Miguel Cardona signs off as top education official
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(WASHINGTON) — Education Secretary Miguel Cardona signed off Friday as the nation’s top education official — calling it his “dream job.”
“To the students, families, educators, and education leaders I’ve served these last 4 years, I want to make it clear that while I will no longer be your Secretary of Education, I will still be your partner in all that we hope to achieve for America’s students,” Cardona wrote in a farewell post on X.
Cardona was sworn in on March 2, 2021, a year into the coronavirus pandemic, serving nearly the entire Biden presidency.
During his tenure, the former Connecticut education commissioner touted helping President Joe Biden safely reopen K-12 schools for in-person learning after monthslong closures. He also championed the department’s efforts to fix the so-called broken student loan system and cancel debt for millions of borrowers. The secretary also faced right-wing attacks at every turn, including the classroom culture wars battle. He vowed to continue fighting after leaving his post.
“Our fight for education is happening all around us in classrooms and communities across the country and it continues,” he wrote. “And I’ll be right there with you in the fight.”
However, Cardona’s tenure was mired by higher education woes. For the past 2 1/2 years, the education secretary has been criticized for the botched rollout of a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid application and for how his department’s student debt relief plan was unconstitutional — facing Supreme Court rejections in 2023.
In his capstone event on Tuesday, Cardona laid into the next administration for choosing “a billionaire donor to lead the department of education.”
The Trump administration is expected to hand over the Department of Education to WWE co-founder Linda McMahon if she is confirmed by the Senate.
McMahon, a Trump loyalist and donor, is expected to carry out the president-elect’s policies, which Trump has said include shutting down the very department McMahon has been tapped to lead.
Kent Nishimura for The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — An investigation is just beginning into the fatal plane crash over the Potomac River in Washington, with no cause determined yet by the National Transportation Safety Board.
President Donald Trump, though, was quick to try to assign blame on Thursday as he gave a press conference at the White House while recovery crews navigated the icy waters searching for victims.
“We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions,” he said.
Trump first claimed, without evidence, that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives under Democratic presidents could be a factor. He later doubled down on the unsubstantiated claim while he signed executive orders in the Oval Office.
Trump also suggested the helicopter pilots navigating the U.S. Army Black Hawk should have moved out of the way but at one point said warnings to the crew were given “very late.”
On Friday, he continued to question the chopper’s movement as it appeared to be flying above the mandated 200 feet. “That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Leading the investigation into the crash is the NTSB, with a preliminary report due in 30 days but a final report on probable cause not likely for at least a year.
NTSB member Todd Inman, during an appearance on “Good Morning America” on Friday, said it is far too early to make a determination.
“The only conclusion I know is last night we met with several hundred family members who lost their loved ones in the Potomac,” he said. “We don’t need that to happen anymore. … We’re going to find out what happened, and we’re going to try to stop it from happening again.”
Trump accused former President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama of hiring air traffic controllers based on diversity goals.
“I put safety first — Obama, Biden and the Democrats put policy first, and they put politics at a level that nobody’s ever seen,” Trump claimed at Thursday’s news conference.
When pressed by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce what proof he had that the crash was caused by DEI efforts, Trump responded: “It just could have been.”
DEI or any similar program does not apply to hiring for air traffic control, which requires rigorous health examinations and a multiyear training process. Applicants must pass a medical exam, an aptitude test and a psychological test that is more stringent than that required of a pilot, said Chris Wilbanks, FAA deputy vice president of safety and technical training.
Trump pointed to a New York Post article as he accused Democrats of pushing to hire people with severe mental disabilities at the Federal Aviation Administration. But the diversity language referenced in the article was on the FAA website during the entirety of Trump’s first term and has been on the site for more than a decade, according to Snopes.
Trump’s attacks, though, are in line with his agenda to dismantle DEI from the federal government. In his first week in office, he signed multiple orders to place federal employees working on DEI on administrative leave and to remove DEI efforts from the Pentagon.
Democrats pushed back on Trump’s claims about the crash.
“Listen, it’s one thing for internet pundits to spew off conspiracy theories. It’s another for the president of the United States to throw out idle speculation as bodies are still being recovered and families still being notified,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on Thursday. “It just turns your stomach.”
Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s transportation secretary and another target of Trump’s criticism in the wake of the crash, called Trump’s comments “despicable.”
“President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA,” Buttigieg wrote in a social media post. “One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key personnel who helped keep our skies safe. Time for the President to show actual leadership and explain what he will do to prevent this from happening again.”
ABC News’ Selina Wang, Benjamin Siegel, Sam Sweeney, Fritz Farrow and Hannah Demissie 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) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a jab at President Donald Trump after Canada’s victory over the United States in an international hockey tournament on Thursday.
“You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game,” Trudeau wrote on X.
Canada bested the United States 3-2 with an overtime goal to win the 4 Nations Face-Off at TD Garden in Boston. Participating teams included NHL hockey stars from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States.
The highly-anticipated final came after a fiery clash between Canada and the U.S. in an earlier game on Feb. 15 where several fights broke out in the opening seconds of the first period. The U.S. won that game 3-1.
Tensions are boiling over on the diplomatic front between the U.S. and Canada, as Trump frequently says he wants to make Canada the 51st state. He’s repeatedly referred to Trudeau as “governor” instead of prime minister
Trump’s also threatening high tariffs on Canada, the second largest trading partner to the U.S. The implementation of a 25% tariff against Canada and Mexico was paused for a month, pulling the U.S. back from a trade war with its neighbors.
Earlier in the tournament, fans in Montreal booed the U.S. national anthem before Team USA’s first game against Finland.
Trump called Team USA before Thursday night’s championship game.
He said he wanted to “spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State.”
Trump said because of a prior commitment — a gathering of Republican governors in Washington — he couldn’t attend the game in Boston.
“But we will all be watching, and if Governor Trudeau would like to join us, he would be most welcome. Good luck to everybody, and have a GREAT game tonight. So exciting!” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump also shared a video on Truth Social from ESPN showing part of his call to the players.
“Just go out and have a good time tonight. I just want to wish you a lot of luck. You really are a skilled group of people. It’s an honor to talk to you and get out there, and there’s no pressure whatsoever,” Trump told them, prompting some laughs from the players.
