National

2 police officers shot at Chicago hospital: Officials

Police Line Tape (mbbirdy/Getty Images)

(CHICAGO) — Two police officers were shot at a hospital in Chicago on Saturday morning and one was in critical condition as the medical facility went on lockdown, local officials said.

The shooting was reported at around 11:00 a.m. local time at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital, according to the hospital.

The unidentified suspect is now in custody, according to Alderperson Andre Vasquez of Chicago’s 40th Ward.

“Please shelter in place if you are in the surrounding area or avoid the area,” he said in a social media post

Vasquez said that one of the officers was in critical condition.

The hospital said there was no “active threat” within the hospital and patients and staff are safe.

“The campus is currently closed while law enforcement leads their investigation,” the hospital said.

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

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National

Almost 50 million Americans on alert for severe weather outbreak in Plains, Midwest

Severe weather outlook for Saturday, April 25, 2026. (ABC News)

(NEW YORK) — A severe weather threat is shifting back to parts of Kansas and Oklahoma on Saturday after damaging winds, hail and tornadoes impacted the region over the past week.

A level 4 of 5 “moderate risk” has been added for southeast Oklahoma, including Ada and McAlester, for the potential for very large hail (larger than baseballs), strong tornadoes, and damaging winds.

A level 3 of 5 “enhanced risk” is up for northeastern Oklahoma and far eastern Arkansas, including Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Broken Bow and Enid, in Oklahoma, and Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Damaging winds and very large hail are the primary threats with these storms, but a few tornadoes, some potentially strong, cannot be ruled out with these storms.

This will be a later day event, with storms not likely to begin firing off until after at least 3:00 p.m. CT. Once storms get going, the atmosphere will be very favorable for discrete storms to intensify across eastern Oklahoma going into the evening hours.

Storms will continue to fire off during the evening up to just after sunset and will continue through the overnight hours across eastern Oklahoma, far northeast Texas and western Arkansas.

Beginning Sunday, a potent storm system will form southeast of the Rockies and swing northeast across the Plains, bringing more severe weather to the Plains on Sunday before the severe weather threat spreads northeast and stretches into the Midwest on Monday.

Almost 50 million Americans will be on alert for severe storms on Sunday or Monday – almost 8 million for Sunday, and almost 40 million for Monday.

For Sunday, a level 3 of 5 “enhanced risk” is up for much of Kansas as well as portions of western Missouri, including Wichita and Kansas City. Tornadoes, some being strong, as well as damaging winds and large hail are all possible with storms in this area.

A level 2 of 5 “slight risk” is also up for parts of northern Texas, northwestern Arkansas, western Missouri, far southwest Iowa, southern Nebraska, most of Oklahoma and much of the remaining areas of Kansas.

Like Saturday, severe storms will likely not begin firing off until the late afternoon. When storms do get going though during the evening, the atmosphere will be favorable for discrete thunderstorms to grow and intensify, producing tornadoes (some possibly strong), damaging winds and large hail.

For Monday, the severe weather threat spreads northeast and stretches from the lower Mississippi River valley up to the Midwest for Monday. A level 3 of 5 “enhanced risk” is up for cities like St. Louis; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Evansville, Indiana; Paducah, Kentucky; and Rockford, Illinois.

A level 2 of 5 “slight risk” is up for cities like Memphis; Louisville, Kentucky; Chicago; South Bend, Indiana; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Mason City, IIowa.

While there is some uncertainty in exact timing and setup with Monday’s storms, the potential for tornadoes with some being strong, as well as widespread damaging wind gusts, large hail, and spotty flash flooding is increasing for Monday for these areas.

With any discrete supercell thunderstorms that form and maintain themselves in this atmosphere, the “tornadic potential could maximize, with a few long track, particularly damaging tornadoes possible,” according to the NWS Storm Prediction Center.

This will likely be a late afternoon and evening setup regardless, with discrete storms or clusters of storms tracking in a line from Milwaukee and Chicago down to St. Louis and into northern Arkansas around the evening commute on Monday.

These storms will sweep east into the overnight hours, with Indianapolis; Paducah, Kentucky; and Memphis likely seeing storms later in the evening.

This storm system will also bring heavy rain to the central U.S., with some of it possibly falling in a short time with the heaviest storms. Because of this, isolated flash flooding is possible with these storms into the new week.

Heavy rain will also come to the Great Lakes on Monday, which could reinvigorate the flood risk given how saturated the ground still is from the historic rainfall from a few weeks ago combined with rapid snowmelt.

For Tuesday, we can see the severe weather threat shift to parts of the South as this potent system continues to move east. Places like Memphis; Little Rock, Arkansas; Tyler, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Jackson, Mississippi, will have to watch for potential severe weather later in the day.

Some showers, humidity in the Southeast
The drought in the Southeast continues to worsen as two wildfires continue to burn in southeast Georgia.

Some rounds of rain and possibly isolated thunderstorms will move into the region later today and late Monday into Tuesday, with each round bringing around 0.5 to 1 inch of rain.

The rain will not tame the wildfires alone, especially if it doesn’t fall directly where the fires are. If there are any isolated thunderstorms, there is the chance that lightning could ignite additional wildfires in the already dry region.

However, the increased humidities and any rain that does fall on the fires this weekend into early next week will help with controlling ongoing fires and quickly manage any new fires if any should occur.

The rain will not make much of a dent on the drought situation across the region. For example, Georgia needs between 12 and 18 inches of rainfall to end the current drought.

The two notable fires in southeast Georgia, the Pineland Road Fire and the Highway 82 Brantley County Fire, continue to burn.

Meanwhile, the fire threat will be in the southern High Plains this weekend. Parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, as well as the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma are under fire weather alerts this weekend.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

National

1 missing USF doctoral student found dead, roommate charged with murder: Sheriff

In these photos released by the University of South Florida Police Department, Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy are shown. (University of South Florida Police Department)

(TAMPA, Fla.) —  The remains of one of the two missing University of South Florida doctoral students were discovered by investigators Friday and his roommate was arrested, authorities said.

Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, has now been charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a weapon in the deaths of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced on Saturday.

Investigators found the remains of Limon on the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa Friday morning, Joseph Maurer, of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters Friday.

The search for Bristy continues, the office said.

Investigators have been searching for Limon and fellow USF doctoral student Bristy since they went missing on April 16.

“We are still actively searching for Nahida,” he told reporters during a news conference Friday.

Maurer said investigators received a 911 call for a domestic violence disturbance around 9 a.m. Friday at a residence where Limon’s roommate, Abugharbieh, had barricaded himself.

Abugharbieh was previously interviewed by police during their investigation into the disappearances, Mauer said.

Following a brief standoff, the suspect surrendered, Maurer said. He was seen exiting the home with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

Abugharbieh was initially charged with unlawfully holding or move a dead human body in unapproved conditions, failure to report a death to the medical examiner or law enforcement (intent to conceal), tampering with physical evidence, false imprisonment and battery, the sheriff’s office said.

The suspect is not a current USF student or employee, school officials said.

Abugharbieh will have his first court appearance on Saturday morning.

USF President Moez Limayem said in a statement Friday that there is “no ongoing threat to the safety of the university community.” He expressed “deep sadness” over Limon’s death and prayed for Bristy’s “safe return.”

The cause of Limon’s death is being determined, Maurer said. He had no further details about Bristy’s condition.

Marine and dive teams were searching near the Howard Frankland Bridge for Bristy, the sheriff’s office said.

Limon and Bristy, both 27, were last seen at separate locations in the Tampa area on April 16, according to the USF Police Department.

On Thursday, officials received new information to warrant upgrading their status from missing to endangered, which indicates they are at risk of physical injury or death, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff did not provide any more details about the investigation or search efforts.

Limon and Bristy are friends, and a mutual acquaintance reported them missing, campus police said.

Limon was last seen at his Tampa residence at approximately 9 a.m. on April 16, according to police.

He had attended the university since fall 2024 to study geography and environmental science and policy, school officials said.

Bristy was last seen at the USF Tampa campus at the Natural & Environmental Sciences Building at approximately 10 a.m. on April 16, police said.

She has attended the university since fall 2025 to study chemical engineering, school officials said.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call the University of South Florida Police Department at 813-974-2628.

-ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

National

Judge orders Trump, DOJ to justify why president’s $10B IRS lawsuit should proceed

President Trump Signs Executive Order At The White House (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge is raising concerns about whether Donald Trump’s attempt to sue the IRS for $10 billion can proceed, signaling she could throw out the case because the president oversees the government entities he is suing.

Judge Kathleen Williams raised the issue in an order on Friday denying a request to delay the case amid possible settlement talks.

She noted that Trump and the defendants — the Treasury Department and IRS — may not be “sufficiently adverse” to one another for the case to proceed. 

“Moreover, although President Trump avers that he is bringing this lawsuit in his personal capacity, he is the sitting president and his named adversaries are entities whose decisions are subject to his direction. Indeed, President Trump’s own remarks about this matter acknowledge the unique dynamic of this litigation,” she wrote.

Williams ordered both Trump’s lawyers and the Department of Justice to submit briefs about why the case should proceed and set a hearing for next month. For the case to proceed, Trump’s lawyers and the DOJ need to establish that the lawsuit is “a dispute between parties who face each other in an adversary proceeding.”

“Typically, adverseness is found in a situation where one party is asserting its right and the other party is resisting,” she noted.

But with Trump in charge of the very government entities he is suing, Williams noted that the required adverse relationship between the parties may not exist. She added that Trump has signed multiple executive orders tightening the president’s control over the executive agencies like the Department of Justice.

“One such employee of the executive branch, the Attorney General, has a statutory obligation to defend the IRS when it is hailed into court, but then is ostensibly required by executive mandate to adhere to the President’s opinion on a matter of law in such a case. This raises questions over whether the Parties here are truly antagonistic to each other,” Williams noted. 

Trump, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and the Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department in January related to the unauthorized disclosure of tax information during Trump’s first term.

A government contractor with the IRS pleaded guilty in 2023 to stealing the tax information of Donald Trump and other wealthy Americans and leaking it to media outlets in 2019 and 2020. 

In a court filing last week, lawyers for the Trumps said that they were “in discussions” with the Department of Justice to potentially resolve the lawsuit and requested a deadline extension so they can “engage in discussions designed to resolve this matter and to avoid protracted litigation.”

The filing said both sides agreed to the 90-day extension. The Department of Justice had not yet responded to the lawsuit and faced an impending deadline this month.

The Trumps, in the suit, argued that the IRS and Treasury Department should have had “appropriate technical, employee screening, security, and monitoring” to prevent the theft of tax information.

A group of former government officials last month filed an amicus brief with the court to raise concerns about the ethics of the president suing his own government for billions.

“This case is extraordinary because the President controls both sides of the litigation, which raises the prospect of collusive litigation tactics,” the amicus filing said. “To treat this case like business as usual would threaten the integrity of the justice system and the important taxpayer and privacy protections at the heart of this case.”

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National

17-year-old girl identified as victim killed in shooting at Mall of Louisiana, officials say

Crime scene barrier tape (Getty Images/Tetra Images)

(BATON ROUGE, La.) — A 17-year-old girl, Martha Odom, has been identified as the victim killed in a shooting at the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge, officials said Friday, and a 17-year-old suspect is in custody.

Five others were wounded when gunfire broke out during a fight between two groups in the food court on Thursday afternoon, police said.

One of the injured, a 43-year-old man, remains in the hospital in critical condition, Baton Rouge Police Chief T.J. Morse said.

Lafayette’s Ascension Episcopal School described Odom, a senior at the school, as a “joyful presence whose kindness and infectious enthusiasm brought light to all who knew her.”

The school said two students were wounded and two others were witnesses.

One suspect in the shooting, 17-year-old Markel Lee, turned himself in on Friday, and faces charges including first-degree murder and multiple counts of attempted murder, Morse said at a news conference.

Morse said police are asking for the public’s help to find a second suspect wanted in connection with the shooting.

The five people detained on Thursday have been released pending further investigation, Morse said.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called the shooting a “deeply troubling act of violence” that appears to have been driven by “neighborhood gang disputes that seem to want to spill out in our public places, putting innocent people in danger and taking the life of an innocent young lady.”

“This conduct is not going to be tolerated in this state,” he said at the news conference.

An employee at the mall at the time of the shooting told ABC Baton Rouge affiliate WBRZ, “I heard a loud ‘pop’ and then another ‘pop.’ … I turn around and I see people dropping to the floor and then I saw the gun. … And he was turning around, shooting randomly.”

“I called security and said, ‘Shots fired in the food court, people are down, people are hit.’ And then the cops came and it was just total chaos … blood was everywhere,” she said.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” she said.

The Mall of Louisiana is closed on Friday “out of respect for the victims.”

“Our deepest sympathies are with everyone who was impacted by the senseless act of violence that took place here today,” the mall said in a statement.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

National

1 missing USF doctoral student found dead, roommate in custody: Sheriff

In these photos released by the University of South Florida Police Department, Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy are shown. (University of South Florida Police Department)

(TAMPA, Fla.) —  The remains of one of the two missing University of South Florida doctoral students were discovered by investigators Friday and his roommate was taken into custody, authorities said.

Joseph Maurer, of the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, told reporters that investigators found the remains of Zamil Limon on the Howard Frankland Bridge in Tampa Friday morning. Investigators have been searching for Limon and fellow USF doctoral student Nahida Bristy since they went missing on April 16.

“We are still actively searching for Nahida,” he told reporters during a news conference Friday.

Maurer said investigators received a 911 call for a domestic violence disturbance around 9 a.m. at a residence where Limon’s roommate, Hisham Abugharbieh, had barricaded himself.

Abugharbieh was previously interviewed by police during their investigation into the disappearances, Mauer said.

Following a brief standoff, the suspect surrendered, Maurer said.

Abugharbieh is being charged with several counts, including tampering with evidence, failure to report death and domestic violence, according to Maurer.

The cause of Limon’s death is being determined, Maurer said. He had no further details about Bristy’s condition.

Limon and Bristy, both 27, were last seen at separate locations in the Tampa area on April 16, according to the USF Police Department.

On Thursday, officials received new information to warrant upgrading their status from missing to endangered, which indicates they are at risk of physical injury or death, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff did not provide any more details about the investigation or search efforts.

Limon and Bristy are friends, and a mutual acquaintance reported them missing, campus police said.

Limon, who was pursuing a degree in geography, environmental science and policy, was last seen at his Tampa residence at approximately 9 a.m. on April 16, according to police.

Bristy, who is studying chemical engineering, was last seen at the USF Tampa campus at the Natural & Environmental Sciences Building at approximately 10 a.m. that day, police said.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call the University of South Florida Police Department at 813-974-2628.

-ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.

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National

Person linked to missing USF students in custody after barricading themselves: Police

In these photos released by the University of South Florida Police Department, Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy are shown. (University of South Florida Police Department)

(TAMPA, Fla.) — A person who investigators said was linked to the disappearance of two University of Southern Florida doctoral students was taken into custody Friday, police said.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said they responded to a “barricaded subject connected” to the probe into the whereabouts of Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, who went missing on April 16.

“The situation has been resolved. One individual is in custody,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post Friday afternoon, without giving more details.

Limon and Britsy, both 27, were last seen at separate locations in the Tampa area on April 16, according to the USF Police Department.

Officials received new information to warrant upgrading their status from missing to endangered, which indicates they are at risk of physical injury or death, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

The sheriff did not provide any more details about the investigation or search efforts.

Limon and Bristy are friends, and a mutual acquaintance reported them missing, campus police said.

Limon, who is pursuing a degree in geography, environmental science and policy, was last seen at his Tampa residence at approximately 9 a.m. on April 16, according to police.

Bristy, who is studying chemical engineering, was last seen at the USF Tampa campus at the Natural & Environmental Sciences Building at approximately 10 a.m. that day, police said.

Both students have been entered into state and national missing persons’ databases.

Anyone with information on their whereabouts is urged to call the University of South Florida Police Department at 813-974-2628.

-ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.

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National

Soldier who made $400K betting on Maduro’s removal makes 1st court appearance

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrives at the Wall Street heliport ahead of his appearance in federal court in New York, US, on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

(RALEIGH, N.C.) — The special operations soldier who was indicted this week for allegedly using classified information to make more than $400,000 betting on the capture of Nicolas Maduro appeared in a federal courtroom in Raleigh, North Carolina, Friday. 

Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who made the wager on the prediction market Polymarket, will be released on a $250,000 appearance bond.

He agreed to surrender his passport, limit travel to parts of New York and North Carolina, limit drinking “in excess,” and no longer possess a firearm unless it’s part of his active military service. 

Van Dyke entered the courtroom shackled at his hands and feet and only spoke briefly to acknowledge he understood the charges and penalties. He is currently being represented by a public defender. 

He is set to appear in federal court in New York City on April 28.

Federal investigators said Van Dyke bet more than $33,000 on Polymarket just days before President Donald Trump announced Maduro’s capture

The series of bets — which netted more than $409,000 — immediately prompted scrutiny within the world of prediction markets and resulted in a monthslong investigation about whether inside information was used to place the bets. 

Van Dyke was indicted on charges that included unlawful use of confidential information for personal gain, theft of nonpublic government information, commodities fraud, and wire fraud.

When, after placing the bets, he saw reports about unusual trading associated with the mission, Van Dyke allegedly tried to hide the evidence of the trades by attempting to delete his Polymarket account and change the email address registered to his cryptocurrency exchange account, according to the indictment. 

“Rather than safeguard that information as he was obligated to do, VAN DYKE decided to use that classified information to place trades on a prediction market platform for his personal profit,” the indictment said. “VAN DYKE subsequently tried to conceal his unlawful use of classified U.S. Government information by attempting to obscure the source of his unlawful proceeds and to disguise his connection to the accounts linked to the illicit trades.”

While prediction markets are primarily regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, suspiciously-timed trades on platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket have sparked concerns about insider trading. In addition to the $400,000 Maduro bet, another Polymarket user made roughly $550,000 through a series of bets related to the U.S. striking Iran and the removal of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Asked on Thursday what he thought about about Van Dyke’s wagers, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, “That’s like Pete Rose betting on his own team.”

“Pete Rose, they kept him out of the Hall of Fame because he bet on his own team. Now, if he bet against his team, that would be no good, but he bet on his own team,” Trump said. “I’ll look into it.”

Regarding concerns about federal employees making insider trading bets on the Iran conflict and other developments, Trump said “the whole world, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a casino.”

“You look at what’s going on all over the world, in Europe and every place, they’re doing these betting things. I was never much in favor of it. I don’t like it conceptually, but it is what it is. No, I think that I’m not happy with any of that stuff. But they have all these different sites. They have predictive markets. It’s a crazy world. It’s a much different world than it was.” 

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National

DOJ dropping criminal probe of Fed Chair Jerome Powell amid pressure from senators

: Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell listens to a question during a Principles of Economics class at Harvard University on March 30, 2026 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Photo by Sophie Park/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is dropping its criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, ending a standoff that threatened to delay the confirmation of Powell’s successor at the central bank, District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Friday. 

Senior DOJ officials have contacted senators in recent days, including Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, informing them of the plan to drop the probe and refer the matter regarding alleged cost overruns at the Fed’s Washington headquarters to the bank’s internal watchdog, sources told ABC News. 

The Fed’s independent inspector general conducted an audit of the building renovation costs in 2021 and Powell had already asked the watchdog to take a fresh look at the $2.5 billion project last year.

“This morning the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve has been asked to scrutinize the building costs overruns — in the billions of dollars — that have been borne by taxpayers,” Pirro write on X Friday. “I expect a comprehensive report in short order and am confident the outcome will assist in resolving, once and for all, the questions that led this office to issue subpoenas.”

“Accordingly, I have directed my office to close our investigation as the IG undertakes this inquiry,” Pirro wrote. “Note well, however, that I will not hesitate to restart a criminal investigation should the facts warrant doing so.”

Powell’s term ends next month, but he said in March that he would stay in the position until President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Fed, Kevin Warsh, is confirmed. 

White House spokesperson Kush Desai, in a statement to ABC News, said “American taxpayers deserve answers about the Federal Reserve’s fiscal mismanagement, and the Office of the Inspector General’s more powerful authorities best position it to get to the bottom of the matter.”

Desai added the administration remains certain that the Senate will “swiftly confirm” Warsh.

A spokesperson for the Federal Reserve declined to comment. Reached by ABC News, a spokesperson for Tillis also declined to comment.

Pirro had been insistent that her investigation of alleged cost overruns at the Fed would continue despite a ruling last month from D.C. District Judge James Boasberg that tossed out subpoenas she had sent to Powell. 

“This investigation continues. I am in the legal lane. There are others who are in the political lane. I don’t intersect those two lanes,” Pirro said in a news conference on Wednesday.

“I am going forward,” Pirro said. “We are appealing the decision of Judge Boasberg — the idea that a judge can stand at the door of a grand jury and tell a prosecutor you’re not allowed to go in when the United States Supreme Court has said you can go into a grand jury based on rumors and suspicion, is an order that we think must be appealed, and we are continuing in this investigation.”

At the time of Boasberg’s ruling, Tillis urged Pirro not to continue with her investigation.

“We all know how this is going to end and the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office should save itself further embarrassment and move on,” Tillis said in a post on X moments after the decision was made public in March. “Appealing the ruling will only delay the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed Chair.” 

It is not immediately clear if prosecutors will seek to drop their appeal of Boasberg’s order as a result of the directive to close the probe into Powell.  

In a video message in January, Powell revealed the investigation and called it an attempt by the Trump administration to put political pressure on the Fed to lower interest rates.

An end to the DOJ’s investigation is expected to pave the path for Kevin Warsh to get confirmed through the Senate. Tillis told ABC News on Tuesday he supports Warsh as the nominee but will not advance his nomination until the DOJ’s probe is dropped.

Tillis first announced in January that he would block nominees in opposition to the investigation, which he has branded as “bogus.” 

“If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump Administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none. It is now the independence and credibility of the Department of Justice that are in question,” Tillis said in a January statement. “I will oppose the confirmation of any nominee for the Fed — including the upcoming Fed Chair vacancy — until this legal matter is fully resolved.”

Tillis’ blockade has proved difficult for Senate Republican leadership to work around because of his position on the narrowly divided Senate Banking Committee. His opposition, paired with that of all Democrats on the panel, has made it impossible for Warsh to advance out of the committee to a vote on the full Senate floor.

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National

Missing USF students deemed ‘endangered’ by officials as search continues

In these photos released by the University of South Florida Police Department, Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy are shown. (University of South Florida Police Department)

(TAMPA, Fla.) — Investigators have listed that two University of Southern Florida doctoral students who went missing last week are endangered as the search continues.

Zamil Limon and Nahida Bristy, both 27, were last seen at separate locations in the Tampa area on April 16, according to the USF Police Department.

Officials received new information to warrant the upgrade to an endangered status, which indicates they are at risk of physical injury or death, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

The sheriff did not provide any more details about the investigation or search efforts.

Limon and Bristy are friends, and a mutual acquaintance reported them missing, campus police said.

Limon, who is pursuing a degree in geography, environmental science and policy, was last seen at his Tampa residence at approximately 9 a.m. on April 16, according to police.

Bristy, who is studying chemical engineering, was last seen at the USF Tampa campus at the Natural & Environmental Sciences Building at approximately 10 a.m. that day, police said.

Both students have been entered into state and national missing persons’ databases.

Anyone with information on their whereabouts is urged to call the University of South Florida Police Department at 813-974-2628.

-ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.