The West Front of U.S. Supreme Court on June 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Tom Brenner/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will decide later this year whether state bans on the possession of AR-15 firearms and similar semi-automatic “assault style” guns violate the Second Amendment.
Ten states plus D.C. ban the weapons, which have been used in many of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, including Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, and Uvalde, Texas.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The U.S. Capitol is seen on March 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Senators on both sides of the aisle as well as the White House seem to be increasingly optimistic that a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security is on the horizon — as Transportation Security Administration lines grow at airports and lawmakers feel the pressure.
Republican Sen. Katie Britt, a key negotiator for the GOP, told reporters Monday evening that there was a solution on DHS funding. Her comments came after she and other GOP negotiators — Sens. Markwayne Mullin (who was later confirmed to be the DHS secretary), Lindsey Graham, Bernie Moreno and Steve Daines — met with President Donald Trump at the White House Monday.
The atmosphere on Capitol Hill appears ripe for a DHS funding deal — as the partial shutdown of the department stretches into its 39th day.
Some Senate Republicans are beginning to coalesce around a proposal to fund every agency inside DHS — except immigration enforcement and removal operations. Components of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, like Homeland Security Investigations, which handles things like human smuggling investigations, could still be funded.
Some Republicans have pushed for tackling immigration funding in separate legislation down the road — potentially in another reconciliation bill, which only requires a simple majority to pass.
“Conversations are ongoing but this deal seems to be acceptable,” a White House official said Tuesday.
As the partial shutdown drags on, ICE has money to continue its operations, following a $75 billion cash infusion over five years in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that Trump signed into law last summer. ICE agents continue to be paid, while their other DHS colleagues are not.
Democrats — who are blocking DHS funding and demanding ICE reforms following the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal law enforcement in Minneapolis — still haven’t publicly agreed to anything, although they’ve been open to this piecemeal funding approach for weeks.
Democratic senators on Monday expressed sentiments that talks were trending in a positive direction.
“Democrats and Republicans have been trying to come to some negotiation, and I’m hearing that there is a potential solution,” Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock said.
It’s not yet clear how an emerging deal factors in Trump’s demand over the weekend that Republican not make a deal with Democrats on DHS funding without also passing his voting and gender-affirming care legislation, the SAVE America Act.
The legislation would restrict mail-in ballots, require photo ID at polling places and mandate that states obtain proof of citizenship before registering a person to vote in a federal election. Trump has tacked additional provisions onto the list of things he would like to see in the law: banning transgender women from playing in women’s sports and gender-affirming surgeries for minors.
SAVE America Act provisions could also be included in a future reconciliation bill, although nothing is set in stone, and the legislation may not meet strict budget rules to be included in a reconciliation package.
Pressure on lawmakers is mounting as lines grow at airports across the country and tens of thousands of workers, including TSA officers, go without pay. Senators continue to get paid.
ICE agents sent by Trump are now stationed at more than a dozen airports across the nation to assume some of the duties of TSA officers affected by the partial shutdown.
While these recent developments mark the most progress on a DHS funding deal in weeks, it’s still a long way from a done deal. Even if the Senate agrees on a deal and passes it, it would still need to go back to the House.
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he’s appointing Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence, with Tulsi Gabbard set to leave her post on June 30.
Trump said that Pulte will remain the director of Federal Housing Finance Agency and also continue as a chairman of the mortgage groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“William has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets, and over 10 Trillion Dollars at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, a substantial increase from where it was just 12 months ago,” Trump posted to his social media platform.
Pulte does not appear to have a clear national intelligence background.
He is best known in the Trump administration for launching probes into several of the president’s perceived political enemies over allegations of mortgage fraud and possible misuse of authority. Targets of the investigations include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. They’ve all denied wrongdoing.
The Department of Justice had at one point investigated whether Pulte and his team were interfering in ongoing investigations. Pulte has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Gabbard announced her resignation last month because of her husband’s battle with bone cancer.
Trump praised Gabbard for having done an “incredible job” and adding that the administration will “miss her.” He said at the time that Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Aaron Lukas would serve as acting DNI.
But in his announcement on Tuesday, Trump said he was tapping Pulte for the temporary role. Pulte would need Senate confirmation if nominated to serve in the role full time.
U.S. President Donald Trump dances on stage after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel and Convention Center on February 22, 2025 in Oxon Hill, Maryland. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Conservatives from across the country will descend on Texas this week for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), one of the largest gatherings for Republicans in the year.
But the yearly gathering comes during a fraught time for the party as the ongoing war with Iran has split some of President Donald Trump’s MAGA followers.
And for the first time in nearly a decade, Trump will not attend the event. A White House official told ABC News that Trump could not attend due to his schedule and the ongoing conflict in Iran.
Vice President JD Vance, who spoke at the gathering last year, is also not listed as a speaker.
Since the war began in February, notable Trump allies have publicly broken from him over the conflict. Most recently, former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent resigned over his opposition to the war, making him the highest-profile administration official to step down over the issue.
Other MAGA allies, such as Tucker Carlson and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, have spoken out against the war.
Bannon, who will speak at CPAC, said on his “War Room” podcast this month that if the war becomes “a hard slog,” it could cost the GOP voters before November’s midterm elections.
“We’re going to bleed support,” Bannon said at the time.
In an interview with Piers Morgan earlier this month, Carlson said the Iran war was a “betrayal” to Trump’s supporters.
“Breaking faith with those people, those voters, the ones who actually got Trump elected and whose coalition promised a new day in American politics, that’s a big deal. It’s a betrayal on the level that I don’t think people who aren’t in those groups can understand, like, this is heartbreak. This is heartbreaking,” Carlson said.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is widely seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate and has been supportive of the war, is also scheduled to speak at the gathering.
A Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday found that a little more than half — 54% — of voters oppose the U.S. military action in Iran, while 39% support it.
But 86% of Republicans overall support Trump’s military action while 92% of Democrats and 64% of independents oppose it, according to the Quinnipiac poll.
CPAC occurs this year as the midterm primaries are underway and comes ahead of the bitter Texas Senate Republican primary runoff between Sen. John Cornyn, who has held his seat since 2002, and state Attorney General Ken Paxton, which Trump hasn’t yet made an endorsement in.
Paxton is slated to address Friday’s Ronald Reagan Dinner, while Cornyn is not scheduled to speak.
Other notable GOP candidates attending the event include former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who’s running for retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis’ seat in North Carolina, and businessman Nate Morris, who is running for retiring Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s seat in Kentucky.
