Lawsuit filed by transgender young adults, teens against Trump executive order
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(WASHINGTON) — Transgender young adults and families with transgender youth filed a legal challenge Tuesday against an executive order from the Trump administration that restricts gender-affirming care for transgender people under 19.
“When the Tennessee Legislature passed a law that banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, I knew we had to leave the state so that my daughter could continue receiving the care she needs,” said Kristen Chapman, the mother of 17-year-old plaintiff Willow, in a statement.
The Virginia resident continued: “We moved to Virginia in the summer of 2023, but struggled to find a provider that would accept our Medicaid insurance. As paying for her care out-of-pocket became prohibitively expensive, I tried for months to get an appointment at VCU, and I finally got an appointment for January 29, 2025. The day before our appointment, President Trump signed the executive order at issue in this case. The next day, just a few hours before our appointment, VCU told us they would not be able to provide Willow with care. I thought Virginia would be a safe place for me and my daughter. Instead, I am heartbroken, tired, and scared.”
Trump’s order moves to withhold federal funding to medical institutions that provide such care — including puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgeries — calling on the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to “take all appropriate actions to end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children.” The executive order does not appear to restrict these procedures for non-transgender people under 19.
Trump’s executive order states that “it is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”
The lawsuit was filed by Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, PFLAG national, the ACLU of Maryland, and the law firms Hogan Lovells and Jenner & Block on behalf of two transgender young adults and five transgender adolescents.
Major national medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and more than 20 others argue that gender-affirming care is safe, effective, beneficial, and medically necessary.
The complaint notes that “for many transgender adolescents, the onset of puberty leading to physical changes in their bodies that are incongruent with their gender identities can cause extreme distress.”
It continued, “Puberty-delaying medication allows transgender adolescents to pause these changes, thereby minimizing and potentially preventing the heightened gender dysphoria caused by the development of secondary sex characteristics incongruent with their gender identity.”
The executive order is the latest action from Trump that impacts the transgender community — which is estimated to make up less than 1% of the population over the age of 13. Trump also recently signed executive orders restricting transgender participation in the military, ending federal legal recognition of transgender people, and restricting gender marker changes on federal documents.
The Supreme Court is currently considering the landmark U.S. v. Skrmetti case, which challenges Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming puberty blockers and hormone therapy on the grounds that the law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by discriminating based on sex.
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(WASHINGTON) — Jimmy Carter, the former U.S. president known as a champion of international human rights both during and after his White House tenure and who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his lifetime of dedication to that cause, has died at 100, ABC News has learned.
Carter’s death was also announced by the Carter Center on X, which posted “Our founder, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, passed away this afternoon in Plains, Georgia.”
Carter, whose wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, died on Nov. 19, 2023, at age 96, is survived by the couple’s children — John William (Jack), James Earl III (Chip) and Donnel Jeffrey (Jeff); and their daughter, Amy Lynn.
Carter had endured several health challenges in recent years. In 2019, he underwent surgery after breaking his hip in a fall. Four years earlier, Carter was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma that had spread to his brain, though just months later, he announced that he no longer needed treatment due to a new type of cancer therapy he’d been receiving.
In February of 2023, the Carter Center, the organization founded by the former president to promote human rights worldwide, announced that Carter, with “the full support of his family and his medical team,” would begin receiving hospice care at home.
“After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” the Carter Center said in a statement.
Carter attended the public memorial service for his late wife on Nov. 28, 2023, some nine months after the announcement that he’d entered hospice care. Frail and in a wheelchair, he didn’t speak at the memorial. Instead, his daughter, Amy, spoke on his behalf, reading from a letter Carter sent to Rosalynn some 75 years earlier, when he was away serving in the Navy.
“My darling, every time I have ever been away from you, I have been thrilled when I returned to discover just how wonderful you are,” the letter read, in part. “While I am away, I try to convince myself that you really are not, could not be, as sweet and beautiful as I remember. But when I see you, I fall in love with you all over again.”
Carter turned 100 years old on Oct. 1, 2024, an occasion that was celebrated with events both at the Carter Center in Atlanta, and in Carter’s Plains, Georgia hometown, though Carter himself was by that time too frail to attend them. Just 16 days later, the Carter Center announced that the former president had cast his ballot by mail in the presidential election. Carter’s grandson, Jason, previously told ABC News that his grandfather would vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.
The son of a Georgia peanut farmer, Jimmy Carter first appeared on the national political scene in 1976 with a toothy grin and the simple words that would become his trademark: “My name is Jimmy Carter, and I’m running for president.”
Among his administration’s most notable achievements were the Camp David Accords, which Carter brokered between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1978, and that led to the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty the following year. Carter’s time in office also saw the first efforts toward developing a U.S. policy for energy independence.
However, the Iran hostage crisis, in which 52 Americans were held hostage in Iran for a total 444 days, beginning Nov. 4, 1979, battered Carter’s 1980 reelection campaign. He won just six states and the District of Columbia, for a total of 49 electoral votes compared to Republican challenger Ronald Reagan’s 489 electoral votes. Reagan also defeated Carter by more than eight million ballots in the popular vote.
Though political pundits of the era predicted he would be remembered as an average, one-term president, it’s often been observed that Carter’s reputation became more distinguished after he left the White House. He continued to champion international human rights and peace efforts, prompting Time magazine to declare in 1989, just eight years after the end of his presidency, that Carter “may be the best former president America has ever had.”
Carter “redefined the meaning and purpose of the modern ex-presidency,” Time wrote. “While Reagan peddles his time and talents to the highest bidder and Gerald Ford perfects his putt, Carter, like some jazzed superhero, circles the globe at 30,000 feet, seeking opportunities to Do Good.”
Carter was the third U.S. president, following Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which he received in 2002 after creating the Carter Center. Barack Obama became the fourth, in 2009. In selecting Carter for the honor, the Nobel Committee cited “his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”
Peanut farmer to politician
James Earl Carter Jr. was born in Plains, Georgia, on Oct. 1, 1924, to James Earl Carter Sr., a peanut farmer and businessman, and Lillian Gordy Carter, a registered nurse who famously became known as ‘Miss Lillian.’ Though he was the first American president born in a hospital, Carter was raised in a farmhouse without indoor plumbing or electricity.
Carter graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1946 and after spending seven years as an officer — he volunteered for submarine duty and was honorably discharged in 1953 — he returned to farming. He began his political career in 1962 when he was elected to the first of two terms as a state senator in Georgia. During his tenure, he promised to read every bill that came to a vote, even taking a speed-reading class to keep up.
After an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 1966, Carter fell into a spiritual crisis, emerging as a born-again Christian. He later recalled this period as one that changed his life dramatically, saying on the campaign trail: “Since then, I’ve had an inner peace and inner conviction and assurance that transformed my life for the better.”
Armed with this renewed energy, Carter launched an aggressive gubernatorial campaign and won the office in 1970.
Carter announced his bid for the presidency in December 1974 as his term as governor of Georgia was ending. A relative unknown, Carter won early victories in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. He became more well-known as he steadily picked up delegates and beat back challenges from Rep. Morris ‘Mo’ Udall and U.S. Sen. Henry M. Jackson to secure the nomination.
The deeply religious candidate caused controversy late in his campaign when he told an interviewer from Playboy magazine, “I’ve looked on a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” While there was considerable criticism of that line and some of the other language Carter used in the interview, then-U.S. Rep. Andrew Young, whom Carter later appointed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Carter had “taken care of his religion problem once and for all.”
In November 1976, Carter defeated President Gerald Ford with 297 electoral votes to Ford’s 241 to become the 39th president.
Energy and economy
From the moment of his inauguration, Carter set a different tone in Washington. He avoided formality, taking the oath of office as ‘Jimmy’ instead of ‘James Earl’ Carter. He and the first lady even walked the mile-and-a-half inaugural parade route to the White House, rather than ride in a limousine.
Once in the Oval Office, Carter continued to bring a common touch to the presidency. He discontinued limousine service for presidential staff and even personally controlled the schedule of the White House tennis courts. As America weathered an energy crisis, Carter ordered his staff to turn the White House thermostats down in the winter and up in the summer, an energy-conscious practice he continued throughout his public career.
Focus on foreign policy
Carter struggled with domestic policies, fighting near-record highs in inflation and unemployment. Among his few victories was the establishment of the Department of Education and the Department of Energy, the latter in response to a continued energy shortage at the time.
Yet, while his domestic policies drew criticism, Carter found widespread success in foreign affairs. His administration attracted worldwide praise for distinguishing itself with a firm commitment to international human rights. Unlike his predecessors, Carter did not hesitate to criticize repressive right-wing regimes, saying in a 1977 commencement speech at Notre Dame, “Because we know that democracy works, we can reject the arguments of those rulers who deny human rights to their people.”
The Iran Hostage Crisis and the end of an administration
The largest stain on Carter’s foreign policy record came in November 1979, when a group of Iranian militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took hostage 52 American citizens. The militants demanded the return to Iran of the deposed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi from the U.S., where he was seeking medical attention, to stand trial.
Carter initially responded to the crisis by cutting diplomatic ties with Iran and blocking imports from the country. But when those measures failed, in April 1980, he ordered a secret armed rescue mission. It ended in disaster when several American helicopters malfunctioned and two aircraft collided, killing eight U.S. servicemen.
The hostages were freed Jan. 20, 1980, after 444 days in captivity. Perhaps as a final insult to Carter, Iran released the hostages just minutes after President Ronald Reagan had been sworn in. The new president sent Carter to Germany to greet the hostages.
Post-presidency legacy of public service
It wasn’t until years after he left the White House that many came to appreciate Carter. The former president embarked on a new phase of his career in public service, devoting his days to peacemaking and humanitarian efforts.
“He has made the post-presidency an institution that it had never been before,” said historian and author Steve Hochman, who helped establish the Carter Center. “He has been the most successful, most influential former president in American history.”
Among the organization’s many efforts, the Carter Center helped spearhead a successful campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease, a debilitating parasitic infection spread by drinking water contaminated with the worm’s larvae. In 1986, the disease affected 3.5 million people per year in 21 African countries, but by 2017, it had been reduced by 99.99%, to just 30 cases, according to the Carter Center.
Carter told ABC News in 2015 that his goal was to eradicate the disease entirely. “I think this is going to be a great achievement for — not for me — but for the people that have been afflicted and for the entire world to see diseases like this eradicated,” Carter said.
Carter also became the highest-profile supporter of Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit devoted to creating affordable housing. The Carters personally helped to build, renovate and repair 4,390 homes in 14 countries, according to the organization, which also called Carter and wife Rosalynn “two of the world’s most distinguished humanitarians.”
Guided by ‘deep Christian faith’
In addition to his extensive humanitarian work, Carter wrote more than two dozen books after leaving the White House, including “Keeping the Faith: Memoirs of a President” (1982), “An Hour Before Daylight: Memoirs of My Rural Boyhood” (2001), “The Personal Beliefs of Jimmy Carter” (2002), and “Faith: A Journey for All,” (2018). He also wrote poetry collections, as well as a fictional work about the Revolutionary War, titled “The Hornet’s Nest” (2003).
Carter referenced his Christian faith in the opening lines of his presidential inaugural address on Jan. 20, 1977, quoting the biblical Old Testament call “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”
Carter’s faith and seemingly limitless energy manifested themselves as he taught at his church’s Sunday school in his Plains, Georgia hometown, where congregants lined up to attend. He was also known for walking the length of every plane on which he traveled – he always flew commercial – to shake hands with every passenger.
Yet behind Carter’s easygoing Southern manner was an iron will and inexhaustible determination. Biographer Douglas Brinkley recalled the 39th president as “a kind of military man” who never seemed to get tired.
“I mean,” Brinkley noted, “the Secret Service nickname for him was ‘Dasher’ because he could move around so much.”
Jimmy Carter’s commitment to the principles that defined his life was, again, expressed in his presidential inaugural address: “Our commitment to human rights must be absolute, our laws fair, our natural beauty preserved,” Carter declared. “The powerful must not persecute the weak, and human dignity must be enhanced.”
ABC News’ Patricio Chile and Christopher Watson contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — In his maiden floor speech as Senate majority leader, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota used his first few minutes of floor time to make a commitment to defend the filibuster rule, which requires at least 60 votes to pass legislation in the Senate.
“One of my priorities as leader will be to ensure that the Senate stays the Senate,” Thune said. “That means preserving the legislative filibuster, the Senate rule that today has perhaps the greatest impact on preserving the founders’ visions of the United States Senate.”
Thune’s comments came just after the Senate gaveled in to begin its new session.
During the opening of the new Congress, Vice President Kamala Harris swore in all 32 Senators elected in November, including 12 freshman members, some of whom helped to deliver a new Republican majority in the upper chamber.
In this new Senate, Republicans have 53 seats, a three-seat majority that gives them a comfortable edge in confirming President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees to his Cabinet and the federal bench since these nominations only require 50 votes for confirmation.
But the Senate rules currently require 60 votes to pass legislation. If Thune holds true to his commitment to uphold this rule, that means the majority of legislative matters will require the buy-in of at least seven Senate Democrats or independents who caucus with Democrats. It keeps compromise front and center in the upper chamber.
Thune’s speech Friday afternoon is not the first time that he has made a commitment to uphold the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, which Democrats unsuccessfully attempted to sidestep to pass voting rights legislation in 2022. Thune made the protection of the filibuster part of his campaign to become majority leader and has since spoken on the floor to the same.
But the fact that Thune, who will no doubt undergo scrutiny from Trump for any failure to move his legislative agenda across the finish line swiftly, chose to use his first moments on the Senate floor as Republican leader to affirm his commitment to the 60-vote threshold is notable.
Trump attempted to pressure Republicans to put the legislative filibuster rule aside in 2018, when Trump was in office for the first time and Republicans controlled the Senate. It was then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who prevented the Senate from taking that step. Democrats similarly signaled last year that they were interested in exploring a revision of the rule if they managed to keep control of the Senate, which they did not.
Thune’s comments on the floor today signal that he won’t cave to Trump if the president-elect grows frustrated by the Senate’s inability to swiftly move legislation that does not have any Democratic support and once again mounts a pressure campaign to change the rule.
“Unfortunately, today there are a lot of people out there who would like to see the Senate turn into a copy of the House of Representatives, and that is not what our founders intended or what our country needs,” Thune said.
Republicans will have the ability to attempt to implement major policy changes without any Democratic support using a procedural tool called budget reconciliation, which only requires a simple majority of votes to pass the chamber. But the razor-thin GOP majority in the House means a reconciliation package will also be a challenge to cobble together.
All other legislation will require 60 votes to pass.
Thune said the Senate will have a laundry list of things it hopes to accomplish during the 119th Congress, including border security, tax reform, defense spending changes and larger government funding discussions.
Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is now the minority leader in this new Senate, said Democrats will do their part to try to work with Republicans where possible, citing a string of bipartisan wins in previous years.
“I want to work with the new Republican leader to keep that bipartisan streak going in the new year,” Schumer said. “I don’t expect we will agree on everything or even many things, but there will still be opportunities to improve the lives of the American people if we are willing to work together.”
Schumer, who spoke out repeatedly against Trump prior to the 2024 election, said Democrats are ready to move forward from the election.
“For first time in a long time, the next president will be someone we’ve seen before: President-elect Trump will return to the Oval Office,” Schumer said. “In the first day of the 119th Congress, I’d like to take a moment to talk about how Senate Democrats will approach the next two years. It can be summarized like this: Democrats stand united not because of who we fight against but because of who we are fighting for — the American people.”
He also congratulated Thune on his assumption of the role as majority leader.
Thune fills the role of McConnell, who stepped down from leadership after 18 years at the helm of the Senate Republican Conference. Friday was Thune’s first day as party leader despite winning an election to the position in November.
Thune said he will “work every day” to be worthy of the trust his party members have put in him as their new leader.
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate Intelligence Committee is expected to vote on former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination for Director of National Intelligence in a closed-door session Tuesday afternoon. The vote follows Gabbard’s at-times contentious confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill on Thursday, where she was grilled over her views on government secrets leaker Edward Snowden and her refusal to label him a traitor.
Gabbard, a former Democratic Hawaii Congresswoman turned Republican, picked up three key Republican votes on Monday from Sens. Susan Collins, James Lankford and Todd Young. They had previously been critical of her past statements on Snowden and her opposition to government surveillance programs. Gabbard can only afford to lose one Republican vote on the committee.
During Thursday’s hearing, lawmakers from both parties repeatedly pressed Gabbard to disavow her past support of Snowden, a former intelligence contractor who fled the country with more than 1 million classified records. Gabbard previously described Snowden as a “brave” whistleblower who exposed civil liberties violations by the intelligence community. While in Congress, she introduced legislation stating that “Snowden’s disclosure of this program to journalists was in the public interest, and the Federal Government should drop all charges.”
While Gabbard repeatedly stated that Snowden “broke the law,” she did not back away from her previous statements and refused to call him a “traitor” despite being asked several times by senators from both parties.
In an op-ed in Newsweek over the weekend, Gabbard wrote that she explained in the closed session in her confirmation hearing why she refused to call him that.
“Treason is a capital offense, punishable by death, yet politicians like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former US Senator Mitt Romney have slandered me, Donald Trump Jr. and others with baseless accusations of treason. It is essential to focus on the facts, not the label. Snowden should have raised his concerns about illegal surveillance through authorized channels, such as the Inspector General or the Intelligence Committee, instead of leaking to the media.”
Gabbard also presented a four-point plan to prevent future Snowden-like leaks, which includes oversight to ensure there are no illegal intelligence collection programs, minimizing access to sensitive intelligence, informing government workers about legal options for whistleblowers, and creating a hotline for whistleblowers to contact Gabbard directly.
Several senators questioned Gabbard’s past opposition to government surveillance programs under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows the U.S. government to collect electronic communications of non-Americans outside the country without a warrant. Gabbard, who voted against the provision as a member of Congress, said changes made to the program since she left office were enough to earn her support.
Gabbard faces perhaps the most difficult route to confirmation of all of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks. She cannot afford to lose any Republican votes in the committee. Her nomination is expected to be voted on during a closed-door confirmation session on Tuesday.
A source with knowledge of the proceedings told ABC News that newly confirmed CIA Director John Ratcliffe, former NSA adviser Robert O’Brien and former Sen. Richard Burr, a former Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, have been making calls to senators on Gabbard’s behalf. Gabbard has also talked to senators since her hearing, a source said.
Over the weekend, Young faced pressure from Gabbard and Trump allies, but on Tuesday, Young, who was believed to be the final key vote needed for Gabbard’s nomination to move from the committee to the Senate floor, announced he would support her.
“I have done what the Framers envisioned for senators to do: use the consultative process to seek firm commitments, in this case commitments that will advance our national security, which is my top priority as a former Marine Corps intelligence officer,” Young posted. “Having now secured these commitments, I will support Tulsi’s nomination and look forward to working with her to protect our national security.”
In a now-deleted post on X ahead over the weekend, Elon Musk said Young was a “deep state puppet.” However, hours later, Musk deleted the post and said, “Just had an excellent conversation with @SenToddYoung. I stand corrected. Senator Young will be a great ally in restoring power to the people from the vast, unelected bureaucracy.”
Meghan McCain, a close ally of Gabbard, also voiced her support over the weekend, posting, “Any Senator who votes against @TulsiGabbard for DNI isn’t just going to have a problem with MAGA and Trump – I will make it my personal mission to help campaign and fundraise against you in your next election. And my people are probably a lot like their people,” she added.
Young, who did not endorse Trump in his presidential campaign, had a heated exchange with Gabbard during her hearing.
“Did [Snowden] betray the trust of the American people?” Young asked.
“Edward Snowden broke the law,” Gabbard responded, “and he released this information in a way that he should not have.”
ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
