Democrat flips seat representing Mar-a-Lago’s district in Florida special election
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters and members of the media at Mar-a-Lago on February 1, 2026 in Palm Beach, Florida.(Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Democrat Emily Gregory won the Florida House District 87 special election, according to The Associated Press, flipping the district that includes President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
In the Tuesday evening upset victory, Gregory was reported to have defeated Trump-endorsed Republican Jon Maples by about 2.4 percentage points, according to the AP.
The Democrat’s victory came after the president, who had endorsed Maples, himself cast a mail-in ballot, according to public records, despite his years-long criticism of voting by mail.
He turned to his social media platform on Monday to encourage voters to support Maples, calling the statehouse race a “very important” special election and emphasizing its location in Palm Beach County, where he spends much of his winter and just visited this past weekend.
“Jon is a very successful Businessman and Civic Leader, who is known and loved, and also endorsed by so many of my Palm Beach County friends,” the president added.
Democrats were celebrating the flip as a major accomplishment leading into the midterms, while also touting the symbolic significance of a victory on the president’s home turf.
“Mar-a-Lago just flipped red to blue, which should have Republicans sweating the midterms,” Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said in a statement. “A Trump +11 district in his own backyard shouldn’t be in play for Democrats, but tonight proves Republicans are vulnerable everywhere.”
Williams also projected a positive outlook heading into the midterms, saying “If Mar-a-Lago is vulnerable, imagine what’s possible this November.”
“This victory reiterates an undeniable trend in Florida: with year round organizing and infrastructure investment, Democrats can run and win anywhere–including Donald Trump’s backyard,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a statement.
Gregory, who is a small business owner and public health professional, told MS Now on Tuesday night that she still felt “pretty shocked” by the victory and that she didn’t think “much” about the president being one of her constituents.
Trump is “one of 115,000 registered voters in district 87,” she said. “My opponent made, you know, him forefront in his campaign. And I focused more on the voters in district 87, you know, what everybody needs. What all of us will do better with … lower property insurance, with expanded healthcare, and with strong public schools.”
The U.S. Supreme Court as seen on February 24, 2026 in Washington. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court of the United States on Monday blocked a New York state court ruling that had ordered the Empire State’s congressional map redrawn ahead of the 2026 midterms.
A state judge in New York ruled earlier this year that New York must redraw its congressional map and cease using its current one because the current map’s 11th Congressional District violates the state’s Constitution and dilutes the votes of Black and Latino voters.
U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, the Republican representing the district, had appealed the ruling initially in state court and later asked the Supreme Court to block the order, as did other Republicans.
The district currently covers Staten Island, along with several neighborhoods across the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in Brooklyn.
In a statement posted on social media, Malliotakis praised the Supreme Court’s decision, arguing that it “helps restore the public’s confidence in our judicial system and proves the challenge to our district lines was always meritless.”
“The plaintiffs in this case attempted to manipulate our state’s courts to use race as a weapon to rig our elections. That was wrong and, as demonstrated by today’s ruling, clearly unconstitutional,” Malliotakis’ post said.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the state court order that knocked down New York’s current map “blatantly discriminates on the basis of race” and that the court had no choice but to step in — even so close the election.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a sharply worded dissent, accused her colleagues of prematurely intervening in a state-law case, even before New York courts had fully resolved the appeals.
“By granting these applications, the Court thrusts itself into the middle of every election-law dispute around the country, even as many States redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 election,” Sotomayor wrote. “It also invites parties searching for a sympathetic ear to file emergency applications directly with this Court, without even bothering to ask the state courts first.”
The ruling from SCOTUS allows appeals to play out in lower courts, but it means New York will not be redrawing its map for the 2026 election.
“This blatantly political case violated both the New York State and federal constitutions and, as Justice Alito stated, the lower court’s decision was a full-blown racial gerrymander,” New York Republican Party chair Ed Cox wrote in a statement Monday.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) participates in a public forum on the violent use of force by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents, at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on February 03, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Expanding her probes into Trump administration policies, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is demanding answers from Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about the impact of federal immigration surges on children’s health.
In a letter to Kennedy first obtained by ABC News, Warren, Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, and other congressional Democrats expressed concern that the health department is failing in its responsibility to protect the wellbeing of children.
“This disregard for child welfare undermines the government’s core child-protection obligations,” the lawmakers wrote. “Yet your agency [HHS] does not appear to be taking any action to speak out against or investigate the impacts of the Trump Administration’s immigration agenda on children,” they wrote.
The letter says the federal operations from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “risk traumatizing children and depriving them of access to education and basic services, with lasting consequences for their behavioral, physical, academic, and emotional wellbeing.”
Warren told ABC News, “Donald Trump promised two things: he would lower costs for American families and he would keep families safe.”
“Costs are up and, thanks to ICE targeting, families are more at risk than at any time in living memory,” she said.
The Massachusetts senator urged Kennedy to respond to her inquiry and remind the world of the health department’s responsibility to children.
“That means not putting [kids] through the trauma of violent separation from their parents, having flash bangs thrown at them, having them gassed, or using them as bait to try to snare their family members,” Warren told ABC News at the Capitol on Wednesday.
HHS spokeswoman Emily Hilliard asserted that “The Department remains committed to the safety and well-being of all unaccompanied minors in its care.”
“Any claims otherwise are baseless and inaccurate,” she said.
More than 50 lawmakers signed on to the letter requesting that Kennedy provide any information HHS has regarding the impact of ICE and CBP operations on children’s mental health and development by Feb. 18. Their letter comes amid Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota, where Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced Wednesday the government will reduce about a quarter of the 3,000 federal troops in the state effective immediately. Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith told ABC News the federal operation has resulted in a precipitous drop in school attendance that will have a “dramatic” and “long-lived” impact on children and families.
Warren’s letter stressed that ICE and CBP’s tactics include the alleged use of tear gas, explosives, attack dogs and window-smashing in or near schools and child care centers in places like Minnesota, Illinois and Texas. It also recounts at least four students who have experienced “raids” at schools, day care centers, and a child’s birthday party.
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has stressed that the agency is not invading or raiding classrooms. However, a DHS memo outlining the department’s approach said “[ICE] Officers would need secondary supervisor approval before any action can be taken in locations such as a school. We expect these to be extremely rare.”
National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues said she spent the last week with parents in Minnesota and told ABC News that it’s “deeply unsafe” for children to be walking through what she described as “war zones” to get to school.
“Parents want the expectation that in places like schools, their kids are going to be safe,” Rodrigues said. “You got ICE agents that are stalking kids walking to elementary school. You got guys with binoculars banging on the doors of the schoolhouse — like none of this is going to work for parents,” she added.
Neither DHS nor the White House responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
Warren, a fierce defender of public education and vocal Trump critic, has used Trump’s second term to fight back against his policies.
Last year, Warren launched her “Save Our Schools” campaign in opposition to Trump and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon’s efforts to dismantle the Department of Education and another investigation called the Social Security War Room, a coordinated effort to combat the administration’s so-called “attack on Americans’ Social Security” at the Social Security Administration.
Meanwhile, the impact of Trump’s immigration curb is having a ripple effect across the country, according to education leaders and experts who’ve spoken to ABC News, saying it’s leaving some families and communities fearful of returning to school each day — from the nation’s capital to Los Angeles, California —
To-wen Tseng, a substitute teacher in California, said her students ask her ‘What will happen if the ICE agents come to our classroom?'” “I told them that won’t happen because the school won’t let them in and I won’t let them enter the classroom [either],” Tseng told ABC News. “But the truth is, I don’t know what I can do if ICE really shows up at my classroom door,” she said.
“I keep telling my children and my students that they are safe, just because I don’t want them to worry, and I feel it should be our responsibility to protect them,” Tseng added. “We should keep them safe.”
U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff questions U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 7, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Win Mcnamee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Adam Schiff of California and a group of fellow Democrats are launching a probe into Freedom 250, a new non-profit group closely aligned with President Donald Trump that is raising private funding for high-profile events surrounding America’s 250th birthday this summer.
Freedom 250 — a nonprofit subsidiary of the National Park Foundation, the congressionally chartered fundraising arm of the National Park Service — was announced by the White House X account in December 2025, as an alternative for the congressionally chartered “America250” commission that is planned to celebrate the nation’s birthday this year.
The New York Times is reporting on allegations that the Freedom250 group is exchanging access to Trump for donations, and concerns have been raised in Congress about the arrangement between the group’s donations and their political fundraising.
Schiff’s inquiry, first shared with ABC News, raises concerns about the large sums of private donations and alleged “pay-to-play” access implications involved in the Freedom 250 effort.
When asked to respond to Schiff’s inquiry, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said, “President Trump is ensuring that America gets the spectacular birthday it deserves. The celebration of America’s 250th anniversary is going to display great patriotism in our Nation’s Capital and throughout the country.”
Democratic Sens. Chris Van Hollen, Cory Booker, Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, Dick Durbin and Gary Peters joined Schiff in sending a letter on Wednesday to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, demanding the White House produce a list of Freedom 250 donors and describing any benefits, access, recognition or other consideration donors have received or been promised related to their contributions.
The senators raised concern that the potential coordination between the Trump administration and Freedom 250 could violate federal bribery, conflict of interest and ethics statutes. Schiff’s inquiry is also asking for an explanation on the ethical guidance the group received from the Office of Government Ethics or White House ethics officials.
“It is imperative that Congress and the public understand how decisions are made, who exercises control, and what guardrails exist to prevent inappropriate donor influence. Absent clear rules, this structure risks blurring the line between legitimate civic fundraising and pay‑for‑play access tied to official government functions, an all too familiar feature of the current Administration,” the senators wrote.
Trump — who repeatedly promised on the campaign trail a grand celebration for America’s 250th birthday that would be comparable to past world’s fairs — announced Freedom250 in December as a public-private partnership to spearhead the festivities.
On Tuesday, congressional Democrats accused the Trump administration of trying to alter plans to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday and using the National Park Foundation to solicit money from private donors.
Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman claimed “Trump and his Freedom 250 party planners are working to obscure reality with a fake narrative.”
“America250 could have been an honest celebration. Trump didn’t have control over the congressionally charted nonpartisan organization leading the celebration,” Huffman said, adding that Trump is working to “monetize it.”
During a hearing in the House Natural Resources Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Jeff Reinbold, the foundation’s president and CEO, promised anonymity to donors who requested it. Reinbold also said he would not provide Congress with any contracts signed by Freedom 250 donors.
Democratic Rep. Maxine Dexter claims Freedom 250 is using public money meant to go to America250, which was created in 2016. Dexter asserted that Freedom 250 is co-mingling fundraising for Trump with private donations for the nation’s birthday celebrations.
“This leaves us all guessing which one of Donald Trump’s billionaire buddies and which foreign interests are buying access,” Dexter said.
