Trump targets law firm Paul Weiss, restricting government access
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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday suspending security clearances of Mark Pomerantz and those who work at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. The order also restricts government access to lawyers and employees at the New York-based law firm.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to suspend security clearances held by individuals at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (Paul Weiss) pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest,” the White House said in a fact sheet.
Pomerantz oversaw the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s investigation into Trump and his business practices.
Notably, the executive order was signed the same day that Trump spoke at the Department of Justice, where he attacked those who prosecuted him.
The new executive order is the third time Trump has taken action against a law firm. On Wednesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked parts of Trump’s executive order targeting Perkins Coie, ruling the order was unconstitutional.
The language in this executive order mirrors that of the order that targeted Perkins Coie.
Judge Beryl Howell said the actions being taken by the Trump administration targeting these firms are “terrifying” to the legal community and noted that the DOJ’s arguments in support sent “chills down my spine.”
This firm also has other high-profile Democrats among its ranks, including former Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former Homeland Security Secretary Jey Johnson, and was among the biggest donors to Democrats and former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election.
“The executive order is focused on the activities of Mark Pomerantz, who retired from the firm in 2012 and went on to work at the District Attorney’s office nearly a decade later,” Paul Weiss said in a statement to ABC News. “Mr. Pomerantz has not been affiliated with the firm for years. The terms of a similar order were enjoined as unconstitutional earlier this week by a federal district court judge.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin and Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Longtime Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell announced on Thursday he will not seek reelection next year.
McConnell, who turned 83 today, was largely expected to end his Senate tenure at the conclusion of his term in January 2027 but made it official in a floor speech in which he reflected on his decades-long political career.
“Seven times my fellow Kentuckians have sent me to the Senate. Every day in between I have humbled by the trust they place in me to do their business, right here,” he said. “Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of a lifetime.”
“I will not seek this honor for an eighth time,” he continued. “My current term in the Senate will be my last.”
The Kentucky lawmaker stepped down from his role as party leader last year after a record-breaking 18 years atop the GOP conference.
McConnell said Thursday that serving in the role was “a rare and, yes, rather specific childhood dream” come true.
Since ending his tenure as leader, McConnell has distinguished himself as one of few Republican senators willing to challenge President Donald Trump. He has voted against three of Trump’s Cabinet nominees so far, more than any other GOP lawmaker in the body.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday to lead the Department of Health and Human Services saw senators question the environmental lawyer about his views on vaccines, abortion, pesticides and even Lyme disease.
Senators asked Kennedy about views he has frequently promoted on vaccines that are at odds with the consensus of public health researchers and the mainstream scientific community, despite saying he is “supportive of vaccines” on Wednesday.
The nominee was also questioned about his past comments, including claiming that pesticides cause children to become transgender.
Additionally, senators asked Kennedy about comments he made in support of abortion rights when he was a registered Democrat and a 2024 presidential candidate in contrast with recent comments, supporting President Donald Trump’s views and believing that laws regulating the procedure should be left up to the states.
Here are a few medical claims made by Kennedy that are missing context or include falsehoods:
Claim: CDC approved COVID-19 vaccines “without any scientific basis.”
Context: COVID vaccines are among the most studied accines in history, with large clinical studies showing the health benefits far exceed any potential risks.
Claim: Kennedy says he had nothing to do with the measles outbreak in American Samoa
Context: The 2019 measles outbreak led to more than 5,700 cases and 83 deaths. The Ministry of Health cited Kennedy’s visit and rhetoric as exacerbating vaccine hesitancy at a crucial moment
Claim: Kennedy: ‘I probably did say, Lyme disease is “highly likely a militarily engineered bioweapon”‘
Context: Lyme disease is caused by a type of bacteria and spreads through the bite of blacklegged ticks
Claim: Kennedy says he has never claimed pesticides lead children to become transgender
Context: Kennedy has repeatedly suggested environmental toxins, including those in drinking water, are linked to gender identify in children. These claims are unfounded.
Claim Sen. James Lankford: The FDA has discouraged people from submitting safety reports about abortion medication mifepristone unless the person died.
Context: Anyone is welcome to submit a safety report on any medication using a publicly available database.
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(WASHINGTON) — In dramatic fashion, House Republicans passed a bill to fund the government through the end of September 2025 — a major victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, who has previously relied on Democrats for bipartisan support to avert a shutdown.
The House voted 217-213 to pass the spending bill, known as a continuing resolution, days before some funding runs out.
Following the House vote — which saw just a single Republican defection — Johnson thanked President Donald Trump, who helped convince GOP holdouts to support the bill.
“We are united in our mission to deliver the America first agenda,” Johnson said in a post on X.
The spending bill now heads to the Senate — where it requires 60 votes to pass, and its fate is uncertain.
The House’s approval has left Senate Democrats divided on the “stark” decision ahead.
What will Senate Democrats do?
“There are really only two options: One is vote for a pretty bad CR. Or the other is to vote for a potentially even worse shutdown,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, following the House vote. “So it’s a very tough choice,”
Democrats met for two hours Tuesday with no consensus on how they planned to handle the vote on the bill — and the fissure is palpable.
Some Democrats are clearly leaning toward casting a painful vote to oppose the House package and effectively shut down the government.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., branded the House-passed CR a “shutdown bill” that Republicans will bear responsibility for in a floor speech Tuesday night.
“A budget is a reflection of our values,” Warren said on the floor. “This proposal makes crystal clear where Republicans’ values lie. After months of bipartisan talks, they’re walking away from the negotiating table and offering a non-starter House bill that forces us to the brink of a full government shutdown. The Republican shutdown playbook is dangerous, and it will hurt working families.”
Though she did not expressly state how she plans to vote on the package, she said House Democrats were right to oppose the measure, and said the Senate should follow suit.
“Democrats in the House have showed us they are united,” Warren said, when asked if Senate Democrats should be united in their opposition to the House package. “Why should it be different in the Senate?”
Separately, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries suggested Tuesday that Senate Democrats should oppose the measure.
“The strong House Democratic vote in opposition to this reckless Republican spending bill speaks for itself,” Jeffries said.
Senate Dem: Vote ‘like a bad dream’
Pointing to the “stark” choice Senate Democrats face, King said he has concerns that the “uncharted” territory of a shutdown under the new Trump administration that has already laid off federal employees.
“A shutdown is uncharted territory when you’ve got an administration that at least in some ways probably would welcome a shutdown because that would give the president almost unlimited power: deciding who is essential who is not unessential, folding up agencies,” King said. “So that is the dilemma that is being discussed.”
The House has left town for the week after passing their bill. If Democrats in the Senate want to avoid a shut down on Friday night, they’ll have to furnish at least eight votes to do it, with Republican Sen. Rand Paul already stating he’ll oppose the package.
It’s unclear what route they’ll ultimately choose but some members are clearly plagued by the choice.
“They made a bunch of changes, I want to see what they’re changing,” Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. said.
“I’m not happy … It’s one of those things once we go through it, it’s going to feel like a bad dream. I’ve got to go through it.”
House vote: 1 Republican ‘No,’ 1 Democratic ‘Yes’
In the House vote, Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie voted no — despite pressure from the president in the form of a primary threat. In a Truth Social post Monday, Trump suggested that the defection warranted mounting a primary campaign against Massie.
To pass the measure Tuesday afternoon, Johnson relied on some GOP support from Republicans who had never voted in favor of a continuing resolution.
Rep. Jared Golden was the only Democrat who voted with Republicans. All other Democrats voted against the measure — potentially previewing the posture of Senate Democrats.
“This CR is not perfect, but a shutdown would be worse. Even a brief shutdown would introduce even more chaos and uncertainty at a time when our country can ill-afford it,” Golden posted on X.
He also slammed Democrats for using what he called “messaging gimmicks” about the bill.
The bill funds the government at current levels through Sept. 30, 2025.
What’s in the bill?
The 99-page bill decreases spending overall from last year’s funding levels, but increases spending for the military by about $6 billion.
While there is an additional $6 billion for veterans’ health care, non-defense spending is about $13 billion lower than fiscal year 2024 levels.
The legislation leaves out emergency funding for disasters, but provides a boost in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation operations.
It also increases funding for W.I.C. by about $500 million, a program that provides free groceries to low-income women and children.
Now that the House has dispatched its bill to the Senate, it’s not yet clear how it will fare as it will require significant bipartisan support to pass the upper chamber.
Vote was major test of Johnson’s leadership
The spending bill was a major test for Johnson. In the absence of Democratic support, Johnson could only afford to lose one Republican vote before a second defection killed the bill.
In a statement following the vote, Johnson said Republicans “stood for the American people” and blasted Democrats who he said “decided to double down on partisan politics.”
Johnson had crucial allies in Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who lobbied House Republicans to shore up support ahead of the vote.
In the final hours before the Tuesday vote, Trump worked the phones, reaching out to the House Republicans who remained undecided.
On Tuesday morning, Vance attended a closed-door House conference meeting where he urged House Republicans to get on board with the vote and emphasized the importance of not shutting the government down, members said to ABC News.
Government funding is set to lapse at the end of the day on Friday, March 14.
