Supreme Court temporarily extends access to abortion pill mifepristone by mail

(WASHINGTON) — Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing began with a personal confrontation between fellow Republican Sen. Rand Paul as Mullin seeks to take over the Department of Homeland Security from its embattled leader, Kristi Noem.

Paul, the Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman, sparred with Mullin over comments the Oklahoma senator reportedly made earlier this year regarding Paul’s voting record and assault by a neighbor in Kentucky in 2017.

“You told the media that I was a ‘freaking snake’ and that you completely understood why I had been assaulted,” Paul said.

Paul also pointed to Mullin’s previous public confrontations and said Mullin had “low impulse control.”

“Tell the world why you believe I deserve to be assaulted from behind, have six ribs broken and a damaged lung. Tell me to my face why you think I deserved it. And while you’re at it, explain to the American public why they should trust a man with anger issues,” Paul said.

Paul questioned, “I just wonder if someone who applauds violence against their political opponents is the right person to lead an agency that has struggled to accept limits of the proper use of force.”

Before his opening statement, Mullin fired back at Paul.

“I said I could understand, because of the behavior, you were having, that I could understand why your neighbor … did what he did,” Mullin said. “As far as my term of ‘snake in the grass,’ sir, I work around this room to try to fix problems. I’ve worked with many people in this room. It seems like you fight Republicans more than you work with us.”

Mullin, who President Donald Trump earlier this month tapped to take over the agency from Noem, asked Paul to let him earn his respect and that he will be secretary for all Americans. 

Paul later played a montage of Mullin challenging people to a fight, including a tense moment at a November 2023 Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing when Mullin stood up from his seat and appeared to prepare to physically fight Teamsters Union President Sean O’Brien.

“I get it it’s about character assassination for you,” Mullin said to Paul. “That’s the way this game is played. I understand it. And you are making this about you, which is fine.”

Mullin noted that O’Brien came to the hearing on Wednesday as a “close friend.”

“As you can notice over my shoulder is my good friend, Sean O’Brien. Both of us have had conversations and shaken hands and agreed we could have done things different,” Mulin said. “Sean has become a close friend. We talk all the time. I have been on his podcast. It is how you handle your differences. Not like this, chairman.”

Lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security Committee are expected to grill Mullin through the day as the department he’s seeking to lead remains shut down due to a funding stalemate, with no clear end to that shutdown in sight.

Parts of DHS — from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the Transportation Security Administration — are shut down amid a funding fight over Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Democrats have said they will fund the department only if changes are made to the agency in the wake of the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Mullin may also face questions about threats to the homeland after DHS warned of potential lone-wolf and cyberattacks amid the ongoing strikes in Iran, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by ABC News.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to vote on his nomination on Thursday. After that vote, if his nomination is confirmed, it would then head to the Senate floor where he could be confirmed as soon as next week.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — First lady Melania Trump on Thursday denied having any knowledge of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein‘s crimes, saying, “The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today.”

The first lady’s office and the White House did not immediately respond to ABC News when asked what prompted her to publicly speak out about the issue.

President Donald Trump said he did not know the first lady was going to make a statement today about Epstein, according to an MS Now reporter who said she had a brief phone interview with the president.

At the beginning of her remarks, Melania Trump said, “The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect.” She did not elaborate who those individuals were.

She went on to say that she never had a relationship with Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s co-conspirator who was convicted of sex trafficking.

“I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice, Maxwell. My email reply to Maxwell cannot be categorized as anything more than casual correspondence. My polite reply to her email doesn’t amount to anything more than a trivial note,” she said.

“I am not Epstein’s victim. Epstein did not introduce me to Donald Trump. I met my husband by chance at a New York City party in 1998. This initial encounter with my husband is documented in detail in my book ‘Melania,'” she added.

“The first time I crossed paths with Epstein was in the year 2000 at an event Donald and I attended together. At the time, I had never met Epstein and had no knowledge of his criminal undertakings,” she said.

The first lady said that fake images and stories about her and Epstein have circulated for years, prompting her to come out and address them.

“Be cautious about what you believe,” she said. “These images and stories are completely false.”

The first lady also said that she had never been legally accused of any crimes with Epstein and that she is not featured in any of court documents, depositions or victim statements related to Epstein. 

“I have never been legally accused or convicted of a crime in connection with Epstein,” she said.

Melania Trump said that several individuals and companies have been forced to retract claims about her and Epstein.

The first lady called for public hearings into the Epstein controversy and to allow survivors to testify before Congress. 

“Now is the time for Congress to act. Epstein was not alone. Several prominent male executives resigned from their powerful positions after this matter became widely politicized. Of course, this doesn’t amount to guilt, but we still must work openly and transparently to uncover the truth,” she said.

“Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony, each and every woman should have her day to tell her story in public, if she wishes, and then her testimony should be permanently entered into the Congressional Record,” she said. “Then, and only then we will have the truth.

In February, Rep. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, indicated on CNN that President Donald Trump and Melania Trump would be subpoenaed to testify in front of the committee about their ties to Epstein if Democrats take the majority in November — similar to how former President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton were. The Clintons testified before the Oversight Committee in February. 

Pressed on whether the committee would bring in Melania Trump, Garcia said: “We’re going to have a very long list of people, anyone that we believe had a relationship with Jeffrey Epstein — on Day One will have a subpoena from our committee.”

Following the first lady’s announcement on Thursday, Garcia echoed the call for a public hearing. 

“We agree with First Lady Melania Trump’s call for a public hearing with the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. We encourage Chairman [James] Comer to respond to the First Lady’s request and schedule a public hearing immediately,” he said in a post on X. 

Oversight Democrats have a “shadow” hearing scheduled for May with Epstein survivors in Palm Beach, Florida, where the president’s Mar-a-Lago club is located.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is encouraging Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees who are furloughed due to the partial government shutdown to apply for unemployment, according to internal documents reviewed by ABC News.

The shutdown directly affects the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) and FEMA, which are not funded until Congress can resolve its differences over funding the agency.

The information went to FEMA employees who are furloughed and now asked to file with unemployment departments in the state in which they are based.

DHS is asking creditors for “flexibility” for its employees “who are experiencing challenges with making timely payments, including consideration of waiving any late fees associated with delayed or incomplete mortgage or rent payments until the situation is resolved.”

“Because DHS employees will not receive pay during the lapse in appropriations, many are experiencing difficulty in meeting their financial obligations, including rent and mortgage payments,” a letter dated March 15 to creditors from DHS says. “This challenge is compounded by the fact that many employees are still affected by the previous 43-day lapse in appropriations. This lapse is expected to be temporary and is entirely beyond our employees’ control.”

Funding for DHS lapsed in mid-February when Democrats refused to vote for it, demanding that reforms be made to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the wake of its immigration enforcement operations, in particular in Minnesota, where Renee Good and Alex Pretti were fatally shot during encounters with federal agents in January. The Trump administration accuses congressional Democrats of playing politics at the expense of the American people.

“Democrats have cut off resources and funding for FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, and thousands of federal law enforcement officers — jeopardizing America’s border security, maritime safety, and ability to respond to emergencies,” the White House said in a statement last week.

Americans’ safety and security are on the line each day the Democrat Shutdown continues.”

On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called on Democrats to join forces behind a discharge petition that would fund all DHS agencies except for ICE. A vote on similar legislation failed earlier in the Senate but Jeffries aims to put House Republicans on the record as well, though he would need at least four Republicans to vote with Democrats.

The government was shut down for 43 days in October and November over Democrats’ push to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, which were cut in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill.

ABC News’ John Parkinson and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.

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