(WASHINGTON) — The FBI has announced charges against a brother and sister in connection with an alleged improvised explosive device that was found near the visitors center at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida last week.
Alen Zheng was charged by indictment with one count of attempted damage of government property by fire or explosion, one count of unlawful making of a destructive device and possession of an unregistered destructive device.
Ann Mary Zheng was also indicted on charges alleging that she was an accessory after the fact and tampered with evidence by attempting to destroy, mutilate and conceal a 2010 black Mercedes GLK 350.
“A brother and sister have now been indicted,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a post on X on Thursday. “One is in custody for accessory and evidence tampering and the primary suspect is charged with explosives offenses and is currently in China.”
A possible IED was discovered outside the visitor’s center at MacDill AFB on March 16, though it is unclear when the device was placed. Court records indicate that March 10 is a date associated with the siblings’ alleged conduct.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A general view of wind turbines at the Saint-Nazaire offshore wind farm, off the coast of the Guerande peninsula in western France, in Batz-sur-Mer, on December 3, 2025. (Photo by Jerome Gilles/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Wind power production will continue to advance, despite the Trump administration’s attempts to halt the growing momentum of renewable energy, experts told ABC News.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of the Interior reached a $928 million deal with French energy company TotalEnergies to end the company’s offshore wind development off the East Coast and redirect that investment into domestic fossil fuel initiatives, describing the “landmark agreement” as a way to lower energy costs and strengthen the nation’s energy security.
The move continues efforts by President Donald Trump and his administration to stall renewable energy, including the Department of Justice suing the state of California earlier this month over its electric vehicle mandate, signing an executive order last month directing the Department of Defense to purchase electricity from coal-fired power plants and the Environmental Protection Agency rescinding the landmark “endangerment finding” that has served as the scientific and legal foundation for federal regulations on carbon dioxide and five other heat-trapping greenhouse gases or more than 16 years.
Offshore wind is facing the most “headwinds” from the federal government, but is still persevering, Erin Baker, distinguished professor and faculty director at the Energy Transition Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told ABC News. The actions of the Trump administration have had “very little impact” on the global increase in production of renewable energy, Baker added.
What the nearly $1 billion deal with TotalEnergies entails As part of the deal, TotalEnergies will commit $928 million to fossil fuel development in the United States, matching the amount the company previously paid for offshore wind leases. Upon meeting those commitments, the federal government will reimburse the company up to the value of those lease payments, the Interior Department said.
Citing national security concerns, the Interior Department said TotalEnergies has pledged not to develop any new offshore wind projects in the United States.
“This agreement is yet another win for President Trump’s commitment to affordable and reliable energy for all Americans,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. “Offshore wind is one of the most expensive, unreliable, environmentally disruptive, and subsidy-dependent schemes ever forced on American ratepayers and taxpayers.”
The agreement supports the administration’s push for affordable, reliable baseload energy, officials said, arguing that offshore wind projects are costly and less dependable. Ending the projects would reduce unnecessary federal spending while supporting domestic energy production, according to the Interior Department.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein described the move as “a terrible deal for the people of North Carolina and our country” in a post on X.
Because offshore wind is installed in federal waters, the power of the federal government over offshore wind projects is higher than in onshore wind projects, Michelle Solomon, senior policy analyst at Energy Innovation, a non-partisan research and analysis nonprofit that supports clean energy, told ABC News.
“I think the really unfortunate thing about this news is that offshore wind is a really, really reliable resource that can really help mitigate spiking fossil fuel prices in the winter,” she said.
The momentum for wind energy is too strong to stall, experts said Wind is the largest and most reliable source of renewable energy. It can also help energy bills stay affordable during extreme weather due to its capacity to produce fuel-free energy, Solomon said.
The power purchase agreements signed by offshore wind companies suppress electricity prices, Baker said. The companies agree to “always buy the wind when it blows,” which then brings down the entire cost to purchase electricity, she said, describing it as “good business.”
“They’re not doing it for environmental reasons,” Baker said of renewable energy companies. “They’re doing it just for business reasons.”
In 2025, wind and solar energy generated a record 17% of electricity in the U.S., up from less than 1% in 2005, according to data recently released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The total net generation from wind and solar together reached 760,000 gigawatt-hours (GWh) last year, enough to power tens of millions of average American homes, according to the EIA. Wind power generated 464,000 GWh, a 3% increase over 2024.
The milestone comes amid federal energy policy changes, including the early phase-out of renewable tax incentives and other regulatory changes.
“The momentum is definitely still there,” Solomon said.
“Even though [the Trump administration] was actively trying to stop those industries, they still were growing,” Baker said.
Another benefit to wind is that it’s the type of energy that can “come online the most quickly” after it is built, Solomon said.
“In this moment, when we’re needing to build electricity generation resources really quickly to deal with low growth, data centers, [wind farms] are the ones that are going to be able to respond really quickly,” she said.
Wind and solar made up nearly 90% of new U.S. electricity capacity in 2025, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. That trend is expected to continue into 2026, Solomon said.
Global renewable energy capacity is expected to more than double by 2030, according to the EIA.
Trump has long criticized wind energy Trump’s criticism of wind turbines dates back to his first term.
In 2019, Trump claimed that noises from wind turbines “cause cancer” and negatively impact property values. In 2024, during his presidential campaign, Trump stated that wind turbines “kill whales” and vowed to write an executive order on “Day 1” to end offshore wind projects.
On Jan. 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order to withdraw all areas of the outer continental shelf from offshore wind leasing. A federal judge in the U.S. District of Massachusetts ruled in December that the stop to permits on wind farms was illegal.
The deal with TotalEnergies is the latest move by the administration in an attempt to halt the increased production of wind power.
In December 2025, the Interior Department froze large offshore wind projects on the East Coast, citing national security concerns. Federal judges ruled that all five projects could resume construction, concluding that the government did not show that the risk was so imminent that it should stop.
The projects included Empire Wind, the wind farm being built 15 to 30 miles south of the coast of Long Island, and the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, which started delivering to the state’s power grid on Monday, developer Dominion Energy announced.
Despite the victories for the offshore wind developers, the delays to the project have led to an uncertain investment environment and increased both the cost to build and the costs to consumers’ energy bills, Solomon said.
The impact of these actions will raise energy costs in the end, Solomon said.
Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by heavily armed Federal agents as they make their way into an armored car en route to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on January 5, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by XNY/Star Max/GC Images)
(NEW YORK) — Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are set to return to a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday for a status conference that could determine the trajectory of the criminal case against them.
Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty to federal charges including narco-terrorism during their first appearance in court in January, and their attorneys have since pushed to have the case dismissed over concerns that the Trump administration is blocking the Venezuelan government from paying their legal fees.
For more than a decade, Maduro enjoyed an opulent life as Venezuela’s president, living in the neoclassical palace in Caracas and accruing a net worth reportedly in the millions. He allegedly owned multiple mansions, two private jets, millions in jewelry and cash, a horse farm, and a fleet of luxury vehicles.
But as he awaits trial in a Brooklyn jail cell, the ousted head of state is now pushing to have his case dismissed by arguing he doesn’t have enough money to pay for his own legal defense — and his lawyers argue his due process rights will be violated if Venezuela is unable to pay for his lawyers because of U.S. sanctions on the country.
“I understand that the government of Venezuela is prepared to fund my legal defense and it is my expectation that it will,” Maduro said in a sworn declaration. “I have relied on this expectation and cannot afford to pay for my own legal defense.”
As the Trump administration gradually warms relations with Venezuela, Thursday’s hearing marks the second time that the ousted Venezuelan leader has appeared in a United States courtroom since special operations forces captured him in Caracas in January.
During the status conference on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein is expected to hear from both sides about how the case will progress toward a trial, including what pre-trial motions the defense plans to make and how much evidence has been turned over by prosecutors.
In a move that triggered an international outcry, Maduro was captured and brought to the U.S. in January after the United States carried out what President Trump described as a “large scale strike” in the Venezuelan capital.
Maduro’s attorneys seek dismissal
Last month, attorneys for Maduro and Flores asked the court to dismiss the indictment after the Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OLFAC) restricted the ability for Venezuela to pay for their legal fees.
Defense lawyers argue that the couple’s Sixth Amendment and due process rights would be violated if Venezuela is unable to financially support Maduro, who Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodriguez says is still “the legitimate president” of the country.
“The conduct of the United States government not only undermines Mr. Maduro’s rights but also this Court’s mandate to provide a fair trial to all defendants who come before it in accordance with the protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution,” Maduro’s attorney Barry Pollack said in a motion last month.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York have pushed back on the request, arguing that Maduro and Flores are still allowed to access their own money to pay for their legal defense. While the Treasury Department initially allowed Venezuela to pay for their legal defense, prosecutors said the authorization was an “administrative error” and denied that the decision to change the terms of their license was targeted.
“OFAC’s Longstanding sanctions regime predated the initiation of the criminal charges the defendants now face and was instituted for purposes completely separate from the criminal charges currently pending before this Court,” defense lawyers said. “The defendants’ attempts to portray OFAC’s sanctions as a targeted attack on the defendants and their rights are misleading and undermined by the facts and chronology of this case and OFAC’s independent decision-making.”
Defense attorneys expressed skepticism about that argument by highlighting that the Trump administration has recently issued multiple licenses to allow the export of Venezuelan oil and other goods despite the existing sanctions.
“There is no apparent reason why the use of Venezuelan funds to pay for the legal defense in this case jeopardizes national security and the government offers none,” defense attorneys said. “The national security emergency rationale that the government invokes, without explaining, has even less force now that the government has normalized relations with the government of Venezuela and recognized the current Venezuelan government.”
While the issue is fully briefed, the judge could opt to set a separate hearing on the motion.
‘I am innocent,” Maduro told the court
Maduro’s last appearance in federal court came just days after he was captured in Venezuela by U.S. special operations forces and transported to New York to face criminal charges.
After Judge Hellerstein summarized the charges against him, Maduro told the court through an interpreter that he is “the president of Venezuela” and that he was “captured at home in Caracas, Venezuela.”
“I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man. I am still president of my country,” Maduro said to enter his plea.
Flores similarly pleaded not guilty after being informed of the charges against her and her rights. Their attorneys did not ask for bail or their release, though Judge Hellerstein said he would be open to reviewing a bail application in the future. In the meantime, the former heads of state have been detained at the federal detention center in Brooklyn.
As he was escorted out of the courtroom, Maduro responded to a member of the public seated in court who shouted at him in Spanish to say in part, “You will pay in the name of Venezuela.”
“I am the elected president. I am a prisoner of war. I will be free,” Maduro responded.
Maduro’s defense?
During his arraignment in January, Maduro’s attorney signaled that they will likely argue that Maduro should be protected from prosecution as a head of state.
“He is the head of a sovereign state,” said Pollack, added that there are “issues about the legality of his military abduction.”
Maduro’s lawyers have not yet filed any motions based on that argument, instead focusing on concerns about his due process rights after the Treasury Department cut off Venezuela’ s ability to pay for Maduro’s legal defense.
According to ABC News Legal Contributor James Sample, Maduro’s lawyers could attempt to argue that he is protected by “head of state immunity,” which is a principle of international law that the leaders of other countries are shielded from the jurisdiction of other country’s criminal courts.
“They will be arguing that because he was the head of essentially a sister sovereign of another nation, and he was doing those things in that nation, that the United States courts lack the jurisdiction, which is simply to say the power to hold him criminally accountable,” Sample said. “Whether a U.S. court will embrace that defense or not is a different matter, but it is not a frivolous argument.”
Former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, who was never elected president, unsuccessfully attempted to use head-of-state immunity when he was tried in the U.S. on drug smuggling charges in 1991, but a federal appeals court concluding he “never served as the constitutional leader of Panama.”
What prosecutors allege
The Department of Justice initially brought an indictment against Maduro and 14 other Venezuelan officials in March of 2020, arguing they committed narco-terrorism by conspiring with drug cartels to allow the flow of cocaine into the United States.
Nearly six years later, prosecutors filed a new indictment charging Maduro, Flores, Maduro’s son, and three others with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons offenses.
“Nicolas Maduro Moros, the defendant, now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” the indictment said.
Prosecutors alleged that Maduro allowed “cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish for his own benefit,” including by providing diplomatic cover to drug traffickers and money launderers. Maduro has pleaded not guilty and denies being involved in drug trafficking.
“[Maduro] is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States,” the indictment said.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department has reached an agreement with President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn to pay him roughly $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the former general claiming he was politically targeted for prosecution during Trump’s first administration, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Victor Greenawalt, a Citizen Honor Award recipient, poses with his mother in Washington, D.C., March 24, 2026. (Congressional Medal of Honor Society)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — A 11-year-old boy from Minneapolis will be recognized with a Citizen Honor Award in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for helping save a classmate’s life during a mass shooting at their school.
Victor Greenawalt is among this year’s six honorees — five individuals and one nonprofit — for showing “extraordinary bravery far beyond his years,” the Congressional Medal of Honor Society said in a statement. “Instinctively, Victor protected a classmate with his own body, directly saving their life.”
Victor was injured when he used his body to shield his friend from the gunfire at Annunciation Catholic School, according to MPR News.
“My friend Victor, like, saved me though. He laid on top of me, but he got hit,” the friend, Weston Halsne, told Minneapolis station KARE last year. “He was really brave.”
An 8-year-old and 10-year-old sitting in pews were killed and many others were injured when the shooter opened fire through the windows of the school’s church on Aug. 27, 2025. The shooter died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Victor is receiving the young hero award, which honors Americans 17 years old or younger “for their courage in a dire situation,” the Congressional Medal of Honor Society said.
Two teenagers look at their iPhone screens displaying various social media and messaging apps. (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)
(LOS ANGELES) — In a landmark decision, a jury found Meta and YouTube negligent for designing apps that harmed kids and teens and failed to warn them about the dangers.
The jury awarded compensatory damages in the amount of $3 million. The jury also found punitive damages are warranted.
The lawsuit, brought by a 20-year-old woman identified as “Kaley,” alleges major social media companies intentionally designed their platforms to be addictive. The suit claims features like auto-scrolling got the plaintiff addicted to the platforms, ultimately leading to anxiety, depression and body image issues.
In a statement to ABC News, a Meta spokesperson said “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options.”
The plaintiff’s attorney called the verdict “bigger than one case,” in a statement to ABC News.
In a statement to ABC News, a Meta spokesperson said “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options.”
The plaintiff’s attorney called the verdict “bigger than one case,” in a statement to ABC News.
“For years, social media companies have profited from targeting children while concealing their addictive and dangerous design features,” the attorney continued. “Today’s verdict is a referendum — from a jury, to an entire industry — that accountability has arrived. We now move forward to the next phase of this trial focused on punitive damages.”
The damages were found to be 70 percent the responsibility of Meta and 30 percent the responsibility of YouTube.
The jury returned an answer of “Yes” to every question posed relating to negligence and failure to warn of dangers. Ten jurors were in favor of the plaintiff for every question, with two in favor of the defense in every question.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
The entrance of the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) that is located t the municipality of Tecoluca, in San Vicente, El Salvador, on October 12, 2023. (Alex Pena/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A Venezuelan migrant who was deported from the United States to El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison last year has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging he was wrongfully removed without due process.
Attorneys for Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel say their client’s removal violated his rights.
“Through a series of unconstitutional and ultra vires acts by high-ranking federal officials and law enforcement officers, Plaintiff Neiyerver Adrián Leon Rengel was wrongly identified as a member of the gang Tren de Aragua, repeatedly denied due process, falsely imprisoned, intentionally deceived, and — ultimately — illegally sent to El Salvador in blatant violation of a court order,” the lawsuit filed on Tuesday states.
Rengel is one of more than 250 Venezuelan nationals released to their home country from CECOT in a prisoner swap last July, after being removed from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th century wartime authority used to remove noncitizens with little-to-no due process.
The Trump administration deported two planeloads of alleged migrant gang members to the El Salvador prison by arguing that the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is a “hybrid criminal state” that is invading the United States.
Rengel is seeking $1.3 million in damages.
According to the complaint, Rengel presented himself at a U.S. port of entry several years ago, complied with all immigration requirements, and was awaiting an immigration hearing that was set for 2028.
“On the morning of his birthday, March 13, 2025, while he was headed to work, Plaintiff was caught in the Administration’s scheme and would soon experience the full force of its unconstitutional and unlawful policies,” the complaint states. “At the time of his arrest, the only justification offered by ICE officers was that Plaintiff’s tattoos indicated his membership in TdA. Plaintiff immediately rebutted that identification, as he has never had any affiliation with TdA or any other gang.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security disputed the allegations in the suit.
“Neiyerver Adrian Leon Rengel entered our country illegally in 2023 from Venezuela and is an associate of Tren De Aragua. This illegal alien was deemed a public safety threat as a confirmed associate of the Tren de Aragua gang and processed for removal from the U.S.,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“We hear far too much about gang members and criminals’ false sob stories and not enough about their victims,” the statement said. “We are confident in our law enforcement’s intelligence, and we aren’t going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security every time a gang member denies he is one.”
Rengel was held at the Salvadoran prison for four months. During that time, he alleges he was beaten by guards, denied medical care, and held without contact with his family or legal counsel.
“These conditions and the physical abuse inflicted on Plaintiff were the direct, proximate result of the decisions of federal officials who placed and maintained him in constructive U.S. custody at CECOT, and they constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment,” the complaint states.
Savannah Guthrie and mother Nancy Guthrie on Thursday, June 15, 2023 — (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie is speaking out in her first interview nearly two months after her mother, Nancy Guthrie, was kidnapped from her Tucson, Arizona, home.
Authorities say Nancy Guthrie, 84, was abducted from her house in the early hours of Feb. 1. They have released surveillance images from outside Nancy Guthrie’s house, but the person who took her remains unidentified.
In an emotional interview with her friend and former co-host Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie said, “We are in agony.”
“It is unbearable,” she said. “And to think of what she went through.”
Savannah Guthrie said thoughts of the terror her mother experienced wakes her up each night.
“I wake up every night in the middle of the night. Every night,” she said through tears. “And in the darkness, I imagine her terror. And it is unthinkable. But those thoughts demand to be thought. And I will not hide my face. That she needs to come home now.”
“Someone needs to do the right thing,” she stressed.
The full interview with Savannah Guthrie will be released on Thursday and Friday, Kotb said.
Kotb has been filling in for Savannah Guthrie on “Today” since the abduction.
Anyone with information is urged to call 911, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.
ABC News’ Matt Claiborne contributed to this report.
People stand in a security line at George Bush Intercontinental Airport that extended all the way to the airport’s subway terminal in Houston, March 24, 2026. (KTRK)
(NEW YORK) — Travel upheaval continued at some of the nation’s airports on Tuesday as people were forced to navigate long security lines despite President Donald Trump deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to help cut down on wait times.
One of the longest security waits on Tuesday was at Bush International Airport in Houston, where travelers stood in a line stretching from the airport subway to the security check-in gates, according to ABC Houston station KTRK.
As of 11 a.m. local time in Houston, the wait time to get through security was estimated to exceed four hours, according to an advisory posted on the Houston Airport System’s website.
The airport disruption in Houston even delayed a member of the National Transportation Safety Board team who was flying to New York’s LaGuardia Airport to investigate Sunday night’s deadly crash between an Air Canada jet and a Port Authority fire truck, NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference on Tuesday.
“Our air traffic control specialist, who was in line with TSA for three hours until we called in Houston to beg to see if we can get her through so we can get here,” she said. “So, it’s been a really big challenge to get the entire team here, and they’re still arriving as I speak.”
Airport security lines are growing nationwide as Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers, who haven’t received a paycheck for over three weeks, continue to call in sick or quit amid a partial government shutdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The TSA reported that about 40% of its workers at Bush airport, whose duties include staffing security lines and running X-ray machines and magnetometers, called out sick on Monday. Houston’s other airport, William P. Hobby Airport, reported that about 40% of TSA personnel called out sick on Monday, according to the TSA.
Across the nation, more than 3,200 TSA officers called out sick on Monday, according to data released by the agency on Tuesday. The numbers weren’t as high as Sunday, when 11.76% of the TSA officers scheduled to work called out sick.
Other major airports were also seeing a high level of absent TSA workers on Monday. John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and Baltimore-Washington Thurgood Marshall Airport both reported that over 30% of TSA workers called out sick on Monday.
In a statement on Tuesday, Lauren Bis, the DHS acting assistant secretary for public affairs, said the partial government shutdown over DHS funding has caused “more than 450 TSA officers to quit and thousands have called out from work because they are not able to afford gas, childcare, food, or rent.”
Over the weekend, Trump announced he would deploy ICE agents to at least 14 of the nation’s busiest airports to assist TSA workers coping with long security lines.
Those agents began showing up at airports on Monday. The White House’s border czar, Tom Homan, told ABC News on Monday that the agents will be directed by the TSA administrator on how they will best be used to “plug holes in security.”
Both Homan and Trump said the agents will still be responsible for enforcing immigration laws if they come across violations or spot people in the country illegally while at the airports.
Trump said on Monday that if the help from ICE isn’t enough, he’ll deploy the National Guard to airports.
At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the world’s busiest travel hubs, security lines seemed to be thinning out on Tuesday morning compared to Monday, when lines stretched out terminal doors.
During the peak travel period at 5:30 a.m., ABC News observed a few long lines at Hartsfield-Jackson, but by 7:30 a.m., wait times fell to below normal. But on the airport’s website on Tuesday, travelers were being advised to allow at least four hours or more for domestic and international screening.
Hartsfield-Jackson Manager Ricky Smith told ABC Atlanta affiliate WSB-TV that, with about 40% of the TSA workers calling out sick on Monday, travelers need to allow plenty of time to get through the airport.
“As we progress through this shutdown and call-outs increase, that means TSA can’t process as many passengers as quickly as they can,” Smith said on Monday. “Some passengers are missing flights and so they’re coming in the next day. So, all of that is adding to more congestion, adding to longer lines.”
One traveler, Jason, told WSB-TV that he got to the Hartsfield-Jackson airport seven hours early on Monday for a flight home to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after waiting at the airport to until 1 a.m. Sunday without ever making it past the TSA security checkpoint.
“I’m already missing a day of work right now, and my bosses are not pleased,” he said.
Democrats have blocked funding for DHS, which oversees the TSA and ICE, in an effort to push for policy reforms at ICE, whose aggressive tactics in enforcing immigration laws have prompted protests and lawsuits across the country.
DHS reforms that Democratic lawmakers have proposed include requiring ICE agents not to wear face masks, be equipped with body cameras and have warrants signed by a judge before entering homes and businesses.
Republicans have, so far, rejected those proposals.
Senators on both sides of the aisle have told ABC News that they are feeling increasingly optimistic that a deal to fully fund DHS is on the horizon.
“We do,” Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, a key negotiator for the Republicans in the DHS funding battle, told reporters on Monday when asked if there was a solution in the works.
Britt’s comments came after she and a group of Republicans met with Trump to discuss a possible solution.
“Democrats and Republicans have been trying to come to some negotiation, and I’m hearing that there is a potential solution,” said Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia.
The lawmakers are scrambling to find a solution before the end of this week, when they are scheduled to go on recess.
In an interview on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy noted that if a deal is not struck this week, conditions at airports will get worse.
“If this Homeland Security funding isn’t resolved, I think you’re going to see more TSA agents as we come to Thursday, Friday and Saturday of next week, they’re going to quit, or they’re not going to show up,” he said.
On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines announced it is temporarily suspending “specialty services” for members of Congress — including airport escorts — due to resource constraints from the ongoing partial government shutdown.
“Next to safety, Delta’s no. 1 priority is taking care of our people and customers, which has become increasingly difficult in the current environment,” the company said in a statement.
In an interview with ABC News at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby had more bad news for the flying public.
He said consumers should be aware that ticket prices are rising and will need to increase about 20% to cover the surging fuel prices.
As United braces for oil prices potentially reaching $175 a barrel due to the conflict in Iran — it stood at $104 on the global market on Tuesday — Kirby urged travelers to lock in planned trips now to take advantage of current fares. United expects fuel to cost the airline an additional $11 billion year over year.
Kirby said the airline is cutting flights with lower demand to offset the increased costs brought on by the war.
Asked about long airport security lines and the deployment of ICE agents to airports, Kirby said he is heading to Washington on Wednesday to push for TSA funding. He believes a deal is very close and that the issue should be resolved soon.
He noted that, despite calls for airlines to fund the TSA themselves, federal law prevents them from doing so. Still, Kirby said he is confident Congress will approve funding imminently.
The White House didn’t immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
ABC News’ Alex Stone, Ayesha Ali and Steve Osunsami contributed to this report.
In this image released by the Walton County Sheriffs Office, law enforment vehicles are shown at the scene of a stabbing investigation at Walton Middle School in Defuniak, Fla., on March 24, 2026. (Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Florida)
(DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla.) — A middle school student is in custody after allegedly stabbing two children and one adult at his Florida school on Tuesday, authorities said.
The attack — which happened in less than 45 seconds — unfolded after the suspect was dropped off at 7:17 a.m. at Walton Middle School in DeFuniak Springs in the Florida Panhandle, Sheriff Michael Adkinson said.
The school was not fully open at the time and there were about 40 students in the building, Adkinson said at a news conference.
The suspect allegedly went into a bathroom and then emerged a few minutes later wearing a mask and armed with a “sharp implement,” the sheriff said.
The boy allegedly went up to a fellow student and stabbed them multiple times, Adkinson said. He then allegedly went down the hall and attacked an adult, and then stabbed another child, the sheriff said.
The suspect fled but was apprehended near the school about seven minutes after the stabbings, Adkinson said.
The two children were seriously injured: one was life-flighted to a hospital in Pensacola and the other was taken to Fort Walton-Destin Hospital, a level two trauma center, the sheriff said. The wounded adult was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, he said.
The sheriff did not discuss a potential motive.
The school canceled classes for the day, the sheriff’s office said.
