(WASHINGTON) — Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, on Monday said he would back challengers to members of Congress who vote for President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”
Musk broke his short-lived X silence about the bill over the weekend, unloading on it for being “utterly insane.” On Monday, Musk criticized “every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history,” vowing that “they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday lifted U.S. sanctions on Syria, signing an executive order to carry out a promise he made in May.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters ahead of the signing that Trump’s action was designed to “promote and support the country’s path to stability and peace.”
When he met with Syria’s new president Ahmad al-Sharaa last month, Trump announced he would lift the crippling U.S. sanctions against Syria and urged al-Sharaa to meet specified conditions in hopes that it will stabilize the country.
Those conditions included normalizing relations with Syria’s neighbors, including Israel, as well as the United States.
Ahmad al-Sharaa is a former al-Qaeda insurgent who fought against U.S. forces in Iraq and served time in the infamous Abu Ghraib priso.
Senior Trump administration officials who previewed the president’s action terminating the Syria sanctions program said it would dismantle the architecture of the program established by the executive branch while maintaining provisions targeted at Bashar Al Assad, his collaborators, and other destabilizing forces still at work in the region.
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and the administration’s Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack cast the executive order — which is intended to work in tandem with the general waiver significantly easing sanctions that was issued by the U.S. in May — as a move by the president to “give these guys a chance,” referring to Syria’s interim government.
“You have a general who transitioned from wartime into a position of being the leader of a reframed new country that needs everything, and that’s basically what’s happened, but the vision and the execution was limited by our imposition of sanctions,” he said. “Syria needs to be given a chance, and that’s what’s happened.”
Barrack also said the purpose driving Trump was not to hold leverage over the newly-formed government.
“But one thing is clear, neither the president or the secretary of state is nation building. They’re not dictating, they’re not requiring. They’re not giving the framework of the democratic model that needs to be implemented to their architecture or desire. They’re saying we are going to give you an opportunity. We have a bunch of criteria that we want to watch along the way,” he said, referencing the Abraham Accords, integrating foreign fighters in Syrian society, protecting U.S. allies who fought against ISIS, and other issues.
Brad Smith, the acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury Department, spoke about the more technical aspects of the order and emphasized that it would allow the administration to retain restrictions “where appropriate.”
“The significance of this moment cannot be overstated,” Smith said. “While we remain hopeful for the country’s future and its new government, we are also clear eyed that threats to peace remain, the United States will remain ever vigilant where our interests and security are threatened, and Treasury will not hesitate to use our authorities to protect us and international financial systems.
Abraham Accords
A senior administration official insisted that the Trump administration wasn’t looking to maintain “leverage” over Syrian authorities as it seeks to encourage its leadership to sign onto the Abraham Accords.
“Leverage is not what we’re interested in doing. The president ripped the sanctions off without any conditions,” they said. “It’s to Syria’s benefit to lean towards Israel.”
The senior administration official continued to note that it has been reported that Syria and Israel have been having conversations “on a backchannel basis.”
“So the way to entice them to get to the Abraham accords is to make it fruitful for them on an economic basis, on a on a civilization basis, on a peace and prosperity basis, and that’s all coming together. And what’s happened between Israel and Iran gives that window,” the official said. “So we’re not interested in leveraging them into anything.”
Despite the action Monday and previous suspension of many sanctions against Syria, a senior administration official acknowledged that it may take further action from Congress to permanently lift the penalties.
“We are now — pursuant to the executive order — going to look at suspension criteria for the Caesar Act,” the official said.
The Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 enhanced sanctions on any foreign entity that engaged in significant transactions in the Syrian government. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, back in May, issued a 180-day waiver of the Caesar Act sanctions.
“Ultimately Congress has the power to repeal the act,” the official said on Monday.
(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Monday charged four North Koreans in a brazen scam to pose as IT workers with stolen credentials and use them to get hired by U.S.-based companies and scam those companies out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju and Chang Nam Il are all allegedly “citizens of North Korea who used stolen and false personally identifiable information to pose as non-North Koreans and thereby obtain employment with technology companies, gain victim companies’ trust, obtain access to virtual currency assets controlled by victim companies, steal those virtual currency assets, and launder the proceeds of that activity.”
Federal authorities in Atlanta, Georgia said that the four allegedly stole $900,000 in cryptocurrency from one company, according to prosecutors, and the scheme has been ongoing since at least 2020.
In one instance, a U.S. company hired who they thought was Malaysian IT worker “Bryan Cho,” but in reality they hired Jong Pong Ju, who was a North Korean bad actor, according to the Justice Department.
Hiring “Byran Cho” also allowed for other North Koreans to be brought into the fold, including Chang Nam Il, the department said.
“On or about March 29, 2022, defendant KIM KW ANG JIN, without Company-1’s knowledge or consent, modified the source code for two smart contracts owned and controlled by Company-1 that resided on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains. Defendant KIM KW ANG JIN’ s modifications to these smart contracts changed the rules governing the withdrawal of virtual currency from two funding pools controlled by Company-1,” the court record says.
The four are not in the U.S., the department noted.
In total, the Justice Department seized 29 known or suspected “laptop farms” across 16 states, and seized 29 financial accounts used to launder illicit funds and 21 fraudulent websites, and charged four North Korean nationals, six Chinese nationals and two Taiwanese nationals for their involvement in separate information technology worker schemes, DOJ officials told reporters on a call with reporters on Monday.
In Massachusetts, the Justice Department alleges that nine more North Koreans posed as IT workers and were able to cause $3 million in losses from more than 100 U.S. companies, including some Fortune 500 companies over a four-year period, as well as steal “export controls and US military technology off the company’s network,” the official said.
Kejia Wang, a U.S. citizen, worked with others abroad to “to facilitate the criminal schemes” alleged by the Justice Department. According to senior DOJ officials, Wang was arrested on Monday.
Similar to the case unsealed earlier today in Georgia, workers posing as tech workers used fraudulent identification cards to dupe U.S. companies., according to the department.
Authorities said that it is not only profitable for the North Koreans, but they attempt to steal U.S. secrets as well.
“These schemes target and steal from U.S. companies and are designed to evade sanctions and fund the North Korean regime’s illicit programs, including its weapons programs,” John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s National Security Division, said in a release. “The Justice Department, along with our law enforcement, private sector, and international partners, will persistently pursue and dismantle these cyber-enabled revenue generation networks.”
Medicaid is a joint federal and state health insurance program for disabled and low-income Americans. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services works with state programs to administer Medicaid, which enrolls more than 71.2 million people.
The original measure passed by the House made around $600 billion in cuts to Medicaid, which then faced deeper cuts in the Senate.
New estimates from the Congressional Budget Office project federal spending on Medicaid will be reduced by $1 trillion and that the current version of the bill in the Senate would increase the number of uninsured by 11.8 million by 2034.
Health policy experts and health care workers say sharp Medicaid cuts could result in vulnerable Americans no longer being able to receive care, either by losing coverage or by closing the centers that provide such care.
Work requirements could result in lost coverage
The bill imposes new 80-hour per month work requirements on able-bodied Medicaid recipients aged 19 to 64 who don’t have dependents. These requirements include working or other approved activities, such as volunteering.
There are exemptions for parents or guardians of children under age 14 and those with disabilities. Under the bill’s current text, these work requirements won’t kick in until 2026.
An analysis published last week from the UC Berkley Labor Center found that work requirements could have a devastating impact on older Americans, between ages 50 and 64.
Nari Rhee, director of the Retirement Security Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center and author of the analysis, told ABC News that after age 50, employment becomes increasingly difficult.
For instance, many older workers become physically unable to continue employment until they reach retirement age.
“Most people hope and plan to retire at something like age 65, but life happens and quite often what happens is people start having health issues,” Rhee said. “If you’ve had blue collar work or manual work, often you started working probably in your late teens. And so, by the time you get into your 50s, your late 50s, your body is just really worn out, and you’re not no longer able to work the kinds of jobs that you used to do.”
She added that some older workers who are physically unable to do the jobs they used to do or who were laid off have a hard time finding employment again due to age discrimination.
Additionally, many older adults are responsible for caring for family members including spouses and parents, which may mean leaving the workplace entirely.
“In practical terms, there are all kinds of legitimate reasons why, especially older adults, might not be able to meet the work requirements in terms of actually putting in the number of hours, and that’s before we even get to all the administrative issues,” Rhee said. “Even if you do work, you might not be able to navigate the red tape.”
AARP, an interest group that focusing on issues affecting those 50 and older in the U.S., sent a letter over the weekend to Sen. Majority Leader John Thune and Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer expressing opposition to a provision that would disqualify people who fail to meet Medicaid work requirements from receiving Affordable Care Act premium tax credits.
“This creates a steep coverage cliff for those in their 50s and early 60s — particularly for those nearing retirement or working part-time — who may be left with no affordable coverage option at all.”
Risk of rural hospitals, health centers closing
Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurse Association, said cuts to Medicaid could force rural hospitals and community health centers to close.
Although Senate Republicans have proposed a $25 billion rural health stabilization fund due to cuts to the Medicaid provider tax, it is unclear if that will be enough to prevent hospitals from closing.
“These hospitals have been on the verge of tight finances for years, and this could be enough to shut them down,” Mensik Kennedy told ABC News. “If we have cuts to Medicaid, we’re going to see these hospitals start to shutter their doors, and people are going to have to drive three, four, hours to deliver a baby, to go have emergency care to get seen, and that’s got to be unacceptable to everyone.”
Arnulfo De La Cruz, president of SEIU 2015, the nation’s largest long-term care union and California’s largest labor union, concurred, saying cuts to Medicaid would impact states’ ability to provide health coverage and long-term care, particularly for rural and low-income Americans.
“Any cuts to Medicaid, the impact in California would be devastating … Medicaid is really the core of how the long-term care system is structured and funded,” he told ABC News. “Medicaid helps to fund clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, home care — it’s all connected as part of our health delivery system. If you were to dismantle or cut to the extent that they’re talking about, I think you see clinics close, you see hospitals close, you see nursing homes close.”
He went on, “I think it would have a devastating impact on the ability for rural Californians and low-income Californians to be able to access their health care, thereby becoming sicker and having to look to much more high-cost alternatives.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Justice is suing the city of Los Angeles over its sanctuary city policy, alleging it interferes with the enforcement of federal immigration laws, officials announced on Monday.
“The challenged law and policies of the City of Los Angeles obstruct the Federal Government’s enforcement of federal immigration law and impede consultation and communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for federal officials to carry out federal immigration law and keep Americans safe,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit is targeting Ordinance Number 188441, which prohibits city resources, including personnel, from being used for immigration enforcement. The DOJ is seeking a permanent injunction barring the city from enforcing the ordinance.
The Los Angeles City Council and the city’s mayor, Karen Bass, are named among the defendants in the lawsuit, which was filed Monday in California’s Central District federal court.
The lawsuit comes after President Donald Trump deployed National Guardsmen and Marines to the city, over the objections of local and state leaders, in response to protests against the government’s immigration crackdown.
“Sanctuary policies were the driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement Monday. “Jurisdictions like Los Angeles that flout federal law by prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens are undermining law enforcement at every level — it ends under President Trump.”
Bill Essayli, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement that the lawsuit holds Los Angeles “accountable for deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration law.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — GOP Sen. Thom Tillis was back on Capitol Hill on Monday as Senate Republicans struggled to pass their “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” he opposes — before President Donald Trump’s July Fourth deadline.
“I may look for an opportunity to speak again,” Tillis said during his fiery remarks on the Senate floor on Sunday night, in which he urged his Republican colleagues to reconsider their support for the GOP tax bill, which he said “breaks” President Donald Trump’s promises to protect Medicaid.
But on Monday it remained unclear whether any of his fellow Republicans would go along.
Monday morning, as lawmakers began another long day of debate, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer lauded Tillis for his remarks calling out the GOP megabill’s provisions he said would slash Medicaid in his home state of North Carolina.
“I salute my colleague from North Carolina. We all heard what our colleague from North Carolina had to say yesterday about this bill. My guess is about half — maybe more than half of the Republicans in the Senate agree with him. But he had the courage to speak the truth,” Schumer on Monday morning, as a vote-a-rama on the bill began.
“He said it himself: the bill devastates his state but make no mistake about it, it will devastate the states of almost every Republican here,” Schumer added.
But how Tillis will navigate the rest of his term in the Senate — and perhaps the rest of the reconciliation bill’s consideration — remains to be seen — after he abruptly announced he wouldn’t run for reelection when Trump threatened to support a GOP primary challenger.
While his speech railing against the measure’s Medicaid cuts displayed some of the “pure freedom” he noted in his retirement announcement “to call the balls and strikes as I see fit,” Tillis also told reporters at the Capitol on Sunday that he would never do anything to “undermine” or “surprise” the Senate Republican Conference.
“Look, here’s the thing, I was a leader. I’m never going to do anything to undermine my conference, and I’m never going to surprise my conference,” Tillis said..
“I let Senator Thune last night know that I intended to do this today. I’m not that kind of guy. I mean, if you’ve got a surprise or jam your conference to get something done, you’re a pretty shitty legislator, and that’s just not my style,” he went on.
“So, I’m going to stand behind John and the leadership and do everything I can to make them successful,” Tillis said.
In his speech to “explain” his vote Saturday against the motion to move forward on the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” he condemned the legislation.
“What do I tell 663,000 people in two years, three years, when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid because the funding is not there anymore, guys?” Tillis asked at one point. “The people in the White House advising the president, they’re not telling him that the effect of this bill is to break a promise.”
He said blasted the president’s self-imposed July 4th deadline to pass the legislation as “artificial.”
“I believe that we can make sure that we do not break the promise of Donald J. Trump — that he’s made to the people on Medicaid today,” Tillis went on. “But what we’re doing because we’ve got a view on an artificial deadline on July 4 that means nothing but another date and time we could take the time to get this right, if we lay down the house mark of the Medicaid bill and fix it.”
“What’s wrong with actually understanding what this bill does?” he said.
Tillis laid out how he’d done the work of understanding the bill over recent weeks, talking with leaders in North Carolina and members of the Trump administration about the impacts of the legislation’s Medicaid provisions on his state.
He said administration officials could not disprove his findings that there would be about a $26 billion cut in Medicaid across North Carolina as a result of the bill.
Tillis said he started his fact-finding process by asking Republican staff in the North Carolina legislature, members of Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s team and to the non-partisan Hospital Association for their estimates about this bill’s cuts to Medicaid in North Carolina.
“I asked three different independent groups: a partisan Democrat group, a partisan Republican group of experts, and a nonpartisan group of the Hospital Association to develop an intact assessment, independent, not talking, not sharing, reporting to me, and what I found is the best case scenario is about a $26 billion cut,” Tillis said.
He said when he presented those findings to the Trump administration, they were rejected.
“I had people in the administration say, you’re all wet, you don’t know what you’re doing,” he said.
Tillis concluded by saying that the Senate “owes it to the American people” to withhold advancement of the bill ” until it’s demonstrated to me that we’ve done our homework.”
“We’re going to make sure that we fulfill the promise And then we can feel — I can feel — good about a bill that I’m willing to vote for, but until that time, I will be withholding my vote,” Tillis said.
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate is plowing ahead toward a final vote on President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and immigration bill, as Republicans rush to get it across the finish line by July 4.
The self-imposed deadline by Trump meant a rare weekend session for lawmakers, one filled with partisan drama and some GOP infighting on the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
On Monday morning, senators began a “vote-a-rama” — votes on proposed amendments to the megabill.
There is no limit to the number of amendments lawmakers can seek. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, promised his party would bring amendment after amendment during the marathon session. Democrats forced a reading of the 940-page bill over the weekend, which took nearly 16 hours.
“Every senator will soon have an opportunity to reject this nonsense and vote for common-sense budgeting. Americans will be watching,” Schumer said on Monday as he slammed Trump’s bill as a break for billionaires that will hurt working-class families.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune defended the bill as delivering Trump’s campaign promises to eliminate tax on tips and overtime pay while boosting spending for defense and border security.
“It’s been a long debate,” Thune said in his own floor remarks ahead of the votes on amendments. “I know people are weary. But at the end of the day, we want to get this done so that this country is safer and stronger and more prosperous, not only for today but for future generations of Americans.”
The vote-a-rama is the last hurdle before a vote on final passage of the bill in the Senate.
There is little room for error in the Republican-controlled chamber. A procedural vote on Saturday night to open debate on the bill narrowly passed in a 51-49 vote after two Republican defections.
GOS Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina voted against advancing the bill. Tillis railed against the changes to Medicaid in the bill, saying it would hurt his constituents and would represent a betrayal of Trump’s promise not to touch the entitlement program upon which millions of people rely for health care coverage.
Tillis’ opposition drew Trump’s ire, with the president threatening to support a primary challenger to the two-term senator. Tillis then suddenly announced he would not seek reelection, saying later he texted Trump on Saturday night suggesting he “probably needed to start looking for a replacement.”
“I respect President Trump. I support the majority of his agenda, but I don’t bow to anybody. When the people of North Carolina are at risk. And this bill puts them at risk,” Tillis said.
What’s next for OBBB in the House?
If the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passes in the Senate, it will have to go back to the House for members to consider the changes made to the bill.
House Republican leaders say Wednesday is the earliest chance for a megabill vote.
“Members are advised that votes are now expected in the House as early as 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 2. Please stay tuned to future updates for additional information regarding this week’s schedule,” a notice from Majority Whip Tom Emmer’s office said.
Republican leaders have told members they will receive 48 hours notice before a vote is called and will have 72 hours to review the bill text.
The House passed the Trump megabill by just one vote back in May. The Senate version of the bill will face an uphill battle in the House, given the GOP’s razor-thin majority.
California moderate Republican Rep. David Valadao said he will vote no given the Medicaid changes in the Senate bill. Several conservatives, including Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Josh Breechen of Oklahoma and Eric Burlison of Missouri have also expressed opposition to the Senate’s version of the bill.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders worked through the weekend to lock down the votes even as several lawmakers have expressed opposition to the Senate’s version, which is still not finalized. Johnson can only afford to lose 3 defections if all members are voting and present.
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
(BOULDER, Colo.) — An 82-year-old woman hurt in the Molotov cocktail attack in Boulder, Colorado, has died, prosecutors announced, as they updated an attempted murder charge to a murder charge.
Karen Diamond “died tragically as a result of the severe injuries that she suffered” on June 1, the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office said.
She is the only person to die from the attack, prosecutors said.
“Our hearts are with the Diamond family during this incredibly difficult time,” District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in a statement. “Our office will fight for justice for the victims, their loved ones, and the community.”
The district attorney’s office also said it has found 14 more victims during the investigation and added 66 counts to the state indictment against Mohamed Soliman.
On June 1, Soliman allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a group of marchers who were advocating for the release of the Israeli hostages outside the Boulder courthouse, prosecutors said. More than a dozen people were injured, officials said.
Soliman allegedly yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack, which he told police he was planning for one year, according to court documents.
Soliman allegedly told police “he wanted to kill all Zionist people,” court documents said. He also allegedly said “this had nothing to do with the Jewish community and was specific in the Zionist group supporting the killings of people on his land (Palestine),” documents said.
State charges against Soliman include first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault, prosecutors said. Soliman’s preliminary hearing in the state case is set for July 15.
(NEW YORK) — Rising temperatures, amplified by climate change, are contributing to an increase in cases of sleep apnea, a condition in which breathing repeatedly stops during sleep, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications.
“If temperature keeps rising the way they project it to, the burden and prevalence of sleep apnea may double, increasing by 20-100%, depending on greenhouse gas emission reduction,” Bastien Lechat, the study’s author and a senior research fellow at Flinders University in Australia, told ABC News.
Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, affects about 1 billion people globally, and 80% of people who have it are unaware and untreated, according to the American Medical Association. Common symptoms of OSA include loud snoring, daytime tiredness, high blood pressure and headaches upon waking, even if “sleeping” eight hours, according to the Mayo Clinic.
OSA has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, diabetes and depression. People with OSA also have two times greater risk of getting in a car accident, according to Lechat.
The study followed over 115,000 people from numerous countries for up to two years, measuring their sleep quality with below-the-mattress sleep monitors and then cross-referencing this information with weather data to evaluate the relationship between temperature and OSA.
When comparing 80-degree Fahrenheit days to days in the 40s, there was a 40 to 45% increase in the frequency or severity of sleep apnea. The risk was even higher for males and individuals who normally sleep longer or have higher body weight.
Extreme heat can exacerbate OSA by making it even harder to sleep, the study noted. Higher temperatures can disrupt the body’s ability to cool down during the night, which interferes with the natural sleep cycle. This can lead to more frequent awakenings, shallower sleep and worsened airway instability, resulting in more apnea events.
Using existing health-economic models, the researchers estimated over 788,000 healthy years of life were lost or disabled in 2023 due to temperature-related increases in OSA, equivalent to a loss of approximately $68 billion, according to the models.
“When you look at the rate of years of life lost per 100,000 people, this is similar to a disorder like Parkinson’s disease, or bipolar disorder, or similar to low physical activity as a risk factor, so it’s a significant burden,” Lechat told ABC News.
Lechat said that increased access to air conditioning and better diagnosis and treatment of OSA could offset some of the increases caused by climate change.
As our planet warms, heat waves are becoming increasingly more common, having doubled in major U.S. cities since the 1980s, according to the federal government’s Fifth National Climate Assessment.
Overnight low temperatures are rising nearly twice as fast as afternoon highs, and this lack of relief during the night poses a significant health risk — particularly for those without access to air conditioning, according to the assessment.
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration is threatening all of Harvard University‘s federal funding after it said it found the university to be in “violent violation” of the Civil Rights Act, according to a new letter sent to the university that was viewed by ABC News.
The letter, sent to Harvard’s President Alan Garber on Monday, detailed the findings of an investigation into antisemitism on the campus by the Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. The letter said the investigation found that Harvard is in violation of Title VI, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin.
In response, Harvard once again condemned the Trump administration’s threats to strip it of federal funds and defended its work to combat alleged antisemitism.
“Harvard is far from indifferent on this issue and strongly disagrees with the government’s findings,” a Harvard spokesperson wrote in a statement to ABC News.
“Harvard has made significant strides to combat bigotry, hate and bias. We are not alone in confronting this challenge and recognize that this work is ongoing. We remain committed to ensuring members of our Jewish and Israeli community are embraced, respected, and can thrive at Harvard,” the statement added.
ABC News’ Arthur Jones contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
