-technology-and-increased-productivity-the-need-for-a-32-hour-work-week-with-no-loss-in-pay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hearing on the bill</a> Thursday. The legislation has the support of several labor unions and a companion bill in the House, which was introduced by Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA).
As polls <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/22/workers-overwhelmingly-want-a-4-day-workweekon-one-condition.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">show</a> a high level of support for a hypothetical four-day work week, there has been a push at the state level, in places such as <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/mass-bill-that-would-create-4-day-workweek-to-be-heard/3190043/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Massachusetts</a> and <a href="https://www.abc27.com/pennsylvania/pennsylvania-lawmaker-proposes-4-day-workweek-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pennsylvania</a>, to give the 32-hour model a try. <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/19/countries-with-shortest-and-longest-workweeks.html#:~:text=Kiribati%3A%2027.3%20hours%20average%20per,per%20week%20per%20employed%20person" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Companies and other countries</a> have already begun to move in that direction, with data showing some <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/24/worlds-biggest-4-day-workweek-experiment-shows-big-health-benefits.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">positive results</a>. However, not everyone is on board with the legislation being proposed by Sanders.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenBillCassidy/status/1768287808320381303" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> a &#8220;32 hour work week for 40 hours of pay is one more example of the federal government promising free money. Nothing is free. It would kill jobs and increase inflation.&#8221;
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1710518117024000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0wFKEoBRLles6W3VMxy8zc">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
Roger King, senior labor and employment counsel at the HR Policy Association, <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/workers-should-benefit-from-new-technology-and-increased-productivity-the-need-for-a-32-hour-work-week-with-no-loss-in-pay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> during the hearing on Thursday that the proposal from Sanders would cause a &#8220;productivity gap&#8221; in many industries that could then lead to &#8220;added costs&#8221; for consumers. He also said the bill would &#8220;interfere&#8221; with &#8220;flexibility&#8221; for employees and cause a &#8220;worker shortage&#8221; for employers.

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Senate Launches Investigation Into Pro-Palestinian Group For Ties To Hamas

GOP Senate Chairman Prepping Bill To Help Trump Finish Off Education Dept

Jay Bhattacharya Promises To Bring Accountability To NIH After COVID Failure

Charlie Kirk Has Thoughts On Which Republicans Need A Primary Challenge

Bernie Sanders Unveils Bill To Implement 32-Hour Work Week