Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on September 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate on Friday failed to advance both the House-passed short-term government funding bill and the Democrat counter-offer.
The Senate action came just hours after the House sent them the short-term funding bill.
The Democrat funding bill with extraneous health care provisions failed to advance, as expected, by a vote of 47-45.
The Senate then voted to block the Republican short-term funding bill just hours after the House passed it. It failed by a vote of 44-48.
Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Rand Paul cast votes against the legislation. Democrat Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote for it.
This leaves the Congress no closer to a government funding solution with the Oct. 1 deadline fast approaching.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — A public memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was killed on Sept. 10 while speaking on a college campus, is being held Sunday in Glendale, Arizona.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the service at State Farm Stadium, including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and top administration officials.
Trump said he will deliver remarks at the service. The president previously said he would posthumously award Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Being called “Building a Legacy, Remembering Charlie Kirk” — the service is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. local time, or 2 p.m. ET, according to Turning Point USA, the organization Kirk founded. Attendees have been asked to wear red, white or blue.
The event will be streamed live on ABC News Live, which is available on ABCNews.go.com, ABC News apps and across streaming platforms. Live blog coverage with up-to-the-minute developments will be available on ABCNews.go.com.
The Department of Homeland Security has designated the memorial service as a Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) Level 1 event, which is “reserved for events of the highest national significance,” a department official said.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University for his “The American Comeback Tour,” which invited public debate on college campuses.
Authorities on Sept. 12 identified 22-year-old Tyler Robinson as the suspect. Robinson was charged this week with multiple counts, including aggravated murder. Prosecutors said they intend to seek the death penalty.
Kirk is survived by his wife and their two young children. Erika Kirk, who has been elected to replace her husband as the CEO for Turning Point USA, is also slated to speak at Sunday’s service.
Other speakers for Sunday’s service include Vice President Vance, Donald Trump Jr., Tucker Carlson, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
(BARSTOW, Calif.) — A desperate search is underway in Barstow, California, for a 2-year-old boy who was swept away by floodwaters Thursday evening, authorities said.
Xavier Padilla Aguilera was traveling with his father, Brandon Padilla Aguilera, 26, when their vehicle was swept off a main road in Barstow, California, about 115 miles northeast of Los Angeles, by rushing flood waters around 7:14 p.m., according to Barstow Police.
The father and son became separated from their vehicle as flood waters carried them northward, police said. Brandon was later rescued and taken to Barstow Community Hospital, where he was treated and released.
Xavier, who his family told ABC News station KABC-TV has autism and is nonverbal, was last seen wearing black pants, a black shirt, and black and white Nike shoes.
The incident occurred during a day of severe weather that brought powerful thunderstorms to Southern California. In Oak Glen, dramatic video obtained by ABC News showed a massive mudslide cascading down a hillside, destroying everything in its path.
A massive multi-agency response was launched, including teams from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Police, California Highway Patrol, and San Bernardino County Fire’s Swift Water Rescue Team. Local volunteers from the Desert Recovery Group and community members joined the search effort, according to authorities.
“We have a bunch of volunteers out here who are still looking,” Xavier’s aunt, Leanna, told ABC News station KABC-TV. “If you guys can, if you live in the area, if you have bright lights… anything that can help us look through the dirt, the mud – anything to help us find him, we greatly appreciate it.”
Police suspended the official search until daylight Friday, according to KABC-TV.
Anyone with information about Xavier’s whereabouts is urged to contact local authorities immediately.
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge has tossed President Donald Trump’s $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times and Penguin Random House, calling the complaint “decidedly improper and impermissible.”
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday on Friday struck the complaint and gave the president’s lawyers 28 days to refile their lawsuit.
“A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally or the functional equivalent of the Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner,” Merryday wrote.
In the lawsuit, which was just filed on Tuesday, Trump’s attorneys alleged that the Times has become a “leading, and unapologetic, purveyor of falsehoods,” arguing that a series of articles about Trump — including a report that Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly warned the president would rule like a dictator, an article about the making of “The Apprentice,” and a report about the controversy that has followed Trump — amounted to libel.
Judge Merryday, in a blistering four-page ruling, said he was throwing out the suit because it “unmistakably and inexcusably” violates the rules that govern civil lawsuits.
“A complaint is a short, plain, direct statement of allegations of fact sufficient to create a facially plausible claim for relief and sufficient to permit the formulation of an informed response,” he wrote. “Although lawyers receive a modicum of expressive latitude in pleading the claim of a client, the complaint in this action extends far beyond the outer bound of that latitude.”
In tossing the suit because Trump’s complaint was procedurally improper, the judge did not weigh in on the merits of Trump’s defamation claim, giving his lawyers 28 days to refile it in a “professional and dignified manner.”
Merryday, who was appointed by President Geroge H. W. Bush, said the complaint contains eighty pages of repetitive claims and praise for President Trump, but fails to establish the two counts of defamation alleged. He lambasted Trump’s lawyers for forcing him to “labor through” the “superfluous” praise about Trump’s show “The Apprentice,” as well as the size of his real estate empire and the “historic fashion” of Trump’s 2024 presidential victory.
“Even assuming that each allegation in the complaint is true … a complaint remains an improper and impermissible place for the tedious and burdensome aggregation of prospective evidence, for the rehearsal of tendentious arguments, or for the protracted recitation and explanation of legal authority putatively supporting the pleader’s claim for relief,” the judge wrote. “As every lawyer knows (or is presumed to know), a complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective — not a protected platform to rage against an adversary.”
Filed in the Middle District of Florida, the lawsuit named The New York Times and Times reporters Peter Baker, Russ Buettner, Susanne Craig, and Michael Schmidt as defendants. The lawsuit also named as a defendant Penguin Random House, the publisher of Craig and Buettner’s book “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success.”
“Today, the Times is a fullthroated mouthpiece of the Democrat Party. The newspaper’s editorial routine is now one of industrial-scale defamation and libel against political opponents,” the lawsuit claimed.
Trump’s lawyers allege that The New York Times and Penguin Random House sought to not only damage the president’s “hard-earned and world-renowned reputation for business success,” but also hurt his chances of winning the 2024 election.
A New York Times spokesperson said Tuesday that the suit had no merit.
“It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting,” the Times spokesperson said. “The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics. We will continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor and stand up for journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people.”
“This is a meritless lawsuit,” said a Penguin Random House spokesperson. “Penguin Random House stands by the book and its authors and will continue to uphold the values of the First Amendment that are fundamental to our role as a book publisher.”
In July, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal after the Journal reported that Trump allegedly sent disgraced financier Jeffery Epstein a bawdy letter in 2003 that was included in a book made for Epstein’s 50th birthday, which Trump has denied.
In response to that suit, a spokesperson for Journal owner Dow Jones said, “We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
CEO of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk speaks on stage on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Days before a memorial service for Charlie Kirk, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed a “National Day of Remembrance” for the conservative influencer after he was killed on Sept. 10.
The Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution marking Oct. 14, 2025 — Kirk’s birthday — a “National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk.”
While on the Senate floor, Sen. Rick Scott, the Florida Republican leading the passage of the resolution, said he is “proud to have the support of more than 20 of my colleagues to honor Charlie by dedicating his birthday” as this day of remembrance.
“Charlie was a good man — a devout husband, father, and friend. His life was shaped by his faith and the idea that in America, debate and discussion are crucial to the betterment of our country,” Scott said on Thursday.
In the approved resolution, the Senate “recognizes Charlie Kirk for his contributions to civic education and public service” and “encourages educational institutions, civic organizations and citizens across the United States to observe this day.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday that the House of Representative will “soon pass a resolution honoring the life and legacy of our friend Charlie Kirk, and condemning the political violence that led to his untimely passing.”
On Friday, the House also approved the resolution, despite 96 Democrats declining to support it.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband Paul was the victim to political violence himself, was among the 22 Democrats who walked out without voting on the Kirk resolution, but did vote on the short-term government funding bill. Four Republicans also skipped the vote.
“We passed a resolution to honor the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk, my late friend, the friend of so many in this chamber, and we called out political violence in America,” Johnson told reporters following the vote.
The conservative influencer was shot and killed on Sept. 10 while speaking at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
After a two-day manhunt, Tyler Robinson, 22, was arrested for allegedly shooting Kirk and charged on Tuesday with a slew of offenses, including aggravated murder, with prosecutors announcing the intent to seek the death penalty.
He was also charged with felony discharge of a firearm causing serious body injury, obstruction of justice, two counts of witness tampering and commission of violent offense in the presence of a child, Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray announced on Tuesday.
Robinson made his first court appearance on Tuesday. His next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 29.
Before he turned himself in to authorities, Robinson’s parents asked him why he committed this crime, to which he allegedly said “there is too much evil and the guy [Charlie Kirk] spreads too much hate,” according to charging documents.
The suspect also allegedly texted his roommate after the shooting that he “had enough of this hatred.”
“Some hate can’t be negotiated out,” one of the messages read, according to the charging documents.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the FBI is investigating “anyone and everyone” involved in a chat on Discord — a group chat messaging platform — where the suspect allegedly sent messages two hours before he was taken into custody, admitting he shot Kirk.
“Hey guys, I have bad news for you all…It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this,” one of the messages allegedly read.
Patel said there are “a lot more” than 20 people linked to Robinson on Discord and that the FBI is “running them all down. He added that a “number of individuals” are currently being investigated.
Kirk’s memorial service will take place on Sunday in Glendale, Arizona. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and members of the Kirk family are expected to attend.
Erika Kirk, the activist’s widow, is expected to speak on Sunday. On Thursday, she was “unanimously elected” as the new CEO and chair of the board for Turning Point USA, the organization her late husband founded.
The Department of Homeland Security has designated Charlie Kirk’s memorial service as a Special Event Assessment Rating Level 1 event, which is “reserved for events of the highest national significance,” a department official said.
ABC News’ John Parkinson contributed to this report.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on September 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The House passed the Republicans’ short-term government funding bill on Friday ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline to avert a shutdown.
The final tally was 217-212. Ultimately, all but two Republicans supported the President Donald Trump-backed spending bill with Reps. Thomas Massie and Victoria Spartz voting no.
Nearly all Democrats who were present voted against the measure, though Rep. Jared Golden of Maine voted in favor.
The funding plan proposes $30 million in additional member security over a more than seven-week stretch — giving each member of Congress around $7,500 each week to spend on security — more than double their own congressional salary. The package also includes $58 million to meet the Trump administration’s request for supplemental funding for the executive and judicial branches.
That funding supplants a pilot funding program that lawmakers had utilized for member security in the wake of the shooting targeting state lawmakers in Minnesota over the summer.
The funding bill now heads to the Senate where its fate is uncertain as Democratic support is necessary for passage — a challenge given that it requires at least seven Democratic votes to reach 60 votes for passage.
Speaker Mike Johnson said that “the ball is in Chuck Schumer’s court” to avoid a government shutdown.
“I hope he does the right thing. I hope he does not choose to shut the government down and inflict pain unnecessarily on the American people,” Johnson told reporters Friday following the House vote.
Senate and House Democrats had unveiled a counter funding proposal that would only extend government funding until Oct. 31 and include health care-related proposals like rolling back Medicaid cuts in Trump’s megabill that passed earlier this year. This plan is a non-starter with Republicans who control majorities in both chambers.
Johnson said Friday that the Democratic counter proposal is “full of poison pills” and “partisan demands.”
Asked if he’s open to meeting with Schumer or Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries before the shutdown deadline, Johnson said, “I am always open to meeting with anybody to get our work done here. But there wasn’t really much to discuss with Chuck Schumer, because he decided and announced a while back that he was not going to go along for a clean short term.”
Ahead of the vote, Democrats signaled they would vote to shut down the government if Republicans didn’t cave to Democratic demands to restore cuts to Medicaid and extend Obamacare subsidies set to expire at the end of the year.
Johnson slammed Democrats for the move.
“It’s just very unfortunate the Democrats are trying to play partisan games when we’re in good faith trying to fund the government,” Johnson told reporters as he arrived at the Capitol on Thursday.
For his part, Trump urged House Republicans to support the “clean” funding bill Thursday afternoon.
“Every House Republican should UNIFY, and VOTE YES!” Trump posted to his social media platform. He also repeated his claim that Schumer and Democratic lawmakers want a government shutdown.
Earlier this week, Jeffries spoke out against the GOP’s plan.
“We will not support a partisan spending bill that Republicans are trying to jam down the throats of the American people that continues to gut health care,” Jeffries told reporters. “No one who is following what Republicans have done to rip away health care of the American people can reasonably suggest that responsible legislators should do anything other than push back aggressively to protect the health care of the American people.”
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is seen during a meeting on September 19, 2025 in Chamblee, Georgia. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee on Friday indefinitely postponed its planned vote on whether to stop recommending the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, called ACIP, is expected to vote on the COVID-19 vaccine is still expected later Friday. It’s not clear exactly what the advisors will vote on, but the discussion may include the FDA’s recent narrowing of COVID-19 vaccine approvals to a smaller group of Americans — those over 65 or with underlying medical conditions.
A “yes” vote on the hepatitis B vaccine would have recommended that the first dose be delayed from birth and given at one month of life for babies born to moms who test negative in pregnancy.
Robert Malone, a panel member and vaccine critic, proposed tabling the vote out of concern that there had not been enough discussion about the safety of the hepatitis B vaccines.
Cody Meissner, a fellow panel member, argued that trying to “prove the absence of harm” is “simply not a practical objective.”
Presentations on Thursday by the CDC included data about the chances of side effects from the vaccine. For hepatitis B, the advisors are considering removing a universal recommendation for a shot in the hours after a baby is born, and instead only giving the shot if the mother tests positive for the infection during her pregnancy.
The birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine for all babies ensures that all have the opportunity to get protected from a highly contagious virus that can cause lifelong chronic disease. A CDC recommendation isn’t a mandate but can eliminate barriers — like cost — for families so they don’t need to factor that into their choice for a shot or not.
Pediatrician medical groups argue delaying this birth dose until one month of life would leave the opportunity for babies to be missed if they are born to a mother infected with the virus or from a close contact soon after birth. It also may be difficult to guess who is at risk and should be tested — half of people living with Hepatitis B don’t know they are infected, according to the CDC.
When the U.S. had a risk-based approach to vaccination before 1991, it was estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 new hepatitis B infections occurred annually in the U.S. from 1980 to 1991 and over 1 million people were living with chronic hepatitis B infection, according to the CDC.
However, hepatitis B is still a huge problem among adults in the U.S. It’s estimated that up to 2.4 million people in the country are living with chronic hepatitis B, with many being asymptomatic and unaware of their diagnosis, according to the CDC.
Alex Acosta speaks during a press conference July 10, 2019 at the Labor Department in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida who negotiated a plea deal in 2008 with Jeffrey Epstein, arrived on Capitol Hill Friday morning to testify before the House Oversight Committee behind closed doors.
Acosta, who served as the Labor Secretary during the first Trump administration, did not respond to several shouted questions as he walked into the committee room.
Acosta resigned his position at the Labor Department after more than two years in the job amid controversy over his role in the 2008 plea deal with Epstein. At the time, he defended his decision, saying his goal “was straightforward” and included putting Epstein behind bars.
With continued interest in the Epstein matter on Capitol Hill, Acosta now finds himself testifying at a closed-door deposition.
“We want to know what went on during the prosecution, when many believe that Epstein was awarded a sweetheart plea deal. So, we’re going to ask a lot of questions about this. This is going to be a pretty hard-hitting deposition,” Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said ahead of Acosta’s interview Friday.
Comer said the committee will have “a lot of questions” for Acosta.
“So according to the victims and the survivors of Epstein, there was a lot of warning about the crimes that Epstein and [Ghislaine] Maxwell were committing. But yet, it appears the government let the victims down, and they didn’t, they didn’t prosecute. So, Acosta was a major player in that,” Comer claimed.
Comer said the committee’s Epstein investigation is “very serious” and “fast moving.”
“The Trump administration is fully cooperating with us in this investigation. We’re going to continue to get more documents in from the estate unredacted, and we will be able to answer some more questions,” Comer added.
Earlier this month the committee released tens of thousands of records related to Epstein, provided by the Department of Justice in response to a committee subpoena. A review of the documents released by the committee indicates they largely consist of public court filings and transcripts from Maxwell’s trial, previously released flight logs from Epstein’s plane, already public Bureau of Prisons communications the night of Epstein’s death and various other public court papers from Epstein’s criminal case in Florida.
Attorney General Letitia James sits in the courtroom during the civil fraud trial of U.S. President Donald Trump at New York Supreme Court on January 11, 2024 in New York City. Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump is expected to fire the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia after investigators were unable to find incriminating evidence of mortgage fraud against New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to sources.
Federal prosecutors in Virginia had uncovered no clear evidence to prove that James had knowingly committed mortgage fraud when she purchased a home in the state in 2023, ABC News first reported earlier this week, but Trump officials pushed U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert to nevertheless bring criminal charges against her, according to sources.
Administration officials have told Siebert of Trump’s intention to fire him, sources familiar with the matter said. Siebert’s last day on the job is expected to be Friday.
Abbe Lowell, an attorney for James, called the expected firing a “brazen attack on the rule of law.”
“Firing people until he finds someone who will bend the law to carry out his revenge has been the President’s pattern — and it’s illegal,” Lowell said Friday in a statement to ABC News. “Punishing this prosecutor, a Trump appointee, for doing his job sends a clear and chilling message that anyone who dares uphold the law over politics will face the same fate.”
The decision to fire Siebert could throw into crisis one of the most prominent U.S. attorney’s offices, which handles a bulk of the country’s espionage and terrorism cases, and heighten concerns about Trump’s alleged use of the DOJ to target his political adversaries.
Trump nominated Siebert for the position in May. Sources familiar with the matter said that the administration now plans to install a U.S. attorney who would more aggressively investigate James.
The move to fire Siebert because he refused to charge one of Trump’s political rivals would mark an escalation in what the president’s critics have called a retribution campaign, with ongoing investigations also targeting Sen. Adam Schiff and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
Trump has repeatedly accused James — who successfully brought a civil fraud case against him last year and leads multiple lawsuits challenging his administration’s policies — of targeting him for political reasons, calling her “biased and corrupt.”
James is “a horror show who ran on the basis that she was going to get Trump before she even knew anything about me,” Trump said during his civil fraud trial in 2023. “This has to do with election interference, plain and simple. We have a corrupt attorney general in this state.”
Following a three-month trial, a New York judge concluded that Trump and his family had committed a decade of business fraud by overstating the value of their properties to get favorable loan terms, fining Trump and his sons nearly half a billion dollars. An appeals court subsequently tossed the financial penalty but upheld the finding that Trump committed fraud.
Trump administration officials have argued that James committed mortgage fraud because one of the documents related to her 2023 home purchase, they say, falsely indicated the property would be her primary residence. The investigation began after Bill Pulte, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, sent the DOJ a criminal referral about James in April.
“I believe this is riddled with mortgage fraud, and frankly, I think that’s why she knew so much about the law in terms of how to go after President Trump,” Pulte told Fox News last month. “She was the fraudster, not President Trump.”
However, investigators have so far determined that the document — a limited power of attorney form used by James’ niece to sign documents on her behalf when James closed on the home — was never considered by the loan officers who approved the mortgage, sources said.
A former police officer with Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department, Siebert graduated from law school in 2009 and has worked as an assistant United States attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia since 2010. In addition to serving as a line prosecutor, Siebert headed the office’s organized drug crime task force and supervised the office’s Richmond division from 2019 to 2024.
Siebert began serving as the interim U.S. attorney on Jan. 21 after the late Jessica Aber, who ran the office from 2021-25, resigned following President Trump’s inauguration. Both of Virginia’s Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, recommended Siebert to Trump in April, and Trump nominated him for the position in May.
“Mr. Siebert has dedicated his career to protecting public safety, from his work with the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department to his handling of violent crimes and firearms trafficking as a line Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. With his experience and dedication to service, Mr. Siebert is equipped to handle the challenges and important obligations associated with this position,” Warner and Kaine said in a statement in May, pledging to support his nomination.
One of the most high-profile federal prosecutors’ offices in the country, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia serves over six million people with a staff of 300 prosecutors. Among the nation’s fastest-moving trial courts, the Eastern District of Virginia often handles significant terrorism and intelligence-related cases because of its proximity to Washington and the multiple government offices in its jurisdiction.
After his 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney expired in May, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia unanimously agreed to extend Siebert’s tenure in the position.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on September 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The House passed a short-term government funding bill on Friday ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline to avert a shutdown.
The final tally was 217-212. Ultimately, all but two Republicans supported the President Donald Trump-backed spending bill. Reps. Thomas Massie and Victoria Spartz voted no.
Nearly all Democrats who were present voted against the measure though Rep. Jared Golden of Maine voted in favor.
The funding bill now heads to the Senate where its fate is uncertain as Democratic support is necessary for passage.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
