Category: National

(SAN DIEGO) — At least two people are confirmed dead and eight others injured after a small plane crashed in a neighborhood of San Diego on Thursday morning, spewing jet fuel and starting a large fire that damaged about 10 buildings and multiple cars, fire officials said.

The small private jet crashed seconds before landing at about 3:45 am. local time, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Five people were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and a sixth person was injured while climbing out of a window, officials said. Two others were treated for minor injuries. All the injuries were treated at the evacuation center and no one was transferred from the scene.

All the fatalities appear to be from the plane itself, San Diego Assistant Fire Chief of Emergency Operations Dan Eddy said at a press conference earlier Thursday. Officials do not yet know how many people were aboard the plane.

Multiple homes have been destroyed in the neighborhood, according to Eddy, who said earlier the crash site looked “like a movie scene.” One home was permanently destroyed, officials said Thursday.

There was dense fog in the area on Thursday morning and Eddy told reporters he could only see 40 to 50 feet in front of him.

In air traffic control audio from minutes before the crash, you can hear the pilot ask about the weather, according to LiveATC.net. Air traffic controllers told the pilot the weather station at Montgomery Airport was down and the pilot asks for more weather information.

The controller tells him the weather for nearby Miramar Airport, according to the audio.

“Ugh, that doesn’t sound great, but we’ll give it a go,” the pilot responds.

The plane was flying from Wichita, Kansas, to San Diego’s Montgomery Gibbs Executive Airport when it crashed. The plane originated in Teterboro, according to FlightRadar24 records, before landing in Wichita at 1:50 a.m. Central time. It left for San Diego at 2:35 a.m. local time.

It was roughly 500 feet in the air at its last radar check-in, according to the FAA.

Over 100 people have been displaced as a result of the crash, according to officials. Murphy Canyon, the neighborhood where the crash happened, is one of largest military housing units in the world, according to San Diego Naval Base Commanding Officer Capt. Robert Heely.

Multiple elementary schools have been closed for the day due to the crash, according to officials

“Our city will be supporting these families who are impacted here. They’re part of the military community that makes up our city,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said at a press conference.

Several factors contributed to the crash, according to Gloria.

“Visibility was relatively low at the hour that the fight was making its approach to Montgomery Gibbs, the plane clipped a transmission line, an electricity transmission line and that caused it to fall into the Murphy Canyon neighborhood that’s there,” Gloria said in an interview on ABC News Live.

“Beyond that, we’re going to wait for our professionals at the federal level to give us some more of the investigative results. But right now, [this] is a terrible tragedy of the loss of life of those aboard the plane,” Gloria said.

The plane that crashed can hold eight to 10 people, including the pilot, but it’s still unclear how many were on board.

“I can’t quite put words to describe what this scene looks like, but with the jet fuel going down the street and everything on fire all at once, it was pretty horrific to see for the police officers and firefighters to run in there, start trying to evacuate people out of the way, and doing anything and everything they could to try to save somebody’s life is really heroic,” San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl said at a press conference.

Residents were evacuated to a nearby school and officials went home to home to find out if there was anybody inside, Eddy said.

“I was half-asleep and I saw a flash at the window and heard a bang,” said Jennifer Hoffman, who lives a couple blocks from the crash. “I thought it was lightning to be honest, I even checked the weather to see if it was raining out. And then I heard like bunches of pops and I was like, ‘That can’t be lightning.’ I went downstairs, I checked outside and I saw the neighborhood behind us was bright red. It was awful.”

The plane directly hit multiple homes and cars, setting them ablaze, before running down the street, Eddy said.

“There was a big explosion and I woke up, I looked out the window and there was fire all in front of my house,” said neighborhood resident Jessica Schrader. “I just kept hearing explosions and the fire was up to right in front of my front door. So I’m trying to figure out how to escape with my kids.”

“We yelled for our neighbors — our neighbors put a ladder up to their fence, it’s about 8-foot-tall,” she said. “We were able to climb the ladder and jump onto their trampoline to escape — me and my children.”

There was no mayday call before this crash, according to radio traffic. The last communication was the pilot announcing on the radio that he was 3 miles out and landing. The tower was closed at the time and this is standard procedure.

The whole neighborhood is still on lockdown as investigators continue their work.

The National Transportation Safety Board was also en route to the scene.

ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Ayesha Ali contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — 
 

 

Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who the Trump administration has targeted for deportation after he helped organize pro-Palestinian protests as a student at Columbia University, met his infant son for the first time, prior to his immigration hearing Thursday in Louisiana.

Thursday’s hearing was attended by Khalil’s wife, Dr. Noor Abdalla, who gave birth to the couple’s son on April 21 during Khalil’s ongoing detention in Louisiana.

Khalil, a green card holder who is married to an American citizen, has been held in a Louisiana detention facility since ICE agents arrested him in the lobby of his apartment building in New York City in March.

Immigration Judge Jamee Comans ruled last month that Khalil is deportable based on Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s assertion that his continued presence and actions in the country poses “adverse foreign policy consequence.” She did not ask to review any evidence backing those claims.

During Thursday’s hearing, Comans denied Khalil’s motion to terminate the case based on his allegation that his arrest and detention is illegal because he was arrested without a warrant.

The judge also declined to hear argument from Khalil’s team pertaining to the government’s allegations that Khalil lied on his application for a green card, saying the issue was “irrelevant” because she had already determined that Khalil was removable.

Judge Comans also heard Khalil’s case for asylum and for withholding of removal to either Algeria or Syria, where he a citizen of both countries. Several expert witnesses were called by Khalil’s team, including U.C. Davis historian Muriam Davis, an expert on the Middle East and North Africa, who testified to the dangers Khalil might face if deported to Algeria and Syria, due to the notoriety of the case.

“In general, his case has achieved an international prominence that would make him a target,” Davis testified.

There were also several heated exchanges between Khalil’s counsel, Marc Van Der Hout, and Judge Comans, who at one point cautioned Van Der Hout “not to argue with her.”

Van Der Hout, his voice rising, replied, “Well, I am going to argue with you.”

“And you’re going to lose,” Comans responded.

Following a break in the proceedings, additional witnesses — including possibly Khalil himself — were expected to testify.

Ahead of the hearing, Khalil’s attorney submitted over 600 pages of documents, declarations, and expert analyses supporting their claim that he is not antisemitic and that he could face torture and death if he were to be deported.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The newly sworn-in head of the Social Security Administration told agency staff this week that when he was first offered the job in the Trump administration, he wasn’t familiar with the position and had to look it up online.

Frank Bisignano, a former Wall Street executive, said during a town hall with Social Security managers from around the country on Wednesday that he wasn’t seeking a position in the Trump administration when he received a call about leading the SSA.

“So, I get a phone call and it’s about Social Security. And I’m really, I’m really not, I swear I’m not looking for a job,” Bisignano said, according to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by ABC News. “And I’m like, ‘Well, what am I going to do?’ So, I’m Googling Social Security. You know, one of my great skills, I’m one of the great Googlers on the East Coast.”

“I’m like, ‘What the heck’s the commissioner of Social Security?'” said Bisignano, who now oversees one of the largest federal agencies that’s responsible for distributing retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to more than 70 million Americans.

“Put that as the headline for the Post: ‘Great Googler in Chief. Chief in Googler’ or whatever,” said Bisignano, who throughout the meeting repeatedly bemoaned media leaks from within the agency.

While Bisignano, who previously served as chairman and CEO of financial technology company Fiserv Inc., brings experience managing large organizations and overseeing complex payment systems to his new role, he has no prior history working in government or with the Social Security system.

A spokesperson for the Social Security Administration did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

In Wednesday’s 90-minute call, Bisignano sought to calm concerns about the future of the agency amid recent leadership turnover and scrutiny from Elon Musk’s government-slashing Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE.

He told the managers in the meeting that Social Security was “not going away,” adding that President Trump also agrees with that.

“This is America’s, you know, safety net — it’s not going away. And hopefully you hear me say this every day,” he said. “You know who wants me to tell people that? Guess. The president.”

“I’ve gotten notes about, ‘Will the turmoil of the last five months end? Are you here to cause more turmoil?'” he said. “I don’t think it’s the turmoil of the past five months, although I will be the fifth since, you know, November, right?” Bisignano said, referring to being the fifth person put in charge of the critical agency since Trump was reelected in November.

“Are we having fun yet? Are we OK?” he asked those on the call.

Bisignano told the managers that they needed to believe that DOGE was “helping to make things better” even if “it may not feel that way.”

“Who’s heard of DOGE? Raise your hand, right? Your bias has to be, because mine is, DOGE is helping make things better. It may not feel that way, but don’t believe everything you read.”

He said DOGE would be involved in rebuilding the Social Security website and integrating artificial intelligence into the agency’s phone support systems.

The head of the agency also told managers that the SSA must adopt a “digital-first” mindset to meet the expectations of the American public, comparing the agency to how consumers interact with tech giants like Amazon.

“You’re competing with experiences that people have with Amazon, right? So if I could get something done at Amazon, why can’t I get something done the same way with Social Security? That’s how people think.”

Bisignano’s officially joins the agency following months of upheaval at the SSA, which has seen a revolving door of leadership amid DOGE’s sweeping efforts to overhaul the agency by modernizing its operations and cutting costs. Among the changes DOGE is pushing are staff reassignments, digital infrastructure overhauls, and the controversial outsourcing of certain administrative functions, according to sources.

Bisignano also said he does not intend to implement reductions in force, or RIFs, at the agency, at least for now. “I have no intent to RIF people, OK? Because that’s the big question,” he said.

When the Wall Street veteran was named Trump’s pick to lead the agency, he faced backlash from Democrats and activists who claimed his selection threatened the future of the Social Security program. In early May, lawmakers, union leaders, and activists protested his selection outside the U.S. Capitol ahead of the Senate vote on his nomination.

On Wednesday’s call, Bisignano appeared to revel in the news.

“Did you guys know there was a protest against me? Who knows there was a protest against me?” he said. “I like that protest — I want to prove them so wrong, man, this is going to be most fun I ever had.”

“I mean, think of that — a poor boy from Brooklyn, from a multi-generational household with a dad who worked in the federal government, and senators picketing that I’m going to ruin it,” he said. “No way — make it great, right?”

Bisignano, during the call, returned several times to his concerns about leaks to the press, suggesting that he would sniff them out.

“My father was a DA and I’m a detective at heart, so I can figure stuff out,” he said.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(BOSTON) — The former manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue pleaded guilty to stealing body parts from cadavers donated to the Boston institution and then selling them, federal prosecutors said.

Cedric Lodge, 57, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty to transporting stolen human remains, the Department of Justice said Thursday.

He pleaded guilty during a change of plea hearing Wednesday in federal court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to his plea agreement.

Lodge, who had managed the morgue for the Anatomical Gifts Program at Harvard Medical School, admitted to transporting and selling the stolen human remains across multiple states from 2018 to at least March 2020, prosecutors said.

While employed by the morgue, he “removed human remains, including organs, brains, skin, hands, faces, dissected heads, and other parts, from donated cadavers after they had been used for research and teaching purposes but before they could be disposed of according to the anatomical gift donation agreement between the donor and the school,” the U.S. District Court Middle District of Pennsylvania said in a press release.

He then took them to his home and, along with his wife, sold them to people in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, prosecutors said. The transactions totaled in the tens of thousands of dollars, according to the indictment.

Lodge’s attorney declined to comment on the case Thursday.

Harvard Medical School terminated Lodge’s employment in May 2023, school officials said following his indictment, calling the activities an “abhorrent betrayal” and “morally reprehensible.” Lodge acted “without the knowledge or cooperation of anyone else” at the institution, the school said.

Several other individuals have also pleaded guilty to interstate transport of stolen human remains in related cases, including Lodge’s wife, Denise Lodge, who is awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A federal jury has convicted Svetlana Dali of stowing away on a Delta flight to Paris last November after passing through security in a lane reserved for crewmembers and bypassing gate agents by blending in with boarding passengers.

Dali had been charged with a federal stowaway count for boarding an overnight Delta flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Nov. 26, 2024, and traveling to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport in France without having a ticket. She had pleaded not guilty.

A Brooklyn federal jury found her guilty on Thursday.

Dali, a Russian citizen and U.S. permanent resident who most recently lived in Philadelphia, took the witness stand during the brief trial. She admitted she did not have a boarding pass when she walked onto the flight.

Instead, she said she walked through to “where the people were boarding the flights and then I just walked into the airplane.”

Dali said she stayed in the bathroom “almost the duration of the flight, almost from the beginning to the end.”

A sentencing date was not immediately set.

In a video obtained by ABC News, Dali can be seen walking up to gate B38 at Terminal 4 while other passengers have their boarding passes and passports checked for the Paris flight. After gate attendants assisted a separate group of customers and ushered them toward the jet bridge, Dali followed immediately behind, the video shows.

Dali was ultimately spotted by Delta employees before the plane landed in France, according to the FBI complaint. The complaint stated that Dali was unable to provide a boarding pass and that once the plane landed, French law enforcement would not allow her to pass the customs area.

During an interview with the FBI upon her return, Dali reportedly admitted to flying as a stowaway and stated she did not have a plane ticket and that she intentionally evaded TSA security officials and Delta employees so she could travel without buying one, according to the complaint.

Officials attempted to send Dali back to the United States on another flight shortly after, but Dali was removed from the plane after insisting against her return.

She was eventually brought back to New York to face charges. After being released, Dali allegedly cut off her ankle monitor and traveled to Buffalo, where she tried unsuccessfully to cross over the Peace Bridge into Canada on a bus.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Two staff members with the Israeli Embassy — a couple about to get engaged — were gunned down outside an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday in what FBI Director Kash Patel called an “act of terror.”

The shooting has sparked outrage and has been condemned as an “unspeakable” act of antisemitism after officials said the suspect, who is in custody, shouted “free, free Palestine” following the shooting.

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were identified by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar as the victims during a press conference on Thursday morning.

He said the pair were attending a Jewish conference of the American Jewish Committee when they were gunned down “in a horrific terrorist attack.”

“This is the direct result of toxic anti-Semitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world that has been going on since the October 7th massacre,” Sa’ar added. “I have been worried for the past few months that something like this would happen. And it did.”

An official with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed to reporters during the presser that Lischinsky and Milgrim were not diplomats but embassy staff. Lischinsky was a researcher in the political department of the Israeli Embassy, while Milgrim organized U.S. missions to Israel.

Suspect taken into custody

The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez of Chicago, was promptly taken into custody at the scene and is being questioned by police, D.C. Metro Police Chief Pamela Smith said.

The FBI said on Thursday it was conducting “court authorized activity” at a home in Chicago that is believed to be related to the suspect in the shooting.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said the early indicators point to the shooting being a “targeted attack.”

“The US Attorney’s office is on scene with me, and our WFO management team, at the Washington Field Office reviewing the evidence to determine additional actions,” Bongino said. “The shooting happened a short distance from our Washington Field Office. Our FBI police officer, assigned to the external post on the WFO property, immediately responded and rendered aid after the attack. Early indicators are that this is an act of targeted violence. Our FBI team is fully engaged and we will get you answers as soon as we can, without compromising additional leads.”

Bongino said on Thursday that the FBI is aware of “certain writings allegedly authored by the suspect, and we hope to have updates to the authenticity very soon.”

After the shooting, officials said Rodriguez attempted to enter the building where the event was taking place and was stopped by event security, Smith said.

Katie Kalisher, who was inside the museum at the time of the shooting, told ABC News before his arrest, Rodriguez “came over to where I was and we offered him water,” which is when he reached into his backpack, pulled out a keffiyeh and said, “I did this for Gaza, free Palestine.”

Another witness, Yoni Kalin, said the suspect “looked frightened.”

Once in custody, he implied that he had committed the shooting and began to chant, “free, free Palestine,” Smith said.

He also explained where he had allegedly ditched the gun used in the shooting, which was promptly recovered, according to officials.

‘No active threat’

“There is no active threat,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said during the press conference at the Metropolitan Police Department.

“I want to be clear that we will not tolerate this violence or hate in our city. We will not tolerate any acts of terrorism, and we’re going to stand together as a community in the coming days and weeks to send a clear message that we will not tolerate antisemitism.”

Emergency call centers began receiving calls around 9:08 p.m. reporting a shooting in the area, Smith said.

When emergency responders arrived, the man and one woman were found at the scene, not breathing, she continued. At least one of the victims was first transported to a local hospital in critical condition, sources told ABC News.

The two victims had been exiting the event at the museum when the incident occurred, officials confirmed.

“The couple that was gunned down tonight were about to be engaged,” Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said at the press conference. “The young man purchased a ring this week with the intention of proposing next week in Jerusalem.”

Leiter also shared that he had received a call from President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening, pledging the support of the U.S. in combating antisemitism.

Meanwhile, Trump posted a statement about the shooting on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying, “These horrible D.C. killings, based obviously on antisemitism, must end, NOW! Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA. Condolences to the families of the victims. So sad that such things as this can happen! God Bless You ALL!”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday they believe the suspect acted alone — “from everything we know now.”

“I saw a young man’s body being taken away, who was about to get engaged. He had an entire life in front of him, and that was taken away. The hate has got to stop, and it has to stop now. This person will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Bondi said.

Questions about security

Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, confirmed with ABC News that the AJC had hosted an event at the museum on Wednesday night, adding, “We are devastated that an unspeakable act of violence took place outside the venue. At this moment, as we await more information from the police about exactly what transpired, our attention and our hearts are solely with those who were harmed and their families.”

The incident took place near the FBI field office in D.C. A top spokesperson for the FBI posted on X that there was a bureau presence at the scene working in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police Department.

Bondi and interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro went to the scene shortly after the incident, Bondi said in a post on X.

“Praying for the victims of this violence as we work to learn more,” she wrote.

Bondi was asked Thursday morning, when she again visited the scene, about whether there was a security failure in preventing the attack.

“I don’t think anyone would have expected what happened last night,” Bondi said. “They were in an event, a beautiful event. … But no, I think law enforcement were on the scene immediately because of that, and the great men and women of the FBI are doing an incredible job as well as Metropolitan Police.”

Reaction to the shooting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement in the aftermath of the shooting saying he was “shocked” at the murder of two employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.

“The Prime Minister spoke with Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, and received an immediate update on the details of the incident,” the statement said. “The Prime Minister sends strength to the Ambassador and the embassy employees.”

“My heart aches for the families of the beloved young man and woman, whose lives were cut short by a heinous anti-Semitic murderer,” Netanyahu said. “I have instructed to increase security arrangements at Israeli missions around the world and security for representatives of the state.”

Netanyahu also spoke with the parents of both victims, the prime minister’s office said.

In Washington, D.C., the Secret Service on Wednesday night increased the security posture and patrols for the Israeli Embassy and the residence of the Israeli ambassador, officials said.

In New York City, the NYPD expanded its presence and security measures at Jewish and Israeli facilities and locations connected with the Israeli government. The increased security will remain in place indefinitely and is both visible and hidden, officials said.

Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, called the shooting a “depraved act of anti-Semitic terrorism” in a post on X.

“Harming diplomats and the Jewish community is crossing a red line,” he wrote.

United States Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on X, “We are actively investigating and working to get more information to share. Please pray for the families of the victims. We will bring this depraved perpetrator to justice.”

Former Vice President Kamala Harris and former second gentleman Doug Emhoff shared reactions to the incident on social media Thursday morning, with Harris calling the attack a “shocking act of antisemitic violence.”

“Jews must be able to gather without fear or violence. We will not be silent and we will never let antisemitic terror defeat us. May the memory of Yaron and Sarah be a blessing,” Emhoff, who is Jewish and worked to combat antisemitism as second gentleman, wrote on X.

The Capital Jewish Museum, which has been closed since the shooting, will be reopening “in the coming days, with all necessary security in place,” according to Beatrice Gurwitz, executive director of the museum.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(CHICAGO) — Federal authorities seized nearly $34 million worth of illegal e-cigarettes in their latest effort to crack down on unauthorized vaping products entering the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection discovered nearly two million illegal e-cigarette units during inspections in Chicago this February, officials announced Thursday.

Almost all the products came from China and included brands like Snoopy Smoke and Raz.

In a new move to combat illegal imports, the FDA also sent warning letters to 24 companies that bring tobacco products into the country.

“We can and will do more to stop illegal e-cigarettes from coming into the United States,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in the press release. “These seizures keep unauthorized products away from our nation’s youth.”

More than 20 million e-cigarettes are sold each month in the U.S., according to CDC Foundation data. However, only 34 tobacco and menthol-flavored e-cigarette products are allowed to be sold in the U.S.

Officials said many companies tried to sneak illegal products past customs by using fake labels and incorrect values on shipping documents.

“We keep finding more shipments of vaping products that are packaged and mislabeled to avoid getting caught,” according to Bret Koplow, who leads the FDA’s tobacco regulation center. “But we’re getting better at stopping these products before they reach U.S. stores.”

The FDA said the seized products would be destroyed. This operation was part of an ongoing effort that had already stopped more than $77 million worth of illegal e-cigarettes in the past year through similar raids in Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago.

The agency has also issued more than 750 warning letters to companies making or selling unauthorized vaping products and over 800 warnings to stores selling them. It also filed financial penalties against 87 manufacturers and more than 175 retailers.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. Treasury Department says it will phase out production of new pennies early next year after President Donald Trump asked the agency to stop producing the coin that has been part of the American currency for more than 230 years.

The Treasury Department said in a statement that the U.S. Mint, which it oversees, will stop producing new pennies once it runs out of blank templates used to make the mostly copper and zinc coins. The agency confirmed that it made its final order of penny blanks this month.

The retirement of the penny, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is expected to save the Treasury Department around $56 million annually in reduced material costs, according to the department’s statement.

“Additional savings will accrue as facility usage is adjusted and other efficiencies are achieved with the reduced production,” the Treasury Department said.

The agency announced the move just months after Trump criticized production of the coin in February as being “wasteful.”

In an announcement in February on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the cost of minting the coin featuring the profile of the country’s 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, is more than twice the currency’s face value.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies, which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is wasteful!” Trump wrote. “I have instructed my Secretary of Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nation’s budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the cost of producing a single penny has more than doubled in the past 10 years, from 1.3 cents to 3.69 cents in 2024.

Printing a paper $1 bill is cheaper than producing a penny, which, according to the U.S. Mint, is comprised of 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper and requires a smelting process to mold the metals. According to the Federal Reserve, it costs Treasury’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing 3.2 cents to print a $1 note – less than the cost of minting a penny.

The U.S. Mint reported losing $85.3 million on making pennies in fiscal year 2024, according to the Mint’s annual report to Congress.

The one-cent piece has been part of the fabric of America since 1792. Lincoln’s portrait has been embossed on it for 116 years, according the U.S. Mint’s website.

There are about 114 billion pennies currently in circulation in the United States, but they are severely underutilized, according to the Treasury Department.

“Given the cost savings to the taxpayer, this is just another example of our administration cutting waste for the American taxpayer and making the government more efficient for the American people,” the Treasury Department said in it’s statement.

The move would usually require the approval of Congress. Even though it’s part of the U.S. Treasury, “Congress authorizes every coin and most medals that the U.S. Mint manufactures and oversees the Mint’s operations under its Public Enterprise Fund,” according to the Mint’s website.

However, Laurence H. Tribe, the Carl M. Loeb University professor of constitutional law emeritus at Harvard Law School, told the Associated Press in February that the U.S. Code, a list of general and permanent federal statues, gives Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent the authority to scrap the penny.

“This action seems to me entirely lawful and fully constitutional,” Tribe said.

The penny will become the 12th U.S. currency denomination to be retired, joining the half-cent coin, the 2-cent coin, the 20-cent piece and the “trime” – a silver three-cent piece issued from 1851 to 1873, Caroline Turco, assistant curator of the Money Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado, told ABC News.

“We retired them for multiple different reasons, but normally because they were not being used or they just became too expensive to produce,” said Turco.

Is it a good idea

Mark Weller is executive director of Americans for Common Cents, a Washington, D.C., organization that provides research to Congress and the executive branch on the benefits of the penny. He told ABC News that he believes eliminating the coin “is an absolutely horrible idea.”

“It would be bad for consumers and it would be bad for the economy. It really would, in fact, not save money, but it would increase government losses and have some unintended economic consequences,” Weller said.

Weller – who disclosed to ABC News that he is also a lobbyist for companies in various industries, including Artazn, a Tennessee-based manufacturer of zinc products, some of which are used in making pennies – said doing away with the penny would prompt the U.S. Mint to increase production of the nickel.

According to the U.S. Mint, the cost of minting a single nickel is nearly 14 cents, almost three times the coin’s face value and more than three-and-a-half times the cost of minting a penny.

“Without the penny, nickel production could nearly double, which would increase the Mint’s losses,” Weller said. “So, it’s just hard to understand how you could produce more nickels that are losing more money than the penny and say you’re going to save money.”

Weller further said that ditching the penny could lead to the cost of goods going up for American consumers.

“If there’s one thing most economists agree on is that private business has a profit motive. So, the assumption would be that they would price things in a way that they would round up, not round down,” Weller said.

Although digital payments are increasingly more common, Weller said cash remains a crucial tool, “especially for someone economically underserved and under-banked.”

The U.S. Mint produced 3.2 billion pennies in fiscal year 2024, according to the Mint’s annual report to Congress, with an estimated 250 billion pennies currently in circulation.

History of the penny

Turco, whose museum is the education branch of the American Numismatic Association, told ABC News that one big misconception about the penny is that, technically, it has never existed in the United States.

“The American system does not have a ‘penny.’ That is a misnomer,” Turco said. “We have a cent because when we rebelled against the British they had pennies and that is a British word.”

Turco said the 1-cent piece was first produced in the United States in 1792 and was originally the size of the present-day quarter.

Turco said Lincoln, whose likeness is also on the $5 bill, was added to the coin in 1909.

The United States wouldn’t be the first country to eliminate the coin, Turco said. Canada, for example, decided to phase out its penny in 2012. In the U.S., the Department of Defense stopped using pennies at its overseas bases in 1980 because it became too expensive to ship them.

Regardless of the penny’s fate, Turco said she believes it will always be a part of the United States, at least colloquially, adding that such phrases as “a lucky penny” and “a penny saved is a penny earned” will likely always be a part of the American lexicon. Perhaps, ironically, the penny’s value could increase if its discontinued.

“I think collectors will still enjoy having them,” Turco said. “But I don’t think that the value of a penny will just skyrocket overnight.”

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge in Boston has blocked the Trump administration from attempting to dismantle the Department of Education.

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun issued a preliminary injunction Thursday that bars the Trump administration from firing half the Department of Education’s workforce.

The order from Judge Joun — a Biden appointee — also prohibits the Department of Education from transferring the management of federal student loans to the Small Business Administration.

The decision marks the first time a federal judge has determined the Trump administration’s sweeping changes to the Department of Education are unlawful.

For now, the order puts a stop to the Trump administration’s effort to fire more than 2,000 Department of Education employees, transfer federal student loan obligations, and otherwise implement the president’s March 20 executive order to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education.”

A group that includes several state attorneys general, schools, and nonprofits challenged Trump’s efforts to reduce the size of the Department of Education last month, arguing the president cannot unilaterally shut down a federal department created by Congress.

Lawyers for the Trump administration argued that the efforts to reduce the Department of Education would make it more efficient, and were separate from Trump’s vow to abolish the department.

Judge Joun was unconvinced. His decision offered a blistering assessment of the Trump administration’s claim that recent changes to the Department of Education are to improve efficiency, rather than carry out Trump’s vow to abolish the Department outright.

“The idea that Defendants’ actions are merely a ‘reorganization’ is plainly not true,” he wrote.

The changes imposed by Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Judge Joun wrote, “effectively impossible for the Department to carry out its statutorily mandated functions.”

Though Trump has the authority to remove executive officers, the president does not have the power to dismantle entire federal departments outright, he wrote. He also cast doubt on the claim that the legislative effort to abolish the Department of Education was separate from his executive actions.

“Not only is there no evidence that Defendants are pursuing a ‘legislative goal’ or otherwise working with Congress to reach a resolution, but there is also no evidence that the RIF has actually made the Department more efficient. Rather, the record is replete with evidence of the opposite,” the judge wrote, referring to the “reduction in force” firings.

“Consolidated Plaintiffs have demonstrated that the Department will not be able to carry out its statutory functions — and in some cases, is already unable to do so — and Defendants have proffered no evidence to the contrary,” he wrote.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season will likely experience above-average activity, the National Hurricane Center announced on Thursday.

Between 13 and 19 named storms are expected for the 2025 season, which starts on June 1 and lasts until Nov. 30, according to the NHC. Storms are named when become tropical storms or stronger.

Meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predict between six and 10 hurricanes and between three and five major hurricanes, at Category 3 or higher.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.