HHS freezes $10 billion in child care funding for 5 Democratic states, alleging fraudulent programs

(WASHINGTON) — The two top Democrats on the House and Senate Judiciary committees are referring outgoing Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem to the Department of Justice for perjury due to her testimony to congressional committees earlier this month, according to a letter sent to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland allege that Noem’s statements on a variety of topics including DHS following judges’ orders and a controversial multimillion-dollar ad campaign “appear to violate criminal statutes prohibiting perjury and knowingly making false statements to Congress.”

In response to the letter, a DHS spokesperson said “Any claim that Secretary Noem committed perjury is categorically FALSE.”

A Justice Department spokesperson said, “The DOJ has received the latest political stunt from the Democrats who should instead vote to reopen the Department of Homeland Security.”

President Donald Trump fired Noem the day after her testimony concluded and announced that he was appointing her to a new role as special envoy to the Shield of the Americas, a coalition of Latin American countries the White House says is committed to cooperating with the U.S. in taking on drug cartels and securing the U.S. border. He said he had nominated Oklahoma Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin to head DHS when Noem’s tenure ended on March 31.

The Democrats allege that Noem misled Congress when she said that DHS had followed court orders while federal judges have ruled a number of times that it had not.

They also cited her testimony over contracts for a $220 million DHS ad campaign and her assertion that Trump had signed off on it. A day later, Trump told Reuters, “I never knew anything about it.”

“New public reporting, however, indicates that those statements may have been false. It has been reported that not only did the Secretary “handpick” four companies for the ad campaign, but procurement records show the “ad work was awarded using ‘other than full and open competition,'” and the four companies were politically connected to Noem and her allies,” according to the letter. 

Durbin and Raskin also allege Noem misled Congress when she testified that top adviser Corey Lewandowski had “no authority” to make decisions for the department.

“Secretary Noem’s denial of Corey Lewandowski’s role in DHS contract approval may also have been false. It has been widely reported that Mr. Lewandowski asserts approval authority over contracts and grants that exceed $100,000.27 A similar approval process reportedly exists for policy decisions, and as a recently published document shows, Mr. Lewandowski’s signature is visible above Secretary Noem’s on a February 2025 document reversing temporary protected status for Haitians.”

Lewandowski is reportedly leaving his position as a special government employee. He did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment on his future at DHS.

The Democrats also allege Noem made false statements about conditions in ICE detention centers adhering to federal detention standards while ICE internal audits documented “significant failures to meet medical care standards.”

And they say her assertion that ICE did not detain U.S. citizens is false and cited 170 cases of citizens being detained in some cases for days without an opportunity to prove their citizenship.

“Making false statements to Congress, and making false statements under oath, are federal crimes,” the letter says. “While we have low expectations that you will pursue this matter given your partisan weaponization of the Department of Justice, we note that the statute of limitations for perjury and for knowingly and willfully making false statements to Congress is five years.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(DETROIT) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday is turning his focus to the economy amid his administration’s intense foreign policy push with a speech at the Detroit Economic Club.

Trump’s remarks come as many Americans remain concerned about high prices.

A recent Quinnipiac University poll found 64% of registered voters said the cost of living is a “very serious problem” in the United States. On the economy overall, nearly half of voters said they think it’s getting worse, and 57% of voters said they disapproved of Trump’s handling of the issue.

As Trump left the White House on Tuesday, he touted new inflation data and continued his pressure campaign on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.

“We have very low inflation. So, that would give ‘too-late Powell’ the chance to give us a nice, beautiful, big rate cut, which would be great for the country,” Trump told reporters. “But rates are falling also, and growth is going up. We have tremendous growth numbers. So, growth is going up. So, I’ll be talking about that today in Detroit, the big speech, and I can only say that the country is doing well.”

Powell is now facing criminal investigation by the Justice Department over his testimony last year about the renovation of the central bank’s headquarters in Washington. Powell said he believes the probe is politically motivated.

When asked by ABC News on Tuesday if he approved of the investigation, Trump said, “He’s billions of dollars over budget. So either he’s incompetent or he’s crooked. I don’t know what he is. But certainly he doesn’t do a very good job.”

Inflation held steady at 2.7% in December, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed, its lowest level since July but still higher than the Fed’s target rate.

Tuesday’s trip to Michigan is the latest stop in the administration’s push to sell the president’s economic agenda to voters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

November’s off-year elections in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia showed pocketbook issues were top of mind for voters. Democrats who focused on affordability won big in those races, according to exit polls. Trump has derided affordability as a “Democratic hoax.”

Trump’s faced criticism from some in his own party, including former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, for not doing more to address the high cost of living and focusing too much on foreign affairs.

In recent days, Trump’s announced several economic proposals — including a ban on large institutional investors from “buying more single-family homes” and a 1-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates. Trump’s housing plan has been met with some skepticism from analysts, and banks have pushed back on his pitch to cap credit card interest rates.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, previewing Trump’s Detroit speech on Monday, told reporters he would discuss recent news on inflation and mortgage rates.

“These economic policies are really coming into fruition now that we’re in 2026 and we’ll be seeing more tax cuts into the pockets of the American people later this spring as well. So, it’s all good news on the economic front, and I know the president looks forward to talking about that tomorrow in Michigan,” Leavitt said.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Members of the Democratic National Committee voted down a symbolic resolution aimed at curbing the “growing influence” of “dark money” corporate groups in Democratic primaries that specifically called out the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Committee members gathered on Thursday in New Orleans, where a majority of members objected to the resolution for singling out AIPAC and argued it was redundant, since they had already approved a broader measure earlier in the meeting condemning the influence of dark money in the midterms without naming specific groups.

Allison Minnerly, who sponsored the resolution, responded to the criticism that her resolution was singling out AIPAC, the pro-Israel political lobbying group.

“Members like to say that we don’t want to single out AIPAC, but AIPAC will entirely single out them and all of our different progressive leaders when it comes to primary elections,” said Minnerly.

AIPAC’s influence has become a flashpoint inside the Democratic Party, as leaders struggle to respond to rapidly shifting views about Israel among progressives, especially in the wake of the war in Gaza and amid the current U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

DNC Chair Ken Martin posted on X, stating, “We had various resolutions that focused on different industries and groups, and instead of going one-by-one, we passed a blanket repudiation.”

The panel’s rejection of the AIPAC resolution means it will not go before the full body for a final vote on Friday.

“The DNC made clear today that all Democrats, including millions who are AIPAC members, have the right to participate fully in the Democratic process, and we plan to do just that,” AIPAC spokesperson Deryn Sousa told ABC News.

Minnerly’s resolution stated that “the use of massive outside spending to support or oppose candidates based on their positions regarding international conflicts or foreign governments raises concerns about undue influence over democratic debate and policymaking, potentially constraining elected officials’ ability to represent the views of their constituents,” and referenced the millions of dollars spent by AIPAC in the recent Illinois Democratic primaries.

Andrew Lachman, a DNC member and the former president of California Jewish Democrats, said that it was “troubling” that the resolution was focused on calling out AIPAC.

“There are a lot of super PACs, a lot of right-wing organizations out there. There are a lot of left-wing ones out there that take advantage of the super PAC status as well. We need to address that,” Lachman said. “None of those were mentioned … I think respectfully, if it’s about our campaign finance system, let’s take it on. But when you mention only one group, it comes across like you’re not actually interested in the campaign finance issue and transparency issue. It’s about something else.”

In a statement to ABC News, Brian Romick, the president and CEO of the Democratic Majority for Israel said, “We’re pleased that the DNC Resolutions Committee rejected a set of divisive, anti-Israel resolutions. These measures would be a gift to Republicans, would further fracture our party, and do nothing to bring Israelis and Palestinians closer to peace.”

“They should have voted for the AIPAC resolution given the pernicious influence they had in Illinois,” progressive Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told ABC News.

In a video posted on X, Khanna said, “anyone who wants to lead the party must condemn and reject AIPAC money.

2 other measures deferred

During the resolutions committee hearing, members also deferred action on two broad resolutions addressing Middle East conflicts, one of which would recognize Palestinian statehood and another that urged the party to support conditioning military aid to Israel. Instead, the proposals were sent to the party’s newly formed Middle East working group.

The question of how productive this group has been was a topic of conversation from DNC members and was mentioned during the resolutions committee hearing.

“We recommend this going back to the task force, but then we can put som. … expectations that we hear back,” said Ron Harris, co-chair of the DNC’s resolution committee, referring to the measure on Palestinian statehood.

Minnerly told ABC News she sponsored a measure to oppose the war in Gaza last August, but the resolution was defeated. In the wake of that, DNC Chair Ken Martin established a Middle East working group.

“I’m not surprised that members of the resolutions committee are eager for an update … Since that meeting [in August], there has not been consistent progress or even forward motion, and the characterizations of the task force were accurate,” said Minnerly, who is a member of the DNC’s Middle East working group.

In recent weeks, progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Khanna have said they do not support any U.S. military aid to Israel, including defensive systems like the Iron Dome.

When asked if opposing funding for Israel’s defensive systems is a stance more of the Democratic Party should represent, Minnerly told ABC News last week in advance of Thursday’s meeting, “The further escalation has gone, the longer the war has been, we have seen the Democratic Party really migrate towards this ideal of de-escalation and not funding conflict.”

Lachman, however, also speaking in advance of Thursday’s meeting, said that he just sees this change in tune from some Democrats as “pressure from certain segments within the [Democratic Socialists of America]” and “some people who may be future candidates, particularly for president, are just trying to pander to them.”

He added, “I don’t think this is a mainstream view within the party, by any stretch of the imagination.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.