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.
(WASHINGTON) — The GOP-led House Oversight Committee says it has obtained documents and communications from the Jeffrey Epstein estate on Monday — including the Epstein “birthday book,” which is said to contain the letter that President Donald Trump allegedly signed for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
Ranking Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia posted a photo on X that Democrats say is the page attributed to Trump.
Trump has denied writing the letter — calling it “fake.”
The White House is denying that the image shared by Democrats is the president’s signature. In a post on X, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich said “Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it’s not his signature. DEFAMATION!”
The committee issued a subpoena in late August for information from the estate, which included a copy of the alleged birthday book compiled for the disgraced financier’s 50th birthday. The committee had requested a delivery of the documents — which includes banking and financial records, flights logs and calendars — on or before Sept. 8, 2025.
The “birthday book” was compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, and the Wall Street Journal reported it contains a “bawdy” letter from Trump.
Trump denied the existence of the letter and filed a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal.
Dow Jones, the parent company of the newspaper, in response to the lawsuit said in a statement that it has “full confidence in the rigor and accuracy” of its reporting and “will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
Epstein’s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell told a top official for the Justice Department that Epstein asked her to coordinate contributions to his 50th birthday book, but said she could not recall if Trump, then a private citizen, was among those who responded, according to a transcript of Maxwell’s interview last month with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 by a federal jury on sex trafficking and other charges. She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for aiding and participating in Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls, which involved a scheme to recruit young women and girls for massages of Epstein that turned sexual. Federal prosecutors in New York said Maxwell helped Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately abuse girls as young as 14. In the interview with the Justice Department official, Maxwell continued to profess her innocence.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy and child sex trafficking. He died in custody a month later, while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging.
Although the documents are expected to be turned over to the committee on Monday, it may not mean the committee will release all of the documents to the public on the same day.
(NEW YORK) — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday he is “hopeful” a government shutdown can be avoided as Congress lurches toward its Tuesday deadline to reach a spending agreement.
Jeffries’ comments come after President Donald Trump canceled a meeting last week with Jeffries and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to hammer out a deal before saying Saturday he’d meet with the Democrats and Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday.
“Our view going into the meeting is that we want to find bipartisan common ground, to find a spending agreement that avoids a government shutdown and actually meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety, and their economic well-being,” Jeffries told “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz.
One of the main points of contention between Democrats and Republicans has been the impending expiration of the Affordable Care Act’s tax credits, which Democrats are fighting to extend.
“We know they don’t expire till the end of the year, so why not approve this and just get seven more weeks to negotiate?” Raddatz asked.
“Well, because notices are going to go out in a matter of days and it’s going to be a shock to the system of everyday Americans who are already struggling to get by,” Jeffries said.
Responding to Jeffries later on “This Week,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise advocated for passing a short-term funding bill and continuing negotiations into the coming months.
“Let’s let those talks continue till November with this short-term government funding bill that’s in the Senate,” Scalise said. “But it’s the same levels of funding that the Senate voted for, Democrats included, back in March.”
Scalise noted that he, like Jeffries, is hopeful that a shutdown can be avoided.
“I’m not only hopeful, I, Speaker Johnson, all my Republican colleagues voted to prevent a government shutdown, and we passed that bill to the Senate,” Scalise said.
“There’s still time for an agreement to be reached. I’m glad that President Trump is showing leadership and meeting with all leaders, Republican and Democrat, Monday in the White House,” he added.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Thursday called several Democratic veterans and national security specialists “traitors” who should face the death penalty for releasing a joint video where they said that U.S. service members could refuse illegal orders — a move that has prompted some lawmakers to call the president’s rhetoric “dangerous” and “a threat.”
“This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???,” Trump wrote on social media Thursday morning.
Trump also reshared a social media post responding to the Washington Examiner’s article about the Democrats, calling for them to be hanged.
In another post, the president said “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
In the video directed at military members, Democrats — including Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Mark Kelly — said that military service members can refuse illegal orders.
“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the congressional Democrats said in the video posted Tuesday.
“The threats to our Constitution aren’t just coming from aboard, but from right here right at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders,” the group continued. “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
None of the Democrats mentioned any specific illegal orders given to service members. It’s not clear whether service members have been asked to break the law.
ABC News has asked these lawmakers to clarify the orders in question.
The language in the video is similar to what is said in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which states that service members are required to follow lawful orders, but can be prosecuted for following unlawful orders.
The Democrats who appeared in the video released a joint statement Thursday following Trump’s comments.
“What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law. Our servicemembers should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders. It is not only the right thing to do, but also our duty,” the Democrats said in the statement.
“But this isn’t about any one of us. This isn’t about politics. This is about who we are as Americans. Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence. This is a time for moral clarity.”
Asked if Trump wants to execute members of Congress, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president did not — adding that the Democrats in the video are “encouraging [service members] to defy the president’s lawful orders.”
“Let’s be clear about what the president is responding to, because many in this room want to talk about the president’s response but not what brought the president to responding in this way. You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military to active-duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president’s lawful orders,” Leavitt said during Thursday’s press briefing.
While the president has suggested this behavior by Democrats may be punishable by death, Leavitt said it may be “punishable by law.” She said the Democrats “knew exactly what they were doing” with their message.
“To signal to people serving under this commander in chief, Donald Trump, that you can defy him and you can betray your oath of office, that is a very, very dangerous message. And it perhaps is punishable by law. I’m not a lawyer. I’ll leave that to the Department of Justice and the Department of War to decide.”
Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump’s rhetoric in his social media posts “makes political violence more likely” and called for Trump to be condemned for his posts.
“Let’s be crystal clear, the president of the United States is calling for the execution of elected officials. This is a threat, and it’s deadly serious,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday. “We have already seen what happens when Donald Trump tells his followers that his political opponents are enemies of the state. Every time Donald Trump posts things like this, he makes political violence more likely.”
Schumer said Trump’s rhetoric could be dangerous in a political contentious environment.
“He is lighting a match in a country soaked with political gasoline, every senator, every representative, every American, regardless of party, should condemn this immediately, without qualification, because if we don’t draw a line here, there is no line left to draw,” Schumer said.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul also said rhetoric like this could be dangerous.
“I don’t think it’s a really — a good idea to talk about jailing your political opponents or hanging them or whatever else. I think we have political disagreements and we need to work them out in a political way,” Paul said.
Paul warned the rhetoric in Trump’s posts could inspire violence.
“That kind of rhetoric isn’t good and it stirs up people among us who may not be stable who may think well ‘traitors,’ what do we do with traitors? It’s the death penalty. Maybe I’ll just take matters into my own hands, which is not something we should be encouraging,” Paul said.
House Democratic leaders on Thursday issued a joint statement condemning Trump’s posts on social media, calling on him to delete them “before he gets someone killed.”
“We unequivocally condemn Donald Trump’s disgusting and dangerous death threats against Members of Congress and call on House Republicans to forcefully do the same,” said the statement signed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar.
House Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed Trump’s social media comments, telling reporters Thursday that the president did not make a call to incite violence.
“He’s defining a crime,” Johnson said. “He, I’m sure, acknowledges that the attorneys have to figure all that out.”
A reporter pressed the speaker that Trump’s statement contended it was punishable by death.
“What I read was he was defining the crime of sedition,” Johnson said. “That is a factual statement. But obviously attorneys have to parse the language and determine all that.”
Johnson criticized the Democrats involved in the video, calling it a “wildly inappropriate thing for so-called leaders in Congress to do to encourage young troops to disobey orders.”
Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Marine combat veteran, slammed Trump’s comments, telling ABC News that the president “doesn’t understand the military.”
“He thinks the military is one of his personal little play toys,” said Gallego, who was not in the Democrats’ video. “He, for some reason, thinks that men and women upholding their oath is a contradiction to him as commander in chief — which, again, tells you he doesn’t really understand his role.”
ABC News’ Mary Bruce, Michelle Stoddart, Justin Gomez, Anne Flaherty, Devin Dwyer, Isabella Murray and Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.
