Bridget Maeve Zeigler, 2, went missing in Cumberland County, Va. on Thursday, Sept. 24. (Virginia State Police)
(NEW YORK) — A 2-year-old girl went missing Thursday evening in Southwest Virginia, setting off a search by police and help from the local school district, according to officials.
The child, Bridget Maeve Zeigler, is described as a white female with short brown hair and blue eyes, and is about 2 feet tall and 30 pounds, according to a Virginia State Police alert.
Zeigler was last seen at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Cumberland County, Virginia in an area that appears to be heavily forested, according to police.
Zeigler was last seen wearing an orange dress, blue coat and white tennis shoes, according to the alert.
Police said the child is believed to be on foot.
Virginia State Police issued a CODI alert at approximately 11:30 p.m. Thursday on behalf of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
Cumberland County Public Schools also issued an alert, encouraging community members to contact authorities with any information regarding Zeigler’s whereabouts.
Anyone with knowledge of the child’s location or disappearance is directed to reach out to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office at (804) 492-4120.
Rep. Ro Khanna speaks during a campaign event with Tom Steyer, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for California in Santa Rosa, Calif., May 27, 2026. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna is unveiling an ambitious nearly $1 trillion proposal on Friday calling for universal childcare as he continues crafting legislative policies that may ultimately serve as the cornerstones of a potential presidential campaign in 2028.
“The biggest thing killing us is childcare,” Khanna, who represents California, told ABC News in a phone interview while he crisscrosses the country campaigning for progressive candidates and reelection ahead of the midterm elections.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Khanna said he wanted to introduce a childcare bill before the high-stakes midterm elections as a “north star” and blueprint for “what we should be passing.”
The Free Child Care for America Act is a nearly $1 trillion, 10-year package aimed at building a universal childcare system — creating three taxpayer-funded pathways to provide flexibility and options for American families.
Khanna ticked off several potential spending reductions to offset the cost of the $1 trillion package — such as savings realized by ending the war in Iran; $400 billion in new revenue collected by instituting a 5% “billionaire tax,” or cutting the Pentagon’s budget by $200 billion.
“What this childcare proposal — in my view — is speaking to [is] the needs of working class families, and it’s something we can deliver,” he said.
Khanna’s plan calls for billions of dollars that funds grants for states and tribal organizations to cover the cost of licensed childcare for eligible families, aims to increase the supply of childcare, support providers’ operating costs, and raise compensation across the childcare workforce.
“If you want to do this right, it’s going to be an $80 to $90 billion price tag,” Khanna said. “That’s what it takes to make childcare free. That’s what it takes to pay people well, and that’s what it’s going to take to make it flexible.”
His pitch comes as Vice President JD Vance has championed an administration proposal to expand federal childcare subsidies — as much as $9,000 annually — to married couples who have a stay-at-home parent.
Khanna said he believes families should be able to choose from a menu of childcare options.
“It should be value neutral between staying at home, going to a childcare center, or having friends or family, and that is maximizing the choice,” Khanna said. “Vance’s proposal is trying to tip the scales a bit on the choice of people who are stay-at-home parents.”
Khanna explained his middle-class upbringing in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, motivated him to tackle the issue of childcare.
“Childcare is one of those things that didn’t have the same exorbitant cost, and if we can fix that issue, provide people with childcare, you’re going to give more Americans the shot to have economic security in a modern economy, and that’s the whole point of economic patriotism: that people should be able to have economic independence in today’s economy,” he said.
The five-term congressman, whose net-worth is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, explained how his own experience as a father of two children while working a demanding job has informed his perspective.
“I believe there’s nothing more important than being there for kids at a young age, and I have an extraordinary wife who’s an exceptional mom,” Khanna said. “It has given me an admiration for parents who do incredibly, incredibly hard work, and my view is that we’ve got to make it possible for parents who want to give their kids the best ability to do that.”
Khanna says that his agenda — which he has dubbed “America’s next new deal” — is also informed through his conversations with families in swing states. Khanna has been holding town halls and participating in campaign events in swing states alongside progressive candidates.
“Economic patriotism is all about making the future economy work — not just for the billionaires in my district, but work for the people I grew up with in Pennsylvania,” he said. “As I traveled around the country, and I started with like, ‘How do we bring good jobs?’ I kept hearing, ‘Well, that’s fine, but how am I going to take care of our kids and do these jobs?'”
First elected to represent California’s 17th Congressional District in 2016 — the same election President Donald Trump first won the White House — Khanna has built a progressive voting record coupled with savvy media engagement. While Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has led the national progressive movement over the past decade, Khanna is striving to position himself as a potential successor — though he is not breaking through any Democratic primary polls for 2028 so far.
Khanna’s profile continues to grow as he engages with voters and weighs his future options — sometimes even before Republican audiences on Fox News or in GOP-held districts. Last year, he laid out a political reform agenda focused on combating corruption — hoping it would form the basis of the Democrats’ platform in the upcoming midterm elections. He also took center stage alongside GOP Rep. Thomas Massie in the congressional effort to force the Department of Justice to release tens of thousands of records related to its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.
Ahead of the midterms, Khanna continues to campaign on behalf of candidates across the country — though he’s not coy about his political ambitions.
“I want 2028 to be a big-ideas primary,” Khanna said. “I want it to be a contest on who’s going to have ideas of the future that meet the moment where many Americans feel that the economic and political system are broken and not working for them.”
Khanna concedes that some stakeholders and supporters alike have expressed concern over the $1 trillion cost of his proposal, which would offer $1,000 per month to eligible stay-at-home parents with an eligible child under age 3 and a household income at or below 100% of their state’s median income. But he says he is being transparent about the cost and argues that his package is worth the investment.
“Why would you think that giving entrusting the care of young people at their most impressionable, where their experience is going to shape the rest of their lives, and we have data showing that? Why would we think that that’s cheap?” Khanna said. “Of course, it’s expensive, and that’s why there’s this huge market failure because it’s expensive, and yet people aren’t being paid appropriately, and that’s why it’s a public good. And so this is really saying, OK, if you want to do this right, it’s going to be a $80 to $90 billion price tag. That’s what it takes to make childcare free.”
House Democratic leaders have not endorsed Khanna’s childcare legislation, but agree that lowering childcare costs must be a priority if they take back the House majority.
“I want it to be front and center in the conversation of the first 100 days for the speaker,” Khanna said regarding Democratic prospects to win the House majority. “Even if they don’t do the whole $90 billion, I mean, obviously that’s my hope that the House should pass this bill, they can take three elements of it.”
As for the 2028 presidential race?
“Whether I run, which obviously I’m considering, or whether I am actively supporting other candidates, I want to be leading in putting forth bold ideas about what that Democratic Party should be,” Khanna said. “I think we need to offer a new vision of ideas that are actually going to deliver for working- and middle-class families who have been left out.”
Delegations leave before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu begins his address to the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, September 24, 2026. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — An unapologetic Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, defending Israeli military actions in the Middle East while going on the attack against his political enemies.
“Devastating Iran’s nuclear facilities was hard. It was very hard to do. But for me, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make as prime minister,” Netanyahu asserted during his speech. “Because if we hadn’t done it, we’d all be dead!”
The atmosphere in the hall shifted sharply before the prime minister’s speech began. As he approached the podium, the room erupted in chants, cheers and boos as dozens of delegates from various countries walked out in protest.
“Before I begin, just a quick announcement: if there are any other moral cowards who haven’t yet left this hall, please do so now,” Netanyahu said in response.
The Israeli prime minister claimed that the leaders of many of the countries whose delegations exited had privately thanked him for hitting Iran’s nuclear sites, calling it “mind-blowing hypocrisy.”
Netanyahu used much of his lengthy speech to criticize his political opponents for spreading what he said were lies about Israel and fomenting hatred against Jews, calling foreign governments and world leaders out by name.
The prime minister also zeroed in on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, calling him antisemitic for asserting Israel’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack amounts to genocide.
“Shame on you for distorting the facts. Shame on you for inverting victim and aggressor. Shame on you for spitting in the face of truth,” he said. “Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many jews no longer feel safe in New York.”
Mamdani responded by accusing Netanyahu of spreading “baseless lies meant to sanitize his genocide of Palestinians.”
“Yet no lie can change the fact that he remains the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity,” the mayor said in a statement.
Netanyahu is expected to spend less than a day in the U.S. and return to Israel without meeting with President Trump, a stark departure from recent precedent that comes as the relationship between the two leaders has become increasingly strained.
But despite recent tension, the prime minister heaped praise on Trump — extolling his leadership and declaring that Israel had “no greater partner” in its “battle against the barbarians.”
Earlier on Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the assembly through a video message recorded in his Ramallah office because the Trump administration declined to grant him and other Palestinian officials visas to travel to New York for the gathering.
In his remarks, Abbas said Palestinians were facing a “genocidal war” and urged the international community to do more to confront Israel.
“How long will some countries continue to remain silent about Israel, or continue supplying it with weapons that it uses against our people? he asked.
“We will not leave our homeland. We will not accept displacement. And we will not allow anyone to decide our future on our behalf,” Abbas said.
United States Capitol building. (Getty Images stock photo)
(WASHINGTON) — After a week in which more Republicans have emerged to call for an end to the war in Iran, the Senate failed to adopt a House-passed war powers resolution on Thursday by a vote of 49-50.
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Rand Paul and Thom Tillis joined all but one Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman, in voting in favor of the resolution. Democratic Sen. Angela Alsobrooks did not vote. Democrats would’ve needed full attendance and five Republicans to vote with them in order for the resolution to pass.
The vote underscores the political tightrope vulnerable Republicans are attempting to walk with a little over a month until the midterm elections. While some Republican senators have grown increasingly critical of the war and its impact on diesel and gasoline prices, they have also stopped short of supporting measures that could directly challenge President Donald Trump’s policy.
For example, Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who is in a close race up against Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown, told POLITICO this week that the “war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices,” before voting against the war powers resolution on Thursday. Other Republicans who are also in tight reelection races voted to kill the resolution including Sens. Dan Sullivan and Roger Marshall.
Democrats did however pick up another Republican during this vote: Tillis, who voted for the resolution for the first time, citing a lack of concrete information on a solution to end the war.
“On July 10th, I heard the administration refer to the conflict in Iran as a war for the first time, and I arbitrarily use that date to say ‘I need to be briefed up over the next 60 days to be convinced that we’re tracking in the right direction.’ And the first outreach I got was last week,” Tillis said ahead of Thursday’s vote.
“They need to inform Congress more. They need to be clear on their strategic objectives, and they need to be more engaged. At least to the Armed Services Committee,” Tillis said, adding “the reason I’m inclined to vote on it today is to say, ‘it is time to engage Congress, folks, if we’re going to be there for the long term.'”
Trump initially estimated the war in Iran would last four to six weeks. Instead it’s nearing its eighth month and 50,000 American service members remain deployed in the region. Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed and over 800 wounded since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
The Senate has voted on an Iran War Powers Resolution 13 times, but has only passed it only once. The Senate first adopted a House-passed Iran War Powers resolution in late June when Sens. Collins, Murkowski, Paul and Bill Cassidy voted for it while Sens. Mitch McConnell and Dave McCormick missed the vote, clearing the way for the resolution’s passage.
The administration refused to make any changes with their strategy in Iran as a result of the resolution’s passage, calling the efforts “poorly timed and meaningless.”
However, since that June vote, the Senate has yet to pass another war powers resolution on Iran during its three attempts since then. That’s because Cassidy had previously flipped his vote back to voting against the resolution after a briefing with Trump administration officials following a contentious GOP meeting that Trump attended in June.
Cassidy, who argued he was undecided on how he would vote leading up to it, sidestepped reporters upon leaving the Capitol on Thursday, claiming he couldn’t talk because he was trying to make a flight out of town.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier departs Laem Chabang Port, September 6, 2026 in Si Racha, Thailand. (Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Eight U.S. Navy personnel attached to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group have attempted suicide since the start of their extended deployment tied to the war in Iran, according to a letter ABC News obtained from Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao.
In the letter, sent to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Cao says that there have been eight suicide attempts since the USS Lincoln’s deployment began around 10 months ago.
“Since the beginning of LINCOLN’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group — this number includes the LINCOLN crew and Sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons,” Cao wrote in response to questions from Gillibrand about the health and well-being of the personnel aboard the fleet.
The letter was first reported by CNN.
A Navy official told ABC News that while they treat every attempted suicide case very seriously, they maintain the number is not out of the norm for a long deployment.
Throughout the deployment, the Lincoln had between 2,500 and 2,800 sailors aboard, according to Cao’s letter. Eight attempts among that population of sailors appear to be roughly consistent with Navy records for suicide attempts in the broader Navy ranks.
The Navy recorded 356 suicide attempts in 2024, that last year of publicly available data. Over three years, the figure represents a nearly 50% increase in attempted suicides, according to Navy records.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have dismissed reports of poor conditions and mental health issues aboard the USS Lincoln. Cao confirmed that a sailor went overboard in early August from the Lincoln and was quickly recovered.
In his letter, Cao confirmed a piping issue aboard the USS Lincoln and that meal options were reduced from two to one during periods of higher-tempo operations, but that both issues were resolved.
Despite the USS Lincolns’ record-long deployment, Trump said in August that the vessel hasn’t been deployed for “nearly long enough.” Hegseth in August pushed back on reports of a sailor going overboard from the Lincoln and accounts of sailors struggling through an unusually long deployment have been “completely misrepresented.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said in an August social media post that “the Lincoln currently has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health” among the Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers. Cooper also acknowledged in the post that it “doesn’t mean that all is perfect” and that a long deployment at sea “is uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways.”
In a statement to ABC News, Gillibrand said Trump and Hegseth dismissed concerns that “turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members.” Gillibrand called the treatment of service members under the Trump administration “completely unacceptable.”
The ship was slated for a normal six-month deployment to the Pacific but had been extended on an unusually long deployment due to the war with Iran, where it was redirected earlier this year.
The president initially estimated the war in Iran would last four to six weeks. Instead it’s nearing its eighth month and 50,000 American service members remain deployed in the region. Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed and over 800 wounded since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
The Lincoln Strike group left the Middle East late last month — replaced by the USS George Washington — and is en route to its home port in California. The ship docked in Thailand earlier this month with a record 286 days at sea.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
ABC News’ Chris Boccia contributed to this report.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier departs Laem Chabang Port, September 6, 2026 in Si Racha, Thailand. (Thananuwat Srirasant/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Eight U.S. Navy personnel attached to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group have attempted suicide since the start of their extended deployment tied to the war in Iran, according to a letter ABC News obtained from Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao.
In the letter, sent to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Tuesday, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Cao says that there have been eight suicide attempts since the USS Lincoln’s deployment began around 10 months ago.
“Since the beginning of LINCOLN’s deployment, there have been a total of eight suicide attempts across the strike group — this number includes the LINCOLN crew and Sailors from the carrier air wing, strike group and destroyer squadron staff, escorting destroyers, and all embarked aviation squadrons,” Cao wrote in response to questions from Gillibrand about the health and well-being of the personnel aboard the fleet.
The letter was first reported by CNN.
A Navy official told ABC News that while they treat every attempted suicide case very seriously, they maintain the number is not out of the norm for a long deployment.
Throughout the deployment, the Lincoln had between 2,500 and 2,800 sailors aboard, according to Cao’s letter. Eight attempts among that population of sailors appear to be roughly consistent with Navy records for suicide attempts in the broader Navy ranks.
The Navy recorded 356 suicide attempts in 2024, that last year of publicly available data. Over three years, the figure represents a nearly 50% increase in attempted suicides, according to Navy records.
President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have dismissed reports of poor conditions and mental health issues aboard the USS Lincoln. Cao confirmed that a sailor went overboard in early August from the Lincoln and was quickly recovered.
In his letter, Cao confirmed a piping issue aboard the USS Lincoln and that meal options were reduced from two to one during periods of higher-tempo operations, but that both issues were resolved.
Despite the USS Lincolns’ record-long deployment, Trump said in August that the vessel hasn’t been deployed for “nearly long enough.” Hegseth in August pushed back on reports of a sailor going overboard from the Lincoln and accounts of sailors struggling through an unusually long deployment have been “completely misrepresented.”
Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said in an August social media post that “the Lincoln currently has among the lowest number of cases related to mental health” among the Navy’s 11 active aircraft carriers. Cooper also acknowledged in the post that it “doesn’t mean that all is perfect” and that a long deployment at sea “is uniquely challenging and tough, and every single one of us, including me, reacts to stressors in different ways.”
In a statement to ABC News, Gillibrand said Trump and Hegseth dismissed concerns that “turned out to be serious and deteriorating conditions for our service members.” Gillibrand called the treatment of service members under the Trump administration “completely unacceptable.”
The ship was slated for a normal six-month deployment to the Pacific but had been extended on an unusually long deployment due to the war with Iran, where it was redirected earlier this year.
The president initially estimated the war in Iran would last four to six weeks. Instead it’s nearing its eighth month and 50,000 American service members remain deployed in the region. Eighteen U.S. service members have been killed and over 800 wounded since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
The Lincoln Strike group left the Middle East late last month — replaced by the USS George Washington — and is en route to its home port in California. The ship docked in Thailand earlier this month with a record 286 days at sea.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
ABC News’ Chris Boccia contributed to this report.
Signs of support for AP, CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO hang on the White House grounds on September 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Reporters and producers from news organizations that President Donald Trump barred from the White House were back on the grounds after a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order to restore their passes.
Earlier Thursday, the lawyer for media organizations requested an emergency hearing as early as Thursday, telling a federal judge that the government has “already repeatedly” violated his temporary restraining order after the three news organizations were denied entry into the White House earlier in the day.
“Defendants have already repeatedly violated the Court’s Order. Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Court set a hearing by videoconference or teleconference as soon as possible this morning,” Ted Boutrous wrote.
Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the government to respond to the plaintiffs’ notice of non-compliance by 12:30 p.m. ET Thursday.
In a declaration submitted by the White House in response to Kelly’s order, officials said that access had been restored as of 9:55 a.m.ET.
Around noon on Thursday, the outlets reported that they were beginning to be granted access to the White House grounds.
CNN reporter Betsy Klein, who had her hard pass taken on Saturday, and others, walked through a White House gate shortly after noon after her hard pass was given back to her. MSNOW correspondent Laura Barrón-López was also back on the campus Thursday afternoon.
Politico reported one of its reporters had also been granted access.
Earlier Thursday, Kelly granted CNN, Politico and MS NOW a temporary restraining order requiring the White House to restore the outlets’ hard-pass press credentials.
The order requires the defendants, excluding President Donald Trump, as well as their agents and representatives, to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the White House hard-pass press credentials held by employees of CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
Kelly granted the media organizations’ request in the ongoing case Cable News Networks, Inc. v. Trump after their credentials were revoked on Sept. 18, according to the court order.
Kelly expressed skepticism about the Trump administration’s argument that the stories it cited as justification for revoking the outlets’ press credentials raised national security concerns.
Kelly described the stories identified by the administration as “routine” and said he was “skeptical” that the government’s stated interest in safeguarding national security was the actual motivation for revoking the hard passes. He also noted that Trump did not mention national security concerns when he announced the ban.
“Nothing in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” Kelly said in the filing. “Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was “banning” Plaintiffs from the White House — instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of Plaintiffs’ reporting.”
In a hearing on Wednesday, Kelly signaled that he believes the White House failed to follow the process established by earlier court cases to terminate a reporter’s credential.
“I think it is fair to say that the process that the court laid out in those two cases – the circuit laid out in those two cases – wasn’t followed here,” he said.
Boutrous focused on that due process argument near the end of the hearing, telling the court that the White House’s “Alice in Wonderland process” for terminating the credentials is “arbitrary” and “irrational.”
“It’s not due process when there’s been a prejudgment of the issue. Clearly, that’s happened,” Boutrous said. “They’re going to keep playing games, moving the ball. That’s not due process.”
Justice Department lawyer Michael Velchik argued that the notice the White House provided in letters sent after 10 p.m. Tuesday night, days after the ban took effect, was enough. He also suggested the outlets’ responses might convince Trump to change his mind about the ban.
Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy Dr. Heidi Overton speaks in the Oval Office on Aug. 10, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Dr. Heidi Overton is appearing before a Senate committee on Thursday for her confirmation hearing as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
Overton was nominated in August by President Donald Trump, who described her in a post on social media as a “ROCKSTAR in my Administration.”
She is sitting before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee, where she is likely to face questions about childhood vaccines and the abortion drug mifepristone.
If confirmed, Overton will be the second person to lead the FDA after the previous commissioner, Marty Makary, resigned following public clashes with lawmakers, major pharmaceutical companies and Trump over fruit-flavored vapes.
Kyle Diamantas has served as acting FDA commissioner since May 2026.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chair of the HELP committee, began the hearing by asking Overton if the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine Is lethal. Overton replied it is not.
When asked if the vaccine is safe and effective, Overton reiterated that the vaccine is safe and effective against measles.
“Are there any vaccines on the U.S. market right now which are unsafe?” Cassidy asked.
“Senator, every vaccine on the U.S. market right now is safe and effective, according to the FDA,” Overton said.
Cassidy attempted to press Overton on whether she disagreed with the president on the safety and efficacy of the MMR vaccine, but Overton deflected from answering directly.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wa., asked Overton if she believes mifepristone is safe and effective. Kennedy launched an FDA safety review of the drug last year.
“I know that it has met the safety and efficacy standard according to the FDA review,” Overton replied.
Murray expressed concern over an article she said Overton published three years ago, which she said described medication abortion as dangerous to women.
She also asked if Overton believed an IUD is an abortifacient, which is a substance used to induce an abortion or terminate a pregnancy. Overton did not answer directly.
“If I’m confirmed as FDA commissioner, I’ll be fully briefed on all their prior decisions and make determinations according to the standards of safety and efficacy,” Overton said.
She has espoused anti-abortion views and supported reductions to the childhood immunization schedule. At the executive order signing, she touted the use of what she called “gold-standard science” and restoring vaccination authority to parents.
Overton was nominated for the job, in part, because she is a loyalist of the president, two sources familiar with the nomination tell ABC News.
She’s been described as a loyal staffer, particularly in the presidents’ efforts to overhaul the childhood vaccine schedule, according to a former senior administration official.
“Why would you not want your own loyalist in there?” the source said about Trump’s choice, adding “She [Overton] kind of goes along with things.” The former official supports Overton but has previously acknowledged that, “She’s been in the world of politics for a long time and understands everything’s about loyalty.”
Overton is a physician with a doctor of medicine degree from the University of New Mexico and also holds a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.
Prior to her role as deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy, she was vice chair of the America First Policy Institute’s (AFPI) Center for a Healthy America, where Overton was also the chief policy officer, a nonprofit that aims to advance policies that it says put the American people first. AFPI was run by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins before Rollins was tapped to join the president’s Cabinet.
Several Trump administration officials held positions there before he was reelected, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
Prior to the hearing, Cassidy expressed “strong concerns” about Overton’s nomination because of her participation in the White House executive order overhauling the childhood vaccine schedule.
“That alone is almost disqualifying,” Cassidy wrote in a post on X.
Cassidy, a physician and liver doctor, has long championed the efficacy of vaccines and has grilled Trump’s health officials on their willingness to stand up to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including recently installed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Erica Schwartz.
In a statement to ABC News, Democratic Women’s Caucus Chairwoman Teresa Leger Fernández slammed the nomination.
“I call on my colleagues in the Senate to reject her nomination,” Fernández wrote, adding “Overton has publicly denied scientific fact and repeatedly launched conspiratorial attacks against our right to abortion access, the safety of mifepristone, and Planned Parenthood.”
Fernández added: “She is not qualified to serve as FDA Commissioner, and her extremist beliefs and loyalty to the Trump administration will put the lives of millions of women at risk.”
In a statement, Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, also criticized her nomination.
“The fact that Dr. Overton played a central role in an executive order that shrinks the childhood vaccine schedule and calls for splitting MMR into shots that don’t exist, all without new evidence, calls into question her scientific judgement,” Adalja said. “The fact that she has garnered the praise of the nation’s chief anti-vaccine propagandist, Secretary Kennedy, is also concerning.”
Signs of support for AP, CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO hang on the White House grounds on September 21, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge has granted CNN, Politico and MS NOW a temporary restraining order requiring the White House to restore the outlets’ hard-pass press credentials.
The order requires the defendants, excluding President Donald Trump, as well as their agents and representatives, to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the White House hard-pass press credentials held by employees of CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
Judge Timothy Kelly granted the media organizations’ request in the ongoing case Cable News Networks, Inc. v. Trump after their credentials were revoked on Sept. 18, according to the court order.
The temporary restraining order will remain in effect for 14 days, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
Kelly expressed skepticism about the Trump administration’s argument that the stories it cited as justification for revoking the outlets’ press credentials raised national security concerns.
Kelly described the stories identified by the administration as “routine” and said he was “skeptical” that the government’s stated interest in safeguarding national security was the actual motivation for revoking the hard passes. He also noted that Trump did not mention national security concerns when he announced the ban.
“Nothing in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” Kelly said in the filing. “Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was “banning” Plaintiffs from the White House — instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of Plaintiffs’ reporting.”
A customer purchases gas at a station, Sept. 15, 2026, in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Kelsey Benson said she was laid off from a job in sales earlier this month, leaving her without health insurance at a time when price hikes are weighing on the rest of her budget.
The monthly out-of-pocket cost of Benson’s name-brand medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder jumped from $120 to $500, she said. That sudden expense came at a time she was already struggling with rising rent and utility costs, she said.
“You should not have to wear yourself down to nothing to be able to live,” said Benson, 32, who lives in Queens, New York.
The financial strain has complicated Benson and her partner’s potential plans for buying a house and having a child, she said.
“The dream, many people have been told, is you get the white picket fence, the house,” Benson said. “It’s not attainable.”
Benson is hardly the only person getting hammered by price hikes. A monthslong surge of inflation set off by the Iran war has driven up costs nationwide for gasoline, groceries and other products, squeezing many household budgets.
Shoppers expect inflation to rise even more over the next year, according to a recent University of Michigan consumer survey, while individuals’ view of their financial outlook has worsened.
In response to rising prices, a key long-term Treasury rate hit its highest level in nearly two decades earlier this month, even before the Federal Reserve raised benchmark borrowing costs. The rise in borrowing costs pushed up rates for loans like credit cards and mortgages, threatening to worsen the financial crunch.
“A lot of people across America have cut the expenses that they can cut,” Ted Rossman, a financial analyst at nonprofit advisory firm Money Management International, told ABC News. “They feel like they can’t catch a break.”
Drew Davis, 26, a law student in New York City, said the recent surge in prices dawned on him in the meat section at his local grocery store.
During a shopping trip this summer, Davis said he noticed prices for his preferred types of beef and chicken had climbed $1 or $2 since he began law school three years ago.
“I’ll buy, like, fattier beef, or I’ll buy chicken instead of beef mostly, just because it’s cheaper a lot of the time,” Davis said.
Davis, who is financing his education with student loans, said his debt factors into spending decisions such as where he lives and what he buys amid an economic environment he described as “intense.”
Prices rose at an annual rate of 3.4% in August, the most recent month on record, federal government data showed. Inflation stands more than a percentage point higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.
The average price of a gallon of gas in the U.S. is $4.47, according to AAA, marking a 50% jump since the war broke out.
Grocery prices have increased more than 20% over the last five years, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.
“People are feeling what’s happened the last several years,” Rossman said. “The accumulated toll is really stacking up.”
Steve Prentice, 70, who is semi-retired and works part-time at a yarn store in Tennessee, said the most noticeable price increase is gas.
“This is the first time I can recall gas being above $4 [a gallon],” Prentice said.
The cost crunch prompted Prentice and his wife to seek out bargains on groceries. Prices at all of the chain supermarkets nearby have “generally gone up,” Prentice said, forcing him and his wife to turn to lower-priced stores.
“Their prices seem a little bit more stable, but even they have gone up,” Prentice said.
