(WASHINGTON) — A Massachusetts man was found to be carrying a gun after attending a tour of the U.S. Capitol as he left the nearby Library of Congress on Tuesday, police officials told ABC News on Thursday.
Authorities in Washington were alerted by police in Carlisle, Massachusetts, on Monday that a man with a gun who had expressed suicidal ideations on social media was headed to Washington.
The U.S. Secret Service and Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police found the man in a Washington hotel early Tuesday morning and interviewed him, sources said. They searched for a gun and found no weapon and no further action was taken at that time, they said.
Later that day, the man went through a Capitol Police magnetometer screening and entered the Capitol Visitor Center. The magnetometer sounded an alarm and “an officer performed a secondary hand search, and the man was let into the building,” according to a statement from U.S. Capitol Police.
After getting past security, Capitol Police were alerted to his presence and issued a bulletin to be on the lookout for the man. They located him after he had completed the full tour of Congress outside the Library of Congress a short time later and found that he had a 9mm handgun in his waistband, law enforcement sources said.
Authorities said the suspect was arrested for “Unlawful Activities, Carrying a Pistol Without a License, Possession of an Unregistered Firearm, Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, and Resisting Arrest.” The case is currently with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Capitol Police statement said.
The officer who performed the screening at the magnetometer at the Capitol Visitor Center “is suspended while the USCP’s Office of Professional Responsibility is conducting an administrative investigation into the officer’s performance of that search.”
There is no indication he intended to cause any harm to harm the Congress, according to Capitol police. But sources told ABC News that a man who was possibly suicidal was able to take a full tour of Congress with a gun with members of the public and Congress nearby.
“A full review of this incident has already been ordered, as well as mandatory refresher training on security screening, so this never happens again,” Capitol Police said in their statement.
Members of Congress were briefed on the situation on Thursday.
(BOSTON) — The Department of Education and other agencies are reviewing Harvard University for fostering antisemitism on its campus, Secretary Linda McMahon said Monday.
“Harvard’s failure to protect students on campus from anti-Semitic discrimination — all while promoting divisive ideologies over free inquiry — has put its reputation in serious jeopardy,” McMahon said in a release.
“Harvard can right these wrongs and restore itself to a campus dedicated to academic excellence and truth-seeking, where all students feel safe on its campus,” she said.
The Education Department, the Department of Health and Human Services and the General Services Administration are joining in the comprehensive review of the school.
The move comes as the administration’s joint task force doubles down on removing antisemitic conduct and harassment from elite universities. The administration stripped Columbia University of $400 million in grants earlier this month after a task force investigation found inaction by the school to protect Jewish students.
Monday’s actions against Harvard come after a similar review led to Columbia agreeing to comply with nine preconditions for further negotiations regarding a return of canceled federal funds, according to the release.
The task force will review hundreds of millions of dollars in grants to Harvard and its affiliates, according to the release.
The agencies will also review another nearly $9 billion in grants to Harvard to ensure it’s in compliance with “federal regulations” and “civil rights responsibilities,” the release said.
In response to the review, Harvard President Alan Garber released a statement saying, “We fully embrace the important goal of combatting antisemitism, one of the most insidious forms of bigotry.”
“It is present on our campus,” Garber continued, “I have experienced antisemitism directly, even while serving as president, and I know how damaging it can be to a student who has come to learn and make friends at a college or university.”
Garber said, however, that the $9 billion in federal funding that is “at stake” as the university works to combat antisemitism could halt “life-saving research and imperil important scientific research and innovation.”
“As an institution and as a community, we acknowledge our shortcomings, pursue needed change, and build stronger bonds that enable all to thrive,” Garber added.
Harvard alum Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., told ABC News he believes too many universities have gone unchecked for tent encampments and hostile demonstrations that involved students overtaking buildings on campus in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict that broke out after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Kiley, who sits on the House Education and Workforce Committee, called the administration’s review “incredibly refreshing” and a proactive solution to protect the civil rights and safety of Harvard’s Jewish students.
“We need to make sure that the rules are enforced, that civil rights laws are abided by and that there are consequences for illegal activity,” Kiley said.
Oregon Democratic Rep. Suzanne Bonamici is also a member of the Education and Workforce Committee and alongside Rep. Kiley, Bonamici serves on the subcommittee on higher education.
Bonamici told ABC News she believes the administration has been pushing a concerning attack on institutions of higher education.
She said threatening federal funding is a bridge too far. “There are ways to address anti-Semitism that don’t involve this type of threat,” Bonamici said, adding, “What they’re trying to do is intimidate these universities, like they’re doing with law firms, intimidate them into taking positions that are antithetical to higher education and free thought and critical thinking, so it’s extremely concerning.”
Protests erupted on college campuses around the country after civilian casualties mounted in Gaza as Israel launched a military campaign in response to Oct. 7, vowing to eradicate Hamas — which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization.
The federal response comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing McMahon to abolish the Department of Education and another order that takes measures to “vigorously” combat antisemitism.
The Harvard review also highlights the administration’s promise to ensure colleges would suffer the federal consequences if they foster antisemitic protests and demonstrations in the wake of Oct. 7.
On the campaign trail, Trump said, “My promise to Jewish Americans is this: With your vote, I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.”
Meanwhile, Congress is investigating Harvard and nearly a dozen other schools for allegedly fostering antisemitism on campus.
A House Education and Workforce Committee report last fall found many universities have failed to adequately discipline antisemitic conduct. A summary of the more than 100-page report alleges the “overwhelming majority” of students accused of antisemitic harassment or other acts of antisemitism on campuses faced minimal disciplinary action for their alleged violations.
(WASHINGTON) — Sen. Elizabeth Warren is urging Education Secretary Linda McMahon to reinstate former Department of Education employees who were critical to the nation’s federal student aid process or else borrowers will suffer “dire consequences,” according to a letter Warren sent to McMahon on Wednesday.
“The Department of Education (ED) appears to be abandoning the millions of parents, students, and borrowers who rely on a functioning federal student aid system to lower education costs,” Warren and a group of Democratic senators wrote in a letter to McMahon.
“ED should immediately restore all fired [Federal Student Aid] employees responsible for reviewing student aid complaints and refrain from taking any measures to deter the submission of complaints,” the senators added.
The Education Department intended to remove the “Submit a Complaint” button from FSA’s website, according to the letter. It found a senior employee at the department called the move an “overall win” as the change would decrease the volume and number of complaints. But more than 90% of the office’s complaints were submitted online last year.
“ED’s actions will hurt parents trying to understand how to submit the FAFSA correctly so that they can afford to send their child to college, veterans whose loan repayment status has been processed incorrectly due to their deployment, and students whose aid is being improperly withheld by predatory for-profit schools,” the letter said.
The letter alleges the FSA website changes — like moving the submit a complaint function — weakens FSA’s capacity to resolve complaints and puts borrowers at risk of loan scams. Warren, D-Mass., and the senators demand answers about the agency’s complaint backlog, why the department fired the civil servants, and how much influence Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency had on the firings.
“Donald Trump is telling students that if you’re scammed by your student loan servicer or have a problem getting the aid you need to go to college, he doesn’t care,” Warren said in a statement to ABC News. “Secretary McMahon is helping Trump rip opportunities away from kids who just want a good education, and as a result, real people will get hurt. Democrats in the Senate are not going to roll over and give up on our kids — we’re fighting back,” Warren added.
This comes as President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order to gut the U.S. Department of Education at the White House on Wednesday, multiple sources familiar told ABC News. The president’s order will direct McMahon to take all necessary steps permitted by law to dissolve department, according to the sources familiar. It would take 60 votes in the Senate to dismantle the agency that Congress created.
The education department took its first steps to eliminate nearly half the agency’s workforce last week through a massive reduction in force, deferred resignations and retirement buyouts, according to the agency. After a federal judge ordered that former probationary employees be reinstated, dozens were rehired. A source familiar told ABC News that most of the reduction in force impacted the offices for Civil Rights and Federal Student Aid. FSA civil servants are tasked with helping the nation’s students achieve higher education, including overseeing a $1.6 trillion portfolio of student loans.
FSA received nearly 300,000 complaints in Fiscal Year 2024, according to the letter. The office had about 1,400 employees before the layoffs and hundreds will be lost after last week’s cuts.=
Still, the department will continue to administer its statutory functions that students from disadvantaged backgrounds rely on, including grants, formula funding and loans, McMahon stressed recently.
“We wanted to make sure that we kept all of the right people, the good people, to make sure that the outward-facing programs, the grants, the appropriations that come from Congress, all of that are being met and none of that is going to fall through the cracks,” she said on “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News.
FSA’s operations have already been impacted, according to a source familiar. The federal student loan website was down briefly last week. Less than 24 hours after being fired, IT employees were called frantically to join an hours-long troubleshooting call, according to the source.
Throughout President Joe Biden’s tenure there were widespread issues with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form. During a House Committee on Appropriations hearing last spring former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the department was working on fixing the botched rollout of the form “around the clock.” McMahon’s department touted a 50% increase on the number of FAFSA applications submitted compared to this time last year.
Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders, the ranking member on the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, were among the 11 lawmakers who signed the letter. The deadline for the administration to respond is March 25.
A former FSA attorney, who did oversight and enforcement in the borrower defense unit, said they were heartbroken when they were let go from their dream job on Valentine’s Day.
Since the checks stopped coming in last month, the former employee said it’s been difficult living on unemployment benefits. The former employee described making about a fifth of what they brought in before being fired.
However, they said the letter to McMahon gives them renewed hope.
“If I could get my job back I would take it in a heartbeat,” the former FSA attorney told ABC News, adding, “I loved the work that we did.”
(WASHINGTON) — Since launching in 2021, America First Policy Institute has been known colloquially around Washington, D.C., as Donald Trump’s “cabinet in waiting” should the former president return to office. And now, as Trump’s second administration takes shape, AFPI seems poised to live up to its reputation.
Financial disclosure forms released over the past week show how people aligned with AFPI and its political arm, America First Works, are flooding into the upper echelons of Trump’s new administration.
Several Cabinet-level officials, including the incoming secretaries of education, agriculture, veterans affairs and housing, have worked for AFPI. Trump tapped the group’s president, Brooke Rollins, to lead the Department of Agriculture, and the chairwoman of its board, Linda McMahon, to run the Department of Education.
Rollins reported earning more than $1 million from AFPI in 2024, according to financial disclosures, and earned $560,000 the previous year. McMahon has not yet released her financial disclosures.
Trump’s pick for attorney general, Pam Bondi, reported earning $520,000 from the group last year. John Ratcliffe and Kash Patel, Trump’s incoming directors of the CIA and FBI, respectively, served as members of the group’s American Security Team. Ratcliffe has reported earning $180,000 from AFPI in financial disclosures.
Other incoming administration officials aligned with AFPI are Lee Zeldin, selected to run the Environmental Protection Agency; Scott Turner, tapped for secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; Doug Collins, picked for secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and Matthew Whitaker, Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to NATO.
All told, according to financial records disclosed so far — and many remain outstanding — AFPI doled out nearly $2.6 million to incoming Trump administration officials in recent years.
In its first years of operation, AFPI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, emerged as a fundraising behemoth. According to its most recent tax forms, filed in November, the group raised roughly $30 million in 2023 and spent $23 million of that.
The Texas-based group regularly hosts forums and issues policy directives in line with the first Trump administration’s vision on foreign policy, national security, economic policy, justice reform and education. It also reportedly hosted training sessions last year for aspiring public servants in a second Trump administration.
At a women’s event hosted by AFPI in April 2024, Rollins revealed that the group has “298 executive orders drafted and ready for day one of the next president.”
Here’s a partial list of AFPI-affiliated picks and their recent earnings based on disclosure forms:
Brooke Rollins, Department of Agriculture: $1,610,000 (two years) Pam Bondi, Department of Justice: $520,000 (one year) Kash Patel, FBI: (Not filed) Linda McMahon, Department of Education: (Not filed) John Ratcliffe, CIA: $180,000 (two years) Matthew Whitaker, NATO: (Not filed) Doug Collins, Department of Veterans Affairs: $104,000 (two years) Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency: $144,999 (two years) Scott Turner, Department of Housing and Urban Development: $24,000 (one year)
