JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, announces 2026 run for Nadler’s seat in Congress
Jack Schlossberg, grandson of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, speaks on stage during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 20, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, announced late Tuesday that he would run for Congress in 2026.
Schlossberg, 32, said he would seek a seat representing New York’s 12th congressional district, which is held by Rep. Jerry Nadler, who announced in September that he wouldn’t run for reelection.
Schlossberg positioned his run as a response in part to the economic agenda put forth by Republicans and President Donald Trump, including Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which Schlossberg said had led to a “cost of living crisis” with historic “cuts to social programs working families rely on. Health care, education, child care.”
“We deserve better, and we can do better, and it starts with the Democratic Party winning back control of the House of Representatives,” Schlossberg, whose full name is John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg, said on Instagram as he announced his run.
He added, “With control of Congress, there’s nothing we can’t do. Without it, we’re helpless to a third term.”
The president in late October appeared to acknowledge that he cannot run for a third term, after previously declining to rule out the possibility.
The political heir, a Yale and Harvard alumnus who is running as a Democrat, in a press release also sought to burnish his status as a member of that party.
The release noted that he had “has spoken across the country as a surrogate for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris,” as well as speaking a the most recent Democratic National Convention.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth delivers remarks as U.S. President Donald Trump delivers an announcement on his Homeland Security Task Force in the State Dining Room of the White House on October 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. has carried out strikes against four more alleged drug vessels in the Eastern Pacific, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday, killing 14 people.
“Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific,” Hegseth wrote on X, where he posted a video of the strikes.
The latest action brings the total number of people believed to have been killed to more than 50.
According to Hegseth, there was one survivor from Monday’s round of strikes.
“Regarding the survivor, USSOUTHCOM immediately initiated Search and Rescue (SAR) standard protocols; Mexican SAR authorities accepted the case and assumed responsibility for coordinating the rescue,” he wrote on X.
The strikes are part of what the administration has called its “war” against drug cartels. The U.S. military has now hit 10 alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. The use of lethal force, however, has raised several legal questions.
In addition to the strikes, the U.S. last week ordered the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and its accompanying aircraft to the waters around Central and South America — a move designed to ratchet up pressure against the Venezuelan government.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Thursday marks the 30th day of the federal government shutdown and the American public has grown more concerned about the shutdown throughout the month and more disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling the federal government, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
More Americans blame Trump and the Republicans in Congress than the Democrats for the shutdown, the poll finds.
Three-quarters of Americans say they are concerned about the government shutdown, up from two-thirds who said the same on the first day of the shutdown in a Washington Post poll. Now, 43% of Americans say that they are “very” concerned about the shutdown, up from 25% on Oct. 1.
Nearly half of Americans, 45%, say Trump and congressional Republicans are responsible for the shutdown, while 33% say congressional Democrats are responsible and another 22% are not sure. That is barely a shift from the Post’s poll on Oct. 1 when 47% blamed Trump and Republicans, 30% blamed Democrats and 23% were unsure at the onset of the shutdown.
Democrats are more united, saying that Trump and Republicans are to blame for the shutdown (81%) than Republicans saying Democrats are to blame (72%). Twice as many independents say Trump and Republicans are responsible (46%) than Democrats (23%).
Majorities across partisan lines say they are concerned about the shutdown: Nearly nine in 10 Democrats along with over seven in 10 independents and over six in 10 Republicans are concerned about the shutdown, but more Democrats say they are “very” concerned (62%) than independents (43%) or Republicans (26%).
Concern over the shutdown is higher among women, with 81% voicing concern, compared with 68% of men.
And a growing share of Americans disapprove of how Trump is managing the federal government. In all, 63% disapprove today, up from 57% in April and 54% in February. Just over a third (36%) approve in the most recent poll.
The ABC/Post/Ipsos poll asked Americans to explain why they think either Trump and Republicans or Democrats are to blame for the federal government shutting down. Here are some of their written responses:
“They won’t budge on the concerns of healthcare premiums skyrocketing for all Americans. He is not for all Americans, only his interests matter,” said a 65-year-old Democratic woman in Wisconsin.
“They seem more interested in keeping power than working for the country’s benefit,” said a 78-year-old Republican-leaning independent man in Oregon.
“They control all of the portions of the federal government,” said a 45-year-old Democratic man in Tennessee.
“Trump is the president and the Republicans hold the majority. Not only that, Speaker Johnson let out the House on vacation, and Trump/Republicans won’t even try to work with Democrats on the loss of healthcare funding that is going to hurt millions of people,” said a 34-year-old Democratic woman in Minnesota.
“Trump said it himself a few years ago that it’s the President’s job to bring the 2 sides together,” said a 59-year-old Democratic-leaning independent woman in Pennsylvania.
“President Trump and the Maga GOP are refusing to negotiate over the Affordable Care Act expiration regardless of the negative impact on many of their supporters and they have no alternative plans for keeping the cost of healthcare from rising,” said a 69-year-old Democratic woman in Virginia.
“The Republicans control Congress. They won’t negotiate. Of course they’re responsible. We cannot take healthcare away from millions of Americans,” said a 40-year-old Democratic woman in Iowa.
“They refuse to negotiate in good faith,” said a 78-year-old Democratic-leaning independent man in Ohio.
Among those blaming Democrats:
“They want healthcare for illegal immigrants to be paid for out of my pocket. Not right,” said a 78-year-old Republican woman in Oregon.
“Because they will not budge,” said a 37-year-old Republican-leaning independent woman in Arizona.
“They want to negotiate subsidies on health care, but they do not want to conduct the negotiation within the relevant House and Senate committees. They are holding all of the government hostage over one issue,” said a 78-year-old Republican man in South Carolina.
“They voted down the continuation resolutions multiple times,” said a 56-year-old Republican-leaning independent man in Nebraska.
“The Democrats are the ones who will not budge on coming to an agreement,” said a 43-year-old independent woman in Texas.
“The Democrats have supported the items in the continuing resolution and are demanding things that continue to build the debt,” said a 69-year-old Republican-leaning independent man in California.
“Republicans offered and passed a clean bill with no Republican additions and Democrats continually vote no,” said a 76-year-old Republican man in Texas.
Methodology: This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® Oct. 24-28, 2025, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 2,725 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points, including the design effect. Error margins are larger for subgroups.
House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to the media after meeting with victims of Jeffrey Epstein, at the US Capitol, Washington September 2, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday cast the Jeffrey Epstein controversy as “irrelevant” amid an effort on Capitol Hill to force a vote to release all files related to the deceased sex offender.
“This is a Democrat hoax that never ends,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about the push for more transparency in the Epstein matter.
“From what I understand, I could check, but from what I understand, thousands of pages of documents have been given,” the president said. “But it’s really a Democrat hoax because they’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president.”
The comments came as a group of survivors joined House members in a push to compel the Justice Department to release records so far withheld from Congress.
ABC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Jay O’Brien asked the victims for their reaction to Trump’s characterization that it is a “hoax.”
One survivor, Haley Robson, said it felt like “being gutted from the inside out.”
“Mr. President Donald J. Trump, I am a registered Republican — not that that matters because this is not political — however, I cordially invite you to meet me in the Capitol in person so you can understand this is not a hoax. We are real human beings. This is real trauma,” she responded.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna’s effort to force a vote on the files has led to a showdown with House Republican leadership and the White House.
Massie’s discharge petition had 206 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon. It needs 218 to compel a vote on the House floor.
So far, four Republicans have signed on to the Massie and Khanna discharge petition — a procedural tool to bypass GOP leadership and force a vote. Those signers include Massie, Reps. Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. If all 212 Democrats sign the petition, only two more Republicans are needed.
Speaker Mike Johnson urged Republicans to not support Massie’s discharge petition during a closed conference meeting Wednesday morning, according to multiple sources. Johnson instead argued the ongoing investigation by the House Oversight Committee is the better path forward.
The House on Wednesday adopted a resolution by a vote of 212-208-1 that instructs the Oversight Committee to continue its Epstein investigation that began weeks ago.
The measure was Johnson’s preferred vote on the Epstein controversy. Massie has called it a “placebo.”
Johnson said he spoke to Trump about the Epstein files on Tuesday night, and Trump instructed him to “get it out there” and “put it all out there.”
“This is going to be an ongoing effort. It will be bipartisan, which is great and the Oversight Committee’s effort, this is really important to point out, goes further than the discharge petition,” Johnson argued. “It requests more information than the discharge even encompasses. For example, the Epstein estate documents, which is a treasure trove of information not referenced in the discharge. And it has the force of law because we have subpoena authorities.”
