As RFK Jr. prepares for Senate confirmation hearing, here’s where he stands on vaccines, food dyes
Kenny Holston/The New York Times via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to go before the Senate on Wednesday in his confirmation hearing to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under President Donald Trump.
Kennedy has frequently promoted views at odds with the consensus of public health researchers and the mainstream scientific community, including falsely claiming that certain vaccines cause autism and calling for fluoride to be removed from drinking water, claiming it harms adolescent development.
The environmental attorney has vowed to crack down on dyes in the food industry and has called for restrictions on ultra-processed foods.
During a charity dinner last year in New York City, Trump pledged Kennedy would “go wild on health” and that Kennedy “wants healthy people, he wants healthy food.”
Here’s a look at where Kennedy stands on several health issues:
Questioning vaccine safety
Although Kennedy has denied he is “anti-vaccine” and has said his children have been vaccinated, he has promoted views on vaccines that experts have refuted.
During a 2023 interview on Fox News, Kennedy said he believes autism comes from vaccines, a myth born from a now-debunked paper from the U.K. in 1998 that claimed the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine caused autism.
The paper has since been discredited by health experts, retracted from the journal in which it was published, and its primary author, Andrew Wakefield, lost his medical license after the paper was discredited and an investigation found he had acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly” in conducting his research. More than a dozen high-quality studies have since found no evidence of a link between childhood vaccines and autism.
Kennedy has also spread what the medical community has considered to be vaccine misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, falsely claiming the COVID-19 vaccine is dangerous.
During a December 2021 Louisiana House of Representatives meeting discussing a proposal to require schoolchildren to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Kennedy falsely called the vaccine the “deadliest vaccine ever made.”
In the same year, Kennedy petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to revoke its authorization of all COVID-19 vaccines. The FDA denied the petition three months later.
Health officials say COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective following clinical trials that involved tens of thousands of people, and have since helped save millions of lives.
Removing artificial dyes from foods
Kennedy has been vocal about his opposition to artificial dyes, calling for them to be removed from foods and beverages.
“The first thing I’d do isn’t going to cost you anything because I’m just gonna tell the cereal companies: Take all the dyes out of their food,” about actions he’d take as a member of the Trump administration, according to a social media post from the non-profit Children’s Health Defense, of which Kennedy is a founder.
Kennedy has frequently cited Froot Loops as an example of a food with potentially harmful dyes, saying the version of the Kellogg’s cereal sold abroad is healthier and has fewer ingredients compared to the U.S. version.
Kellogg’s has insisted its products are safe for consumption, saying the ingredients meet the federal standards set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Kennedy was wrong about the number of ingredients — Canadian Froot Loops have 17 ingredients compared to 16 in the U.S. However, the two cereals differ when it comes to the use of dyes.
American Froot Loops contain artificial food dyes such as Red 40, Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Blue 1 while Canadian Froot Loops are colored with concentrated watermelon juice and blueberry juice.
A 2018 report from New York University and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change found artificial food colors may affect children’s behavior and exacerbate symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Recently the FDA said it was moving to ban the use of Red 3 dye in food products, beverages and ingested drugs, in response to a 2022 petition from health groups and activists.
Processed foods and chronic disease
Kennedy has criticized the U.S. food industry and the proliferation of ultra-processed foods, blaming them as one reason for the rise of chronic disease in the U.S.
“Hundreds of these chemicals are now banned in Europe, but they’re ubiquitous in American processed foods,” he said during a September 2024 roundtable discussion on health led by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc. “We are literally poisoning our children systematically for profit.”
A 2021 joint study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of São Paolo in Brazil found that people who consumed more calories from ultra-processed foods had lower scores on tests measuring cardiovascular health.
Kennedy has also railed against seed oils, calling them “one of the driving causes of the obesity epidemic” and has called on fast food restaurants to fry their products with animal fats instead.
Seed oils contain certain types of healthy fats that are good for the heart when used in moderation, decades of research shows.
Claims that fluoride affects children’s development
In an interview with NPR in November, Kennedy doubled down on his promise that the Trump administration will recommend that local governments remove fluoride from their water supplies.
He has claimed that fluoride in drinking water affects children’s neurological development and that other countries that have removed fluoride from their water supplies have not seen an increase in cavities. Some health professionals have expressed concerns about excessive fluoride intake and potential toxicity.
However, high-quality studies show fluoride prevents cavities and repairs damage to teeth caused by bacteria in the mouth. Fluoride also replaces minerals lost from teeth due to acid breakdown, according to the CDC.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — If she is confirmed as director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard would be the youngest-ever in that role, the first millennial, the first Asian American, and only the second woman to hold the position.
But she is expected to face questions in her confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee about statements she has made that appear to support U.S. enemies and dictators as well as having no significant experience in intelligence. Gabbard can only afford to lose the votes of three Republicans and sources tell ABC News the vote on her nomination is expected to be a close one.
In excerpts from her opening statement, Gabbard confronts her critics.
“The truth is: what really upsets my political opponents is my consistent record of independence, regardless of political affiliation, and my refusal to be anyone’s puppet. You know who else is committed to defending our country and reforming Washington with a fierce and unparalleled independence, President Donald J. Trump who ran and won with a mandate for change this November,” she says in the excerpt.
For most of her career, Gabbard has broken barriers. She was the youngest woman ever elected to a state house of representatives and the first to graduate from the Accelerated Officer Candidate School at the Alabama Military Academy as a distinguished honor graduate. In Congress, she was the first Samoan American, the youngest woman elected at the time, and the first combat veteran to serve — a distinction she shares with Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
Gabbard has prepared extensively over the past two months for her hearings, meeting with former DNI leaders, including John Negroponte, the first DNI, and Michael Allen, who led Negroponte’s confirmation hearing preparations. She also has consulted with former CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden, along with Trump allies Morgan Ortagus, deputy special presidential envoy for Middle East peace, and FBI director nominee Kash Patel.
She has sought input from a broad range of intelligence experts, former government officials and lawmakers across the aisle. She has participated in policy roundtables with lawyers, ex-intelligence officials, and national security negotiators, including figures involved in the Abraham Accords.
She also held a full-scale mock confirmation hearing ahead of Thursday’s Senate Intelligence Committee proceedings. Former Republican Sen. Richard Burr, who chaired the committee from 2015 to 2020, will introduce her.
Sources on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill tell ABC News Gabbard will likely face scrutiny over her past stances on Russia, Ukraine, Syria, and Iran, as well as her defense of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who reached a plea deal with the Justice Department over disseminating classified documents he had obtained illegally. Gabbard said last year on “Real Time With Bill Maher” that “the charges against him are one of the biggest attacks on freedom of the press that we’ve seen and freedom of speech.”
As a member of Congress, Gabbard introduced a bill in 2020 calling for the federal government to drop all charges against Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who leaked information in 2013 about how the U.S. government surveils the American public.
She’s also expected to face question on her reversal on Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a key surveillance tool she voted against reauthorizing in 2020, her last year in Congress.
Gabbard argued that Americans shouldn’t be forced to choose between security and liberty, saying that the Patriot Act and FISA have “been allowing for the abuses of our civil liberties and overreach by our own intelligence and law enforcement agencies through doing things like warrantless sweeping collection of our data, violating our Fourth Amendment constitutional rights.”
Gabbard is also expected to face questions past statements about former President Donald Trump including her decision to vote present on Donald Trump’s.
Over the last two months, Gabbard has met with more than 50 senators, primarily Republicans. The meetings have largely served as an introduction — an opportunity to explain her past positions and assuage concerns about her political evolution. A source close to her told ABC News, “They know they can’t put her in a box. She’s not a Democrat. She’s a new Republican. She has very similar, if not 100% aligned, views with President Trump on ‘America First’ foreign policy. That makes people uneasy because they can’t quite figure her out.”
Gabbard, like Trump, is a former Democrat whose policy views have shifted significantly. Her evolution has been shaped by her 22 years in the Army, including deployments to Iraq, Kuwait, and Djibouti. If confirmed, she will be the first female DNI to have served in the military. She plans to continue serving in the Army Reserve, which is permitted under ODNI regulations.
Behind the scenes, Gabbard has earned bipartisan support within the intelligence community for her willingness to engage with a range of stakeholders. Earlier this month, the families of two former ISIS and al-Qaeda hostages publicly endorsed her nomination in a letter shared with ABC News. The parents of Kayla Mueller, who was killed by ISIS, and Theo Padnos, a former al-Qaeda hostage, argued that the radicalization of individuals — such as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who drove his truck into a crowd of New Orleans New Year’s revelers — underscores the need for Gabbard’s swift confirmation.
The letter of support came under scrutiny by some lawmakers after rebels toppled Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Gabbard met with Assad in Syria in 2017, which remains a point of controversy. She has previously defended the trip as a “fact-finding mission” and has maintained that U.S. intervention in Syria empowered extremist groups.
Gabbard warned in the same year that she was concerned that toppling Assad’s regime could lead to groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda to step in to fill the void and “completely massacre all religious minorities there in Syria.”
“I had no intention of meeting with Assad, but when given the opportunity, I felt it was important to take it,” Gabbard said in a 2017 statement. “We should be ready to meet with anyone if there’s a chance it can help bring about an end to this war.”
Padnos, who was kidnapped by the al-Nusra Front in 2012 and held for nearly two years, said Gabbard’s willingness to engage with hostage families compelled him to speak out.
“This is a woman with deep compassion for the victims of terrorism and the courage to get things done,” he told ABC News. “Nobody else has offered their help — except Tulsi.”
Gabbard told ABC News that she was “honored and humbled by that statement of support.”
She has also received backing from law enforcement. The National Sheriffs’ Association endorsed her nomination, citing her commitment to bridging intelligence gaps between federal agencies and local authorities. In a statement, the group praised Gabbard’s pledge to give sheriffs “a seat at the table” in national security discussions.
Sheriff Kieran Donahue, president of the National Sheriffs’ Association, wrote “Gabbard has demonstrated a commitment to addressing the critical disconnect between our intelligence agencies and local law enforcement in preparing for sophisticated and pervasive threats.”
A source close to Gabbard told ABC News that her focus as director of national intelligence will be on restoring trust in the intelligence community and reforming what is and isn’t classified. Specifically, she aims to ensure that the intelligence provided to the Senate and White House is not information already available to lawmakers through media outlets. On Capitol Hill, lawmakers have expressed concern about the overclassification of information.
The source added that Gabbard intends to provide more accurate, raw intelligence to help lawmakers make informed decisions, rather than relying on overclassified data. She also plans to streamline the process for security clearances and return ODNI to its original mission — leading the intelligence community by fostering integration, collaboration and innovation.
Her allies argue that her outsider perspective will help modernize the intelligence community — though critics remain skeptical of her lack of traditional experience.
Thursday’s hearing will test whether Gabbard can win over skeptics — or if her controversial past will derail her bid to become the nation’s top intelligence officer.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s rapid reshaping of the federal government continues with executive orders and action from his acting agency heads.
Federal departments face a 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday to cease spending on any financial assistance programs, according to a memo from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. More firings of career officials at the Justice Department unfolded on Monday and Trump signed four military executive orders, one targeting transgender service members.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined immigration enforcement operations in New York. More Trump Cabinet nominees, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, will face highly-anticipated confirmation hearings later this week.
EPA temporarily pauses disbursement of federal financial aid
The Environmental Protection Agency is “temporarily pausing” its disbursement of federal financial aid in response to the order from the White House Office of Management and Budget, the agency confirmed in a statement to ABC News.
The EPA grants fund a wide array of national, state and tribal programs, including some to assist with air and water quality. A list of its grant programs can be found here.
The agency said it is “continuing to work with OMB as they review processes, policies, and programs, as required by the memorandum.”
-ABC News’ Kelly Livingston
Karoline Leavitt, youngest WH press secretary, to hold 1st briefing
Karoline Leavitt will make her first appearance behind the podium in the James S. Brady briefing room on Tuesday.
Leavitt, 27, is the youngest White House press secretary in history. She served as the spokesperson for Trump’s 2024 campaign and transition team.
On Monday, she held her first gaggle with reporters aboard Air Force One. There, she fielded questions on Trump’s upcoming moves on FEMA and his attempts to end birthright citizenship. She’ll face more questions, likely about Trump’s recent actions regarding the military and federal aid programs, at 1 p.m.
Trump weighs in on possible deal for Microsoft to buy TikTok
President Donald Trump discussed a possible deal for Microsoft to buy TikTok while speaking with reporters by phone from Air Force One on Monday evening.
Trump was asked whether Microsoft was in discussions to acquire the embattled social media app amid its looming U.S. ban deadline.
“I would say yes,” Trump said, before adding, “A lot of interest in TikTok, there’s great interest there.”
When asked whether he liked the idea of a bidding war for the app, Trump said he likes bidding wars.
“I like bidding wars because you make your best deal,” he said.
“It’s very clear, if I sign, then somebody’s going to buy it, pay a lot of money, have a lot of jobs, keep a platform open and have it be very secure. If I don’t sign, then it closes,” Trump added of TikTok’s future in America.
He was asked about what other companies were looking to buy the app, and he declined to respond but said that they are all “top of the line.”
White House budget office suspends federal financial aid programs for internal review
The White House budget office is ordering federal agencies to cease any financial assistance spending if they suspect the program might conflict with President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
In a memo obtained by ABC News, Matthew Vaeth, acting director of the Office and Management and Budget, told agency chiefs that they must report back by Feb. 10 on all programs that apply.
“The memo requires federal agencies to identify and review all federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the President’s policies and requirements,” according to the document.
The memo says it is directed at programs providing “financial assistance for foreign aid, non-governmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology and the Green New Deal.”
The order does not specify which financial aid programs would have to be suspended, although it could have sweeping implications. The federal government funds thousands of programs, including research programs, housing subsidies and educational grants.
Quakers sue to keep ICE out of houses of worship
Five Quaker congregations sued the Department of Homeland Security on Monday over last week’s policy reversal that allows immigration agents to conduct searches and arrests in so-called “sensitive areas” like churches and schools.
The Quaker groups, known as the Religious Society of Friends, alleged that the policy change harms their congregations by deterring immigrants from worshipping in person, violating their First Amendment rights to freely associate and exercise religion.
“Allowing armed government agents wearing ICE-emblazoned jackets to park outside a religious service and monitor who enters or to interrupt the service and drag a congregant out during the middle of worship is anathema to Quaker religious exercise,” the federal lawsuit filed in Maryland said.
Quaker worship generally involves multiple congregants sitting together in silence to await a message from God, which can be received and shared by anyone in attendance, according to the lawsuit.
“Being able to receive those messages is fundamental to Quaker religious exercise,” the lawsuit said.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest,” Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman said in a statement announcing the policy change on Jan. 24. “The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense.”
-ABC News’ Peter Charalambous, James Hill and Laura Romero
Trump says he wants to deport ‘repeat offenders’ in US legally
Trump said Monday he wants to deport repeat criminal offenders who are in the U.S. legally, offering that they be held in foreign jails.
“I don’t want these violent repeat offenders in our country any more than I want illegal aliens from other countries who misbehave,” Trump said during his remarks at the House GOP retreat.
“This is subject to getting it approved, but if they’ve been arrested many, many times, they’re repeat offenders by many numbers, I want them out of our country,” he added. “We’ll be seeking permission to do so. We’re going to get approval hopefully to get them the hell out of our country along with others.”
Trump suggested that they could be maintained in a foreign country “for a very small fee.”
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
ICE arrests 1,179 undocumented immigrants on Monday
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it arrested 1,179 undocumented immigrants on Monday.
That marks an increase from Sunday, when the agency said it made 956 such arrests.
ICE is operating at an increased tempo since the new administration took office.
-ABC News’ Luke Barr
Trump says DeepSeek is a ‘wake-up call’ for American companies
During his remarks at the House GOP retreat, Trump discussed the emergence of Chinese AI technology DeepSeek, saying it should be a “wake-up call” for American companies.
“The release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win, because we have the greatest scientists in the world, even Chinese leadership told me that,” Trump said.
He also cast the technology as an “asset” for how it could revolutionize technology due to its less-expensive method.
Trump said that he hoped American companies could come up with the “same solutions” without investing billions of dollars and repeated his promise to “unleash” American tech companies to “dominate the future.”
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
CDC officials told to cease communications with the WHO
Public health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been told to cease communications with the World Health Organization, an official with the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed to ABC News.
This comes after Trump signed an executive order on his first day of office ordering the withdrawal of the U.S. from the WHO. The U.S. is the biggest financial contributor to the global public health organization and public health experts immediately denounced the move as a risk to national security and pandemic outbreak prevention.
Any country’s withdrawal from the WHO is supposed to be preceded by a one year advance notice, which experts interpreted Trump’s executive order to serve as. But the recent order for CDC public health officials to immediately stop communicating with their WHO counterparts suggests that Trump is not adhering to those governing rules.
-ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett
Trump addresses new executive orders on the military
Trump said “in a little while” he will be signing four new executive orders addressing the military, during his remarks at a retreat of House Republicans at his Doral golf resort in Miami on Monday.
One will direct Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “immediately begin” the construction of an “Iron Dome” missile defense shield, a nod to the Israeli missile defense system.
“We protect other countries, but we don’t protect ourselves,” he said.
Trump said his administration will also “get transgender ideology the hell out of military” and “stop our service members from being indoctrinated with radical left ideologies such as critical race theory.”
Trump didn’t go into detail, though the White House earlier Monday said that Trump is expected to sign an order directing the Department of Defense to update its guidance “regarding trans-identifying medical standards for military service and to rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.”
The order will also end the use of pronouns in the Department of Defense and will also prohibit males from “sharing sleeping, changing, or bathing in facilities designated for females.”
Another order that Trump is expected to sign takes aim at diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. The order will ban the use of “discriminatory race- or sex-based preferences,” according to a fact sheet about the move.
Trump also addressed another order that will offer a “full reinstatement” to service members who were expelled from the armed forces due to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Scott Bessent confirmed as treasury secretary
The Senate on Monday evening confirmed Scott Bessent to serve as secretary of treasury by a vote of 68-29.
Bessent becomes the fifth member of Trump’s team to be confirmed by the Senate, following Marco Rubio, John Ratcliffe, Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem.
The Senate is now taking a test vote on Sean Duffy’s nomination to lead the Department of Transportation. He’s expected to easily clear this procedural hurdle to tee up a final vote likely on Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Trump: ‘Am I allowed to run again?’
During his remarks at a retreat of House Republicans at his Doral golf resort in Miami on Monday, Trump raised the questiion whether he could run for a third term.
“I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100% sure, because I don’t know,” he said to some laughs in the crowd. “I think I’m not allowed to run again. I’m not sure, am I allowed to run again?”
Last week, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn. introduced a House joint resolution to allow a president to be elected for no more than three terms, instead of two.
Air Force chief of staff releases statement on Tuskegee Airmen videos
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin wrote a statement Monday regarding curricula on the Tuskegee Airmen and women pilots, saying no such material has been removed from basic military training.
“Allow me to clearly dispel a rumor — while we are currently reviewing all training courses to ensure compliance with the Executive Orders, no curriculum or content highlighting the honor and valor of the Tuskegee Airmen or Women Air Force Service Pilots has been removed from Basic Military Training,” Allvin wrote. “The historic legacy and decorated valor these Airmen embodied during World War II and beyond will continue to guide our newest recruits and all who serve in our ranks.”
The statement comes after an Air Force spokesperson confirmed to the Associated Press that training courses with such videos were removed last week after Trump’s executive order to eliminate DEI initiatives in the federal government. The Air Force later clarified to the AP that the courses were edited but that the Tuskegee Airmen and WASP content would still be shown.
Allvin also said in his own statement on Monday that the Air Force is “faithfully executing” all of Trump’s executive orders, including on DEI.
JD Vance surveys hurricane damage in Virginia
Vice President JD Vance’s first official trip since taking office was to Damascus, Virginia, to survey damage from last year’s devastating Hurricane Helene.
In remarks alongside Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Vance said he was heartened by the stories he’s heard on the ground of “good people helping their neighbors rebuild.”
Without providing evidence, he also criticized the federal response to the flooding, claiming federal agencies had acted as “a barrier, as opposed to a facilitator” of getting resources into the communities who needed it.
This comes on President Donald Trump’s assessment of storm damage in North Carolina last Friday. During that visit, he floated getting rid of FEMA. He also signed two executive orders Friday that focused on emergency response, one of which creates a task force to conduct a “a full-scale review” of FEMA.
Vance was asked about what changes he would like to see made to FEMA, including possibly eliminating the agency. Vance did not mention the agency being terminated, which Trump could not do unilaterally, but once again reinforced the idea that bureaucrats were getting in the way of rebuilding.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Trump spoke with India’s Modi
President Donald Trump spoke with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, continuing his calls with foreign leaders since taking office. Trump’s first call was to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Trump and Modi discussed “expanding and deepening cooperation” between their countries along with “a range of regional issues, including security in the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe,” the White House said.
“The President emphasized the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship,” according to a readout of the call.
The two leaders also talked about plans for Modi to visit the White House. The prime minister visited the White House as well as former President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington during the previous administration and made visits to the White House during the first Trump administration.
-ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Mexico’s received 4,094 migrants deported from US, president says
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said her country has received 4,094 migrants, most of whom are Mexican nationals, deported from the U.S. since Jan. 20.
“Mexico has a very important history of repatriation with the United States. First with the Trump administration and then with the Biden administration. There are coordination mechanisms,” Sheinbaum said. “We ask for respect for human rights.”
Sheinbaum said four planes with deportees arrived this past weekend. But she noted it has happened in the past and that there has not been “a sustained increase” of deportations.
-ABC News’ William Gretsky
VA says 60 employees placed on leave after DEI order implementation
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it has completed its initial implementation of ending its DEI program, which has included placing nearly 60 employees on paid administrative leave. The release said the employees in question had been solely focused on DEI initiatives.
According to the release, the combined annual salary of those employees totals more than $8 million, an average of more than $136,000/year per employee. One such employee is making more than $220,000 per year.”
Additionally, the VA has identified other DEI-related expenses totaling more than $6.1 million, which the department said it is working to cancel.
This comes after President Donald Trump signed an order last week to eliminate DEI initiatives in the federal government. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier Monday indicated Trump would take more executive action toward “fully removing DEI inside the Pentagon.”
-ABC News’ Nathan Luna
Trump to sign executive order reinstating service members removed for refusing COVID vaccine
President Donald Trump will sign two executive orders relating to the military, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.
The first executive order Trump is expected to sign will reinstate service members removed from the military for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, restore their rank, and provide back pay.
The second executive order directs the Department of Defense to determine a policy regarding transgender service members based on readiness. It does not put an immediate ban on trans service members. It simply directs the DOD to come up with a policy.
Last week, Trump revoked a Biden administration order allowing transgender people to serve in the military.
– ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Trump cabinet confirmation hearings this week
All eyes will be on the Senate this week as confirmation hearings continue for Trump’s cabinet choices.
Health and Human Services pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be facing the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday morning.
On Thursday, FBI nominee Kash Patel’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee will take place, in addition to Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard’s hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Army Secretary nominee Daniel Driscoll’s confirmation will also be voted on Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Texas Gov. Abbott to send 400 troops, military resources to Rio Grande Valley
Texas Gov. Abbott is sending an additional 400 soldiers from military bases in Forth Worth and Houston to assist Border Patrol and the Trump administration’s mission to “secure the border.”
The 400 soldiers join the thousands of troops Abbott has already deployed under his border mission, Operation Lone Star.
In addition to troops, he’ll also be sending C-130s and Chinook helicopters.
“Texas has a partner in the White House we can work with to secure the Texas-Mexico border,” Abbott said in a statement, thanking Trump for his “decisive leadership on the southern border.”
– ABC News’ Armando Garcia
Hegseth responds after uproar over removal of Tuskegee Airmen video
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Sunday had to respond to criticism after videos of Tuskegee Airmen and Women Air Force Service Pilots were removed from basic training courses, according to a report from Reuters.
An official told Reuters the videos were removed pending a review to comply with Trump’s order to eliminate DEI efforts in the federal government. Hegseth, too, has made eliminating DEI from the military a top priority.
But uproar quickly grew over the removal of the videos, including from Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt. Britt called the removal of the videos “malicious compliance” that had to be corrected.
“We’re all over it Senator. This will not stand,” Hegseth said in response. Hours later, he posted, “This has been immediately reversed.”
Reuters reported on Sunday that the Air Force said the videos will be taught.
Trump signs executive orders for ‘full-scale review’ of FEMA, seeks control over California water system
President Donald Trump signed two executive orders Friday focused on emergency response, one which creates a task force to conduct a “a full-scale review” of FEMA to “recommend to the President improvements or structural changes to promote the national interest and enable national resilience.”
The task force — which is intended to be no larger than 20 people — is expected to “meet regularly” for a year. Among the directives in the order is to evaluate “whether FEMA can serve its functions as a support agency, providing supplemental Federal assistance, to the States rather than supplanting State control of disaster relief.”
They could recommend that FEMA be dismantled, but Congress would need to act in order to do away with the agency.
The second executive order, called “Emergency Measures To Provide Water Resources In California And Improve Disaster Response In Certain Areas,” calls for a plan for the federal government to assert power over California’s water system.
One section outlines actions for the government to go around state and federal law to more directly assert control of California’s water management — though it’s not clear how much of an impact this order will have.
– ABC News’ Molly Nagle
Pete Hegseth arrives for 1st full day at Pentagon as defense secretary
Arriving for his first full day at the Pentagon as defense secretary, Pete Hegseth stopped to talk to reporters to lay out some of his priorities.
“It’s an honor to be here,” Hegseth said after being greeted by Gen. CQ Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Hegseth said that would include removing DEI efforts inside the Pentagon, reinstating service members discharged because of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and building an Iron Dome — though experts have said the latter may not be realistic for the U.S.
He also said the Pentagon would provide “whatever’s needed” at the southern border as Trump carries out his immigration crackdown.
Hegseth previously suggested the firing of Brown as well as other senior officers who were involved either in the chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan or “woke” DEI initiatives.
Asked on Monday if he wants to fire Brown, Hegseth said: “I’m standing with him right now. Look forward to working with him.”
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Elizabeth Warren is urging Education Secretary Linda McMahon to reinstate former Department of Education employees who were critical to the nation’s federal student aid process or else borrowers will suffer “dire consequences,” according to a letter Warren sent to McMahon on Wednesday.
“The Department of Education (ED) appears to be abandoning the millions of parents, students, and borrowers who rely on a functioning federal student aid system to lower education costs,” Warren and a group of Democratic senators wrote in a letter to McMahon.
“ED should immediately restore all fired [Federal Student Aid] employees responsible for reviewing student aid complaints and refrain from taking any measures to deter the submission of complaints,” the senators added.
The Education Department intended to remove the “Submit a Complaint” button from FSA’s website, according to the letter. It found a senior employee at the department called the move an “overall win” as the change would decrease the volume and number of complaints. But more than 90% of the office’s complaints were submitted online last year.
“ED’s actions will hurt parents trying to understand how to submit the FAFSA correctly so that they can afford to send their child to college, veterans whose loan repayment status has been processed incorrectly due to their deployment, and students whose aid is being improperly withheld by predatory for-profit schools,” the letter said.
The letter alleges the FSA website changes — like moving the submit a complaint function — weakens FSA’s capacity to resolve complaints and puts borrowers at risk of loan scams. Warren, D-Mass., and the senators demand answers about the agency’s complaint backlog, why the department fired the civil servants, and how much influence Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency had on the firings.
“Donald Trump is telling students that if you’re scammed by your student loan servicer or have a problem getting the aid you need to go to college, he doesn’t care,” Warren said in a statement to ABC News. “Secretary McMahon is helping Trump rip opportunities away from kids who just want a good education, and as a result, real people will get hurt. Democrats in the Senate are not going to roll over and give up on our kids — we’re fighting back,” Warren added.
This comes as President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order to gut the U.S. Department of Education at the White House on Wednesday, multiple sources familiar told ABC News. The president’s order will direct McMahon to take all necessary steps permitted by law to dissolve department, according to the sources familiar. It would take 60 votes in the Senate to dismantle the agency that Congress created.
The education department took its first steps to eliminate nearly half the agency’s workforce last week through a massive reduction in force, deferred resignations and retirement buyouts, according to the agency. After a federal judge ordered that former probationary employees be reinstated, dozens were rehired. A source familiar told ABC News that most of the reduction in force impacted the offices for Civil Rights and Federal Student Aid. FSA civil servants are tasked with helping the nation’s students achieve higher education, including overseeing a $1.6 trillion portfolio of student loans.
FSA received nearly 300,000 complaints in Fiscal Year 2024, according to the letter. The office had about 1,400 employees before the layoffs and hundreds will be lost after last week’s cuts.=
Still, the department will continue to administer its statutory functions that students from disadvantaged backgrounds rely on, including grants, formula funding and loans, McMahon stressed recently.
“We wanted to make sure that we kept all of the right people, the good people, to make sure that the outward-facing programs, the grants, the appropriations that come from Congress, all of that are being met and none of that is going to fall through the cracks,” she said on “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News.
FSA’s operations have already been impacted, according to a source familiar. The federal student loan website was down briefly last week. Less than 24 hours after being fired, IT employees were called frantically to join an hours-long troubleshooting call, according to the source.
Throughout President Joe Biden’s tenure there were widespread issues with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form. During a House Committee on Appropriations hearing last spring former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the department was working on fixing the botched rollout of the form “around the clock.” McMahon’s department touted a 50% increase on the number of FAFSA applications submitted compared to this time last year.
Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the ranking member on the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, were among the 11 lawmakers who signed the letter. The deadline for the administration to respond is March 25.
A former FSA attorney, who did oversight and enforcement in the borrower defense unit, said they were heartbroken when they were let go from their dream job on Valentine’s Day.
Since the checks stopped coming in last month, the former employee said it’s been difficult living on unemployment benefits. The former employee described making about a fifth of what they brought in before being fired.
However, they said the letter to McMahon gives them renewed hope.
“If I could get my job back I would take it in a heartbeat,” the former FSA attorney told ABC News, adding, “I loved the work that we did.”
