US sub sinks Iranian ship by torpedo in Indian Ocean, 1st such attack since WWII

(WASHINGTON) — Florida Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned from Congress on Tuesday afternoon, just before she was to face a House Ethics Committee sanction hearing.

The committee was set to hold a rare public hearing to determine what sanction would be appropriate for it to recommend to the full House against Cherfilus-McCormick.

Last month, Cherfilus-McCormick was found guilty of 25 House ethics violations, including acceptance of improper campaign contributions and commingling of campaign and personal funds. The congresswoman was indicted in November 2025 by a federal grand jury on charges of stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, which she is accused of laundering to support her successful 2021 congressional campaign.

Cherfilus-McCormick has denied wrongdoing, excusing the allegations as an accounting error.

In her resignation announcement, the congresswoman called the process a “witch hunt.”

“By going forward with this process while a criminal indictment is pending, the Committee prevented me from defending myself,” she said. “I simply cannot stand by and allow my due process rights to be trampled on, and my good name to be tarnished.”

Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest read out loud the congresswoman’s resignation letter after the committee briefly convened and said the committee had lost jurisdiction over Cherfilus-McCormick with her resignation.

“I will tell you that the committee has worked diligently to investigate this matter, that this was not a rush to judgment, as some would claim, that this was a very deliberate process to gather information into allegations that were extremely serious and extremely complicated,” Guest said.

Ranking Democrat Mark DeSaulnier told the committee, “Nobody’s happy. I don’t think any of us are happy at what we’ve gone through, but I am extremely proud of being associated with all of you.”

She is the third member of the House to resign in a week, following Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas and Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who were accused of sexual misconduct and were about to face efforts by their colleagues to have them expelled.

Expelling a member of the House is a rare occurrence. A two-thirds majority is required to remove a member.

Only six House members in U.S. history have been expelled from the lower chamber. Former New York Republican Rep. George Santos was the most recent lawmaker expelled from the House in 2023.

The committee could have recommended a range of sanctions, including expulsion, censure, reprimand, fine — and even denial or limitation of any right, according to House rules. The House may punish its members and may expel its members by a two-thirds vote, according to Article 1, Section 5 of the Constitution.

The sanction recommendation against Cherfilus-McCormick was expected to be announced in writing after the hearing. Afterward, the panel was to break into executive session to conclude its deliberations and reach a judgment.

Before Cherfilus-McCormick announced her resignation, Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube said he would move to force a vote to try to expel the congresswoman following the sanction hearing. Steube was expected to make the expulsion resolution privileged, which required Speaker Mike Johnson to hold a vote on the matter within two legislative days.

The speaker signaled last week that expelling Cherfilus-McCormick over her alleged crimes would be “appropriate.”

Though he initially insisted that Democrats would not help Republicans expel Cherfilus-McCormick, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday that Democrats would convene a caucus meeting to determine how they’ll handle the the bipartisan Ethics panel’s recommendations.

After her resignation, Steube called on the Department of Justice to put Cherfilus-McCormick in prison.

“This is a victory for our institution and the great state of Florida,” Steube wrote on X. “Thank you to everyone who stayed involved and kept the pressure on. Now it’s on the DOJ to put her in prison.”

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon will review whether Sen. Mark Kelly improperly disclosed classified information when the Arizona Democrat and retired Navy captain raised concerns about the strain the war with Iran has placed on U.S. weapons stockpiles.

Hegseth, in a social media post Sunday evening, blasted Kelly for “blabbing on TV” after the senator appeared on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that morning and discussed strains on the Pentagon’s ammunition inventory. 

“‘Captain’ Mark Kelly strikes again,” Hegseth posted. “Now he’s blabbing on TV (falsely & dumbly) about a *CLASSIFIED* Pentagon briefing he received. Did he violate his oath … again? @DeptofWar legal counsel will review.”

During the CBS interview, Kelly pointed to recent open-door Pentagon briefings to Congress, which he says outlined that U.S. stockpiles of key munitions, including Tomahawk and ATACMS missiles, are being rapidly depleted amid the war with Iran.

A Pentagon review of Kelly’s comments would mark the second time Hegseth has sought to punish him, the first being after Kelly and several other Democratic military and intelligence service veterans posted a video advising U.S. troops to not follow illegal orders. Hegseth sought to demote Kelly, which would reduce his military pension.

A three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals expressed skepticism over Hegseth’s effort to punish Kelly over the comments during oral arguments last week.

The Pentagon says it has hit some 13,000 targets in the war with Iran. In some cases, those targets may need to be hit several times, it said. Acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst III told lawmakers in late April that the war had cost at least $25 billion to that point, noting that much of that was for munitions use. 

“It’s shocking how deep we’ve gone into these magazines,” Kelly said.

Following Hegseth’s threat, Kelly responded on social media, showing a clip from last week’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in which Hegseth is shown saying it would take years to replenish stockpiles to pre-war levels. 

“We had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago and you said it would take ‘years’ to replenish some of these stockpiles,” Kelly said. “That’s not classified, it’s a quote from you.”

An analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that the U.S. has used half of its inventory of munitions fighting Iran, and that it could take up to four years for the pre-war stock to be rearmed. 

The Pentagon briefs members of Congress on classified materials behind closed doors, but it’s unclear whether Kelly violated any disclosure laws, as he did not get into specifics on the volume of weapons used or remaining in the CBS interview. 

Hegseth has insisted the U.S. has sufficient ammunition to sustain fighting against Iran, though much of the anxiety inside defense circles is centered less on Tehran and more on the Pentagon’s ability to respond to another major conflict.

“That means the American people are less safe. Whether it’s a conflict with China or somewhere else in the world, the munitions are depleted,” Kelly said on CBS. 

The Pentagon had already been grappling with mounting concerns over its weapon stockpiles and how quickly industry can replenish munitions, with the war with Iran dramatically exacerbating those concerns.  

Those concerns come as the Pentagon pushes for a historic $1.5 trillion defense budget next year, roughly a 50% increase over current spending levels, with a significant share earmarked for munitions production and cheaper, mass-produced drone systems. But the spending plan was largely finalized before the war started and does not fully account for the strain the war is placing on U.S. inventories.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is traveling to Hebron, Kentucky, on Wednesday to deliver another speech focused on economic messaging. But this time, it’s in the district of Rep. Thomas Massie, the six-term Republican that the president is actively working to oust.

Just two months ahead of a contentious Republican primary between Massie and Trump-endorsed former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, the president is set to make two stops in the area: at a packaging facility in Hebron, Kentucky, and then at ThermoFisher in Reading, Ohio, where he’ll discuss efforts to lower prescription drug prices.

The visit comes amid an ongoing, bitter feud between Massie and Gallrein — one of the party’s few significant MAGA proxy battles this year. The race is also one of the most expensive House GOP primaries of the 2026 cycle.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this week that Trump will be joined by Ohio and Kentucky lawmakers “who he greatly admires and respects and supports.” Massie won’t be at any of Wednesday’s events alongside Trump; a Gallrein spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that he will be in attendance for the president’s event.

Massie has long been the subject of Trump’s ire, but it has ramped up this cycle with Massie’s unwavering push for the release of the files about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as well as his opposition to significant legislation championed by the president, including his chief domestic policy package.

Last week, Massie was one of two Republicans to buck party leadership and vote in favor of the Iran war powers resolution, which attempts to curtail military action.

In October, Trump said Massie needed to be “thrown out of office,” after the congressman objected to a short-term funding bill backed by the president– also saying, “[Massie] SHOULD BE PRIMARIED, and I will lead the charge against him.” 

Trump then nudged Gallrein to enter the race, backed him, and the fifth-generation farmer launched his bid that month.

In a social media post on Monday, Gallrein said the “rally will be a huge moment for our campaign and for the people of Northern Kentucky.” Gallrein wrote Monday on X.

In an interview with ABC affiliate WCPO about the president’s visit and his race against Gallrein, Massie said he’s glad Trump is visiting the district and “paying attention to local issues.”

“I suspect he’s also going to try and help my opponent, but you know that’s really all my opponent has going for him. He’s promised to be a rubber stamp when he gets to Washington, D.C., and I don’t think people here want a rubber stamp.”

Massie told WCPO he will not make Trump’s visit due to prior commitments.

Massie also said the president would “discover” support for the positions he champions, including a focus on releasing the Epstein files and staying out of foreign wars.

“What they’ll discover is Trump fans in KY-4 and across the entire commonwealth also support my work on the Epstein files, reigning in spending, ending forever wars, draining the swamp, and food freedom!” Massie said in a social media post on Tuesday regarding the president’s upcoming visit to his district.

Ahead of his visit, Trump attacked Massie on his social media platform, saying, “I predict that ‘Representative’Thomas Massie will go down as the WORST Republican Congressman in the long and fabled history of the United States Congress.”

“Massie, who is running against a great American Patriot in the Kentucky Primary, will hopefully lose BIG,” added Trump, who reiterated his endorsement of Gallrein in another post.

The president’s rhetoric toward Massie is not new — in 2020, Trump called on the GOP to “throw Massie out of Republican party” following the congressman’s opposition to a coronavirus relief bill. Still, Massie won his primary by 62 points. In 2022, Trump endorsed Massie for reelection, calling him a “conservative warrior.” Massie won by nearly 60 points that year.   

But with Massie on the outs with Trump once again, Kentucky’s primary election — which will take place on May 19 — is expected to remain contentious.

On Tuesday, Massie attempted to paint his opponent as the “Trump traitor,” claiming Gallrein dropped his Republican affiliation after Trump became the party’s presidential nominee in 2016.

“Woke Eddie Gallrein abandoned President Trump’s Republican party – a complete dereliction of his MAGA duty,” the narrator of a recent Massie ad says. 

Gallrein spokeswoman Alexandra Wilkes acknowledged that Gallrein changed his voter registration in the past, but pinned the blame on Massie for this decision. 

“Ed briefly changed registration out of frustration with the broken system Congressman Massie created in his district, which hurt the Republican Party, and he is proud to stand with President Trump and true conservative Republicans,” Wilkes said in a statement, slamming Massie for “pretending to be a Trump ally.”  

Gallrein is also supported by Kentucky Rep. Andy Barr, who is also running for Senate, to replace outgoing Sen. Mitch McConnell. Barr’s decision to endorse against Massie was significant, given that Massie is a part of his delegation. Trump has not yet endorsed in the Kentucky Senate race, and Barr is among the top three GOP candidates working for his endorsement. 

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.