RFK Jr. heading to Capitol Hill next week for meetings ahead of confirmation hearings
Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images
WASHINGTON) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is set to head to Capitol Hill next week for meetings with multiple senators, Kennedy’s spokesperson says.
Kennedy transition spokesperson Katie Miller told ABC News that Kennedy will be on the Hill for four consecutive days for marathon meetings as Kennedy works to shore up support ahead of Senate confirmation hearings.
The meetings, which are typical before confirmation hearings, are planned for Dec. 16, 17, 18, and 19.
That includes a meeting on Dec. 19 with Republican staff of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, according to a separate person familiar with the plans.
Kennedy, a longtime environmental lawyer and vaccine skeptic, founded and has drawn a salary from the Children’s Health Defense, a prominent anti-vaccine nonprofit that has campaigned against immunizations and other public health measures like water fluoridation. Some medical experts have expressed concerns about Kennedy contributing to a rise in medical misinformation.
HHS oversees major federal health agencies including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, among others.
(NEW YORK) — A developing winter storm may bring rare snow and ice to cities along the Gulf Coast, from Texas to Florida.
The storm is set to hit the region on Tuesday.
It is too early to say how much snow or ice will fall, but the rare event could pose a major problem on roads and for utility companies.
The last time New Orleans saw measurable snow was 2009, and the last time the city saw more than 1 inch of snow was 1963.
Tallahassee, Florida, last experienced measurable snow in 2018. The city last had more than 1 inch in 1989.
The storm will also bring unusually cold temperatures to the Gulf. The wind chill — what temperature it feels like — will plunge Tuesday to about 21 degrees in Houston, 26 degrees in New Orleans and 28 in Panama City, Florida.
(NEW YORK) — As New York City prosecutors worked Thursday to bring murder charges against Luigi Mangione in the brazen killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, supporters of the suspect are donating tens of thousands of dollars for a defense fund established for him, leaving law enforcement officials worried Mangione is being turned into a martyr.
Several online defense funds have been created for Mangione by anonymous people, including one on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo that as of Thursday afternoon had raised over $50,000.
The GiveSendGo defense fund for the 26-year-old Mangione was established by an anonymous group calling itself “The December 4th Legal Committee,” apparently in reference to the day Mangione allegedly ambushed and gunned down Thompson in Midtown Manhattan as the executive walked to his company’s shareholders conference at the New York Hilton hotel.
“We are not here to celebrate violence, but we do believe in the constitutional right to fair legal representation,” the anonymous group said in a statement.
The crowdfunding campaign prompted donations from more than 1,500 anonymous donors across the country, many of them leaving messages of support for Mangione, including one person who called themselves “A frustrated citizen” and thanked Mangione for “sparking the awareness and thought across this sleeping nation.”
The GiveSendGo fund for Mangione appeared to be briefly taken down before it was restored on Thursday.
In a statement to ABC News, a spokesperson for GiveSendGo said the company “operates with a principle of not preemptively determining guilt or innocence.”
“Our platform does not adjudicate legal matters or the validity of causes. Instead, we allow campaigns to remain live unless they violate the specific terms outlined in our Terms of Use. Importantly, we do allow campaigns for legal defense funds, as we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to access due process,” the GiveSendGo spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added, “We understand the concerns raised by such campaigns and take these matters seriously. When campaigns are reported, our team conducts a thorough review to ensure they comply with our policies. While other platforms may choose a different approach, GiveSendGo’s core value is to provide a space where all individuals, no matter their situation, can seek and receive support, with donors making their own informed decisions.”
Other crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe have also taken down campaigns soliciting donations for Mangione’s defense.
“GoFundMe’s Terms of Service prohibit fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes,” the crowdfunding website said in a statement. “The fundraisers have been removed from our platform and all donors have been refunded.”
Amazon and Etsy have removed from their websites merchandise featuring Mangione, including T-shirts and tote bags reading “Free Luigi” and the phrase “Deny, Defend, Depose,” words police said were etched in the shell casings discovered at the scene of Thompson’s homicide.
“Celebrating this conduct is abhorrent to me. It’s deeply disturbing,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told ABC News senior investigative reporter Aaron Katersky in an interview Wednesday night. “And what I would say to members of the public, people who as you described are celebrating this and maybe contemplating other action, that we will be vigilant and we will hold people accountable. We are at the ready.”
Prosecutors at the Manhattan district attorney’s office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury as they work to try to secure an indictment against Mangione, sources told ABC News on Thursday.
Mangione’s attorney, Thomas Dickey of Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested Monday following a five-day manhunt, said his client is presumed innocent and will plead not guilty to any charges filed against him. Mangione is contesting extradition to New York.
Asked about people contributing to Mangione defense funds that have popped up, Dickey said, “People are entitled to their opinion and, like I said, if you’re an American and you believe in the American criminal justice system, you have to presume him to be innocent and none of us would want anything other than that if that were us in their shoes. So, I’m glad he had some support.”
But law enforcement officials have expressed concern that Mangione is being turned into a martyr. Someone this week pasted “wanted posters” outside the New York Stock Exchange naming other executives.
A bulletin released Wednesday by the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center, a multi-agency law enforcement intelligence-sharing network based in Philadelphia, included a photo of a banner hanging from an overpass reading, “Deny, Defend, Depose.”
“Many social media users have outright advocated for the continued killings of CEOs with some aiming to spread fear by posting ‘hit lists,'” the bulletin, obtained by ABC News, reads.
Meanwhile, New York Police Department investigators continue to build a murder case against Mangione, who is being held in Pennsylvania on charges stemming from his arrest there, including illegal possession of ghost gun and fraudulent identification. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania.
On Wednesday, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that the three shell casings recovered at the scene of Thompson’s shooting matched the gun found in Mangione possession when he was arrested. She also confirmed that Mangione’s fingerprints were recovered from a water bottle and the wrapper of a granola bar found near the crime scene.
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in Manhattan on Friday will consider whether to continue blocking Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive Treasury Department payment systems as part of the Trump’s administration’s efforts to cut federal spending.
The attorneys general of 19 states have argued that allowing Musk’s associates to access the payment system would be a “huge cybersecurity risk” and potentially allow the Trump administration to unlawfully “block federal funds from reaching beneficiaries who do not align with the President’s political agenda.”
“All of the States’ residents whose [personal identifiable information] and sensitive financial information is stored in the payment files that reside within the payment systems are at risk of having that information compromised and used against them,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit comes as Musk’s cost-cutting troops have gained access to at least 16 federal agencies, with Trump recently signing an executive order giving DOGE additional authority to help carry out massive layoffs across the government as part of his campaign pledge to trim the federal bureaucracy.
The lawsuit — filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James and 18 other state attorneys general — raised particular concern about unvetted DOGE employees accessing sensitive government records including social security numbers, bank information, and federal tax returns. According to the lawsuit, Musk being able to access the Bureau of Fiscal Services — which serves as the country’s checkbook by dispersing trillions in funding — could allow Musk to cut off government spending from the source.
In a court order last weekend, a federal judge in New York temporarily blocked the Trump administration from allowing individuals associated with DOGE to access the Treasury department records and payment systems.
“The Court’s firm assessment is that, for the reasons stated by the States, they will face irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief. That is both because of the risk that the new policy presents of the disclosure of sensitive and confidential information and the heightened risk that the systems in question will be more vulnerable than before to hacking,” U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer wrote, prompting a Mush to blast the judge and Vice President JD Vance to question the legality of the order.
While the Trump administration challenged the temporary order, U.S. District Judge Jeanette Vargas — a Biden-nominated judge who will hear the case going forward — reiterated that there was “sound factual basis” for the temporary restraining order when it was imposed late last week.
Judge Vargas will consider granting a preliminary injunction to block DOGE’s access to the systems at Friday’s hearing.
Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin have signed onto the lawsuit.
