A man shouts at Rep. Chuck Edwards during a congressional town hall meeting on March 13, 2025 in Asheville, North Carolina/Sean Rayford/Getty Images
(ASHEVILLE, N.C.) — Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., was confronted by angry constituents during a town hall meeting on Thursday night about President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s sweeping cuts across the government.
“How do you justify cuts to staff of the VA helping veterans, especially those with long term care needs,” asked one constituent who was met with a standing ovation from the raucous crowd in Asheville, North Carolina.
“So first of all, there have been no cuts to the staff at VA as of this point. Like him or not, Elon Musk has brought a lot of really smart people,” Edwards responded as he was met with a round of boos. Earlier this month, an internal VA memo indicated that the agency was preparing to lay off 80,000 from its workforce.
The interaction turned so contentious and hostile that Edwards had to be escorted out of the building.
“You don’t get to do this to us,” yelled another constituent.
Republican leadership has told their members to avoid in-person town halls like these after several members were grilled in their home districts.
Edwards, however, went against their advice on Thursday.
“”You see a lot of advice in Washington, D.C. from different folks saying, you know, ‘Republicans shouldn’t be out there doing town halls,’ and I’m thinking ‘why not?’ I love the people,” said Edwards.
The Trump administration is pushing forward with sweeping cuts with thousands of workers already having been laid off across the federal workforce – including Veteran Affairs, the IRS and the Department of Education.
Elon Musk split with the White House this week, suggesting that entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security could be on the chopping block next.
“The waste and fraud in entitlement spending, which is all of the, which is most of the federal spending is entitlements, so that’s like the big one to eliminate,” Musk said earlier this week.
Those words have left some voters very concerned, with Edwards taking the brunt end of the attacks Thursday night.
“What are you doing to ensure the protection of our Social Security benefits,” asked on constituent to a round of applause.
Replied Edwards: “I’m not going to vote to dissolve your Social Security. I’m not looking to disrupt Social Security at all.”
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday night that he plans to vote to keep the government open, signaling that there will almost certainly be enough Democratic votes to advance a House GOP funding bill before a shutdown deadline at the end of the day Friday.
In remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer conceded a government shutdown is the worse outcome.
“While the Republican bill is very bad, the potential for a shutdown has consequences for America that are much much worse. For sure, the Republican bill is a terrible option,” he said. “It is not a clean CR” or continuing resolution, he said. “It is deeply partisan. It doesn’t address far too many of this country’s needs, but I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power in a government shutdown is a far worse option.”
Schumer’s announcement amounted to a major break from House Democrats who voted nearly unanimously against the GOP funding bill earlier this week. Following Schumer’s remarks, top House Democrats released a joint statement reiterating that they remain “strongly opposed” to the GOP funding bill and say instead they support a four-week spending bill that would allow lawmakers to continue negotiating.
In his remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer argued Republicans are to blame for a “Hobson’s choice” that “brought us to the brink of disaster.”
“Unless Congress acts, the federal government will shut down tomorrow at midnight. I have said many times there are no winners in a government shutdown. But there are certainly victims: the most vulnerable Americans who rely on federal programs to feed their families to access medical care and to stay financially afloat,” Schumer said.
A decision to shut down the government would give President Donald Donald Trump and his senior adviser Elon Musk too much power to continue their federal worker cuts without discretion, he asserted.
“A shutdown would give Donald Trump and Elon musk carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now. Under as shutdown the Trump administration would have full authority to deem whole agencies programs an personnel nonessential, furloughing staff with no promise they would ever be rehired,” Schumer said. “In short: a shut down would give Donald Trump Elon musk and DOGE the keys to the city state and country.”
Earlier Thursday, Schumer told his Democratic colleagues during a closed-door lunch that he would vote to clear a path for final passage of a House-GOP funding bill, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
That move would clear the way for Republicans to pass the bill with a simple majority.
Senate Democrats remained tight-lipped after huddling behind closed doors ahead of the fast-approaching government funding deadline.
“What happens in caucus, stays in caucus,” Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin said as she left the weekly lunch.
“Ask somebody else,” Democratic Sen. Cory Booker grumbled.
“I don’t have any comment,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Several Democrats have privately admitted they likely don’t have the votes to block a Republican proposal to keep the government funded through September, multiple sources told ABC News.
Tensions were on full display at the private meeting. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand was yelling so loudly about the impact of a shutdown that reporters could hear her through the walls.
One Democrat who spoke on the condition of anonymity told ABC News, “We lost this two weeks ago … we should’ve been beating this drum for a month.”
At that point, only Democratic Sen. John Fetterman had publicly signaled he would vote to keep the government open.
Fetterman insisted that he won’t succumb to the posturing he sees from party leaders after he urged Republicans to keep government open in the past when Democrats controlled the upper chamber.
“Never, ever, ever, ever, ever shut the government down,” Fetterman told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday afternoon. “Democrat, Republican, independents, anyone. Never shut the government down. That’s one of our core responsibilities.”
Fetterman called the political pressure “spicy” — telling reporters that he’s remaining “consistent” in his principled belief not to vote for a shutdown.
Fetterman acknowledged that Republicans “are daring” Democrats to shut down the government, but the freshman Democrat worried that furloughed workers and people depending on federal services are the ones who are “really going to hurt.”
Now that Republicans cleared their bill through the House, Fetterman said he believes the battle is over.
Fetterman said the only time Democrats have leverage is if the Republicans need the votes in the House.
“The GOP delivered, and that effectively iced this out. And that forces us to say, ‘Are you going to shut the government down, or you are going to vote for a flawed CR?’ And now for me, I refuse to shut the government down.”
Schumer on Wednesday said Senate Democrats would not provide the votes needed for Republicans to advance the House-approved deal to fund the government through September. Instead, Schumer proposed a one-month stopgap measure to allow more time for appropriators to negotiate and complete full-year funding bills.
Republicans and the White House, meanwhile, are preemptively pointing the finger at Democrats if a shutdown ensues.
“If it closes, it’s purely on the Democrats,” President Donald Trump said as he took reporter questions while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office on Thursday.
Trump was asked whether he’s step in to negotiate with Democrats and he said he would if Republicans requested it: “If they need me, I’m there 100%.”
(WASHINGTON) — Measles is continuing to spread across the United States, as outbreaks grow in western Texas and New Mexico.
Between the two states, 256 cases have been confirmed as of Thursday, mostly in those who are unvaccinated or with unknown vaccination status, according to state health officials. At least one unvaccinated school-aged child in Texas has died and another suspected death is being investigated in New Mexico in an unvaccinated adult. At least 10 other states have also confirmed cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As health care professionals work to care for patients, they are also attempting to combat the proliferation of misinformation about how to prevent and treat the disease, some tell ABC News.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been one of the prominent voices on measles, making comments that public health experts say are not accurate.
In multiple interviews, Kennedy has claimed that vitamin A and cod liver oil are effective treatments for measles. He also said that poor diet contributes to severe cases of measles and that — while vaccines prevent illness — they also cause severe illnesses and even death.
Some public health experts told ABC News these statements are not rooted in scientific evidence and could be quite dangerous for the public.
“I think it’s really important to try to stay away from these ideas of fringe theories or ideas that have not been scientifically proven,” Kirsten Hokeness, director of the school of health and behavioral sciences at Bryant University, in Rhode Island, told ABC News.
Vitamin A as a form of treatment
During an interview on Fox News with Sean Hannity on Tuesday, Kennedy said that HHS was currently providing vitamin A to measles patients for treatment. He claimed vitamin A can “dramatically” reduce measles deaths.
The World Health Organization recommends two doses of vitamin A in children and adults with measles to restore low vitamin A levels, which can help prevent eye damage and blindness.
However, experts who spoke with ABC News said it is not an antiviral treatment against measles (meaning it does not prevent infections), nor is there one available.
“Because it has been described that patients with vitamin A deficiency can have a more severe course, the WHO recommends low doses of vitamin A for children diagnosed with measles,” Dr. Carla Garcia Carreno, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children’s Medical Center Plano in Texas, told ABC News. “This is a supplementation in case of deficiency, and it is not intended to treat the virus. High doses of vitamin A can have serious consequences.”
“Neither vitamin A nor cod liver oil will treat measles,” she concluded.
Poor diet linked to severe measles disease
Kennedy has claimed that poor nutrition plays a role in causing severe measles disease and that a healthy diet can lessen severity.
While malnutrition can be a factor in severe disease, malnutrition and nutritional deficits in measles patients have historically been seen in underdeveloped countries, according to experts.
Additionally, studies have found that mass nutritional supplementation “followed by an increase in vaccination coverage” can reduce measles infection and mortality.
“Certainly, good nutrition can promote a healthy immune system, and it’s a good idea for everyone to try to maintain good nutrition, but it’s certainly not a substitute for vaccination,” Dr. Scott Weaver, director of the Institute for Human Infections and Immunity at the University of Texas Medical Branch, told ABC News. “There’s no evidence that it can prevent infection, no evidence that it can prevent an infected person from spreading the virus and contributing to one of these outbreaks.”
“So, I want to be very clear, good nutrition is absolutely no substitute for vaccination to prevent someone’s own risk for developing severe, maybe fatal, measles,” he added.
Claims about the safety of the measles vaccine
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old.
One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective, the CDC says. Most vaccinated adults don’t need a booster.
Kennedy has said vaccines do “stop the spread of the disease” but also said they cause “adverse events.”
“It does cause deaths every year. It causes all the illnesses that measles itself [causes], encephalitis and blindness, et cetera,” he told Hannity, without providing evidence.
Weaver said there is no vaccine that is without risks but that the MMR vaccine is incredibly safe and effective.
“There’s no evidence that it has severe outcomes … similar to what the measles virus infection causes,” he told ABC News. “It certainly can cause very minor reactions at the site of injection, like just about every vaccine, but it’s one of the safest vaccines that’s ever been developed.”
Weaver added that the risks of complications from a measles infection far outweigh any risks from the MMR vaccine.
As for Kennedy’s unfounded claim that the MMR vaccine causes death, a 2015 CDC review published in the journal Vaccine found such claims are deaths reported to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System – a voluntary reporting system “that accepts any submitted report of an adverse event without judging its clinical significance or whether it was caused by a vaccination.”
The review found that many of the deaths reported to VAERS claiming to be linked to the MMR included children who has serious underlying medical conditions or had deaths that were unrelated to the vaccine, including accidental deaths.
“These complete VAERS reports and any accompanying medical records, autopsy reports and death certificates have been reviewed in depth by FDA and CDC physicians and no concerning patterns have emerged that would suggest a causal relationship with the MMR vaccine and death,” the review stated.
Questioning ‘benefits’ of measles and fatality rate
Kennedy claimed in an interview with Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Seigel over the weekend that is “almost impossible” for measles to kill a healthy individual.
Some people who contract measles may suffer severe complications as a result of infection. While those most at risk include children younger than age 5, pregnant people and those with weakened immune systems, anybody can experience complications.
About in 1 in 5 unvaccinated people who contract measles are hospitalized and about 1 in 20 children with measles develop pneumonia, which is the most common cause of death in young children who get infected.
About one in 10 children infected with measles develop ear infections as well, which can lead to hearing loss, data shows.
Additionally, about 1 out of every 1,000 children with measles will develop encephalitis — which is the swelling of the brain and can lead to brain damage — and up to 3 out of every 1,000 children with measles will die from respiratory and neurologic complications, the CDC says.
Recently, Texas health officials reported the death of an unvaccinated school-aged child, the first death from measles recorded in the U.S. in a decade. The child was healthy and had no preexisting conditions, officials said.
“The CDC estimates that 1 in 5 people [who] get infected with measles ends up in the hospital,” Hokeness said. “So, this approach to relying on sort of this natural immunity doesn’t make sense when we have a vaccine which prevents it in the first place.”
“But, in short, there’s really no benefit to this idea of natural immunity and naturally acquiring the virus. That’s why we’ve developed the vaccines that work so well,” she added.
Kennedy also claimed in his interview that natural immunity from measles may protect against cancer and heart disease. There is no evidence to suggest either of those are true, experts said.
“If you want to take your chances with getting natural infection, hoping that there might be some very small benefit to that, it’s a very big risk to take, because you may very well get severe measles infection,” Weaver said.
Overall, experts advised relying on scientifically proven medical information.
“We should leverage the knowledge that we’ve gained over the years and not spend our time focusing on alternative possibilities,” she said.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge temporarily paused the Trump administration’s “illegal” reductions in force and reinstated approximately 20,000 probationary government employees across 18 agencies who had been terminated.
U.S. District Judge James Bredar — an Obama appointee — concluded that the Trump administration failed to provide the legally required advanced notice before it tried to conduct “massive layoffs.” The judge also prohibited the Trump administration from conducting future mass firings without giving notice.
“When the federal government terminates large numbers of its employees, including those still on probation because they were recently hired or promoted, it must follow certain rules,” Bredar wrote.
The ruling applies to 18 of the federal agencies named as defendants in the case except for the Defense Department, the National Archives and the Office of Personnel Management.
The decision came in a case brought by 20 Democratic attorneys general who sued last week to block the firings and is separate from a California judge’s decision also dealing with probationary employees that was issued earlier Thursday.
Similar to the reasoning of the judge in the California case, Bredar wrote that he believes the government lied when it listed “performance” or other individualized reasons as justification for the layoffs.
“On the record before the Court, this isn’t true. There were no individualized assessments of employees. They were all just fired. Collectively,” he wrote. “It is simply not conceivable that the Government could have conducted individualized assessments of the relevant employees in the relevant timeframe.”
Bredar concluded that the states that sued are suffering irreparable harm by having to assist thousands of unemployed workers who were fired illegally.
“Lacking the notice to which they were entitled, the States weren’t ready for the impact of so many unemployed people,” he wrote. “They are still scrambling to catch up,” he wrote.
Bredar’s order will remain in place for two weeks, and he scheduled a hearing for March 26 to consider issuing a preliminary injunction, which is a longer-term measure.
Like the California case, Bredar did not rule that the Trump administration is not able to conduct mass firings; rather, the administration just needs to provide advanced notice when it conducts a reduction in force. While the order provides a reprieve for more than 20,000 government workers, the lifeline is temporary, even if the order is extended later this month.
The judge’s order came after a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Maryland.
The Democratic attorneys general argued that the Trump administration violated federal law with the firings by failing to give a required 60-day notice for a reduction in force, opting to pursue the terminations “suddenly and without any advance notice.”
Lawyers with the Department of Justice have argued that the states lack standing because they “cannot interject themselves into the employment relationship between the United States and government workers,” and that to grant the temporary restraining order would “circumvent” the administrative process for challenging the firings.
In separate earlier lawsuits, two other federal judges had declined to immediately block firings of federal employees or to reinstate them to their positions.
(DENVER) — An American Airlines plane caught fire at Denver International Airport in Colorado on Thursday, sending passengers down emergency slides and onto the wing of the aircraft. Twelve were people being taken to the hospital with minor injuries, airport officials said.
The Boeing 737-800 plane was diverted to Denver shortly after departing from Colorado Springs, Colorado. While the plane was taxiing to the gate, the engine caught fire, and its passengers evacuated.
The incident, which sent smoke billowing across the tarmac, took place at approximately 5:15 p.m., local time.
There were 172 passengers and six crew members aboard AA Flight 1006.
All passengers were able to exit the plane.
American Airlines told ABC News that passengers evacuated the plane through emergency slides, the overwing exit and some onto the jet bridge.
A statement from Denver International Airport said 12 people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
The plane was traveling from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Dallas, Texas, when it was diverted to Denver after the “crew reported engine vibrations,” according to the Federal Aviation Authority.
The plane diverted after about 20 minutes into the flight and was in the air for about an hour before it landed.
In an earlier statement to ABC News, American Airlines said, “We thank our crew members, DEN team and first responders for their quick and decisive action with the safety of everyone on board and on the ground as the priority.”
The airline also said that it was arranging for a replacement aircraft to take passengers the rest of the way to the intended destination, Dallas Fort-Worth.
(NEW YORK) — Alaska’s Mount Spurr, an active volcano near the most populated region in the state, is getting even closer to an eruption, according to volcanologists.
Scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory measured “significantly elevated” emissions of volcanic gas coming from Mount Spurr, located in the Aleutian Arc in southern Alaska about 75 miles west of Anchorage, according to a statement released Wednesday.
In addition, elevated earthquake activity, ground deformations and newly activated fumaroles — or gas vents — at the volcano’s Crater Peak have been recorded, indicating that the probability of eruption has increased, researchers at the observatory said.
Small earthquakes have been occurring above ground at Mount Spurr since April, Matthew Haney, scientist in charge of the Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage, told ABC News last month.
An overflight on March 7 measured about 450 metric tons per day of sulfur dioxide from Mount Spurr’s summit vent — an increase from less than 50 metric tons in December, according to the observatory.
Over the last month, more than 100 earthquakes per week have been occurring at the site as well. Ground deformation and collapse of snow and ice into the summit crater lake that formed during the unrest also continues, scientists said.
An increase in gas emissions confirms that new magma has entered the Earth’s crust beneath the volcano, indicating that an eruption is likely in the next weeks or months, according to the observatory.
While an eruption is “not certain,” it is the most likely outcome of the current unrest, according to the observatory. If the magma stalls and does not reach the surface, the unrest could instead decrease over the next weeks and months, similar to events from 2004 to 2006, researchers said.
Eruptions that occurred in 1953 and 1992 were explosive — lasting a few hours and producing ash clouds that were carried downwind for hundreds of miles, according to the observatory. The August 1992 eruption caused the Anchorage airport to close for 20 hours due to the wind and ash event that accompanied the eruption.
There is little geological evidence to suggest other past eruptions in the last 5,000 years, according to the observatory.
The volcano alert level for Mount Spurr as of Thursday was at “yellow” or “advisory,” indicating that the volcano is exhibiting signs of elevated unrest above known background level
Mount Spurr is monitored constantly due to its proximity to Anchorage, the most populated city in Alaska, Haney said. There are 11 remote seismic stations situated around Mount Spurr.
Primary hazards to south-central Alaska communities during eruptions at Mount Spurr include far-traveled airborne ash clouds and ashfall, according to the observatory.
Volcanologists will be monitoring for further increases in seismic activity, gas emissions and surface heating to indicate that an eruption is imminent, according to the observatory. The detection of volcanic tremor — a continuous shaking that can last for several minutes rather than short, small earthquakes — would like prompt the level to raise, Haney said.
Should monitoring data suggest that an eruption is likely within hours or days, the observatory will raise its alert level to orange or red.
(NEW YORK) — Six Americans who were imprisoned in Kuwait have been released in an agreement with the United States, a representative for their families confirmed to ABC News.
The Americans, many of whom are veterans and former military contractors, were convicted on drug charges, Jonathan Franks, a crisis management consultant, said.
For years, however, the prisoners have “vigorously” maintained their innocence, Franks said.
Several more prisoners are expected to be freed in the coming weeks as part of the agreement, Franks added.
“This morning, the Kuwaiti government released six of my clients as part of an agreement that will ultimately free fifteen of my clients in short order. Each was convicted on drug charges, and each vigorously maintains their innocence,” Franks said.
Convictions for possession of drugs in Kuwait may include long jail sentences or the death penalty, according to an advisory by the U.S. State Department.
According to the U.S. Embassy of Kuwait website, American citizens are subject to Kuwait’s laws and regulations. Those laws can “differ significantly from those in the United States,” and the U.S. government may only be able to offer limited assistance to those charged, the website says.
Kuwait is a small Middle Eastern country borders Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
The prisoners’ release comes amid President Donald Trump’s emphasis on freeing Americans held abroad.
“President Trump has made it a priority to bring home Americans detained overseas. We are pleased that Kuwait released Americans from prison,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.
“Kuwait is a vital ally in the region, and we look forward to continuing to work with Kuwait and other partners in these efforts across the world,” the spokesperson added.
In February, three prisoners, including an unnamed American and a journalist dubbed a political prisoner, were released from Belarus.
(WASHINGTON) — As Republicans brand the impending lapse in government funding the “Schumer Shutdown,” hundreds of thousands of federal workers are on edge as the Senate struggles to reach a deal ahead of Friday night’s looming deadline.
If a deal is not reached by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 14, federal workers could get furloughed without pay, though many will still be required to show up to work. Federal contractors are not required to work but are also not guaranteed backpay for the duration of a shutdown.
While the House voted on Tuesday to avert a shutdown, the bill passed was a unilateral GOP-led bill, with no Democratic support. The bill would need 60 votes to pass in the Senate, but with no Democratic input in the bill, it is unclear if there are enough votes to surpass the filibuster threshold.
“Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path drafting their continuing resolution without any input any input from congressional Democrats,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor on Wednesday.
Still, President Donald Trump placed blame on Democrats Thursday morning, saying, “If it closes, it’s purely on the Democrats.”
“If there’s a shutdown, even the Democrats admit it will be their fault,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “And I’m hearing a lot of Democrats are going to vote for it, and I hope they do.”
Democrats were tight-lipped after leaving their weekly caucus lunch Thursday afternoon.
The shutdown would be the 21st federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
The federal workforce has experienced massive cuts since President Donald Trump took office in January and tapped billionaire Elon Musk to slash agencies and employees via the Department of Government Efficiency, which has caused thousands of workers to be laid off already.
With recent DOGE cuts causing layoffs across the federal workforce and among government contractors, it is unclear exactly how many people could be affected.
In the absence of guidance from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, it is unclear what parts of the government would close in the event of a shutdown.
While the OMB has typically notified federal workers ahead of the funding deadline, it removed previous, Biden-era guidance on shutdown plans from its website. The last time the United States faced a government shutdown threat was in December 2024, but members of Congress passed a stopgap bill to fund the government through March 14.
An OMB spokesperson has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
The good news is that because the deadline falls on a weekend, Congress has a couple extra days to strike a deal before most federal workers would be expected back at their desks.
Given the shutdown would begin on a Saturday, many would not really feel the impacts of a shutdown until Monday — or even later, when the next payroll is disbursed.
Some ‘mandatory’ programs will continue
Because payments from Social Security and Medicare are considered “mandatory” spending, they will continue to reach mailboxes, although agencies warn services could slow down.
The U.S. Postal Service, which uses its own revenue stream, won’t be affected either.
How could the military be affected?
About 1.3 million active-duty service members would still be required to work — but without pay until a funding agreement is passed. Typically, half of the 700,000 civilians in the Department of Defense workforce would also be required to work without pay, though by law, all civilians will be paid retroactively.
Generally, military contractors are not required to work and lose paychecks for the duration of the shutdown. However, those who already have had their contracts paid out by the Pentagon would continue to be paid.
Airport wait times could slow
The Transportation Security Administration has not formally weighed in on a shutdown, but if funding does run out for an extended period, wait times at airports could be longer.
The shutdown would come as 173 million people in the U.S. are expected to fly in March and April as spring break travel ramps up and could lead to longer than usual wait times.
There could also be an impact on hiring air traffic controllers.
Impact on Washington, D.C., national parks, and other services
By next week, trash could be piling up along the National Mall outside the White House as janitors working under contract are let go from the hourly jobs.
The Smithsonian Institution’s museums could also be affected, though it has not released whether it will close its museums if the government shuts down. Ahead of a possible shutdown in December, the Smithsonian Institution said it would keep its 21 museums and the National Zoological Park open until funding ran out, which was days after a shutdown deadline.
Typically, the National Park Service will release guidance ahead of a government shutdown but has not as of Thursday. In the past, if there is a funding lapse, all national parks have closed, and visitors should expect some services to be unavailable starting Monday, March 17.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle, Luis Martinez and Ayesha Ali contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — SpaceX said that the hydraulic system issue that postponed the Starliner mission on Wednesday has now been fixed and that the crew is once again cleared for take-off on Friday.
The mission will bring the next crew up to work on the International Space Station (ISS) and begin the return of a pair of astronauts back to Earth.
The launch Wednesday was abruptly postponed less than 45 minutes before liftoff due to a problem with a ground support clamp arm on the Falcon 9 rocket.
The clamps hold the rocket on the pad and if they don’t open evenly, could cause the rocket to tip slightly.
NASA’s Ken Bowersox told ABC News that while in this instance, the teams thought there was a low probability of a serious failure, they ultimately decided to not take any chances at all.
As of Thursday evening, SpaceX said ground teams have resolved the issue and successfully flushed a suspected pocket of trapped air in the system.
SpaceX said it’s now targeting a launch on Friday at 7:03 p.m. ET. The company predicts a 95% chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch attempt.
Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams have been in space since June 2024 after they performed the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner. When they launched, they were only supposed to be on the ISS for about a week.
However, NASA and Boeing officials decided to send the uncrewed Starliner back to Earth in September after several issues and keep Wilmore and Williams onboard until early 2025 when Crew-10 was ready to launch on the Dragon spacecraft. Wilmore and Williams are set to return in the Crew-9 capsule.
The pair integrated with the ongoing Crew-9 mission aboard the ISS and could not return to Earth until Crew-9 completed its six-month mission and were replaced by Crew-10.
Wilmore and Williams assisted the crew with research and other responsibilities. However, NASA officials said the pair were using up more supplies meant for the ISS crew.
Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said that NASA teams spent all summer looking over the data on Starliner and felt there was too much risk with regard to the vehicle’s thrusters.
During a press conference in September, Wilmore said he and Williams did not feel let down by anything during the mission.
“Let down? Absolutely not,” Wilmore said. “It’s never entered my mind. It’s a fair question. I can tell you, I thought a lot about this press conference … and what I wanted to say and convey.”
“NASA does a great job of making a lot of things look easy,” he said, adding, “That’s just the way it goes. sometimes because we are pushing the edges of the envelope in everything that we do.”
If the mission is successful, it’s unclear when exactly Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth on Crew-9.
The crew consists of two NASA astronauts, an astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and an astronaut from Russia’s Roscosmos.
SpaceX will share a live webcast of the mission beginning one hour and 20 minutes prior to liftoff on its website and on its X account. NASA will also air coverage on its X account.
“During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct new research to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and to benefit humanity on Earth,” SpaceX said on its website.
SpaceX’s contracted missions are part of the larger Commercial Crew Program at NASA, which are certified to perform routine missions to and from the ISS.
Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — The White House has quietly directed the FBI to halt the background check process for dozens of President Donald Trump’s top staffers, and has transferred the process to the Pentagon, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The directive came last month after agents tasked with completing the background investigations had conducted interviews with a handful of top White House aides — a standard part of the background check process.
White House officials took the unusual step of ordering a stop to the background check investigations after they deemed the process too intrusive, sources said.
The procedure typically involves extensive interviews as well as a review of financial records, foreign contacts, past employment, and any potential security risks.
The White House instead decided to transfer the background check process for White House personnel to the Department of Defense for them to complete the checks, the sources said.
A former FBI official told ABC News the approach was “highly unusual.”
“If any of this is true, and if you apply it to whatever has been historically in the remit of the FBI, then it would be breaking that historic, long-standing precedent, and highly unusual,” a former FBI official told ABC News. “It would be highly unusual if that was taken away from the FBI now, for whatever reason, and given over to the DOD or another agency.”
Newly installed FBI Director Kash Patel told ABC News in a statement, “The FBI is relentlessly focused on our mission to rebuild trust, restore law and order and let good agents be good agents — and we have full confidence DOD can address any needs in the clearance process.”
Pentagon representatives referred questions on the matter to the White House.
The background check process was halted just days before Patel was confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 20, the sources said. The FBI is still conducting background investigations for positions requiring Senate confirmation, said the sources.
The Pentagon’s Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) carries out the bulk of background investigations for the federal government. The FBI carries out investigations for presidential appointees that require Senate confirmation as well as some other presidential appointees, including White House staff.
Historically, administrations have relied on the FBI background check process to ensure that the personnel they are hiring meet stringent ethical standards and don’t risk compromising national security.
“Background investigations for national security positions are conducted to gather information to determine whether you are reliable, trustworthy, of good conduct and character, and loyal to the U.S.,” states the SF-86 form filled out by federal employees seeking security clearances and used for background investigations.
However Trump and many of his allies entered the White House with a bitter distrust of the bureau over what they argued was its “weaponization” through the prosecutions brought against him by former special counsel Jack Smith. His top political appointees in the opening month of the administration quickly moved to purge senior ranks of the FBI and DOJ from anyone tied to the Smith prosecutions and those they believed wouldn’t be politically loyal to Trump.
Among Trump’s first presidential actions was issuing a memorandum granting the highest level of security clearance to top White House officials who had not been fully vetted through the background check process.
That list of officials, while not publicly disclosed, included dozens of high-level White House staffers, according to sources familiar with the matter.
In that memorandum, Trump claimed there was a “backlog” in the security clearance process — an issue he blamed on President Joe Biden’s administration.
However, Trump’s transition team had refused for months to enter into an agreement with the Department of Justice under Biden to begin the background check process for individuals who would staff Trump’s incoming administration, which has contributed in part to the staffing issues they now face.
