Trump officials accidentally shared Yemen war plans via group chat with media: Report
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(WASHINGTON) — Members of the Trump administration coordinated highly sensitive Yemen war plans on an unsecure group chat, which accidentally included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, he wrote in a report for the publication on Monday.
White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes shared with ABC News the statement he provided The Atlantic confirming the veracity of a Signal group chat, which Goldberg said included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“At this time, the message thread that was reported appears to be authentic, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain. The thread is a demonstration of the deep and thoughtful policy coordination between senior officials. The ongoing success of the Houthi operation demonstrates that there were no threats to our servicemembers or our national security,” Hughes said in the statement.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — As the IRS fired thousands of workers across the country on Thursday, many laid-off employees walked out of the headquarters in Washington, D.C., for the last time.
One fired IRS worker, who exited the building with a heavy suitcase and stuffed duffle bag, told ABC News he was originally hired to make the IRS more efficient.
“I was brought in to do data analytics and automation,” he said, adding that his colleagues were “surprised and hurt” since the “understanding was that I was brought in to make things more efficient” and the government would retain people with his technical skill set.
He said his job “modernized” IRS data infrastructure and streamlined compliance work, noting the irony in that the stated mission of the federal workforce cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is precisely to make the government more efficient.
Sources told ABC News the IRS is expected to lay off more than 6,000 probationary employees across the country starting Thursday — about 6% of the total IRS workforce. One source familiar with the matter told ABC News more than 100 people are being fired across the Washington offices, including more than 60 terminated from IRS headquarters.
However, the layoffs are expected nationwide, with hundreds expected in Texas, New York, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
When asked whether he thought the firings would affect this tax filing season, the fired worker said: “You can only imagine with so many people being let go and so much information and potential being lost that people probably can expect disturbances.”
“I wish there was more thought put into the long-term impact that some of these decisions will have on not just the American taxpayers but the American people,” he added.
He said he’s worked in a variety of industries, including doing nanotechnology research, biotechnology research and engineering, but that he felt the most motivation and mission while working for the federal government.
Another IRS employee who was wiping away tears described the impact she believed this will have on the future of the IRS. While she still has a job, she said these layoffs are “gutting” the IRS and will mean less enforcement and fewer people to respond to concerns from taxpayers.
She also noted that much of the IRS workforce is older and near retirement age. The probationary workers who were recently hired included the “best and the brightest” who represented the future of the IRS, she said, adding that all of that is now being taken away.
Another fired IRS worker told ABC News he was just three weeks shy of no longer being a probationary employee. He disputed Musk’s and Trump’s claims that the firings are improving efficiency.
“I know that the people that I have worked with … work really hard, and so … if you’re measuring efficiency by productivity, certainly not. If you’re measuring efficiency by morale, absolutely not,” he said. “I accepted this role in order to help our country fight bad guys.”
(WASHINGTON) — In a scathing letter Tuesday, Caroline Kennedy warned senators about her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., calling him a “predator.”
The letter was sent to lawmakers ahead of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Senate confirmation hearing for the role of secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), which is scheduled for Wednesday.
Caroline Kennedy – a former U.S. ambassador to both Australia and Japan and the last living child of former President John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s uncle – called the role “an enormous responsibility, and one that Bobby is unqualified to fill.”
Caroline Kennedy wrote that she feels “an obligation to speak out” now that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been nominated for “a position that would put him in charge of the health of the American people.”
“I have known Bobby my whole life; we grew up together,” she wrote in the letter, in part. “It’s no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets because he himself is a predator.”
Caroline Kennedy said she watched family members follow her cousin “down the path of drug addiction,” and shared disturbing details of his alleged behavior with animals.
“His basement, his garage, and his dorm room were the centers of the action where drugs were available, and he enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in the blender to feed his hawks. It was often a perverse scene of despair and violence,” she wrote.
She also accused Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of being “addicted to attention and power,” and said he “preys on the desperation of parents of sick children – vaccinating his own children while building a following by hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs.”
Caroline Kennedy further accused her cousin of “[continuing] to grandstand off my father’s assassination, and that of his own father,” saying former President Kennedy “would be disgusted” by his actions.
“The American health care system, for all its flaws, is the envy of the world,” Caroline Kennedy wrote. “Its doctors and nurses, researchers, scientists, and caregivers are the most dedicated people I know. Every day, they give their lives to heal and save others.”
“They deserve better than Bobby Kennedy – and so do the rest of us. I urge the Senate to reject his nomination,” she concluded.
(WASHINGTON) — Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is no stranger to grilling nominees during confirmation hearings, but on Wednesday he’ll be the one in the hot seat as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the top U.S. diplomat moves forward.
Rubio is appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on which he’s served since 2011 and is expected to sail through the confirmation process with bipartisan backing, potentially becoming the 72nd secretary of state as soon as Inauguration Day.
But that doesn’t mean his testimony and questioning before his colleagues in the Senate won’t produce any fireworks.
Here’s what to watch for:
New territory
Rubio’s well-documented public record, along with support from colleagues on both sides of the aisle, may clear the way for lawmakers to ask the nominee more targeted questions about the foreign policy of the president he’ll serve under.
In recent weeks, Trump has made international waves by refusing to rule out using the U.S. military to fulfill his goals of acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal and saying he’ll use economic force to make Canada the 51st state.
Wednesday’s hearing is set to be the first time Rubio faces extensive questioning about Trump’s territorial ambitions — and whether he would work to make them a reality as secretary of state.
“I would imagine he’s going to be deferential to the president-elect,” said Richard Goldberg, a former official at the National Security Council and Senate foreign policy adviser. “These are his policy decisions, these are the president-elect’s statements.”
“[Rubio] will hopefully articulate what the American interest is in all of these places in a circumspect way,” Goldberg, who is also a senior advisor at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, added.
On the Panama Canal, Trump has used overblown claims about China’s involvement in its operations to justify his interest in overtaking it — falsely claiming earlier this month that the waterway, which is operated by the Panamanian government, is actually run by Beijing.
But Rubio — a son of Cuban immigrants who has paid close attention to Latin America during his political career — has expressed fact-based concerns about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence over the Panama Canal that may resurface during the hearing.
“The Panama Canal is as an important transit route to intercept illicit activities, yet the canal is surrounded by #CCP enterprises,” he tweeted in 2022. “We must continue to make clear that Panama is an important partner & warn against CCP attempts to establish a foothold in our region.”
In early 2024, Rubio also led a bipartisan group of senators in urging the government of Panama to investigate tankers accused of smuggling Iranian through the canal.
“I think he has the experience, the depth of knowledge, and the political expertise to take any question and handle it pretty well,” Goldberg said.
Converging and contrasting views
Rubio — long known as a Russia and China hawk in the Senate — has been accused of dialing back his interventionist foreign policy approach to align with Trump’s positions and may face fresh criticism from opponents who believe he might prioritize serving as a yes man to president over serving the country.
In the early phase of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Rubio was a staunch supporter of Kyiv’s war efforts. But over time, as Trump became a more outspoken critic of continuing American aid to Ukraine, Rubio appeared to change course — eventually calling for a negotiated settlement to end the conflict.
There are still many foreign policy topics where there’s still plenty of distance between Rubio and Trump. While the president-elect is a near-constant critic of NATO, Rubio co-sponsored legislation with Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine aimed at preventing any commander in chief from exiting the alliance.
But ultimately, Goldberg says, Rubio’s role in the incoming administration will be advising the president on foreign policy matters and then carrying out what Trump decides.
“That’s the job he’s signing up for,” Goldberg said. “Ultimately, this President Trump’s secretary of state — no one else’s.”
In his prepared opening statement, Rubio says, “Ultimately, under President Trump, the top priority of the United States Department of State must be and will be the United States.
“The direction he has given for the conduct of our foreign policy is clear. Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?” he’s expected to say.
The ‘deep State’ Department?
Rubio’s confirmation may also present an opportunity to gain insight into how he intends to lead the State Department’s roughly 77,000 employees — and whether he might attempt to purge its ranks of those he or the president-elect view as political enemies, as incoming national security Adviser Mike Waltz reportedly plans to do at the National Security Council.
In an opinion piece published in The Federalist in April 2024, Rubio said there were many government employees who “do good work, day in and day out, but expressed concern about “others who act as self-appointed “protectors” of institutions against politicians they don’t like.”
“Looking ahead to another Trump administration, it’s clear why liberal elites want to protect the “deep state.” They hate Donald Trump and everything he stands for,” Rubio wrote.
