(NEW YORK) — Medications for weight loss like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy have soared in popularity recently. And that’s prompted some major food companies to prepare for a potential shift in what, and how much, consumers who are taking these medication are eating.
Nestle and General Mills are developing companion products, like high-nutritional snacks and supplement shakes, for people taking these drugs.
“There’s probably about 1% of U.S. adults that are on these drugs today. But we can already see how that’s affecting their eating patterns at a very high level,” Alexia Howard, senior food research analyst at Bernstein, told ABC News. “I don’t think we’re going to see a massive collapse in the number of calories that are eaten across America. But things like protein shakes, cottage cheese, supplements to fortify, vitamins and minerals are probably going to do quite well out of this.
Abbott Laboratories, the company behind Ensure Shakes, told ABC News they will have a protein drink on the market by next year that’s designed to help with muscle mass in people who are using the drugs to help shed pounds. Losing muscle mass is a concern with any type of weight loss.
Rachael Knight Gullette said she’s lost 150 pounds since she started taking Mounjaro last year in July and enjoys the convenience that protein shakes provide.
“I have usually a shake every day – it’s the best way to start my day,” she said.
“The smartest thing for food companies to do honestly is to figure out how to help us, and we definitely need help,” Gullette said. “I would love to have a shake that could be a meal replacement that has enough calories in it.”
Experts say that while supplement shakes are a quick way for people trying to lose weight to take in nutrients, they should also consider sourcing protein through eating lean meats and vegetables.
“It’s understandable why a protein shake would be seen as a reasonable option to help fulfill those high-value needs of wanting to increase the amount of protein that you’re eating,” ABC News medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton said. “As physicians, we always advise that these protein shakes can be hiding a lot of added sugar. They’re also not tightly controlled and regulated by the FDA.”
Weight-loss medications are not a complete solution on their own. Doctors advise pairing their use with a healthy diet and physical activity for best results, and to develop healthy habits.
(NEW YORK) — Fifteen airmen have been disciplined — including with removal of their command — for failing to take proper action when they became aware of accused leaker Jack Teixeira’s intelligence-seeking activities, according to a broad Air Force investigation released Monday.
However, that watchdog report found no evidence that Teixeira’s immediate superiors were aware at the time that he was allegedly sharing some of the country’s most sensitive secrets online.
Instead, the report details a pattern of lax oversight by Air Force officials at Teixiera’s base.
That indirectly contributed to his alleged ability to gather and then leak classified documents without being caught, even as other airmen knew he was improperly accessing the sensitive materials, which went beyond his duties in IT, the report states.
The 15 service members, ranging in rank from staff sergeant to colonel, have been removed from their positions and have received non-judicial administrative punishments, according to the Air Force.
The internal review is separate from the Justice Department’s criminal investigation, which led to Teixeira’s indictment earlier this year on six charges of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.
He is accused of spreading highly classified materials through the popular online platform Discord — to a small group, though the records then later circulated much more widely, ABC News has reported.
Teixeira pleaded not guilty and is awaiting a trial date.
Following his arrest in April, the Air Force inspector general was tasked with reviewing the environment around Teixeira, an airman 1st class, and the compliance with policy, procedures and standards by the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts where Teixeira was serving as an IT specialist.
The internal investigation places blame squarely on Teixeira for the unauthorized disclosure of classified information, but it found that members of his unit failed to take necessary steps such as adequately inspecting areas under their command and giving inconsistent guidance for reporting security incidents.
Other reported missteps include inefficient and ineffective processes for administering disciplinary actions, lack of supervision of night shift operations and a failure to provide results from security clearance field investigations.
The watchdog report also found inconsistent definitions of the “need to know” concept, where sensitive classified information is accessible to individuals with a top security clearance, like Teixeira, even though he did not have reason to access that information for his job in IT.
The review also found that his unit’s leadership was not vigilant in inspecting the conduct of all persons who were placed under their command.
“Every Airman … is entrusted with the solemn duty to safeguard our nation’s classified defense information. When there is a breach of that sacred trust, for any reason, we will act in accordance with our laws and policies to hold responsible individuals accountable,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in a statement.
“Our national security demands leaders at every level protect critical assets, ensuring they do not fall into the hands of those who would do the United States or our allies and partners harm,” Kendall said.
Col. Sean Riley, the 102nd’s commander, received administrative action and was relieved of command for cause and Enrique Dovalo, commander of the 102nd’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance group, received administrative action for concerns with unit culture and compliance with policies and standards.
The 102nd’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance group was taken off mission when Teixeira was discovered as the suspected source of the leaks. The group’s mission remains reassigned to other organizations within the Air Force.
Previously suspended commanders have since been permanently removed from two groups within the 102nd, including its intelligence support squadron.
(WASHINGTON) — Special counsel Jack Smith’s team has asked the court to deny former President Donald Trump’s request to halt all proceedings in the Jan. 6 case pending their appeal of District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s presidential immunity order and urged the judge to do all she can to make sure the March 4 trial date isn’t delayed.
“During the pendency of the appeal, any number of matters could arise in this case that are not involved in the appeal; the Court should not enter an order preventing it from handling them. Furthermore, the Court should maintain the March 4 trial date,” the special counsel states in a filing from the weekend.
In a separate filing, also from the weekend, Smith’s prosecutors revealed they asked virtually every senior former Trump administration intelligence official if they had knowledge of a single vote being flipped by a voting machine in the 2020 election. It’s a significant revelation as Smith’s team discloses their access to more than a dozen top intel officials — including the former president’s intelligence briefer — which gives a roadmap to evidence they likely plan to present at trial.
“To the contrary, as the defendant is aware from the discovery that has been provided, the Government asked every pertinent witness — including the former DNI, former Acting Secretary of DHS, former Acting Deputy Secretary of DHS, former CISA Director, former Acting CISA Director, former CISA Senior Cyber Counsel, former National Security Advisor (“NSA”), former Deputy NSA, former Chief of Staff to the National Security Council, former Chairman of the Election Assistance Commission (“EAC”), Presidential Intelligence Briefer, former Secretary of Defense, and former senior DOJ leadership — if they were aware of any evidence that a domestic or foreign actor flipped a single vote in a voting machine during the presidential election. The answer from every single official was no,” the filing reads.
This filing, in particular, came in response to Trump’s request to access an array of classified information that he claims is pertinent to his defense in the Jan. 6 case.
“To create the false impression that there might actually be support for his lies about voting machines, the defendant, without context, threads his filing with discussion of irrelevant network breaches around the time of the 2020 election,” the filing reads.
Trump in August pleaded not guilty to charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election by enlisting a slate of so-called “fake electors,” using the Justice Department to conduct “sham election crime investigations,” trying to enlist the vice president to “alter the election results,” and promoting false claims of a stolen election as the Jan. 6 riot raged — all in an effort to subvert democracy and remain in power.
(WASHINGTON) — Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss described living in a perpetual state of fear after Rudy Giuliani targeted the two Georgia election workers with conspiracy-fueled lies in the wake of the 2020 election.
This week, a jury will tally the cost of those lies when Freeman and Moss’ defamation suit against Giuliani goes to trial in Washington, D.C.
A federal judge has already found the former New York City mayor liable for defamatory comments he made about the mother and daughter. The trial, slated to begin Monday, will determine the full scope of the damages and any penalties he will have to pay. Freeman and Moss are seeking between $15.5 million and $43 million.
“While nothing will fully repair all of the damage that Giuliani and his allies wreaked on our clients’ lives, livelihoods, and security, they are eager and ready for their day in court, to continue their fight for accountability and amends,” attorneys for the two women said in a statement ahead of the trial.
Giuliani, acting on behalf of former President Donald Trump, engaged in a sprawling misinformation campaign in late 2020 and early 2021 after Joe Biden secured the presidency, hopscotching across the country in search of evidence that the election was rigged.
He never found it. But in the process, his unfounded claims about Freeman and Moss — that they had manipulated ballots in Fulton County, Georgia — prompted a deluge of threats that ultimately drove Freeman from her home.
“I don’t want to have to leave my home,” Freeman told ABC News’ Terry Moran in an exclusive interview last year. “I don’t want this, but I have no choice. Because of what? The ‘Big Lie.'”
The so-called “Big Lie” — the baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen — remains a centerpiece of Trump’s campaign to retake the White House in 2024.
During some of the most stirring testimony of last year’s House Jan. 6 select committee hearings on Capitol Hill, Freeman and Moss described how Trump and Trump-aligned media outlets unleashed a torrent of accusations against the mother and daughter, falsely claiming they had engaged in election fraud.
During an appearance before the Georgia state legislature a month after the election, Giuliani told lawmakers that a video circulating online showed “Ruby Freeman and Shaye Freeman Moss … quite obviously surreptitiously passing around USB ports, as if they’re vials of heroin or cocaine.”
Freeman later said the video showed her handing ginger mint candies to Moss, who was experiencing stomach pain at the time. In the ensuing months, the women faced accusations online, by phone, and in person.
“I just got so sad,” Freeman told ABC News last year. “How dare you compare us to drug dealers? Oh, I was done.”
Giuliani has said that, while he “does not contest the factual allegations” made by Freeman and Moss regarding his statements, the statements themselves were constitutionally protected.”
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who will oversee the trial, has already levied harsh sanctions against Giuliani over his failure to comply with discovery requests, awarding Freeman and Moss more than $230,000.
According to Freeman and Moss’ legal team, the range of $15.5 million to $43 million cited in court papers includes costs associated with Moss’ loss of work and her “need to secure and relocate from her home.”
Attorneys for Moss and Freeman said they expect their case to last two to three days, and they held out the possibility of calling Giuliani to the witness stand.
They also indicated in court papers that in order to help argue their case, they were planning to present physical evidence: a ginger mint.
(NEW YORK) — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is on trial in Washington, D.C., this week for defaming Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” Moss in the aftermath of the 2020 election. Giuliani, acting on behalf of former President Donald Trump, accused the mother and daughter of committing election fraud while the two were counting ballots on Election Day in Georgia’s Fulton County.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in August awarded a default judgment to the two women, leaving this week’s trial to determine the full scope of the damages and any penalties Giuliani will have to pay.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 11, 8:24 AM EST
Jury selection begins this morning
Jury selection in the case gets underway at the D.C. federal courthouse this morning, where eight Washington residents will be chosen to serve.
Jurors will be tasked with attaching a monetary value to the harm caused by the defamatory statements a judge found Rudy Giuliani liable for making in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.
When the parties arrive in court this morning, it will be the first time Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss face Giuliani in person.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump, fighting to maintain the real estate empire that helped propel him to the White House, spent at least $2.5 million on expert testimony on expert witnesses who have testified in his New York civil fraud trial over the last month, according to a review of testimony and court records.
But the expenditure represents just a fraction of the former president’s growing legal bills, as he fends off four separate criminal trials and the lingering costs of additional civil trials using a mixture of personal funds and political donations from his supporters.
In just the first half of this year, according to the most recent disclosure report available, his Save America PAC reported more than $20 million in legal spending across various court battles, including roughly $7 million paid to defense lawyers handling his fraud case. Last week’s testimony from accounting expert Eli Bartov alone added an additional $900,000 to Trump’s legal bills.
Along with testimony from Deutsche Bank executives, Trump’s expert witnesses have been at the crux of his defense strategy after Judge Arthur Engoron, in a partial summary judgment issued before the trial started, ruled that Trump had used financial statements with fraudulent valuations to get better loan terms from lenders.
At trial, however, Engoron has repeatedly criticized Trump’s experts for offering what he’s characterized as irrelevant or redundant testimony.
“I am not trying to figure out what the value is,” the judge said after a defense witness testified about the worth of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club on Tuesday. “I don’t necessarily consider it relevant.”
“Why are we wasting our time if nobody is considering the words coming out of our experts’ mouths?” Trump’s legal spokesperson Alina Habba asked Engoron in open court on Friday.
‘Hired to say whatever it is they want’
In total, Trump’s lawyers have called a dozen experts to testify on topics ranging from contract procurement to Palm Beach residential real estate, paid at an hourly rate ranging from $350 to $1,595.
While some experts were paid less than $50,000 for their work, two experts were individually paid over $800,000 for their analysis. Real estate valuations expert Fredrick Chin was paid $850,000 for 1,000 hours of work, and New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov was paid $877,500 for 650 hours of work.
Excluding one expert who declined to estimate how many hours he worked on the case, Trump’s expert witnesses testified that they were compensated a total of $2.45 million.
Expert witnesses in New York normally charge “shockingly high rates,” according to Syracuse University College of Law professor Gregory Germain, who said the amount of resources spent on Trump’s trial contributes to “very expensive political theater.”
The state attorneys handling the case seem to agree, suggesting on Thursday that Bartov — who four years ago testified as an expert witness for the New York attorney general’s fraud case against Exxon Mobil — had a financial incentive to potentially offer biased testimony.
“This is pure speculation from someone they hired to say whatever it is they want,” state attorney Kevin Wallace said in response to testimony Bartov offered in defense of Trump.
“You make up allegations that never existed,” Bartov yelled back. “I am here to tell the truth. You ought to be ashamed of yourself for talking like that.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James called just a single expert witness — paid roughly $350,000 for his work — to provide testimony about how much Trump’s alleged deception cost his lenders in lost interest. James also retained five additional experts who have not testified, and their rate and total compensation is under seal.
‘Friends and golf buddies’
Trump used the services of an expert consulting group, as well as his personal network, to find experts for the trial.
At least three of Trump’s experts work for Ankura Consulting Group, which employs more than 200 expert witnesses. An Ankura spokesperson declined to comment about the company’s engagement with Trump.
Trump was personally involved with recruiting Palm Beach-based real estate broker Lawrence Moens to testify at the trial after running into him at Mar-a-Lago, where he is a member.
“I hadn’t seen him in quite some time, and he said, ‘Can I ask you if you would help me with something? I’ve got an issue in New York that I’m dealing with. I would like to see if you could render an opinion for my attorneys,'” Moens explained during his testimony.
Moens was paid $975 an hour to determine the value of Mar-a-Lago, which he testified is worth more than a billion dollars.
Two witnesses also testified in Trump’s defense at no cost to the former president, citing their personal relationship with Trump.
Steven Witkoff, who was qualified as an expert in real estate development, has donated, together with family members, nearly $2 million to Trump’s various fundraising committees over the last few years, and last week hosted a $23,000-per-ticket fundraiser for Trump, which the former president attended instead of participating in the fourth GOP debate.
Witkoff said he testified at no cost to Trump due their long-standing personal and business relationship.
“He’s been a really good friend to me and my family, particularly after the death of my son,” Witkoff said on the witness stand.
Gary Giulietti, an insurance underwriter whose company made $1.2 million in commission from Trump in 2022, also testified as an expert at no cost to Trump. In addition to occasionally golfing and sharing meals with Trump, Giulietti said his testimony was “included in the business relationship” with the Trump Organization.
In a statement following their testimony, New York Attorney General Letitia James criticized Trump for using his “friends and golf buddies” as experts.
‘Nothing will have any bearing’
When defense lawyers called Witkoff as their first expert witness, Judge Engoron barred him from testifying in support of an argument that assets that were overvalued on Trump’s financial statements were allegedly balanced out by assets that were undervalued.
“The reader of the financial statement has the right to know whether each particular number was accurate,” Engoron said in sustaining an objection from state attorneys.
The testimony of zoning expert John Shubin — which cost Trump at least $125,000 — was largely reduced to reading documents into the record after Engoron ruled that the status of a deed restriction governing the use of Mar-a-Lago was a conclusion of law, about which experts cannot testify.
Trump’s lawyer Chris Kise requested that Shubin’s testimony continue for the defense’s record when they appeal — an approach that Professor Germain told ABC News could help the defense’s case.
“Those issues will be front and center on appeal, and it’s important for the Trump Organization to create a factual record that preserves the legal issues on appeal,” Germain said.
The defense’s frustration with Engoron appeared to come to a head Friday after state attorneys objected to defense attorneys questioning Bartov about the value of the assets listed in Trump’s financial statements.
“If they don’t call anyone to dispute our values, how have they proven their case?” Kise said, arguing that the state had failed to prove what they claimed the values should have been.
“You can’t just say it’s a misstatement because you feel like it,” he argued, saying there has to be “some sort of standard.”
“The standard is truth,” Engoron responded, reiterating the findings in his pretrial ruling.
It appeared that even Trump began to feel that his experts’ testimony was unlikely to convince Engoron. Despite reiterating to reporters Thursday that his accounting expert “found absolutely no fraud,” the former president remarked that “I’m sure nothing will have any bearing on what this judge does.”
‘My poll numbers are the highest’
As much as Trump has spent on experts in this trial, he stands to more than cover that amount through a boost in fundraising.
Trump’s team has been aggressively fundraising off of his court developments this year, blasting out multiple fundraising emails to supporters every day about his indictments, court appearances and gag orders — as well as promoting campaign merchandise featuring his famous mug shot from Atlanta’s Fulton County jail.
Donations collected through such fundraising efforts are split between Trump’s third presidential campaign committee and his Save America PAC, which was originally set up as a leadership PAC shortly after Election Day 2020.
It’s not known how much Trump’s civil fraud trial has helped his fundraising, because his latest campaign disclosure covers through the end of September, while the trial started in early October. But records show that Trump’s criminal charges earlier this year were followed by a boost in campaign donations, including at least $9 million raised in the week after his Fulton County mug shot was released.
While exiting court on Thursday, Trump credited the ongoing trial with driving his poll numbers to a new high.
“It’s driving up my polls because the people of our country get it. My poll numbers are the highest I’ve ever had,” he said.
(LOS ANGELES) — Police in Beverly Hills said they arrested a man who allegedly made antisemitic remarks as he assaulted an older man with a belt on Saturday.
Jarris Jay Silagi, 44, allegedly struck an elderly man on his head with a belt at about 9 a.m. Saturday near North Rexford Drive and North Santa Monica Boulevard, according to the Beverly Hills Police Department.
The suspect allegedly shouted antisemitic statements at the man, who was with his spouse, during the incident, the police said in a news release Sunday night.
The Beverly Hills Fire Department treated the older man at the scene. He did not require additional medical attention at the time, police said.
The suspect left the scene and was later located by a BHPD senior forensic specialist, who spotted a man matching a description that had been circulated, police said.
“Our officers quickly apprehended the suspect and he is in custody,” Police Chief Mark Stainbrook said in a statement. “This despicable act of hate against a member of our community will not be tolerated.”
Silagi has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, “attempt robbery,” hate crime and elder abuse. He is being held at the Los Angeles County Jail on $100,000 bail. He is expected at the Los Angeles Airport Court on Dec. 12. It wasn’t immediately clear if Silagi had an attorney.
Saturday’s alleged assault is the latest in a string of incidents since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and the succeeding war.
A 69-year-old Jewish man died last month from blunt-force head trauma following a confrontation with a counterprotester as pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in Thousand Oaks, California, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said last month.
An antisemitic message was sprayed on the back of a holocaust survivor’s apartment building in Beverly Hills in late October, police said.
Earlier in October, police began an investigation after antisemitic flyers were distributed in Beverly Hills.
ABC News’ Michelle Mendez contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — The temporary cease-fire between Hamas and Israel ended on Dec. 1, and Israel has resumed its bombardment of Gaza.
The end of the cease-fire came after Hamas freed over 100 of the more than 200 people its militants took hostage during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Dec 11, 6:43 AM EST
104 Israeli troops killed since fighting began, IDF says
At least 104 Israeli service members have been killed since the country’s war with Hamas began on Oct. 7, Israel Defense Forces officials said Monday.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Dec 10, 5:29 PM EST
Global health organizations call for immediate cease-fire over dire conditions in Gaza
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and the World Health Organization released updates on a deteriorating situation in Gaza, imploring for an immediate cease-fire to allow aid to enter and civilians to take shelter.
The MSF is seeing a “complete collapse” in the healthcare system in Gaza, the organization said. It has been 10 days since MSF was forced to stop providing support to Martyrs and Beni Suheila clinics due to the Israeli forces’ evacuation orders for the area, according to the statement.
In Rafah, on the southernmost area of the Gaza Strip and where people from Khan Younis and central Gaza have been pushed to, health services are extremely limited, according to MSF.
“The United Nations Security Council must demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire, to lift the siege and ensure unrestricted aid to the entire Gaza Strip,” the MSF statement read.
Meanwhile, according to the WHO, a mission it conducted with partners to deliver essential trauma and surgical supplies to Al-Ahli hospital to cover the needs of 1500 people, and to transfer 19 critical patients, was successful.
The high-risk delivery was managed despite active shelling and artillery fire in the region, according to a statement from the organization.
The hospital itself has been substantially damaged, and in acute need of oxygen and essential medical supplies, water, food and fuel as well as medical personal, the WHO said.
“We cannot wait any longer for a sustained ceasefire and a safe, scaled-up humanitarian response,” WHO officials said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Will Gretzky
Dec 10, 4:49 PM EST
IDF claims it has struck 3,500 targets in Gaza since end of cease-fire
Since the end of the cease-fire on Dec. 1, the Israeli Air Force has struck 3,500 targets in the Gaza Strip, Israel Defense Forces confirmed to ABC News on Sunday.
Many of the targets hit by the IAF were identified by IDF forces on the ground, IDF officials said in a statement.
Since beginning of the war, more than 22,000 “terror targets” have been struck in the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF.
Among the targets hit by the Israeli forces are ones in Jabalya, Shejaiya, Beit Hanoun and Khan Yunis, the IDF said. Troops are also conducting raids on Hamas terrorist strongholds across the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF.
Numerous terrorists have been killed in the raids and terrorist infrastructure has been destroyed, according to the IDF.
Additionally, IDF naval troops are operating off the coast of the Gaza Strip, striking terror targets from the sea and supporting IDF ground troops, according to the IDF.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller
Dec 09, 3:14 PM EST
Biden administration approves emergency tank ammunition sale to Israel
The Biden administration approved the possible sale of tank ammunition to Israel through an emergency order, circumventing Congress.
In a release, the State Department notified Congress about the emergency sale on Friday.
“The Secretary of State determined and provided detailed justification to Congress that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above defense articles and services in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, as amended,” the release states.
The sale — of 120mm tank cartridges and related equipment — is estimated to cost $106.5 million.
Dmytro Larin/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet both with President Joe Biden at the White House and with congressional leaders on Tuesday amid debate in Washington about providing billions of dollars in additional military aid to Ukraine.
“As Russia ramps up its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine, the leaders will discuss Ukraine’s urgent needs and the vital importance of the United States’ continued support at this critical moment,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The Senate’s majority and minority leaders, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, have also invited Zelenskyy to speak at an all-senators meeting on Tuesday morning, according to a leadership aide.
House Speaker Mike Johnson will meet with Zelenskyy on Tuesday in the Capitol, too, according to his spokesman.
Zelenskyy’s trip comes as additional funding for Ukraine remains in limbo, with a vote on more money failing in the Senate last week.
The Biden administration has asked for $61 billion in Ukraine aid as part of a $100 billion-plus package that would also include money for Israel, currently at war with Hamas in the wake of a Hamas terror attack, as well as money for Taiwan and $14 billion for border security.
But Republicans, some of whom have become increasingly skeptical of spending more to back Ukraine in defending against Russia’s invasion, have said that major immigration policy changes must be part of any deal.
“People want a legal, orderly process, not the chaos that we currently have on our southern border. That shouldn’t be too tall of an order to be able to fulfill,” Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, who is leading his party in the chamber in negotiations on the border, told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos earlier this month.
“There’s a reason that this hasn’t been done in decades, because it’s hard. It’s very technical work, and there’s a lot of challenges that are in it. And any time you deal with border security, there are a lot of complicating features in this. … But the most important thing is to be able to get this right,” Lankford said then.
The White House has said its aid proposal is a priority and repeatedly urged swift passage.
“Ukraine has done an extraordinary job in defending against this Russian aggression,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on This Week on Sunday.
“Over the past years, it’s taking back more than 50% of its territory. It’s engaged in a ferocious battle right now along the eastern and southern fronts. We are running out of resources already in the bank to continue to assist them,” Blinken said.
Biden has been more blunt, saying Wednesday, after Republicans blocked his proposal in the Senate: “[They] are willing to give [Russian President Vladimir] Putin the greatest gift he could hope for and abandon our global leadership, not just Ukraine, but beyond that.”
(NEW YORK) — Rep. Kevin McCarthy is reflecting on his congressional career and his ouster earlier this year from the House speakership, an inglorious twist that helped usher in his upcoming resignation.
In an interview with CBS News that aired Sunday, McCarthy, a California Republican, suggested he’d always recognized he might not keep his gavel as long as he’d like but that he enjoyed the job while it lasted in a place he likened to less of a “country club” than a “truck stop.”
The House is “a microcosm of society, so everything good and bad in society is gonna be here,” he said.
“I never said I didn’t want this job. I love the challenge. I knew at the time I probably wouldn’t be able to end the job, not on my terms. I knew who I was dealing with. I think history will say they were wrong in that decision,” McCarthy said, referencing the eight Republicans who helped engineer his demotion — the first time a speaker had ever been removed that way.
Still, he projected confidence about his track record, saying, “I’ve had the privilege of being here 17 years, and I got to be a part of building two majorities.”
“I come from California. I grew up in a family that were Democrats. I applied for [an] internship in a congressional seat — I got turned down,” he said. “And now, I got elected to that seat I couldn’t get an internship for and I got to be the 55th speaker of the House. Tell me any other country is that possible in.”
He wouldn’t, however, totally rule out supporting primary bids against his eight Republicans detractors next year, including Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, only saying he’s “not focused on that.”
McCarthy’s speakership started on the rocks in early 2023 when it took Republicans 15 rounds to hand him the gavel over the objections of a group of rebels, led by Gaetz, who remained a fierce critic.
The Californian ultimately faced a motion for his removal after agreeing to a temporary government funding bill that didn’t include the significant spending cuts that hard-liners, again led by Gaetz, had demanded.
When asked in his CBS interview what he thinks of Gaetz, McCarthy simply said, “I think history will show who Matt Gaetz really is.”
McCarthy’s future is now unclear as he leaves his seat later this month, more than a year before his term is up. His exit also weakens his party’s already narrow majority, with just a few votes to spare.
However, he did make clear his views on former President Donald Trump, whom he had once criticized in the wake of Jan. 6 but then embraced.
In his exit interview with CBS, he endorsed Trump’s comeback bid for the White House — “if [Joe] Biden stays as the nominee for the Democrats, I believe Donald Trump will win” — and said he would consider joining a future Trump administration in some Cabinet role.
“If I’m the best person for the job, yes,” he said when asked about such a possibility. “We worked together to win the majority. But we also have a relationship where we’re very honest with each other.”
Still, McCarthy said Trump would be wise to tweak his 2024 campaign messaging, focusing more on “restoring” the country rather than the “retribution” he’s been previewing.
“What President Trump needs to do in this campaign, it needs to be about rebuilding, restoring, renewing America. It can’t be about revenge,” McCarthy said. “He needs to stop that.”
“But that’s him. I’m not going to change who I am, and I’m not going to stop giving him the advice,” McCarthy added. “And, look, I lost the job of speaker. Maybe I don’t have the best advice.”
