Johnson says flags will be raised for Trump’s inauguration
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said he is going to order that the flags at the Capitol, which are at half-staff due to the death of former President Jimmy Carter, be raised for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration — defying a White House proclamation.
Leaving a GOP press conference Tuesday morning, Johnson nodded his head when asked if he would be raising the flags next week. He later confirmed his decision in a post on X.
“On January 20th, the flags at the Capitol will fly at full-staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump. The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter,” Johnson posted.
“We are less than a week away now from President Donald J. Trump taking the oath of office, and everyone is excited about that inauguration ceremony and all the events that go along with it,” Johnson said during his weekly presser. “There’s a lot going on, and we are continuing to work. Already, as you’ve heard, Congress has gotten a head start on implementing the ‘America First’ agenda.”
The U.S. Code, written by Congress, says that the American flag “shall be flown” at half-staff for 30 days upon the death of a president or former president.
Trump has publicly fumed about the flags possibly not being raised.
“Because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half-mast. Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social earlier this month.
However, this would not be the first time the flags have flown at half-staff during a presidential inauguration. Former President Richard Nixon’s 1973 inauguration occurred within the 30-day mourning period that followed the death of President Harry Truman, leading the flags to be flown at half-staff.
Earlier this month, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House would not be reevaluating the decision to keep the flags at half-staff during the inauguration. ABC News reached out to the White House for comment following Johnson’s statement.
Republican governors, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, have already announced that the flags in their states will be raised on Inauguration Day.
(WASHINGTON) — Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, faces a confirmation hearing Friday before the Senate Finance Committee.
Oz, a doctor and former television host whose nomination to lead CMS has put him in the political spotlight for the first time since his unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Senate seat three years ago, is expected to have to deal with tough questions from Democrats on the 27-member committee, which will vote whether to move his nomination to a floor vote in front of the entire Senate.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in particular, has been increasingly vocal ahead of the hearing about Oz’s financial ties to health care companies that he will now oversee in his role at CMS and his past comments about privatizing Medicare, one of the programs he’ll manage.
She also criticized what she calls his “hostile record” on abortion rights, referring to Oz’s comments on the campaign trail that a woman’s decision to get an abortion should be made by her, her doctor and “local political leaders.”
“The implication that elected officials should be involved in a woman’s personal health treatment decision is terrifying and antithetical to patient health,” Warren wrote to Oz on Thursday.
Warren asked him if he would use his position to issue guidance that could defund Planned Parenthood, or withdraw Medicaid funds from states that protect abortion rights in various ways.
Oz is also likely to be questioned about a report from Democrats who inspected his tax returns and said that he underpaid on Social Security and Medicare taxes by using a limited liability loophole.
“Dr. Oz’s position is counter to the position of the Department of Treasury and results in him not paying into Social Security and Medicare, the very healthcare program he hopes to manage,” Democratic Senate Finance committee staff wrote in the memo, circulated around the committee.
“He avoided hundreds of thousands of dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes in the years reviewed,” the staff wrote. They reviewed Oz’s taxes from 2021 to 2023.
The committee staff reviewed Oz’s tax returns and met with the nominee, his accountant and his lawyers earlier in March. Oz and his team maintained that he was not liable for the taxes the Democrats said he owed, according to the memo.
Oz in the past has expressed support for Medicare Advantage, a Medicare-approved plan run by private insurance companies. The plan must follow rules set by Medicare, such as limiting out-of-pocket expenses and covering all services covered by traditional Medicare.
“Medicare Advantage has definitely become a much more important part of the Medicare program. It’s now the most popular coverage option within the program,” Joe Albanese, a senior policy analyst at the right-leaning think tank Paragon Health Institute, told ABC News.
“It’s grown very rapidly in popularity over the past decade,” he continued. “And that’s going change the way that the government interacts with Medicare and Medicare beneficiaries.”
In an op-ed co-written for Forbes in June 2020, Oz said Medicare Advantage offers better care due to there being competing plans. He said Medicare Advantage could also be expanded to all Americans who are not on Medicaid, which would be funded by a 20% payroll tax. He has also promoted Medicare Advantage on his show, “The Dr. Oz Show.”
Oz rose to prominance after frequent guest appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in the early 2000s.
(LANSING, Mich.) — Former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg announced Thursday morning that he will not run for U.S. Senate or governor in the state of Michigan, potentially clearing the way to possibly mount a run for president in 2028.
“I care deeply about who Michigan will elect as Governor and send to the U.S. Senate next year, but I have decided against competing in either race,” Buttigieg wrote on X. “I remain enthusiastic about helping candidates who share our values – and who understand that in this moment, leadership means not only opposing today’s cruel chaos, but also presenting a vision of a better alternative.”
Buttigieg’s announcement comes as Democrats grapple both with being locked out of power in Washington and the prospect of defending multiple key Senate seats in the 2026 midterms.
Buttigieg was expected to potentially announce a run for the seat being vacated by incumbent Sen. Gary Peters, who announced in January that he would not run for reelection.
(WASHINGTON) — The Democratic mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City on Wednesday pushed back against House Republicans’ claims that they are harboring dangerous immigrants and violating immigration laws as so-called “sanctuary cities.”
During a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York City Mayor Eric Adams all defended their actions on immigration enforcement in their respective cities as Republicans on the committee accused them of increasing crime and impeding on law enforcement actions.
Chairman James Comer, a Republican, said these mayors lead towns that have policies that only create “sanctuary for criminals” and promised to hold them accountable for “their failure to follow the law and protect the American people.” Comer and other Republicans on the committee suggested that the mayors should be doing more to cooperate with the Trump administration and its deportation efforts.
Sanctuary cities still enforce U.S. federal immigration laws, but the term often refers to a limited collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while enacting policies that are more favorable to undocumented people.
“As mayor, I do not control who enters or remains in our country, but I do have to manage the population that is within our city,” said Adams, who said as New York City mayor he is working with the Trump administration on immigration aid. “In order to carry out this function without having long term negative ramification, I must create an atmosphere that allows every law-abiding resident, documented or not, to access vital services without fear of being turned over to federal authorities.”
Wu said that the Trump administration is making “hard-working, tax-paying, God-fearing residents afraid to live their lives.”
“A city that scared is not a city that’s safe. A land ruled by fear is not the land of the free,” Wu said.
Democrats immediately criticized the Trump administration, arguing the overreach of federal officials has led to unlawful detentions and created fear in communities.
“Let’s be clear, the state and local laws that Republicans have issue with today are in full compliance with federal law. They do not obstruct ICE from carrying out its duties, and they are backed by evidence demonstrating that they keep people safe,” Ranking Member Gerry Connolly said.
Wednesday’s committee hearing comes as President Donald Trump’s administration officials have ramped up their immigration enforcement efforts with Attorney General Pam Bondi shutting down federal grants to sanctuary cities and multiple threats from “border czar” Tom Homan toward these mayors if they refuse to comply.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference last month, Homan criticized Boston and its police commissioner, saying he’ll be “bringing hell” to the city over its sanctuary city policy.
“Let’s talk about Tom Homan,” Wu said Wednesday. “Shame on him for lying about my city, for having the nerve to insult our police commissioner who has overseen the safest Boston’s been in anyone’s lifetime. Bring him here under oath, and let’s ask him some questions.”
The mayors pushed back heavily on assertions from Republicans that they are welcoming criminals into their cities, blaming the Trump administration for labeling immigrants as criminals and pushing misleading crime statistics.
“If you wanted to make us safe, pass gun reforms,” Wu later added. “Stop cutting Medicaid. Stop cutting cancer research. Stop cutting funds for veterans. That is what will make our cities safe.”
Many Republican lawmakers pointed to specific incidents in each of the mayor’s cities about U.S. citizens getting injured or killed at the hands of undocumented people, attempting to dispel the mayors’ arguments.
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan got in a contentious back-and-forth with Johnston involving a Venezuelan gang member who injured officers during an arrest. Due to the state’s sanctuary city policy, police were forced to arrest the man in public rather than travel into the jail to detain him, something the Republicans criticized.
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace had harsh words for the mayors, saying “you all have blood on your hands” over deaths and injuries at the hands of these undocumented people.
“All of the mayors here today are actively working to harm the American people you represent,” Mace said. “You all have blood on your hands.”
As the committee members accused the mayors of interfering with Trump’s deportation efforts, the mayors continued to assert that they were in compliance with federal law.
However, Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna disputed the mayor’s claims and argued that the sanctuary city policies were in violation of federal law, announcing she was going to send criminal referrals to the Justice Department.
“I do not think you guys are bad people, but I think that you are ideologically misled, which is why, unfortunately, based on your responses, I’m all going to be criminally referring you to the Department of Justice for investigation, and as soon as I leave here, these will be going over to Pam Bondi,” Luna said.
“I’m not doing that … [in] an effort to bully you guys, but I do believe that your policies are hurting the American people.”
