House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries decried what he called the “toxic bait-and-switch” of President Donald Trump’s leadership on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.
“Donald Trump and Republicans consistently promised that they were going to lower the high cost of living, and they’ve done the exact opposite,” Jeffries told co-anchor Jonathan Karl. “They’ve shown no interest in lowering costs in the United States of America, which are too high.”
Jeffries said the Trump administration has “broken their promise” to Americans, and accused them of having “no interest in improving the quality of life of hard working American taxpayers.”
“Instead, what they’re trying to do while they distract the American people is to jam the GOP tax scam down the throats of people all across this country, all in service of massive tax cuts for their billionaire donors and wealthy corporations,” he continued. “It’s a toxic bait-and-switch that is underway, and we will continue to push back forcefully.”
While Jeffries blasted his Republican counterparts, Speaker Mike Johnson has asserted Democrats are “flailing,” saying they “have no clear leader.”
But Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia has also suggested the party is without a clear leader. “We’re still looking for that national spokesperson,” Beyer told Axios. “And it could be that Hakeem becomes that national voice. … It hasn’t happened yet.”
Asked to respond to that, Jeffries said it was his “honor to be House Democratic leader.”
“We’re going to continue to work together in an all-hands-on-deck effort to push back against the far-right extremism that is being unleashed on this country with record velocity,” he said. “We’re pushing back forcefully against those efforts every day, every week, every month, every year, and that will continue.”
During the interview, Jeffries also said he was “very concerned” by the Department of Justice dropping the bribery case against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
“Mayor Adams has a responsibility to convince the people of New York City that he will be able to continue to govern in a manner that puts their best interests first at all times, and that he’s not simply taking orders from a Trump administration, a Trump Department of Justice, or Trump officials who do not have the best interests of the city of New York at heart,” said Jeffries, who represents a Brooklyn district in the House.
“This Department of Justice is not promoting law and order — it’s promoting lawlessness and disorder,” he added. “And that’s been consistent with what we’ve seen from the Trump administration from the very beginning.”
As an example of this, Jeffries pointed to the mass pardoning of convicted Jan. 6 rioters “who attacked and brutally beat police officers and then were released back into communities all across the country, threatening public safety.”
Many of the pardoned rioters “have extensive criminal records for things like domestic violence, weapons charges that are serious and rape,” he added.
“This is not an administration that is committed to the safety of the American people. They continue to undermine it and flood the zone with chaos,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency can continue to access sensitive records from at least three federal agencies after a federal judge in Washington denied a request to block Musk’s budget-slashing team from the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
U.S. District Judge John Bates, in a late-night ruling, denied a request made by a group of unions and nonprofits to issue a temporary order blocking DOGE from the sensitive records maintained by the three agencies.
Elon Musk has repeatedly targeted Bates over the last week on X – including calling for the judge’s impeachment – after Bates issued a decision in another case ordering multiple agencies to restore public health data after the Trump administration suddenly removed it.
“There needs to be an immediate wave of judicial impeachments, not just one,” Musk wrote on Wednesday in response to a post about the judge.
The tech billionaire celebrated Friday’s ruling in a post on X.
The judge’s decision came down to the question of whether DOGE has the authority to “detail” its people to individual parts of the federal government where – as employees of that department or agency – the individuals associated with DOGE could legally access the sensitive records. To have that authority, DOGE would have to be considered an “agency” in the eyes of the law, Bates wrote.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that DOGE is not an agency — because it was created via an executive order — and therefore is not entitled to detail its employees to parts of the federal government.
Curiously, lawyers for DOGE have attempted to avoid the “agency” label during court hearings despite its “strong claim” to agency status, Bates wrote.
“This appears to come from a desire to escape the obligations that accompany agencyhood” — such as being subject to the Freedom of Information Act, the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedures Act — “while reaping only its benefits,” the judge wrote.
Ultimately, the disagreed with DOGE’s own interpretation of its status — determining it likely is an “agency” — and delivering it a surprise win by determining that DOGE has the authority to continue to access to sensitive records.
“For the reasons explained above, on the record as it currently stands and with limited briefing on the issue, the case law defining agencies indicates that plaintiffs have not shown a substantial likelihood that [DOGE] is not an agency. If that is so, [DOGE] may detail its employees to other agencies consistent with the Economy Act,” he wrote.
(NEW YORK) — The battle between New York federal prosecutors and President Donald Trump’s Justice Department continued Friday as another prosecutor resigned over the order to dismiss Mayor Eric Adams’ bribery case.
Hagan Scotten, the assistant United States attorney for Southern District of New York, blasted Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove in a letter one day after acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon resigned over her refusal to follow through with the Justice Department’s request.
“In short, the first justification for the motion — that [former U.S. Attorney] Damian Williams’s role in the case somehow tainted a valid indictment supported by ample evidence, and pursued under different U.S. attorneys is so weak as to be transparently pretextual,” Scotten wrote.
“The second justification is worse. No system of ordered liberty can allow the Government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives,” he added.
Scotten, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and clerked under Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh before he was appointed to the Supreme Court, chastised the president and the administration.
“I can even understand how a Chief Executive whose background is in business and politics might see the contemplated dismissal-with-leverage as a good, if distasteful, deal,” he wrote.
“If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me,” he added.
The letter came hours after what several former and current federal justice officials dubbed the “Thursday afternoon massacre,” when six people involved with the case resigned and pushed back against the U.S. attorney general’s office.
Sassoon resigned Thursday over the Justice Department’s request to end the federal bribery case against the mayor.
The Justice Department planned to remove the prosecutors handling the mayor’s case and reassign it to the Public Integrity Section in Washington, D.C.
However, as soon the Public Integrity Section was informed it would be taking over, John Keller, the acting head of the unit, and his boss, Kevin Driscoll, the most senior career official in the criminal division, resigned along with three other members of the unit, according to multiple sources.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove Adams from office, called the Department of Justice’s moves “unbelievably unprecedented” during an interview on MSNBC Thursday night.
“This is not supposed to happen in our system of justice,” she told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.
Hochul, however, declined to discuss the possibility of removing the mayor.
“The allegations are extremely concerning and serious. But I cannot, as the governor of this state, have a knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction, like a lot of other people are saying right now,” she said. “I have to do it smart, what’s right, and I’m consulting with other leaders in government at this time.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, a longtime ally of Adams, said in a statement Tuesday that he was convening with other Black clergy to discuss the situation but he already raised concerns about the mayor’s allegiances.
“President Trump is holding the mayor hostage,” Sharpton said.
Four prominent New York City Black clergy members — the Revs. Johnnie Green, Kevin McCall, Carl L. Washington and Adolphus Lacey — wrote a letter Wednesday calling on the mayor not to run for reelection this year.
“Eric Adams had every right to prove his innocence and many of us were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but that’s not what has happened,” they wrote.
Adams, a former NYPD officer and Democrat who previously registered as a Republican, was accused by federal prosecutors of taking lavish flights and hotel stays from Turkish businessmen and officials for more than a decade.
He and his staff members also allegedly received straw campaign donations to become eligible for New York City’s matching funds program for his campaigns, according to the criminal indictment that was issued in September.
In exchange, Adams allegedly used his power as Brooklyn borough president and later as mayor to give the foreign conspirators preferential treatment for various projects and proposals, including permits for the Turkish consulate despite fire safety concerns, the indictment said.
Adams pleaded not guilty, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and claimed without any basis that he was being politically targeted by the Biden administration, even though the probe covers many years before Biden was in office.
Adams’ primary opponents have called for him to step down since the indictment, as have other New York Democrats, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The mayor, however, appeared on “Fox and Friends” on Friday with Trump “border czar” Thomas Homan and reiterated he was not only staying in office but he would run for reelection as a Democrat. The deadline to change parties is Friday.
“People had me gone months ago, but, you know what, I’m sitting on your couch,” Adams told the hosts.
The mayor remained silent during the interview when Homan discussed Trump’s deportation policy and called on Hochul to resign for not cooperating with the federal office.
Adams, however, did light up and smile when the “border czar” discussed their partnership. The mayor announced Thursday the city would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into Rikers Island jail, a major shift in the city’s policies.
“If he doesn’t come through, I’ll be back in New York City, and we won’t be sitting on the couch,” Homan said with a laugh. “I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying, ‘Where the hell is the agreement we came to?'”
Sassoon prosecutor warned in a letter that the close relationship between the Trump administration and Adams crossed a line.
In her letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sassoon repeatedly suggested Justice Department leadership, including Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, was explicitly aware of a quid pro quo that was suggested by Adams’ attorneys.
Sassoon alleged Adams’ vocal support of Trump’s immigration policies would be boosted by dismissing the indictment against him.
Sassoon’s letter detailed a January meeting with Bove and counsel for the mayor, where she says Adams’ attorneys put forward “what amounted to a quid pro quo,” after which Bove “admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting’s conclusion.”
“Although Mr. Bove disclaimed any intention to exchange leniency in this case for Adams’s assistance in enforcing federal law, that is the nature of the bargain laid bare in Mr. Bove’s memo,” Sassoon wrote in her letter.
Bove accused Sassoon of insubordination and rejected her claims. Trump told reporters Thursday he was not involved with the Justice Department decisions this week and claimed the SDNY prosecutor was fired, although he did not name her.
Adams also denied the allegations Friday.
“It took her three weeks to report in front of her a criminal action. Come on, this is silly,” he told the “Fox and Friends” hosts.
The dismissal, which is without prejudice, meaning it can be brought again, specifically after the November election, according to Bove’s request, has yet to be formally filed in court or reviewed by a judge.
ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — More officials are joining the call for embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams to leave office after several federal prosecutors resignedThursday in protest from the Justice Department when asked to dismiss the mayor’s bribery case.
Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado became the highest-ranking New York state official to call for Adams’ resignation Thursday evening. Delgado echoed the concerns from many Democrats, saying Adams has become too close with President Donald Trump and Monday’s request to dismiss the charges have raised further questions about the mayor’s interests.
“New York City deserves a Mayor accountable to the people, not beholden to the President. Mayor Adams should step down,” the lieutenant governor said in a post on X.
The post came hours after what several former and current federal justice officials dubbed the “Thursday afternoon massacre,” when six people involved with the case resigned and pushed back against the U.S. attorney general’s office.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon resigned Thursday over the Justice Department’s request to end the federal bribery case against the mayor.
The Justice Department planned to remove the prosecutors handling the mayor’s case and reassign it to the Public Integrity Section in Washington, D.C.
However, as soon the Public Integrity Section was informed it would be taking over, John Keller, the acting head of the unit, and his boss, Kevin Driscoll, the most senior career official in the criminal division, resigned along with three other members of the unit, according to multiple sources.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove Adams from office, called the Department of Justice’s moves “unbelievably unprecedented” during an interview on MSNBC Thursday night.
“This is not supposed to happen in our system of justice,” she told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.
Hochul, however, declined to discuss the possibility of removing the mayor.
“The allegations are extremely concerning and serious. But I cannot, as the governor of this state, have a knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction, like a lot of other people are saying right now,” she said. “I have to do it smart, what’s right, and I’m consulting with other leaders in government at this time.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, a longtime ally of Adams, said in a statement Tuesday that he was convening with other Black clergy to discuss the situation but he already raised concerns about the mayor’s allegiances.
“President Trump is holding the mayor hostage,” Sharpton said.
Four prominent New York City Black clergy members — the Revs. Johnnie Green, Kevin McCall, Carl L. Washington and Adolphus Lacey — wrote a letter Wednesday calling on the mayor not to run for reelection this year.
“Eric Adams had every right to prove his innocence and many of us were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but that’s not what has happened,” they wrote.
Adams, a former NYPD officer and Democrat who previously registered as a Republican, was accused by federal prosecutors of taking lavish flights and hotel stays from Turkish businessmen and officials for more than a decade.
He and his staff members also allegedly received straw campaign donations to become eligible for New York City’s matching funds program for his campaigns, according to the criminal indictment that was issued in September.
In exchange, Adams allegedly used his power as Brooklyn borough president and later as mayor to give the foreign conspirators preferential treatment for various projects and proposals, including permits for the Turkish consulate despite fire safety concerns, the indictment said.
Adams pleaded not guilty, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and claimed without any basis that he was being politically targeted by the Biden administration, even though the probe covers many years before Biden was in office.
Adams’ primary opponents have called for him to step down since the indictment, as have other New York Democrats, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The mayor, however, appeared on “Fox and Friends” on Friday with Trump “border czar” Thomas Homan and reiterated he was not only staying in office but he would run for reelection as a Democrat. The deadline to change parties is Friday.
“People had me gone months ago, but, you know what, I’m sitting on your couch,” Adams told the hosts.
The mayor remained silent during the interview when Homan discussed Trump’s deportation policy and called on Hochul to resign for not cooperating with the federal office.
Adams, however, did light up and smile when the “border czar” discussed their partnership. The mayor announced Thursday the city would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents into Rikers Island jail, a major shift in the city’s policies.
“If he doesn’t come through, I’ll be back in New York City, and we won’t be sitting on the couch,” Homan said with a laugh. “I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying, ‘Where the hell is the agreement we came to?'”
Sassoon prosecutor warned in a letter that the close relationship between the Trump administration and Adams crossed a line.
In her letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sassoon repeatedly suggested Justice Department leadership, including Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, was explicitly aware of a quid pro quo that was suggested by Adams’ attorneys.
Sassoon alleged Adams’ vocal support of Trump’s immigration policies would be boosted by dismissing the indictment against him.
Sassoon’s letter detailed a January meeting with Bove and counsel for the mayor, where she says Adams’ attorneys put forward “what amounted to a quid pro quo,” after which Bove “admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting’s conclusion.”
“Although Mr. Bove disclaimed any intention to exchange leniency in this case for Adams’s assistance in enforcing federal law, that is the nature of the bargain laid bare in Mr. Bove’s memo,” Sassoon wrote in her letter.
Bove accused Sassoon of insubordination and rejected her claims. Trump told reporters Thursday he was not involved with the Justice Department decisions this week and claimed the SDNY prosecutor was fired, although he did not name her.
Adams also denied the allegations Friday.
“It took her three weeks to report in front of her a criminal action. Come on, this is silly,” he told the “Fox and Friends” hosts.
The dismissal, which is without prejudice, meaning it can be brought again, specifically after the November election, according to Bove’s request, has yet to be formally filed in court or reviewed by a judge.
ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin, Aaron Katersky and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — After the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) fired its probationary workers as part of the Trump administration’s government-wide layoffs Thursday, the agency moved on to fire short-term employees Thursday night with most of the remaining staff expected to be fired Friday, according to a lawsuit.
A group of federal unions that is suing the Trump administration over its dismantling of the agency alleged in a court filing Thursday that the newly installed acting director, Russell Vought, plans to fire over 95% of the agency’s workforce as soon as Friday.
The plaintiffs who brought the lawsuit are asking a federal judge to impose a temporary order to block the dismantling the CFPB, which they argue could have sweeping consequences for American consumers.
The firings, part of President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to slash the federal government, would gut the 1,700-employee consumer watchdog agency, according to three CFPB employees who spoke to ABC News on the condition that they not to be identified out of fear of retribution.
“All term employees were fired tonight, and it looks like the rest of us will be fired tomorrow but for cause rather than via a [reduction in force] which means no severance I think,” one agency lawyer wrote in a message to ABC News.
“3 of my 4 teammates were canned,” another employee wrote. “Just me and my supervisor left, the only permanent employees.”
Employees were told not to work or go into the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters this week, and several employees said their credentials did not allow access into satellite offices in San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Atlanta on Thursday, two of the employees said.
The employees said the firings will leave all Americans more vulnerable to fraud.
“I’m worried about everybody. What about the people who use our complaints to get their loans straightened out or their bank accounts unfrozen? They’ve already tried calling the company and gotten nowhere,” an employee wrote. “Who will help them now? Will the companies get bold and screw over their customers without our robust oversight?”
“It’s going to be a nightmare,” the employee said.
“I’m concerned for every consumer out there,” another employee told ABC News. “There’s a lot of fintech companies and I don’t know what’s going to happen if we don’t have purview over that.”
The employee said she was also concerned about X CEO Elon Musk, the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, having access to the CFPB’s massive database, which contains information about companies that Musk’s planned “X Money” online payment service would compete with. The agency would also be responsible for regulating the X Money platform.
The employee also said she was alarmed at the way CFPB employees were being characterized by the Trump administration.
“A lot of people are actively giving back and serving” the community, she said of her fellow CFPB employees. “Some donate from our paychecks — donations for nonprofits, volunteering, donating, giving back to our community, fostering dogs, they’re involved in a lot of causes. I work with remarkable people who never stop serving.”
“Me personally, this was my dream job in college and I can’t even believe i got in, it was so competitive,” wrote the employee, who said she is in her fourth year at the agency after having worked in the private sector, so her pension will not vest. “It’s the dream job, what’s next? I’m too young to retire, I believe in the work we did, everyone I work with felt the same.”
(WASHINGTON) — A framed copy of the New York Post’s cover featuring President Donald Trump’s mug shot has been hung on a wall just outside the Oval Office, photos show.
The mug shot, taken when he was booked at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia in 2023, can be seen in a hallway in photos taken when Trump met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. The hallway leads to a private area in the White House.
Trump had turned himself in to the Fulton County Jail after he was indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — After senior U.S. military officials told Congress they do not know yet how much the surge of active-duty military forces to the southern border with Mexico and the buildup of infrastructure to house thousands of migrants at Guantanamo might end up costing, two Democratic senators on Friday requested more details from the Pentagon.
Following a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday with the commanders of U.S. Northern Command and U.S. Southern Command, Sens. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth requesting specific details by Feb. 27 regarding the costs, impact on readiness and impact on morale that would result from the new missions along the border and at Guantanamo.
“We are concerned about the Department of Defense’s (DoD) immigration-related operations at the southern border and at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay — including the implications of these operations for the military’s budget, readiness, and morale,” the senators said in the lengthy letter requesting specific details from the Pentagon.
“DoD’s support for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been expensive for American taxpayers, with some DoD expenses costing over three times more than when DHS performs the same function, while also posing “an unacceptable risk” to units’ readiness,” they wrote.
“In all, the Trump administration is militarizing the country’s immigration enforcement system in an apparent attempt to signal toughness,” they added. ” But this political stunt will come at a high cost; it risks diverting DoD’s resources away from its vital mission in ways that compromise our national security.”
At Thursday’s hearing, Gen. Gregory Guillot, the commander of NORTHCOM, and Adm. Alvin Holsey, the commander of SOUTHCOM, were asked about the potential impact on training and readiness for the forces sent to the border and what the financial costs were for the surge as well as the construction of migrant housing at the naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba.
Guillot told the committee that the number of active-duty forces now on the Southern border with Mexico had risen to 5,000 and said he expected the number to continue to rise.
Included in the 5,000 are the additional troops deployed to join the 2,500 federalized National Guardsmen and reservists who had been serving as part of a border mission established by the Trump administration in 2018.
Meanwhile, the most recent deployment to the border took place this week as 500 Army soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, New York, arrived at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, to establish a coordinating headquarters for the border mission. An additional 1,000 troops from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, are awaiting orders to deploy to the border in support of that unit, according to a U.S. official.
Asked about potential costs for the operation on the border, Guillot explained that his command has “not appropriated funds for the Southwest border, and we’ve never had reprogramming or pass through funding. This is all done through the Department Comptroller and the services.”
The NORTHCOM commander also told the committee that he did not believe that the cycling of troops to the southern border would impact any scheduled training exercises being held by his command though he noted there might be a reduction in the one day of weekly training provided to deployed forces conducting jobs outside of their normal specialized roles.
“I think that specifically in the helicopters and in our intel specialties that are conducting missions on the southern border, those are exactly in line with their trained specialty,” said Guillot. “However, there are, I certainly recognize there are areas where they are cross-trained and they are not getting immediate benefit to their primary specialty in about half of those roles.”
At the naval base at Guantanamo, 500 Marines have been deployed to erect tents and facilities that could potentially house as many as 30,000 migrants while they await processing to be returned to their home countries.
Adm. Holsey described the new construction at Guantanamo as a “phased” approach currently targeting housing for up to 2,500 migrants and said the potential expansion to 30,000 migrants would depend on the Department of Homeland Security’s flow of migrants to the base.
“We’re going to build it up and as we understand how large we’ll get, we’ll have a better focus on the price,” said Holey when asked how much those operations could end up costing.
He added that the Department of Homeland Security is providing security for the detained migrants and noted that any current military costs in expanding facilities at the base are coming from the military services’ existing budgets.
According to Holsey, there are currently 93 deported migrants currently housed at Guantanamo, with 63 of them being housed at the main prison facility that used to house hundreds of enemy combatants seized during the War on Terror. The remainder are all being housed in the newly expanded housing that falls under the base’s Migrant Operations Center.
(WASHINGTON) — Lawmakers from both political parties invoked China as a potential winner in international development as the U.S. reviews its foreign assistance programs and non-governmental organizations funded largely by American grants await answers on the fate of funds critical to their missions abroad.
An official for the demining authority in Cambodia on Thursday said he received a notification to “demobilize staff members and operational teams under the support of the U.S.” starting on March 1, calling the loss of the partnership a “critical situation.”
Grantees in Cambodia were ordered to stop work via an email on Jan. 26 from the State Department office which has since 1993 dispersed grants globally to remove landmines and unexploded ordnance.
A State Department spokesperson told ABC News that “each program is undergoing a review with the goal of restructuring assistance to serve U.S. interests,” including the demining grants from the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement.
In its 2024 annual report, the office said the U.S. was the world’s “top supporter” of weapons destruction projects, including landmine clearance.
‘Clearing unexploded ordnance here for 100 years’
U.S. grants fund 30% of demining work in Cambodia, a vital nationwide effort in the southeast Asian country to remove landmines from its brutal civil war and unexploded bombs dropped by the U.S. in the Vietnam War, said Bill Morse, chairman of Cambodian Self-Help Demining.
“We’ll be clearing unexploded ordnance here for 100 years,” he said to ABC News via video call from Cambodia.
In a statement, Heng Ratana, the director of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), which oversees demining operations in the country, pointed to other countries in Asia — such as China and Japan — and western nations like Germany and Canada who continue to fund the Cambodian authority on demining.
CMAC estimates the country is laden with as many as 4 to 6 million landmines and other unexploded ordnance. Nearly 20,000 people have been killed — and 10,000 more have had amputations because of their injuries — in explosions, according to HALO Trust, a leading NGO.
Non-governmental organizations that work in coordination with CMAC are looking for new funding sources amid uncertainty during the freeze, said Morse, whose NGO has received grants from the State Department since 2009.
“We’ll take money from anyone if they help us clear landmines. I’m not going to be picky about it,” Morse said.
Demining is viewed as a key link between the U.S. and Cambodia, a developing nation that has increasingly relied on China for infrastructure investments and is an ally of Beijing.
Flying the American flag in the field
Demining “is a highly visible demonstration of American support for a country,” Morse said. “We fly the American flag in the field. Our uniforms carry the American flag on it. The helmets that we wear have the American flag on it.”
“Most people in the country, in the countryside, what they know of the United States is what we’re doing in the field … They’ve never seen an ambassador in their life. I may be the only American they ever meet.”
China, which has been a partner on demining efforts in Cambodia, dispersed $4.4 million to the demining authority last week, CMAC announced.
Democrats and Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee sparred over U.S. foreign assistance in a Thursday hearing focused on USAID programs, which Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., said are “indefensible” and “literally betray America.”
“Your money would’ve been better off if it had simply been thrown into a fireplace,” Mast said to open the hearing.
Yet members from both parties pointed to the rising influence of China, alarmed that China could open a spigot of cash for international aid in areas where U.S. programs cease. “It counters China,” former Republican Rep. Ted Yoho testified, describing development work. “If we’re not there, China will be there.”
Strategic competition with China
The top Republican and Democrat on the panel’s East Asia subcommittee framed the assistance issue in terms of strategic competition with China.
“I worry about what’s happening in the Pacific Islands … we’re ceding our influence there,” said Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif. “We’re already seeing China step in and take things over.”
Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., like Bera invoked demining work, citing “reports of CCP officials signaling their willingness to replace USAID in Nepal and demining activities in Cambodia.”
“Even critics of USAID acknowledge the critical soft power value of targeted and efficient programming,” she said.
A House Democratic staffer told ABC News that recipient countries, including allies, of U.S. assistance will be left with little choice but to turn to China.
The U.S. has engaged in Ghana “in part” to limit China’s gains, the staffer said, calling it “a really good U.S. partner” that now has a $156 million gap for which to compensate.
“They don’t want to work with China more. But when you have a country that has such a liquidity crisis — they have a new president, and now they have this huge funding gap — what do you expect them to do?” the staffer asked.
All three expert witnesses at Thursday’s committee hearing agreed that China represents a counterweight to the U.S. in international development.
“The U.S. has owned the space,” the Democratic staffer said, noting Russia’s recent work on mpox and ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, low-visibility assistance that could become more apparent if the U.S. pulls back permanently.
Yoho said good programs run by USAID and the State Department should be “back online as soon as possible” and “mission-driven” projects should be prioritized.
In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week, 17 former ambassadors to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos called for Rubio “to end the 90 day stop work order for U.S. foreign assistance programming that suspends U.S.-funded mine clearance programs” via “a waiver or quick and affirmative review.”
The diplomats said in their letter that U.S.-funded demining work advances national security by ensuring bad actors do not weaponize explosive materials and by fostering important connections in defense and economics.
“As former Ambassadors, we can attest that these programs helped us advance US interests by generating goodwill and providing access to senior government officials,” they wrote.
In its statement to ABC News, the State Department said it was standing up a coordination team to ensure the review of foreign assistance was “accountable” and “transparen[t].”
“Programs that serve our nation’s interests will continue,” the spokesperson said. “However, programs that aren’t aligned with our national interest will not.”
The stakes are life-and-death, Morse said.
“What’s going to happen is, [there’s a] very good chance people are going to die. Next month, they’re going to walk into an area that should have been cleared this month.”
“They’re going to step on a landmine, blow their leg off and bleed out,” he said.
About 81% of cleared land is used for farming, 15% for schools and hospitals and housing, and 4% for energy infrastructure, according to Morse, creating a key second-order effect of development.
“Clearing landmines doesn’t simply save lives,” he said.
(WASHINGTON) — Danielle Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, submitted her resignation Thursday, according to a source familiar with the move. Multiple members of the office where the case was to be reassigned have resigned as well.
Sassoon sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi informing her of her decision to resign.
Sassoon’s resignation followed days of tension between the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan and leaders in the Justice Department over the bribery and campaign finance case against Mayor Eric Adams.
On Jan. 31, Sassoon was drawn into a conversation at DOJ headquarters in Washington about the future of the case. The meeting included the mayor’s defense attorney, Alex Spiro.
On Monday, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a memo that told Sassoon, “You are directed, as authorized by the Attorney General, to dismiss the pending charges in United States v. Adams.”
To date, the office has not filed a motion to dismiss with the court.
The failure to immediately heed the directive irked DOJ leadership, including Bove and Bondi.
“That case should be dropped. It was dead at the directive of Emil so that case should be dropped,” Bondi told reporters on Wednesday.
The Justice Department planned to remove the prosecutors handling the mayor’s case and reassign it to the Public Integrity Section in Washington, D.C. However, as soon the Public Integrity Section was informed it would be taking over, John Keller, the acting head of the unit, and his boss, Kevin Driscoll, the senior most career official in the criminal division resigned, according to multiple sources.
It is now unclear who will take over the Adams case and how soon it might be dropped, the sources said.
Adams had pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that accused him of accepting years of luxury travel gifts in exchange for, among other things, persuading the fire department to approve the opening of the new Turkish consulate in Manhattan despite the lingering safety concerns of inspectors.
In a letter to the Southern District of New York on Monday, Bove questioned the timing of when the charges were brought, suggesting the case was part of the Biden administration’s weaponization of the Justice Department, according to sources at the time.
Bove also said the case adversely affected Adams’ ability to help the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, the sources added.
Federal prosecutors were instructed to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning it could come up again. However, Bove wrote nothing could happen until after this year’s mayoral election.
Despite that threat, Spiro expressed confidence Adams would not be prosecuted.
“There is no looming threat,” Spiro said at a press conference Wednesday. “This case is over.”
Any motion to dismiss the case would have to be formally filed in court and reviewed by the judge.
(WASHINGTON) — When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is sworn in as the nation’s next health secretary Thursday, his first order of business will be to investigate America’s problem with chronic illnesses.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that President Donald Trump will sign an executive order creating a “Make America Health Again” commission and direct Kennedy “to investigate this chronic crisis plaguing our country and the minds and the bodies of the American people.”
What that will mean exactly remains to be seen. But here are three things to watch for as Kennedy takes the helm, based on what he and Trump have said in the past:
More study on food dyes or other food additives?
MAHA has easily emerged as a deeply popular slogan by Kennedy as much of America struggles with obesity and chronic diseases. The question though is how to do that in a way that won’t weigh down the federal budget or trigger an avalanche of legal challenges from the food and drug industry.
One possible avenue for Kennedy could be to call for additional safety studies of certain ingredients used by manufacturers, including food dyes.
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration revoked its authorization of one type of red food dye. “Red Dye No. 3” is known to cause cancer in laboratory animals but was allowed to be used by manufacturers for years because scientists didn’t believe it raised cancer risk in humans at the level typically consumed. The FDA, under President Joe Biden, acted after longtime pressure by consumer advocates.
But a different type, Red Dye No. 40, remains on the market and hasn’t been studied by the FDA in more than 20 years. FDA and health officials say there is no evidence though that it’s harmful, and food manufacturers say they need to be able to rely on ingredients generally recognized as safe.
Still, health advocates argue more can be done to look at the health impacts and or do the kind of post-market monitoring of food more common in Europe.
All of those efforts though will take significant federal resources and rely on a workforce that Trump has promised to cut.
Rewriting discrimination rules for hospitals, doctors and insurers to exclude transgender protections
Kennedy hasn’t personally focused much on the question of transgender rights. But eliminating federal rules at Health and Human Services that President Barack Obama and Joe Biden pushed to protect transgender Americans is a major priority for Trump and the conservative party.
Federal law prohibits sexual discrimination, but it’s up to the executive branch to spell out specific rules that schools, insurers and hospitals must follow if they want to retain access to federal aid.
Obama triggered a fierce legal fight in his second term when he issued federal regulations aimed at protecting transgender people from discrimination in schools and medical settings. Under rules written by Obama’s Health aand Human Services Department, doctors and hospitals were told couldn’t decline care for a person because of their gender identity. Insurance companies also were specifically prohibited from offering different benefits to certain groups, including transgender individuals and people with HIV.
Trump quickly dropped Obama’s rules in his first term, writing new rules that granted exceptions for medical providers on discrimination rules if they cited religious objections.
President Joe Biden tried to resurrect Obama’s initial rules but was swiftly challenged in court by Republican states, tossing the issue back to Trump. It’ll now be up to HHS under Kennedy, if he’s confirmed, to decide what those federal rules should say.
Making it easier for parents to send unvaccinated kids to public schools
School vaccine requirements are up to the states, and currently all 50 states have laws requiring certain vaccines for students to attend public schools.
But HHS sets the recommendations for childhood vaccines followed by schools, while the Education Department provides vital grant money to schools used to teach low-income or children with disabilities.
On the campaign trail, Trump threatened to revoke spending for schools that mandate vaccines currently recommended by public health experts and HHS.
“I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate or a mask mandate,” Trump declared last year.
Such a move could have big implications for public health. According to the nonpartisan KFF, routine vaccination rates for kindergarten children is on the decline while exemptions are on the rise, including non-religious exemptions.
While running for president before aligning with Trump, Kennedy rejected the numerous studies finding that childhood vaccines are safe, including several studies that debunked a myth that vaccines cause autism. During his Senate confirmation, Kennedy insisted he doesn’t oppose vaccines but wants more study.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican doctor from Louisiana, said he was concerned by Kennedy’s past in “undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments.” Facing a Republican primary next year, Cassidy decided to back Trump’s pick after getting Kennedy to agree the two would work together closely.
“Ultimately, restoring trust in our public health institution is too important, and I think Mr. Kennedy can help get that done,” Cassidy said.
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart, Molly Nagle and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
