State Sen. Randy Fine says he doesn’t think he disagrees with Trump on anything
ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — Florida state Sen. Randy Fine, the Republican candidate in Tuesday’s special U.S. House election for the seat vacated by former Rep. Mike Waltz, said on ABC News Live on Monday that doesn’t think be breaks with President Donald Trump on policies.
“I don’t think so,” Fine told ABC News Live anchor Diane Macedo when asked if he disagrees with Trump on anything.
“I mean, look, I was the second Florida legislator to endorse [Trump] over Gov. [Ron] DeSantis [in the 2024 presidential primaries] … And so no, I mean, I believe in the America First agenda and the Donald Trump agenda. And more importantly, I think that when you have a team captain, you have to support the team,” Fine said.
Fine’s race is one of a pair of special elections for the U.S. House in Florida on Tuesday that might have an impact on the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives.
While the Republicans are favored to win in each district — given that both districts were ruby-red in 2024 — some have speculated that the margin between the Republicans and Democrats in each district could be tighter than anticipated, and voices within the Republican Party have raised concerns over Fine’s campaign. Fine and his allies, including President Donald Trump, have maintained he has momentum.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The United States Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a Louisiana case involving politics, race and voting maps with potential implications for the 2026 midterm elections.
The justices are considering a dispute over how Louisiana’s congressional districts were drawn after the 2020 census.
Louisiana has six congressional districts — four represented by Republicans and two by Democrats. The Democratic districts are majority black residents.
A group of non-black citizens is challenging those Democratic districts, saying the state relied too much on race as a factor in how the lines were drawn. The group is requesting that the state only have one majority black district.
The state and civil rights groups — on the same side — are defending the map, conceding that officials did consider race as part of a mandate by the Voting Rights Act to ensure that minority voters were given a fair shot at representation. Still, the state and civiil rights groups are insisting that it did not predominate in decision making.
The Supreme Court is being asked to clarify rules for how states can draw maps that comply with two competing rules : VRA mandates to protect minority voter rights and the Equal Protection Clause, which ensures that everyone is treated equally under the law.
The balancing act could have consequences for who controls power in Washington.
Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House, which means every single seat could be key to the balance of power after the 2026 midterm elections.
A decision in the case is expected by the end of June.
(WASHINGTON) — As President Joe Biden prepares to pass the baton to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, it’s unclear if Biden will follow the tradition of leaving his successor a note in the Oval Office.
President Ronald Reagan started the ritual in 1989, according to the Washington Post, when he left a note for his former running mate, President George H.W. Bush.
He used light-hearted stationery that said, “Don’t let the turkeys get you down,” with a drawing of turkeys climbing on top of an elephant. Reagan wrote, “I treasure the memories we share and I wish you all the very best. You’ll be in my prayers. God bless you & Barbara. I’ll miss our Thursday lunches.”
Every president since has taken part in the tradition. But since Reagan’s letter to Bush, each handover has been from a Democrat to a Republican or vice versa.
Bush, who lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton, said to the nation’s new leader, “Don’t let the critics discourage you or push you off course.”
“You will be our President when you read this note,” he wrote. “I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you. Good Luck.”
“I love that letter,” Clinton told ABC News in 2018. “I thought it was vintage George Bush. I thought he meant it, but I also thought he was trying to be a citizen in the highest sense of the word. It was profoundly moving to me personally.”
Clinton followed his predecessor’s tradition in 2001, when he said in a letter to President George W. Bush, “Today you embark on the greatest venture, with the greatest honor, that can come to an American citizen.”
“Like me, you are especially fortunate to lead our country in a time of profound and largely positive change, when old questions, not just about the role of government, but about the very nature of our nation, must be answered anew,” Clinton said. “You lead a proud, decent, good people. And from this day you are President of all of us. I salute you and wish you success and much happiness.”
“The burdens you now shoulder are great but often exaggerated. The sheer joy of doing what you believe is right is inexpressible,” he wrote. “My prayers are with you and your family. Godspeed.”
In 2009, George W. Bush wrote to President Barack Obama, “Congratulations on becoming our President. You have just begun a fantastic chapter in your life.”
“Very few have had the honor of knowing the responsibility you now feel. Very few know the excitement of the moment and the challenges you will face,” he said. “There will be trying moments. The critics will rage. Your ‘friends’ will disappoint you. But, you will have an Almighty God to comfort you, a family who loves you, and a country that is pulling for you, including me. No matter what comes, you will be inspired by the character and compassion of the people you now lead. God bless you.”
When Obama handed off to Trump in 2017, he wrote to his successor, “Congratulations on a remarkable run. Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure.”
“We’ve both been blessed, in different ways, with great good fortune,” Obama said, according to CNN. “Not everyone is so lucky. It’s up to us to do everything we can (to) build more ladders of success for every child and family that’s willing to work hard.”
Obama noted later in the letter, “We are just temporary occupants of this office. That makes us guardians of those democratic institutions and traditions — like rule of law, separation of powers, equal protection and civil liberties — that our forebears fought and bled for. Regardless of the push and pull of daily politics, it’s up to us to leave those instruments of our democracy at least as strong as we found them.”
He concluded by saying, “Michelle and I wish you and Melania the very best as you embark on this great adventure, and know that we stand ready to help in any ways which we can.”
Trump described Obama’s letter as “long,” “beautiful” and “so well-written, so thoughtful.”
“I called him and thanked him for the thought that was put into that letter,” Trump told ABC News “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir in 2017.
Then, in 2021, despite the contentious handover from Trump to Biden when Trump refused to admit he lost the 2020 election, Trump did follow tradition and leave Biden a note.
Biden described it as a “very generous letter,” according to Politico. The letter has never been released.
(WASHINGTON) — Months after she was announced to be President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Education, Linda McMahon is on the hot seat in Capitol Hill Thursday as she faces senators over the future of the agency, which the president has vowed to kill.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee is holding its hearing to grill McMahon, a businesswoman with close ties to Trump who has no teaching experience.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Department of Education has been mismanaged and has damaged education, calling it a “con job” during a news conference Wednesday. The president is expected to sign an executive order directing McMahon to submit a proposal for diminishing the department, and then the president said she should “put herself out of a job,” even though such an action would require an act of Congress.
Democratic senators have said they intend to scrutinize the nomination based on 76-year-old McMahon’s lack of experience in public education.
McMahon was interrupted by protesters during her opening statement where she defended her nomination and pushed for more school choice.
“If confirmed I will work with Congress to reorientate,” she said.
McMahon confirms that only Congress can shut down DOE
At an executive order signing event last week, President Trump said, “I told Linda, ‘Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job.’”
“I want her to put herself out of a job,” Trump added.
The president has maintained that states should have control over their schools.
However, abolishing the agency can only be done if Congress passes legislation to eliminate it. Experts say it is illegal to dismantle the department without congressional authorization, which would require 60 Senate votes in favor of doing so.
HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., and ranking member Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., both pressed McMahon on whether she believes dismantling the agency can be done without Congress. McMahon responded that only Congress would be able to do so.
“The it is set up by the United States Congress, and we work with Congress. It clearly cannot be shut down without it,” McMahon told Sanders.
However, she told Cassidy she was “all for the president’s mission of returning education back to the states” and that the states would still receive federal funding.
“We want to be working with Congress. We’d like to do this right. We’d like to make sure that we are presenting a plan that I think our senators can get onboard with and our Congress would get on board with that would have a better-functioning Department of Education. But it certainly requires congressional action,” McMahon said.
McMahon’s journey from WWE matriarch to DOE nominee
McMahon co-founded World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and is also the company’s former president and CEO.
Trump said he chose McMahon for being a “fierce advocate” for parental rights in education who will fight “tirelessly” to expand school choice and “spearhead” his effort to send education decisions back to the states, according to the president’s official nomination statement. The president also praised McMahon’s leadership and “deep understanding” of both education and business.
McMahon’s personal financial wealth is unclear but she reported owning assets that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and which could potentially surpass $1 billion. The Trump loyalist was co-chair of his presidential transition team and is a long-time donor who has given tens of millions of dollars to support pro-Trump causes.
McMahon previously worked in the first Trump administration as head of the Small Business Administration (SBA). She had previously made two unsuccessful bids for U.S. Senate when she ran against current Senate Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy in 2010 and 2012, respectively. She is also Chair of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) board but will leave that position if confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Education.
McMahon has advocated for apprenticeship and workforce training programs, school choice and parental rights. Although she is not currently an educator she received her teaching certification from East Carolina University and sat on the Connecticut state board of education before her first unsuccessful senate bid. She has also served two stints on the Board of Trustees at Connecticut’s Sacred Heart University, where she is currently the treasurer.
McMahon’s scandals cast shadow over nomination
Meanwhile, McMahon’s years as a wrestling executive came with their share of alleged scandals, which has brought her experience with young people under scrutiny.
A 2024 lawsuit brought by five plaintiffs – John Does who served as the WWE ringside crew when they were teens – accused her and her husband, Vince McMahon, of turning a blind eye to sexual abuse by an announcer and executives at the company. If confirmed by the Senate, McMahon would be tasked with overseeing sexual misconduct investigations within education programs.
The McMahons have denied the claims.
Laura Brevetti, Linda McMahon’s attorney, told ABC News that the FBI investigated the decades-old allegations at the time and found no grounds to further investigate them, calling the lawsuit “baseless.”
McMahon’s allies believe she will be an agent of change, a disrupter, and the dismantler that the Department of Education needs. Skeptics also claimed that the federal agency spends too much on education without adequate academic results.
But many in the education community fear that if McMahon helps Trump abolish the agency, it could adversely impact the millions of students who rely on critical programs overseen by the department that are intended to help vulnerable students succeed, like Title I funding for students from low-income communities.
