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EARL WATT

   • Leader & Times

EDITOR’S NOTE — Travis Combs is a Liberal High School graduate and former Dean of Industrial Technology at Seward County Community College and former USD No. 480 Board Member. Combs went to work in Washington, D.C. in the U.S. Department of Education. This story arose from a video made by Project Veritas with comments Combs made about the DOE and how he said it works around restrictions to withhold funds from illegal immigrants and how they are communicating without DOGE knowing.

Liberal native Travis Combs was exposed by Project Veritas on how the Department of Education works to keep lawmakers in the dark about legislation that uses public funds for illegal immigrants as well as hiding their conversations from DOGE.

In the video, Combs, who claimed to oversee seven other employees in his role of developing programs for adult education, said his department is used by illegal immigrants because they do not ask citizenship status.

“The one nice thing about this program that I work in is we don’t ask [citizenship] status, and we’ve been able to keep that out of our federal statute,” he said. “We don’t ask them when they enroll what their status is.”

To keep Congress in the dark, Combs said when lawmakers attempt to require citizenship, “we block it.”

“We just take that out, that they have to ask for status —  We just leave it completely out,” Combs said. “When they mark up a bill, they only read sections of it. And so if you can squeeze something in somewhere, do that.”

Combs confirmed to the Project Veritas reporter that those omissions are still in place and that they are able to keep language out of bills.

“We’re like, ‘Oh no, it won’t work for the program.’ So then they don’t put it in,” Combs said. “There’s a lot of maneuvering you have to do at the federal level with Congress.”

Combs also claimed the newly formed DOGE had moved into the DOE building on the seventh floor which is reserved for upper management and the Secretary of the DOE. He said DOGE has removed upper management from their offices and placed them in cubicles. In addition, Combs said DOGE “shut off everyone’s access to everything because they’re in the building looking through everything.” 

Combs also said that DOGE added software that allowed them to record every keystroke and to “listen in to the calls we have with team members or contractors.”

“If you want to have a conversation with somebody, you do have to take it offline, but you’re not supposed to,” Combs said. 

To work around DOGE, Combs said staffers were using the encrypted communication application Signal even though they were “not supposed to.”

“Everybody is using it,” Combs said.

When asked what were the odds he kept his job, Combs said he believed his odds were “25-75.”

Combs said he had been asked what he would do if he was placed on leave.

“Go to the beach on the taxpayer’s dime,” Combs said.  “So if you hear from me, and I tell you that I’m in Mexico on the beach, that’s why.”

President Donald Trump has said he wanted to close the Department of Education, citing how poorly America’s students are doing compared to others around the world.

When asked how students are doing compared to other nations, Combs said, “Probably sitting thirties, forties,” Combs said. “Yeah, not good.”

See the video at projectveritas.com.