The family of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, who was reported dead while aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship on Saturday, says they will remember her as a happy, bubbly, straight-A student with a bright future ahead. (Kepner family)
(MIAMI) — Anna Kepner, a teen who died aboard a Carnival Horizon cruise ship earlier this month, was found dead under a bed, wrapped in a blanket and covered by life vests, according to a security source briefed on the investigation.
The 18-year-old cheerleader from Titusville, Florida, was reported dead while aboard the Carnival Horizon cruise ship on Nov. 8. The Miami-Dade medical examiner has not specified a cause or manner of her death.
Among the avenues investigators are looking at is whether there might have been some sort of altercation with her stepbrother prior to her death, the source told ABC News. Investigators are also looking at other possibilities, including a medical emergency or an overdose, the source said.
Investigators are poring over ship security records, including security camera footage and access-card swipes, to get a picture of who was where at the various times prior to her death, the source said.
A court filing in an unrelated family court matter noted Kepner’s stepsibling could face charges.
The filing said the FBI is conducting an investigation “arising out of the sudden death of 18 year old Anna Kepner.”
Shauntel Hudson — Kepner’s stepmother, who was also on the cruise along with her children and Kepner’s father — requested a delay in her custody hearing because one of her minor children may face criminal charges, according to the filing.
“The Respondent has been advised through discussions with FBI investigators and her attorneys, that a criminal case may be initiated against one of the minor children of this instant action,” the filing stated. “Any testimony the Respondent may give, either written or oral, could be prejudicial to her or her adolescent child in this pending criminal investigation, therefore the Respondent cannot be compelled to testify.”
The FBI declined to comment.
Carnival Cruise Line said in a statement after Kepner’s death, “Our focus is on supporting the family of our guest and cooperating with the FBI.”
Kepner’s family did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Larry Summers, president emeritus and professor at Harvard University, during an interview in New York, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. Summers earlier this month warned that while financial markets have so far shown limited concern with regard to the Federal Reserve’s independence, the situation “could turn very quickly.” (Photographer: Victor J. Blue Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and the former president of Harvard University, has resigned from the board of the tech company OpenAI, according to statements released Wednesday.
“Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI Board of Directors, and we respect his decision. We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board,” a statement from the OpenAI Board of Directors reads.
Summers’ resignation came just two days after he released a statement saying he was “deeply ashamed” of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Summers’ email exchanges with Epstein were released last week by the House Oversight Committee.
No Epstein survivor has alleged wrongdoing by Summers and there is no public record evidence to suggest Summers was involved in any of Epstein’s crimes.
“In line with my announcement to step away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI,” a statement from Larry Summers said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress.”
Larry Summers previously announced that he was stepping back from public life after his apparent communications with Epstein were made public.
Summers is currently a member of Harvard’s faculty, according to the Harvard Crimson newspaper. But there have been calls, including from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for Harvard to sever ties with him.
Harvard has announced that it will begin a new investigation into Summers’ association with Epstein, according to the Harvard Crimson. The university reviewed its ties to Epstein five years ago, including donations he made to the university.
“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” Summers said in a statement on Monday.
He added, “While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.”
It has been previously reported that Summers maintained a relationship with Epstein for many years, particularly during Summers’ term as president of Harvard from 2001 to 2006.
Summers flew at least four times on Epstein’s aircraft, according to flight records made public during litigation against Epstein, and he was the top official at Harvard during a time when the university received millions in gifts from Epstein.
All of those gifts were received prior to Epstein’s guilty plea in Florida in 2008 to charges of solicitation of prostitution with a minor, according to the university’s review of its Epstein connections.
(NEW YORK) — The global rise of ultra-processed foods in diets worldwide poses a major public health threat, according to experts who published a series of papers in medical journal The Lancet.
The authors cite studies that show ultra-processed diets are linked to chronic health conditions like increased risk of becoming overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, chronic kidney disease and overall higher death rates.
Common examples of ultra-processed foods include sugar-sweetened beverages, packaged snacks, instant soups, breakfast cereals, energy bars, mass-produced packaged breads, ready-to-eat meals, ice cream and pizza.
ABC News’ medical correspondent Dr. Darien Sutton investigated the state of America’s food supply including the consumption of ultra-processed foods and the potential risks to Americans’ health in a new “ABC News Live Prime” special “Gut Check: The Foods We Eat.”
Watch the segment on ABC News Live Prime on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 8:30 p.m. ET. Available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
Sutton participated in an experiment at a high-tech laboratory at Virginia Tech where researchers monitored his blood work before and after eating ultra-processed foods. He also visited an American grocery store, comparing the ingredient lists of common food products with similar ones overseas in a French grocery store.
The special also takes viewers to the world’s largest food and science exposition in Chicago, where ingredient makers pitch food companies on their latest innovations. It’s a notable time for the industry, as the Trump administration continues to push food companies to remove additives, like synthetic dyes, from their products.
The warning around the dangers of ultra-processed foods comes as the Make America Health Again (MAHA) movement, popularized by health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., grows nationwide.
About four in 10 parents consider themselves supporters of the MAHA movement, with support higher among Republicans and white parents, a Washington Post-KFF poll finds.
An overwhelming number of parents, regardless of their support of the MAHA movement, supported increased government regulations on dyes and chemical additives, highly processed foods and added sugars, the poll found.
The authors of The Lancet paper, which was published on Tuesday, note that improving diets requires more than just a change in behavior.
Instead, they are calling for world policy reform with actions targeting the production, marketing and consumption of ultra-processed foods, as well as improving access to health food is needed, they note.
Americans consume over half of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods, on average, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Healthier eating should emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy and protein, the CDC says. Most Americans need to increase their intake of dietary fiber, calcium, vitamin D, and potassium, the agency notes.
(NEW YORK) — Army Secretary Daniel P. Driscoll and the Army’s top general have been sent to Ukraine by the Trump administration to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to restart discussions about potential peace talks with Russia, according to a U.S. official.
Driscoll is set to meet with Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s prime minister and other top Ukrainian military officials to talk through a potential peace process and to discuss the United States’ position on the possibility of peace talks.
“Secretary Driscoll and team arrived this morning in Kyiv on behalf of the administration on a fact finding mission to meet with Ukrainian officials and discuss efforts to end the war,” Col. Dave Butler said in a statement on Wednesday confirming his trip.
There is the possibility that in the future Driscoll may meet with Russian officials, a U.S. official told ABC News prior to the team’s landing in Kyiv, adding that it is unclear if Driscoll was bringing a new proposal to restart the talks.
There are no plans for Russian officials to meet with Driscoll, said Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov.
“No, as far as I know, there are no plans in this regard,” Peskov said on Wednesday in response to a question from journalists about Driscoll’s arrival in Kyiv and potential meetings.
Choosing Driscoll to attempt to restart the peace process emerged from a discussion last week between President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. Typically, a secretary for one of the military services would not be involved in such an important diplomatic overture, but it is possible that sending a military may be seen favorably by Russia, the official speculated.
Driscoll’s mission to Ukraine was first reported by the The Wall Street Journal.
Accompanying Driscoll are Gen. Randy George, the Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. Chris Donahue, the commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, the Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer, and Lt. Gen. Curtis Buzzard who heads the U.S. military assistance program for Ukraine.
Ahead of his trip to Ukraine Driscoll had discussions with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff, who has been the administration’s envoy who has worked on peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Stopping in Germany, Driscoll and his delegation participated in additional updates prior to their trip into Ukraine.
Driscoll and George have often pointed to Ukraine’s successful development and use of battlefield drones as a model for how the Army should transform its acquisitions process and quickly produce weapons for a changing battlefield. In addition to their meetings to restart the peace talks the Army leaders will also meet with military and Ukrainian business officials about their drone and weapons development programs.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the senior military leaders trip to Ukraine since such a visit required his approval.
Andriy Bodak/Suspilne Ukraine/JSC “UA:PBC”/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
(LONDON) — NATO fighter jets were scrambled and ground-based air defense systems put on the highest level of alert in Poland and Romania during a massive and deadly overnight Russian attack on targets across Ukraine, military officials in Warsaw and Bucharest said.
One drone was reported penetrating some 5 miles into Romanian airspace before being lost on radar, the Defense Ministry in Bucharest said in a statement.
At least 20 people were killed in a Russian strike on the western city of Ternopil, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said, where two nine-story residential buildings were hit by Russian munitions. Another 66 people were injured, the ministry said.
“One is on fire, the other has destruction from the third to the ninth floor,” the ministry said of the buildings hit. “About five hundred rescuers and over a hundred units of equipment are working at nine active locations,” the ministry added.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 476 drones and 48 missiles into the country overnight, with Lviv, Ternopil and Kharkiv regions the focus of the attack. The attack was the largest of November to date, according to air force data, and the largest since Russia launched 705 munitions into the country on Oct. 30.
Defenders downed or suppressed 442 drones and 41 missiles, the air force said. Impacts of 34 drones and seven missiles were reported across 14 locations, it added, with falling debris reported in six locations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said attacks were reported all across the country, in regions including Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv and Dnipro.
At least 19 long-range drones attacked the northeastern city of Kharkiv, where local officials said nearly 50 people were injured.
“Every brazen attack against normal life indicates that the pressure on Russia is insufficient,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post to Telegram. “Russia must be held accountable for its actions, and we must focus on everything that strengthens us and allows us to shoot down Russian missiles, neutralize Russian drones and stop assaults.”
In Romania, the Defense Ministry said two German Eurofighters and two Romanian F-16s were deployed “to monitor the airspace at the border with Ukraine, following Russian airstrikes in the vicinity of the river border with Romania.”
One drone was tracked on radar penetrating some 5 miles into Romanian airspace, the ministry said. The drone reappeared on radar intermittently as it traveled along the Moldovan-Romanian border before being lost, the ministry said.
“No cases of impact with the ground of any aerial vehicle have been reported,” it said in a statement. “Teams of specialists are ready to begin field searches.”
A Romanian Defense Ministry spokesperson told ABC News they could not confirm whether the drone was Russian in origin.
In Poland, the Armed Forces Operational Command said fighters were scrambled and air defenses “reached a state of maximum readiness” during the attack.
The alert lasted for around four hours, the command said, with no reported violations of Polish airspace. Polish, Dutch, Norwegian and Spanish fighters were involved in the allied response, it added in a later post, as were German Patriot air defense systems.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said its forces downed 80 Ukrainian drones overnight into Wednesday morning.
The latest exchanges came as U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George visited Ukraine to meet with Zelenskyy and other top officials.
The White House’s peace push has stalled in recent months. A U.S. official told ABC News that this week’s visit is intended to revive talks and discuss the U.S. position on the possibility of negotiations with Moscow.
Ahead of the trip to Ukraine, Driscoll held discussions with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and presidential envoy Steve Witkoff.
U.S. Army spokesperson Col. Dave Butler told ABC News on Wednesday that Driscoll and the accompanying team “arrived this morning in Kyiv on behalf of the administration on a fact finding mission to meet with Ukrainian officials and discuss efforts to end the war.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate is expected to receive the House-passed version of the Jeffrey Epstein files and pass it along to President Donald Trump Wednesday morning.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Senate agreed to unanimously approve the bill the House passed earlier in the day. When it arrives from the House, it will be deemed immediately passed by the Senate.
The unanimous action by the Senate means there will be no amendments or changes to the bill as House Speaker Mike Johnson and other members of his Republican leadership team had urged.
The measure compels Attorney General Pam Bondi to make available all “unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” in the Department of Justice’s possession related to Epstein within 30 days of its enactment.
If the legislation is signed into law, it could compel the release of federal records on Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as other individuals, including government officials, named or referenced in connection with Epstein’s “criminal activities, civil settlements, immunity, plea agreements or investigatory proceedings,” according to the legislation text. Victims’ names and other identifying information would be excluded from disclosure, as would any items that may depict or contain child sex abuse material, according to the text of the House-passed bill.
ABC News has not received a response from the Justice Department to questions about whether and how it plans to comply with the bill once it has been signed by Trump.
On Friday, Bondi announced the Justice Department was initiating a renewed investigation into the files and potential ties between high-profile Democrats and Epstein just hours after Trump ordered her to on his Truth Social account.
It’s unclear whether the DOJ will seek to cite that announcement as exempting much of the files from public disclosure due to their relevance to the new investigation, despite DOJ and FBI stating unequivocally in a July statement that it uncovered no evidence in a review of the files that would support a predicated investigation against any uncharged individuals.
It’s unlikely the Justice Department would release the entire Epstein file, according to sources. Any materials related to ongoing investigations or White House claims of executive privilege will likely remain out of public view.
Trump said on Monday that he will sign the bill should it reach his desk.
“I’m all for it,” Trump said.
But in a post on his social media platform Tuesday afternoon, the president said he doesn’t “care when the Senate passes the House Bill, whether tonight, or at some other time in the near future,” and that he wants Republicans to stay focused on his agenda.
“I just don’t want Republicans to take their eyes off all of the Victories that we’ve had, including THE GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL, Closed Borders, No Men in Women’s Sports or Transgender for Everyone, ending DEI, stopping Biden’s Record Setting Inflation, Biggest Tax and Regulation Cuts in History, stopping EIGHT Wars, rebuilding our Military, being RESPECTED by every Country in the World, having Trillions of Dollars INVESTED in the U.S.A., having created the ‘HOTTEST’ Country anywhere in the World, and even delivering a HUGE DEFEAT to the Democrats on the Shutdown,” Trump said in his post.
A senior White House official later told ABC News that the bill will “be signed whenever it gets to the White House.”
Trump did not need to wait for Congress to act — he could order the release immediately.
At a vigil on Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon, a group of House Democrats and Epstein survivors broke out in loud cheers upon learning that the Senate unanimously approved the bill.
After New Mexico Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez made the announcement from the podium, the group broke out in loud cheers, claps and smiles — some of them tearing up.
President Donald Trump signs funding legislation to reopen the US government, November 12, 2025, in the Oval Office of the White House, ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history. (Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — According to the official White House government shutdown clock, the historic impasse ended on Tuesday.
While the federal government shutdown actually ended a week ago, the White House’s shutdown clock continued to tick on Tuesday until it was pointed out to the White House by ABC News.
The shutdown clock on the White House’s website had reached 48 days despite President Donald Trump signing funding legislation in the Oval Office on Nov. 12 to reopen the government.
The shutdown clock was removed shortly after ABC News asked the White House why the clock was still running. The clock was replaced with a page headlined, “Democrats Shut Down the Government for a Record 43 Days.”
The Trump administration’s shutdown clock was featured on a White House webpage as late as early Tuesday afternoon ET, right above a headline reading, “Democrats Have Shut Down the Government.”
The White House did not explain to ABC News why the clock had continued to run and be displayed online until Tuesday.
The federal government shutdown was the longest in U.S. history, officially lasting 43 days.
The impasse between Republicans and Democrats over a spending bill to reopen the government prompted widespread turmoil for thousands of furloughed federal employees and cut off Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to millions of Americans.
The shutdown was prolonged by a fight between Democrats and Republicans over the fate of enhanced tax credits for millions of Americans who get their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Those credits are set to expire at the end of the year.
An extension of the enhanced tax credits was not included in President Trump’s massive spending bill that he signed into law in July.
The tax credits were part of the original ACA legislation passed during the Obama administration and were enhanced in 2021 under the Biden administration to expand eligibility and lower income contribution caps.
To get enough Democrats to vote in favor of the spending bill to reopen the government, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., agreed to schedule a floor vote in December on extending the ACA tax credits. However, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has repeatedly refused to commit to a vote on the ACA subsidies, leaving the issue in limbo.
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, speaks to members of the media at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that the Senate could act as soon as Tuesday to approve the release of the Justice Department’s files on late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Thune said there’s currently an effort ongoing to determine whether any senator opposes moving forward with the bill. If no one objects, Thune said it was a “possibility” that the bill could be passed Tuesday — the same day it overwhelmingly passed in the House.
He also dismissed the idea that the Senate would amend the bill despite House Speaker Mike Johnson urging the Senate to do so.
“I think when a bill comes out of the House 427 to 1 and the president said he was going to sign it, I’m not sure that amending it is in the cards,” Thune said.
Johnson is not enthusiastic about the prospect of the Senate fast-tracking passage of the Epstein files bill in the upper chamber without making changes.
“I just texted him, we’re going to get together,” Johnson said about Thune. “We’ll talk about that.”
“There’s an easy way to amend the legislation to make sure that we don’t do permanent damage to the justice system, and I’m going to insist upon that,” Johnson added. “We’ll talk to our Senate colleagues.”
In remarks on the Senate floor, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would personally call for the Senate to unanimously act on the Epstein bill later Tuesday.
“As soon as the House sends us the Epstein bill the Senate should move without delay to pass it unamended and send it on to the president’s desk to be signed into law. We should pass this bill as soon as possible, as written, without a hint of delay,” Schumer said.
The measure that passed in the House compels Attorney General Pam Bondi to make available all “unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” in the Department of Justice’s possession related to Epstein.
How would it work on the floor if this happened?
If the Senate does move on the Epstein bill on Tuesday evening, it’s expected to be by unanimous consent.
Right now, Thune said the Senate is checking in with members to see if there is anyone who objects to passing the bill Tuesday night.
If there is no objection, it could be a very quick process on the floor. Thune or another senator would likely rise to ask for the bill to be passed unanimously. The presiding officer would ask if there were any objections and, if there were none, the bill would be approved.
There are, of course, many procedural hiccups that could emerge. But the possibility exists that this could be moved across the floor quickly.
Schumer could seek unanimous agreement for final passage, or he could seek unanimous agreement to hold a vote on the bill Tuesday night. Either way, his actions, if all 100 senators agree, could send the bill to Trump’s desk as soon as Tuesday night.
Sen. Jeff Merkley is the sponsor of the Senate’s version of the bill that would compel release of the Epstein documents.
In a separate speech on the floor, Merkley also called for the bill to be swiftly passed.
If the bill passes in the Senate, it will go to Trump’s desk for him to sign it into law. The president said on Monday that he will sign the bill should it reach his desk.
“I’m all for it,” Trump said.
If the legislation — as it’s written in the House-passed bill — is signed into law, it could compel the release of federal records on Epstein and his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as other individuals, including government officials, named or referenced in connection with Epstein’s “criminal activities, civil settlements, immunity, plea agreements or investigatory proceedings,” according to the legislation text. Victims’ names and other identifying information would be excluded from disclosure, as would any items that may depict or contain child sex abuse material, according to the text of the House-passed bill.
Trump does not need to wait for Congress to act — he could order the release immediately.
Even if the measure passes through the Senate and is ultimately signed into law by Trump, it’s unlikely the Justice Department would release the entire Epstein file, according to sources. Any materials related to ongoing investigations or White House claims of executive privilege will likely remain out of public view.
When would this happen?
The timing is very unclear.
The Senate floor is currently open and the Senate is expected to vote at 5:30 p.m. ET on a separate matter unrelated to the Epstein files.
Thune could also decide to hold off until later in the week if that is the preference of his members.
ABC News’ John Parkinson and Rebecca Gelpi contributed to this report.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks with ABC News after testifying before a House Committee on Education and Workforce hearing, June 4, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Education on Tuesday announced six interagency agreements that would transfer some of its offices to other government agencies. The moves mark a “major step forward” in downsizing the department and returning education to the states, a senior department official said.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon touted the “bold action” her agency is taking to accomplish the mission of putting herself out of a job.
“Cutting through layers of red tape in Washington is one essential piece of our final mission,” McMahon wrote in a statement. “As we partner with these agencies to improve federal programs, we will continue to gather best practices in each state through our 50-state tour, empower local leaders in K-12 education, restore excellence to higher education, and work with Congress to codify these reforms. Together, we will refocus education on students, families, and schools — ensuring federal taxpayer spending is supporting a world-class education system.”
Under the agreements, the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s programs as well as sections of the Office of Postsecondary Education, including higher education grant programs and institution-based grant programs, will be co-managed by the Department of Labor, according to the senior department official.
The Office of Indian Education will be administered by the Interior Department and child care access — which would improve on-campus child care support for parents enrolled in college — and foreign medical accreditation will go to the Health and Human Services, and international and foreign language services is moving to the State Department, the senior department official said on a call with reporters.
The department official said the agency has broad authority to move the services and explained that policies and oversight made by these offices will be vested and remain at the Department of Education. However, grant processing will be housed with the partner agencies, the department official stressed on the call.
Interagency agreements are a frequently used tool and the Education Department has engaged with other partner agencies more than 200 times to procure various services of other partner agencies over the years, the senior department official said.
The senior department official did not have a timeline for when the agreements would officially start.
Meanwhile, the statutory offices that resolve civil rights complaints, serve students with disabilities, and handle the nation’s $1.6 trillio student loan portfolio were not included in Tuesday’s announcement but the senior department official did not rule out future moves.
“OCR [Office of Civil Rights] is not one of the IAAs that we are announcing today,” the department official noted, adding “OCR, just as with [Offices of Special Education Programs and the Rehabilitative Services Administration] and [Federal Student Aid], we are exploring options and the best plans for the future.”
Critics quickly condemned the announcement.
National Parents Union (NPU) President Keri Rodrigues called the partnerships a “disaster,” calling on lawmakers to defend students impacted by the partnerships.
“By destabilizing the Department of Education, the Administration is undermining America’s long-term ability to compete, innovate, and lead on the world stage,” Rodrigues wrote in a statement to ABC News. “Congress must reject this misguided action and defend the rights, futures, and global potential of the students they serve.”
On Capitol Hill, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said the Trump administration is “hellbent” on punishing underserved students.
But House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg, R-Mich., said the status quo is broken and praised the Trump administration on making good on its promise to fix the Department of Education.
“It’s time to get our nation’s students back on track,” Walberg wrote in a statement, adding, “It’s time to return education to those who are most committed to students’ success: their communities.”
In recent weeks, the department used social media posts and op-eds to explain its intentions. McMahon suggested it would be a “treat” to close the agency she leads in a Halloween post on X. Earlier, on the agency’s 46th anniversary, McMahon said the department needed an “eviction notice” because of ballooning spending, failing reading and math scores, and bloated bureaucracy in Washington.
A few of the non-statutory functions of the department have already been moved. The agency started a workforce development partnership with the Department of Labor in McMahon’s efforts to shift programs and responsibilities to partner agencies. One of the programs helping educate the next generation of farmers has been transferred to the Department of Agriculture under Secretary Brooke Rollins.
The long-expected move inched President Donald Trump closer to his goal of shuttering the department and returning education decision-making to the states. However, dismantling the agency completely would take an act of Congress and 60 Senate votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster.
Trump chose McMahon, the former WWE president and CEO, to put herself out of a job.
Chicago police car is seen in Chicago, United States, on October 14, 2022. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(CHICAGO) — A man set a woman on fire while on a Chicago L train on Monday following a “verbal altercation,” leaving her in critical condition, authorities said.
A person of interest is in custody in connection with the incident, the Chicago Police Department said Tuesday.
The arson attack occurred Monday at approximately 9:25 p.m. near the Clark and Lake station, police said.
The 26-year-old woman was on a Chicago Transit Authority train “when she was involved in a verbal altercation with an approximately 45-year-old male,” the Chicago Police Department said.
“That altercation became physical when the offender poured a liquid on to the victim and ignited it, causing the victim to start on fire,” police said.
The man fled the scene when the train stopped, police said.
The woman fell to the ground upon exiting the train, police said. The fire was extinguished and she was transported to a local hospital in critical condition with severe burns, police said.
