Tennessee election officials iron out touch screen issues with unlikely tool: Coffee stirrers
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(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — An unexpected challenge in Tennessee’s first week of voting involved touchscreens in the state’s two largest counties resulted in no recorded irregularities and an unlikely fix: coffee stirrers that allow voters to choose with precision their preferred candidate, local officials told ABC News.
The stirrers, which since 2020 have been doled out to voters to use as styluses, were ditched for environmental reasons – then readopted after the first days of early voting led some Tennesseans to accidentally select their undesired candidate because of small boxes next to the candidates’ names.
Some voters in Davidson and Shelby County, home to Nashville and Memphis, respectively, tried to pinprick that small box with their thumb or pointer finger, but – it being so near to the name of an opponent on a line above – they hit another candidate’s name.
The county has not experienced “any issues” in the last few days since poll workers reinstituted the stirrers and reminded voters they should check they’ve chosen their preferred candidate before printing their ballot – and a second time before scanning and submitting it, Davidson County Administrator of Elections Jeff Roberts told ABC News.
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Elon Musk, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, came out against Speaker Mike Johnson going forward with a stopgap government funding bill on Wednesday, saying, “This bill should not pass.”
Johnson was asked about the Tesla CEO’s post during an interview on “Fox & Friends.” He appeared to not worry about Musk’s post influencing the ability of the funding bill to get through both chambers ahead of a partial government shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday.
“I was communicating with Elon last night. Elon and Vivek [Ramaswamy] and I are on a text chain together and I was explaining to them the background of this. Vivek and I talked last night about midnight, and he said ‘look I get it.’ He said, ‘We understand you’re in an impossible position,'” Johnson said.
Johnson said Musk and Ramaswamy, the two DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) leaders, are aware of the tough spot the speaker is in with a slim majority and Democratic control of the Senate and White House. DOGE is an outside-of-government (or private) operation.
“We gotta get this done because here’s the key. By doing this, we are clearing the decks, and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back with the American first agenda. That’s what we are going to run with gusto beginning January 3 when we start the new Congress,” he said.
Johnson urged for Congress to pass this funding bill “so we don’t have a shutdown.”
“We get to March where we can put our fingerprints on the spending. That is where the big changes start,” Johnson said.
The push comes as Republicans and Democrats scramble to pass a bill before government funding expires Friday night.
Johnson, whose speakership has been characterized by beating back criticism from his far-right flank, had originally promised a clean bill that would solely extend current levels of government funding to prevent a shutdown. However, natural disasters and headwinds for farmers, necessitated additional federal spending.
In the end, the bill included $100 billion for recovery efforts from Hurricanes Helene and Milton and another $10 billion for economic assistance for farmers.
Johnson at a press conference said his hands were tied after “acts of God” necessitated additional money.
“It was intended to be, and it was, until recent days, a very simple, very clean [continuing resolution], stopgap funding measure to get us into next year when we have unified government,” he said. “We had these massive hurricanes in the late fall, Helene and Milton, and other disasters. We have to make sure that the Americans that were devastated by these hurricanes get the relief they need.”
Still, Republican spending hawks cried foul, accusing Johnson of stocking the bill with new spending without any way to pay for it and keeping the bill’s creation behind closed doors.
“We’re just fundamentally unserious about spending. And as long as you got a blank check, you can’t shrink the government. If you can’t shrink the government, you can’t live free,” Texas Rep. Chip Roy said.
Musk, too, mocked the size of the bill.
“Ever seen a bigger piece of pork?” he posted on X, along with a picture of the bill stacked on a desk.
(WASHINGTON) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s personal attorney previously lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to revoke the approval of the polio vaccine, highlighting an influential Kennedy ally who, sources tell ABC News, has been helping interview candidates for top health jobs in the incoming Trump administration.
Aaron Siri, a partner at the law firm Siri & Glimstad, has long fought against the widespread prevalence of vaccines. He has also filed petitions seeking to pause the distribution of other vaccines, including Hepatitis B, and to revoke the emergency use authorization of COVID-19 vaccines.
The polio petition was made on behalf of one of Siri’s clients, the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), a group founded by Del Bigtree, another close Kennedy ally who also has been involved in health-related transition matters, according to sources.
“Petitioner requests that the FDA withdraw or suspend the approval for [the polio vaccine] for infants, toddlers, and children until a properly controlled and properly powered double-blind trial of sufficient duration is conducted to assess the safety of this product,” Siri wrote.
The New York Times reported on the petition earlier Friday.
Siri did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Kennedy, meanwhile, did not respond to written questions about whether he agrees with revoking the approval of the polio vaccine or if, as Health and Human Services secretary, he would intervene in the FDA’s review of Siri’s petitions.
The polio vaccine available in the United States is recommended for children and three doses offer at least 99% protection against severe disease, including paralysis, according to the CDC. Side effects are usually mild and go away on their own, the agency notes, and the vaccine has not been known to cause serious problems.
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead. Via Flickr
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump continues to announce his picks for top jobs inside his administration, most recently naming nominees for energy secretary and to helm the Federal Communications Commission.
Meanwhile, fallout continues for former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s choice to serve as attorney general. The House Ethics Committee was investigating Gaetz for alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Calls are growing for the panel to release its report on Gaetz, who resigned from the House last week.
Speaker Johnson denies discussing Gaetz draft report with House Ethics chairman
House Speaker Mike Johnson denied that he has discussed the details of the draft ethics report on Matt Gaetz with House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, and further denied that President-elect Donald Trump or Gaetz have pressured him to bury the report.
“I haven’t talked to Michael Guest about the report. I talk to all my colleagues but I know where the lines are. I have no idea about the contents of the report,” Johnson told reporters as he walked back to his office after his news conference this morning.
Despite persistent questions, Johnson maintained his position that Gaetz’s resignation from the House last week should put an end to the ethics inquiry.
“My job is to protect the institution and I have made very clear that I think it’s an important guardrail for our institution that we not use the House Ethics Committee to investigate and report on persons who are not members of this body,” Johnson declared. “Matt Gaetz is not a member of the body anymore.”
Johnson denied that Gaetz or Trump had pressured him to block release of the draft report, repeating that the speaker “has no involvement” in the ethics report and “can’t direct the ethics committee to do anything.”
“I’ve simply responded to the questions that have been asked of me about my opinion on whether that should be released. Matt Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress and so we don’t issue ethics reports on non-members,” he said. “I think it’s an important guardrail for us to maintain for the interest of the institution so that’s my position.”
“I wouldn’t have that conversation with [Gaetz]. Because that’s not appropriate for us to do that,” Johnson continued. “President Trump respects the guardrails of our institution as well, and I’m very guarded about those things. So neither of those gentlemen would breach that.”
-ABC News’ Jay O’Brien, John Parkinson, Lauren Peller, Isabella Murray
Musk backs Gaetz for AG amid allegations: ‘Gaetz will be our Hammer of Justice’
Billionaire Elon Musk is throwing his support behind Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, as allegations continue to surface surrounding what witnesses told the House Ethics Committee regarding the former congressman.
“Matt Gaetz has 3 critical assets that are needed for the AG role: a big brain, a spine of steel and an axe to grind,” Musk wrote on X. “He is the Judge Dredd America needs to clean up a corrupt system and put powerful bad actors in prison.”
“Gaetz will be our Hammer of Justice,” he added.
Musk also directly addressed the allegations against Gaetz, stating that he considers them “worth less than nothing.”
Musk’s public support for Gaetz comes as the billionaire continues to play a large role in Trump’s transition, as ABC News has previously reported.
Speaker Johnson says he hasn’t discussed Gaetz ethics drama with Trump
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters Monday he has not talked to Trump about a draft report on the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz — as members on both sides of the aisle call on the speaker to release the draft despite Gaetz’s resignation and the committee’s lack of jurisdiction over former members.
“I have not discussed the ethics report with President Trump. And as you know, I’ve spent a lot of time with him,” Johnson, R-La., said. “He respects the House and the parameters, and he knows that I would not violate any of those rules or principles, and so it has not been discussed.”
The speaker also said he hasn’t discussed the report with Trump’s advisers.
“They’re busy filling the Cabinet,” he said. “This has not been a subject of our discussion.”
Johnson reiterated his position against the release of the draft report. He also brushed off the fact that there is some precedent for its release following a member’s exit from Congress, saying the House is now in a “different era.”
“I’ve made this really clear. There’s a very important principle that underlies this, and that is the House Ethics Committee has jurisdiction over members of Congress — not former members, not private citizens, not someone who’s left the institution,” he said. “I think that’s a really important parameter for us to maintain. I think it’s important for the institution itself.”
Johnson said that he would not support a private viewing of the report for senators under the “same principle.”
-ABC News’ John Parkinson, Isabella Murray and Lauren Peller
Top Dem on House Ethics Committee says Gaetz report should be released
The top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee — Pennsylvania Rep. Susan Wild — told reporters Monday that she believes the committee’s report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz should be disclosed to the public.
“You either are going to disclose it or you’re not going to disclose it. So, and there’s plenty of precedents in the Ethics Committee to disclose the report even after a member has resigned,” Wild said.
Wild, who is leaving office at the end of this session, said it’ll take “one or more” Republicans to join Democrats on the committee to achieve a majority vote to release the report.
Asked if that’s a possibility, Wild said she hasn’t talked to all of the members and doesn’t know, but she stressed that all eight members of the ethics panel now have access to the draft report.
“I believe there will be a unanimous Democratic consensus that it should be released,” she added.
Wild said there is a scheduled committee meeting on Wednesday, but said it “remains to be seen” what the chairman’s agenda is.
“But I believe we should vote on whether we are to disclose it [Gaetz report] or not, and we’ll see what happens after that,” she said.
House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., told reporters Monday that he has read the Gaetz report but declined to comment further due to the confidentiality of the committee.
-ABC News’ Lauren Peller, John Parkinson and Isabella Murray
Trump nominates Sean Duffy as transportation secretary
Trump announced Monday he is nominating former Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy for transportation secretary.
The position requires Senate confirmation.
“He will prioritize Excellence, Competence, Competitiveness and Beauty when rebuilding America’s highways, tunnels, bridges and airports,” Trump said in a statement. “He will ensure our ports and dams serve our Economy without compromising our National Security, and he will make our skies safe again by eliminating DEI for pilots and air traffic controllers.”
Duffy co-hosts “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business and is a Fox News contributor.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie
Trump to attend SpaceX launch on Tuesday: Sources
Trump is expected to attend Tuesday’s SpaceX launch in Texas, multiple sources told ABC News.
SpaceX said it is planning to hold the sixth integrated flight test of its Starship megarocket from its Starbase in Cameron County, Texas, on Tuesday afternoon.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who will co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency, has rarely left Trump’s side since the election — appearing in family photos with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and even traveling with him to New York for Saturday’s UFC fight.
Trump frequently marveled at the intricacies of the SpaceX rocket launch while on the campaign trail.
“It was so exciting, so I’m watching it, and this monstrous thing is going down, right and it’s coming down, it’s first of all, doing all sorts of flips up in the air,” Trump said at his last campaign rally of the cycle in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
-ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa and Katherine Faulders
How Democrats could force the Ethics Committee to release the Gaetz report
All eyes will be on the House Ethics Committee’s expected closed-door meeting this Wednesday — but it’s possible that Congress can go around the committee entirely to release the panel’s findings on former Rep. Matt Gaetz.
According to House rules, any member of Congress can go to the floor and tee up a vote on a “privileged resolution” that would force the Ethics Committee to release its report on Gaetz, within two legislative days.
The member would only have to argue that not releasing the report impacts the “dignity” or “integrity” of the House or “reputation” of its members.
The action would be unusual, but not unprecedented. In the 1990s, Democrats repeatedly tried to force the Ethics Committee to divulge information about investigations into then-Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Those efforts came up short because Republicans closed ranks around Gingrich and the majority. But Gaetz is incredibly unpopular on Capitol Hill, and it would only take a handful of Republicans — along with all Democrats — to pass the resolution.
“If you’re a member of Congress, do you really want to be in the business of defending Matt Gaetz?” former Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pennsylvania, who led the Ethics Committee, said to ABC News on Monday.
The Ethics Committee was investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use against Gaetz, who resigned last week after being named Trump’s pick for attorney general.
If the Ethics Committee doesn’t vote to release its findings on Wednesday, expect more Democrats to raise the possibility of forcing a floor vote — one that would force Republicans on the record about Gaetz.
-ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel
Hegseth flagged as potential ‘insider threat’ by Guardsman who was ‘disturbed’ by ‘Deus Vult’ tattoo
The National Guardsman who in 2021 pegged Pete Hegseth as a potential “insider threat” clarified in an interview with ABC News that his complaint targeted a “Deus Vult” tattoo on the Fox News host’s arm, not a cross on his chest, as Hegseth has repeatedly claimed.
As Reuters and The Associated Press first reported, Sgt. DeRicko Gaither sent an image of the “Deus Vult” tattoo to Maj. Gen. William Walker shortly before President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The phrase, which translates to “God wills it,” has since been co-opted by white nationalist groups.
“This information is quite disturbing, sir,” Gaither wrote in the email to Walker, who has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment. “This falls along the lines of (an) Insider Threat.”
Hegseth — Trump’s pick for defense secretary — claimed in his book, “The War on Warriors,” that he was removed from service ahead of Biden’s inauguration because fellow servicemembers had flagged a tattoo of the Jerusalem Cross on his chest as a white nationalist symbol.
But Gaither clarified in a text message to ABC News that his complaint targeted the “Deus Vult” tattoo, despite “the narrative that has been out there.”
“Just so we are clear. This has NOTHING to do with the Jerusalem Cross tattoo on his chest,” Gaither said. “This has everything to do with the ‘DEUS VULT’ Tattoo on his inner bicep.”
Gaither, who confirmed the contents of his complaint to ABC News, emphasized that “this wasn’t then and isn’t now a personal attack towards Pete Hegseth.”
“The information received and [the] email sent on January 14th was the protocol that had to be followed because of the position assignment that I was assigned to,” explained Gaither, who was at the time assigned as the Guards’ head of security. “The protocol was followed and would be followed again if this issue involved any other service member, myself included.”
Hegseth fired back at the initial coverage of this matter in the AP by claiming it was “Anti-Christian bigotry.”
“They can target me — I don’t give a damn — but this type of targeting of Christians, conservatives, patriots and everyday Americans will stop on DAY ONE at DJT’s DoD,” Hegseth wrote on social media on Friday.
-ABC News’ Nathan Luna and Lucien Bruggeman
Homan says he’s headed to Mar-a-Lago to put ‘final touches’ on deportation plan
Incoming “border czar” Tom Homan said Monday that Trump’s new administration is already working on a plan to deport undocumented immigrants and that he’s headed to Mar-a-Lago this week “to put the final touches” on it.
Speaking on Fox News’ America Reports, Homan reiterated his plan to “take the handcuffs of ICE” and ramp up arrests.
“ICE knows what they’re looking for. They just never go arrest them, because Secretary Mayorkas has told them [to] tone down the arrests,” Homan said.
Homan also repeated his claim that ICE will “arrest the bad guys first.” He said that under the Biden administration, the removal of “criminal aliens” has decreased 74%. ABC News has not independently verified the accuracy of that claim.
Homan acknowledged during the interview that a mass deportation plan will require significant resources and that he doesn’t know what the current ICE and Customs and Border Protection budgets are, though added that Trump is “committed” to getting the funding for his plan.
-ABC News’ Armando García
‘Dangerous’: Caroline Kennedy weighs in on RFK’s views on vaccines
Caroline Kennedy weighed in on her cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s views on vaccines during remarks on Monday after he was announced as the nominee for Health and Human Services secretary.
“I think Bobby Kennedy’s views on vaccines are dangerous, but I don’t think that most Americans share them. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” she said at the National Press Club of Australia.
“You know, I grew up with him,” she added. “So, I have known all this for a long time and others are just getting to know him.”
Kennedy added that her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, had fought for affordable health care, and that her family was proud of President Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act, which she said was built on Sen. Kennedy’s work.
“I would say that our family is united in terms of our support for the public health sector and infrastructure and has greatest admiration for the medical profession in our country, and Bobby Kennedy has got a different set of views,” Caroline Kennedy said.
–ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
Trump transition live updates: Ethics Committee expected to meet on Gaetz: Sources
President-elect Donald Trump continues to announce his picks for top jobs inside his administration, most recently naming nominees for energy secretary and to helm the Federal Communications Commission.
Meanwhile, fallout continues for former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s choice to serve as attorney general. The House Ethics Committee was investigating Gaetz for alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Calls are growing for the panel to release its report on Gaetz, who resigned from the House last week.
‘Dangerous’: Caroline Kennedy weighs in on RFK’s views on vaccines
Caroline Kennedy weighed in on her cousin Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s views on vaccines during remarks on Monday after he was announced as the nominee for Health and Human Services secretary.
“I think Bobby Kennedy’s views on vaccines are dangerous, but I don’t think that most Americans share them. So we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” she said at the National Press Club of Australia.
“You know, I grew up with him,” she added. “So, I have known all this for a long time and others are just getting to know him.”
Kennedy added that her uncle, Sen. Ted Kennedy, had fought for affordable health care, and that her family was proud of President Barack Obama signing the Affordable Care Act, which she said was built on Sen. Kennedy’s work.
“I would say that our family is united in terms of our support for the public health sector and infrastructure and has greatest admiration for the medical profession in our country, and Bobby Kennedy has got a different set of views,” Caroline Kennedy said.
–ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
House Ethics Committee expected to meet to discuss Gaetz report
The House Ethics Committee is expected to meet on Wednesday and discuss its report of Rep. Matt Gaetz, multiple sources tell ABC News.
While the meeting can still be cancelled, sources said the committee could potentially take a vote on whether to release the report.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott and Will Steakin
‘Morning Joe’ co-hosts say they met with Trump on Friday
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski said on Monday morning that they had met with President-elect Donald Trump on Friday at Mar-a-Lago.
The goal of the meeting, they said, was to “restart communications” among the liberal-leaning morning show hosts and the incoming administration.
“Last Thursday, we expressed our own concerns on this broadcast, and even said we would appreciate the opportunity to speak with the president-elect himself. On Friday, we were given the opportunity to do just that. Joe and I went to Mar-a-Lago to meet personally with President-elect Trump. It was the first time we have seen him in seven years,” Brzezinski said.
Scarborough said the hosts and Trump did not “see eye to eye on a lot of issues, and we told him so.”
“What we did agree on was to restart communications,” Brzezinski added, noting that Trump seemed “cheerful” and “upbeat.”
