Trump targets law firm Paul Weiss, restricting government access
(Bloomberg Creative/Getty Images)
(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) — As his time in the White House comes to a close, President Joe Biden has implemented a series of executive orders and rules, trying to cement his policies before Donald Trump returns with the threat of undoing them.
From using provisions in federal law to ban much offshore drilling to commuting the sentences of 37 federal death row inmates, Biden has been determined to accomplish the political goals he set out to do four years ago.
Trump, never one to mince words against his rival, has condemned Biden’s moves, claiming he was hurting his agenda — what he says Americans voted for in November.
“They say we’re going to have a smooth transition. All they do is talk,” the president-elect told reporters Tuesday.
“I’m going to put it back on day one. I’m going to have it revoked on day one. We’ll go immediately if we need to… they try to be sneaky,” he said of Biden’s drilling ban.
Some academic policy experts, however, say Biden’s eleventh-hour decisions are not out of the ordinary, especially when it comes to a change of parties in the White House.
“This is pretty typical. Trump is just complaining about it louder,” Jonathan Hanson, a political scientist and lecturer in statistics at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, told ABC News.
The experts noted that Trump’s claims Biden is tying his hands are far from true as some of Biden’s policies can be overturned and mitigated.
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced the extension of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for asylum seekers from Venezuela, El Salvador, Sudan, and Ukraine. Over 900,000 current beneficiaries will now have 18-month extensions, according to the order.
TPS is one of the few ways that an administration can protect a large group of migrants without congressional approval, however, it’s also within the DHS secretary’s power to end it. Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance have vowed to end the program, which Trump attempted to do back during his first administration.
Biden announced earlier in the week a ban on offshore drilling using provisions in the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to push forward with the proposal. Under the act, the policy change can only be reversed through an act of Congress.
Dan Mallinson, a professor of public policy and administration at Penn State Harrisburg, told ABC News that it’s not unusual for administrations to pore through federal laws and regulations to find loopholes for executive orders that can’t be easily overturned.
“In a lot of cases, the executive order will be overturned even if it takes time, so those administrations will look for every win they can in the lame-duck session,” he said.
Mallinson said that Biden’s announcement this week of two national monuments in California which would preserve 840,000 acres from any federal drilling, was also done with the same kind of meticulous planning. He did note that Trump could change the plan by limiting the size of the monuments, which he did during his first term after similar moves by President Barack Obama.
Trump himself issued several of eleventh-hour orders during the last weeks of his first presidency, including one two days before he left office that would have scaled back punishments for regulations, only for Biden to reverse them in his first months in office.
“On the face of it, it’s pretty standard. Biden is not doing anything unusual compared to other presidents. It’s the normal course of things for decades,” Hanson said.
The experts pointed out that Trump also faced a similar situation in his first administration and undid several executive orders and changed various policies instituted by Obama in his first months of office, including his ban on offshore drilling.
Trump’s reversal of Obama’s order, however, was scaled back after then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a key Trump ally, raised concerns about how it would affect his state. The ban continued for Florida lands.
“It’s not always crystal clear if executive orders or last-minute policy changes will be reversed by the new president,” Mallison said.
The experts said when it comes to Biden’s moves, what was different is the messaging.
The president has been mostly silent during his lame-duck session and pushed on his policy changes with little fanfare, however, Trump has been making more headlines by sounding off on social media, interviews and other media appearances, Mallison noted.
And while Trump may make claims and boast as if he were in office, Biden still has power until Jan. 20, Mallison said.
“Trump is trying to exploit this mentality, which is wrong, that the government has to operate under the president-elect. But the reality is that, constitutionally, Biden is the president now and he can act on his authority,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered an immediate pause on gender-affirming medical care procedures for all active-duty service members in a memo that was addressed to senior Pentagon leadership and military command.
The Feb. 7, 2025, memo, which was obtained today by ABC News, also ordered an immediate pause on all new promotions in the military for individuals “with a history of gender dysphoria.”
“Effective immediately, all new accessions for individuals with a history of gender dysphoria are paused, and all unscheduled, scheduled, or planned medical procedures associated with affirming or facilitating a gender transition for Service members are paused,” the memo says.
“Individuals with gender dysphoria have volunteered to serve our country and will be treated with dignity and respect,” the memo continued, adding that the Department of Defense would provide “additional policy and implementation guidance” to service members “with a current diagnosis or history of gender dysphoria.”
The memo came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 28 rescinding Biden administration policies that permitted transgender service members to serve openly in the military based on their gender identity. The executive order is being challenged in federal court by prominent LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, including Human Rights Campaign, which filed a pair of lawsuits against the Trump administration on behalf of active-duty transgender service members.
The executive order directed the Department of Defense to revise the Pentagon’s policy on transgender service members and stated that “expressing a false “gender identity” divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.”
The order further argued that receiving gender-affirming medical care is one of the conditions that is physically and mentally “incompatible with active duty.”
“Consistent with the military mission and longstanding DoD policy, expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service,” the order continued.
Hegseth echoed this sentiment in the Feb. 7 memo, saying that “efforts to split our troops along lines of identity weaken our Force and make us vulnerable. Such efforts must not be tolerated or accommodated.”
Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday on behalf of six active-duty transgender service members, challenging the Trump administration over the president’s ban on transgender service members.
“By categorically excluding transgender people, the 2025 Military Ban and related federal policy and directives violate the equal protection and due process guarantees of the Fifth Amendment and the free speech guarantee of the First Amendment,” the lawsuit said. “They lack any legitimate or rational justification, let alone the compelling and exceedingly persuasive ones required. Accordingly, Plaintiffs seek declaratory, and preliminary and permanent injunctive, relief.”
A similar lawsuit against the Trump administration was filed on Jan. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by advocacy groups GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) on behalf of six additional active duty service members.
“By categorically excluding transgender people, the 2025 Military Ban and related federal policy and directives violate the equal protection and due process guarantees of the Fifth Amendment and the free speech guarantee of the First Amendment,” the lawsuit said. “They lack any legitimate or rational justification, let alone the compelling and exceedingly persuasive ones required. Accordingly, Plaintiffs seek declaratory, and preliminary and permanent injunctive, relief.”
A similar lawsuit against the Trump administration was filed on Jan. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by advocacy groups GLAD Law and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) on behalf of six additional active duty service members.
ABC News reached out to the White House regarding the lawsuits but requests for comment were not returned.
The immediate impact of the memo on transgender service members is unclear, but ABC News has reached out to the plaintiffs in each of those lawsuits for comment.
Shannon Minter, lead counsel of NCLR, told ABC News in a statement on Monday that Hegseth’s memo “underscores the urgency of the need for court intervention.”
“The administration is already taking steps to implement the ban even before the stated deadlines in the original executive order,” Minter said. “Transgender applicants are already being turned away and transgender service members are being targeted and denied medically necessary care.”
Court records show that a hearing in this case is scheduled on February 18 in the D.C. district court, where Judge Ana Reyes is presiding over the case.
ABC News’ Briana Stewart contributed to this report.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends the inauguration of Donald Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson – Pool/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — From a multimillion-dollar law firm payout to six-figure endorsements and book deals, President Donald Trump’s nominee for health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., raked in at least $12 million in total income in the past two years, new personal financial disclosure forms show.
Kennedy boasted a vast amount of wealth across various investment funds, bank accounts and real estate properties totaling between $8.6 million to $33.4 million. However, he also reported a staggering amount of liabilities — between $3.4 million and $12.7 million — which could put him in the red on paper.
Kennedy’s liabilities include up to $1.2 million in credit card debt to American Express at a 23% revolving interest rate and three 30-year mortgages worth up to $10.5 million, according to the filing.
The exact values of his total assets and liabilities are unclear because federal financial disclosures are reported in ranges.
A major chunk of Kennedy’s income since 2023 was his nearly $9 million payout from his law firm Kennedy & Madonna LLP, which is now called Madonna & Madonna LLP after Kennedy resigned last week.
His main source of income from the past year stemmed from hefty referral fees from multiple law firms, arrangements which Kennedy noted in his ethics agreement that he will terminate upon his confirmation. However, he stated he plans to retain a contingency fee interest in cases that do not involve the U.S. government.
In his ethics agreement, Kennedy disclosed that among the cases he has referred to the Wisner Baum law firm are claims filed under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), from which he said he will divest his interest.
Kennedy, who has been a vocal supporter of cryptocurrency and has spoken at multiple Bitcoin conventions, also reported owning between $1 million to $5 million in Fidelity’s Bitcoin fund, the filing shows.
Kennedy also disclosed smaller holdings in biotech companies Dragonfly Therapeutics and CRISPR Therapeutics AG, as well as in other companies like Progressive Corp, Amazon and Apple, from which he said he plans to divest after his confirmation.
Credit card debt potentially doubled in 6 months
Kennedy’s credit card debt potentially doubled in just six months, a comparison of his liabilities in his new disclosure filing and his disclosure from last year suggest.
In July 2024, Kennedy, as a presidential candidate, disclosed having credit card debts to American Express worth $360,004 to $715,000, at roughly 23% revolving interest rate.
In his latest disclosure submitted in late December 2024 and publicly released today, Kennedy’s American Express debts snowballed into between $610,000 and $1.2 million.
It’s unclear how much, exactly, his credit card debt increased in the past few months because liabilities are reported in ranges, but the latest disclosure shows his debts have potentially grown exponentially.
Money from book deals
Kennedy is set to earn millions from multiple book deals, including up to $4 million in advances for books titled “Unsettled Science” and “A Defense for Israel.” Kennedy also earned $1,000 for an advance for a book titled “Vax-UnVax: Let the Science Speak.”
According to his disclosure, two of the three books have already been written prior to his nomination, and he does not plan to engage in “writing, editing, marketing, or promotional services” while serving as HHS Secretary.
Kennedy earned little income from the fourteen books he has already published – such as “American Values: Lessons I Learned from my Family” and “Vaccine Villains: What the American Public Should Know about the Industry” — making less than $200 from each title, according to the disclosure form.
Money from endorsements
Kennedy earned $100,000 from his endorsement of a boxing ball game called Boxbollen in a video he posted on his social media accounts last month, though he returned $50,000 after cancelling the contract following his nomination as health and human services secretary.
“Mr. Kennedy had a pre-existing contract prior to his nomination, after posting the video – he realized it was best to delete it and cancel the contract,” a source close to Kennedy told ABC News in November.
Kennedy also earned $200,000 in speaking fees during three days in November, speaking at the Rockbridge Fall Summit in Las Vegas — organized by a conservative donor network co-founded by Vice President JD Vance – and Genius Network Annual Event in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Hollywood money
Kennedy also disclosed dozens of sources of compensation from his wife Cheryl Hines, an actress best known for her role on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
In addition to that show, Hines earns residual payments from multiple films and television shows including “Friends,” “Herbie,” “Waitress,” “The Conners,” “The Flight Attendant” and “A Bad Moms Christmas.”
Hines also received a $600,000 advance payment for her memoir “My Shade of Crazy.”
Oil rights, properties in Chicago
As was disclosed in his previous financial disclosure from his 2024 presidential bid, Kennedy had previously owned oil and gas rights in Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida but sold them in the past year, netting roughly $55,000 from the sales, according to the filing.
He also reported owning commercial properties in Chicago worth between $700,000 and $1.5 million.
