(GATEWAY, Ark.) — A U.S. Border Patrol tactical unit from Texas, known as BORTAC, has been deployed to Arkansas to assist in the manhunt for Grant Hardin, officials said.
This unit is “equipped with specialized tools and possess extensive experience in high-risk operations and complex terrain navigation,” according to a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit state prison in Calico Rock, Arkansas, on May 25 through a sally port by impersonating a corrections officer “in dress and manner,” which caused another corrections officer “operating a secure gate to open the gate and allow Hardin to walk away from the North Central Unit,” according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News.
Officials said during a press conference that Hardin was not wearing an official uniform from the department of corrections and it had to “have been homemade or brought in somehow.”
Hardin currently remains at large, and the FBI is offering a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to his capture. The RGV Sector BORTAC team is composed of highly trained tactical agents and they are providing “advanced search capabilities and operational support to the multi-agency effort underway in northern Arkansas,” officials said.
“BORTAC’s unique capabilities and training are well-suited for the demands of this critical mission. USBP is committed to supporting our state and local partners in the effort to apprehend this dangerous fugitive,” said Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez.
Authorities have already been using helicopters, drones, K9 officers and ATVs in their search for Hardin but have, so far, not been able to find him. Rugged terrain, densely wooded areas, hills and days of rain have been “hindering the ongoing search,” a spokesperson with the department of corrections said.
Deputies are continuing to monitor the roadways near the prison and are conducting security checkpoints in the area, according to officials, and the department of corrections said they are in contact with neighboring states, since Hardin grew up on the Missouri border.
Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 59-year-old James Appleton, according to The Associated Press.
He was also convicted of the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers, Arkansas, a crime highlighted in the 2023 television documentary “Devil in the Ozarks.”
Hardin is described as 6 feet tall and weighing 259 pounds and authorities said anyone with information regarding his whereabouts should contact local law enforcement immediately.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway and Megan Forrester contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Prior to becoming Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had espoused the idea of “medical freedom,” the ability of people to make personal health decisions for themselves and their families without corporate or government coercion.
It’s an idea supported under Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement to reduce the prevalence of chronic disease in the U.S. by making healthier lifestyle choices.
On topics, such as vaccines, Kennedy has said he wouldn’t prevent children from being able to receive vaccines but would leave the choice up to parents.
“I’m a freedom-of-choice person,” Kennedy told Fox News host Sean Hannity during an interview in March. “We should have transparency. We should have informed choice, and if people don’t want it, the government shouldn’t force them to do it.”
Some public health experts told ABC News, however, that the HHS has been limiting choices on some products for many Americans despite Kennedy’s talk about “freedom of choice.”
Just last week, Kennedy announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would no longer recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for certain groups.
Additionally, Kennedy has called on states to ban recipients of food stamps from being able to use them to purchase soda. He has also praised states for banning fluoride from public drinking water and indicated he will change federal guidance on recommending adding fluoride.
The public health experts said Kennedy’s actions are setting up a dichotomy on public health.
“I think that RFK Jr. has done a really good job of identifying some of the problems [in public health], but it’s the solutions that are problematic,” Dr. Craig Spencer, an associate professor of the practice of health services, policy and practice at Brown University School of Public Health, told ABC News. “What you’re seeing with RFK Jr. and his approach to health is an individualization of public health. It’s this idea that you can make decisions for your health, and that’s always been true.”
He went on, “We need to be able to follow their guidance, not just have them tell us, ‘Follow your own science.’ As the focus shifts from community to individuals, we’re losing a lot of that underpinning, which has led to a lot of the gains in public health.”
Limiting access to COVID-19 vaccines
Kennedy has repeatedly stated that he is not anti-vaccine and that he supports vaccination.
Shortly after Trump’s election, Kennedy said in an interview with NBC News that “if vaccines are working for somebody, I’m not going to take them away. People ought to have choice, and that choice ought to be informed by the best information.”
During his confirmation hearings, Kennedy said he supported the childhood vaccination schedule and that he would not do anything as head of HHS that “makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines.”
Separately, in an opinion piece Kennedy wrote for Fox News in March on the nationwide measles outbreak, he said the measles vaccine helps protect individuals and provides “community immunity” but also called the decision to vaccinate a “personal one.”
However, last week, Kennedy announced the removal of the COVID-19 vaccine from the CDC’s immunization schedule for “healthy children and healthy pregnant women.”
The CDC’s immunization schedule is not just a guide for doctors but also determines insurance coverage for most major private plans and Medicaid expansion programs. Following Kennedy’s announcement, the schedule was updated noting all children would be eligible for COVID vaccines, but now under a shared-clinical decision-making model — allowing parents to choose whether their children are vaccinated alongside advice from a doctor.
“Regarding the vaccines, HHS is restoring the doctor-patient relationship,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told ABC News in a statement. “We are encouraging those groups to consult with their health care provider to help them make an informed decision. This is freedom of choice.”
“If you restrict access, you necessarily restrict choice,” Dr. Matthew Ferrari, a professor of biology and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics at Pennsylvania State University, told ABC News. “Those two things are antithetical. You can’t do both. You can’t say you’re allowing choice if you’re restricting access.”
Ferrari said the idea of “medical freedom” is catchy, but public health recommendations are made based on how to protect the most vulnerable individuals.
“If you look at the outcomes, if you look at the consequences of that movement, it has been to disproportionately restrict access to — and restrict support and infrastructure to allow people to access — preventive medicine,” he said. “It’s sort of easy to say, ‘Well, take the vaccine away. But [vaccines] prevent a future outcome of illness for yourself and for others in the community.”
Traditionally, the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices decides if there is a benefit to a yearly vaccine and who should get it. The independent advisory committee then makes recommendations to the CDC, which has the final say. The committee was set to meet in late June to vote on potential changes to COVID vaccine recommendations.
Spencer said Kennedy’s bypassing of traditional avenues when it comes to changing vaccine recommendations is also taking away choice from people.
“This did not go through the normal process that it should have, and he basically just made a decision for people while at the same time saying that he’s going to let people make a decision,” Spencer said.
Restricting foods under SNAP
Kennedy has also campaigned to prevent Americans from using food stamps — provided under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — to buy candy and soda.
“It’s nonsensical for U.S. taxpayers to spend tens of billions of dollars subsidizing junk that harms the health of low-income Americans,” Kennedy wrote in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal last September.
At a MAHA event in late May, Kennedy said the governors of 10 states have submitted waivers to the United States Department of Agriculture requesting permission to ban SNAP recipients from using benefits to buy candy and soft drinks.
“The U.S. government spends over $4 trillion a year on health care,” Nixon said in a statement. “That’s not freedom — it’s failure. Secretary Kennedy is unapologetically taking action to reverse the chronic disease epidemic, not subsidize it with taxpayer dollars. Warning Americans about the dangers of ultra-processed food isn’t an attack on choice — it’s the first step in restoring it.”
Nutrition experts agree that sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are unhealthy. Frequent consumption of SSBs is linked to health issues such as weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, tooth decay, heart disease and kidney diseases, according to the CDC.
Kristina Petersen, an associate professor in the department of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University, told ABC News there is a crisis of diet-related diseases in the U.S., which increase the risk of disability and reduces lifespan.
However, she said there needs to be strong evidence of the benefits of restrictive policies if they are to be put in place.
“In terms of limiting people’s choices, it is important to consider all the different roles that food plays in someone’s life, and so obviously we want people eating nutritious foods, but also we need to acknowledge that food is a source of enjoyment,” Petersen said. “A lot of social situations revolve around food. So, when we’re thinking about reducing people’s access to given foods, we need to think about the consequences of that.”
One unintended consequence could be an eligible family not signing up for SNAP benefits because of the restrictions, she said.
Even if a ban on buying candy and soda with SNAP benefits does occur, Petersen said she is not aware of any evidence that shows banning certain foods leads to healthier diets.
She added that the nation’s dietary guidelines are written to emphasize healthy foods like fruits and vegetable rather than telling people to avoid or restrict less healthy foods.
“All foods can be consumed as part of a healthy dietary pattern. It’s really just the amount and the frequency that determines whether that pattern is helpful overall or less helpful,” Petersen said. “People can have small indulgences, but really, we’re interested in what is their pattern over a period of time.”
Providing incentives for purchasing healthier foods may be more effective and still allow people to have choice, Petersen said.
A 2018 study used a model simulation to study the effects of food incentives, disincentives or restrictions in SNAP.
One of the simulations involving incentives for foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fish and plant-based oils found to have the most substantial health benefits and be the most cost-effective.
“Things like fruits and vegetables, they do tend to be more expensive, so if you incentivize them by providing more benefits … that’s making the dollar go further, and it’s kind of making the economic piece of this a bit stronger,” Petersen said. “A lot of this is framed around personal choice. Rather than restricting access to, how can we give people more access to healthy foods? I think that’s going to have the greatest benefit here.”
ABC News’ Youri Benadjaoud and Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.
(NORFOLK, Va.) — A 21-year-old Navy sailor has mysteriously disappeared in Virginia, leaving her mother desperate for answers.
Angelina “Angie” Resendiz was last seen on Thursday, May 29, at 10 a.m. at her barracks in Miller Hall at Naval Station Norfolk, according to the Virginia State Police.
“This disappearance poses a credible threat to their health and safety as determined by the investigating agency,” police said.
Resendiz, a Texas native, is a culinary specialist assigned to the USS James E. Williams, the Navy said.
Resendiz’s mother, Esmeralda Castle, insists that her daughter “does not miss work. Sick, snow, feeling down, she shows up.”
Resendiz joined the Navy in 2023 after high school “because she felt it was something that called her,” Castle wrote to ABC News.
As a culinary specialist, “She thought that one day she might be able to cook for the president and other world leaders,” Castle said. “She worked really hard on her ship.”
“She’s fun, loving, kind, compassionate, uplifting,” she added.
“People that care about Angie shared with me that the last person she was with was missing with her,” and “that person showed up Monday but not Angie,” Castle said.
“There are no answers for me,” she said. “I just want my kid, she doesn’t deserve to be missing.”
The Navy told ABC News in a statement that it’s “cooperating fully with the investigation.”
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service said, “Out of respect for the investigative process, NCIS will not comment further while the investigation remains ongoing.”
Anyone with information is urged to call NCIS at 877-579-3648.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump hit back on Elon Musk following Musk’s rampage against his domestic megabill, saying on Thursday he’s “very disappointed” in the Tesla billionaire.
“Look, Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore,” Trump said.
Musk responded in kind to the personal comments in real time on X, where he continued to swipe at the legislation and at Trump directly.
At one point, Musk responded to a user: “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”
“Such ingratitude,” Musk added. Musk spent more than $270 million to back Trump and other Republicans during the 2024 election cycle.
Musk and Trump had not spoken as of Thursday morning, according to two sources familiar with the president’s conversations.
Multiple administration officials have attempted to reach out to Musk and his representatives personally, but their calls and texts have not been returned, several sources tell ABC News.
President Trump was asked about Musk’s relentless criticisms of the tax and immigration bill while taking reporter questions alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office.
“He hasn’t said anything about me that’s bad. I’d rather have him criticize me than the bill, because the bill is incredible,” Trump said of Musk.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” passed the House last month by a single vote. The measure would extend Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and boost spending for the military and border security, while making some cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other assistance programs.
It now faces headwinds in the Senate, specifically among a small group of Republican fiscal hawks.
Musk has said the the legislation, estimated by the nonpartisan budget office to add $3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, would undermine the Department of Government Efficiency’s goal to reduce government spending and trim the national debt.
“Where is this guy today??” Musk wrote as he reupped another user’s compilation of past Trump tweets criticizing high deficits, unbalanced budgets and more.
Trump contended on Thursday that Musk, the CEO of Tesla, was really “upset” because the legislation would remove tax credits for electric vehicles.
“But I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here, better than you people,” Trump said. “He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden, he had a problem.”
Before speaking out publicly against the bill, Musk personally pushed some lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, to keep the tax credits for electric vehicles in the bill, according to two people familiar with conversations.
Musk pushed back on X and suggested Trump was not telling the truth.
“False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!” he wrote.
In another post, Musk wrote: “Whatever.”
“Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill,” the post read.
“In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful,” Musk added. “Everyone knows this! Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.”
As of now, the Tesla that President Trump bought to show support for Elon Musk is still on the White House complex, according to two sources.
The White House declined to comment. A representative for Musk has not yet returned request for comment.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the phone Thursday amid trade tensions between the two countries — and during the call, Trump said Xi invited him to visit China.
In a social media post, Trump said they discussed “some of the intricacies of our recently made, and agreed to, Trade Deal.” The call lasted about one and a half hours, and the leaders exclusively talked trade.
Trump added that it “resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries.” He said that U.S. and Chinese negotiating teams “will be meeting shortly at a location to be determined.”
The president said that Xi invited him to visit China and Trump extended an invitation for Xi to visit the U.S.
“So, I will be going there with the first lady at a certain point, and he’ll be coming here hopefully with the first lady of China,” Trump later told reporters in the Oval Office.
The call happened at Trump’s request, Chinese State News Agency Xinhua had reported.
It was the first confirmed time the leaders have spoken since Trump returned to the White House. Trump has alluded to a previous call with Xi, but he nor the White House have ever confirmed if that took place since he took office in January.
Their conversation is a significant development amid a trade standoff between the U.S. and China, the world’s two largest economies.
It came after Trump last week accused China of violating a deal negotiated by top officials in Geneva last month to roll back high tariff rates for 90 days. The agreement saw the U.S. drop the rate on Chinese goods coming to the U.S. from over 145% to 30%. China lowered its levy on U.S. goods from 125% to 10%.
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said China was slow-walking approval of export licenses for rare earth materials, which was also a part of the Geneva agreement.
Beijing pushed back on Monday, saying it “firmly rejects unreasonable accusations” and that it was the U.S. that “unilaterally provoked new economic and trade frictions.”
Chinese leaders said they had their own concerns about U.S. restrictions on tech exports and the Trump administration’s attempt to revoke Chinese student visas.
Trump on Thursday, following his call with Xi, told reporters he believed they “straightened out any complexity” regarding the agreement.
“I think we’re in very good shape with China and the trade deal,” Trump said. “We have a trade deal with China, as you know, but we were straightening out some of the points having to do mostly with rare earths, magnets and some other things.”
Trump also said it was “no problem” to have Chinese students come the U.S., despite the administration announcement it would “aggressively” revoke the visas.
“It’s an honor to have them, frankly,” he said, before turning his attention to Harvard University. The administration has demanded information on all the school’s international students, including names and coursework.
“Look, we want to have — we want to have foreign students, but we want them to be checked,” Trump said. “You know, in the case of Harvard and Columbia and others, all we want to do is see their list. There is no problem with that.”
(WASHINGTON) — Senate Republican Leader John Thune reiterated that “failure is not an option” as he works to get GOP holdouts on the megabill advancing President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda in line — especially amid Elon Musk’s efforts to tank the bill.
“This is a team effort, and everybody is going to be rowing in the same direction to get this across the finish line. Failure is not an option, and we intend to deliver, along with the president for the American people on the things that he committed to do and that we committed to do in terms of the agenda,” Thune told reporters after he left a meeting with Trump at the White House on Thursday.
As things currently stand, Thune can afford to lose only three of his GOP members to pass the package, and right now, he has more members than that expressing serious doubts about the bill.
The House-passed legislation extends the Trump 2017 tax cuts, boosts spending for the military and border security — while making some cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other assistance programs. It could also add $3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to an analysis out Wednesday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
As the Senate weighs possible changes to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap as part of the tax portion of the bill, House Republicans from blue states are already threatening to derail the bill’s prospects.
Thune signaled changes could be coming to the SALT deal that was struck in the House, but the details are still unclear.
“It would be very, very hard to get the Senate to vote for what the House did,” Thune told reporters. “We’ve just got some people that feel really strongly on this.”
Speaker Mike Johnson said he spoke to the SALT caucus on the floor during House votes Wednesday and plans to “communicate” their red line with Senate leaders.
The SALT deal is “a very delicate thing and we have to maintain the equilibrium point that we reached in the House, and it took us almost a year… so I don’t think we can toss that,” Johnson said.
Musk’s effect on negotiations
Not helping Thune’s endeavor to sway the defectors are frequent posts from Musk targeting the bill — and on Thursday targeting the president.
Musk on Thursday quoted a 2013 post from Trump criticizing Republicans for extending the debt ceiling, with Musk writing, “Wise words.”
Earlier, Musk slammed the bill, calling it a “disgusting abomination” and later urged all members of Congress to “kill the bill.”
Trump touted the bill from the White House on Thursday — brushing off the scathing criticism from Musk.
“I’m very disappointed because Elon knew the inner-workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here better than you people. He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem,” Trump said.
Johnson said he plans to speak directly to Musk on Thursday, a day after the speaker said the billionaire was “flat wrong” in his criticism of the bill. Multiple administration officials have attempted to reach out to Musk and his representatives personally, but their calls and texts have not been returned, several sources tell ABC News.
Before speaking out publicly against the bill, Musk personally pushed some lawmakers, including Johnson, to keep the tax credits for electric vehicles in the bill, according to two people familiar with conversations.
Still, Johnson said Musk “seems pretty dug in right now. and I can’t quite understand the motivation behind it.”
“But I would tell you that what we’re delivering in this bill is not only historic tax cuts, but historic savings as well. He seems to miss that,” Johnson added.
Thune said Wednesday that although he can’t speak to Musk’s motivations for his opposition, he will continue to push for the bill’s success in the Senate.
Musk’s public bashing of the bill came up in senators’ meeting with Trump on Thursday, said Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, describing it as a “laughing conversation for 30 seconds.”
“It was very much in jest and laughing, and I think he said something positive about Elon appreciating what he did for the country,” Marshall said.
ABC News’ Will Steakin, Rachel Scott Mary Bruce, Molly Nagle and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Outside a nondescript building in downtown Manhattan, Ambar was pleading to God and immigration authorities that her husband Jaen would not walk out the doors of the Elk Street facility in handcuffs.
“It’s the only thing I ask of God and them, to have mercy for his family. I don’t have anyone else. I’m alone with my daughter, I don’t want to be separated from him,” Ambar told ABC News with tears welling up as her daughter Aranza kept herself distracted on an iPad.
But her prayers were not answered. That afternoon, Jaen and two other men were brought outside by masked agents in plainclothes and quickly ushered into unmarked vehicles, with Ambar wailing and making a last plea. Aranza, 12, tried to push past the agents to prevent them from leading him toward the vehicles, tears streaming down her face.
ABC News observed the emotional moments as an uncontrollably distraught Ambar threw herself on the ground pleading for her husband to be released.
The masked individuals did not respond to multiple questions asked by ABC News regarding what agency they belonged to, why they were covering their faces, and which authority was being invoked to detain the men. But Jaen’s lawyer, Margaret Cargioli, says his detention follows a growing pattern of migrants being detained during check-ins with the Department of Homeland Security and being quickly deported under expedited removal.
DHS did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
In 2023, ABC News did a sit-down interview with the Colombian-Venezuelan family about their tearful reunion after being separated at the border by U.S. authorities in Texas. Jaen, Ambar and Aranza made the dangerous journey from Colombia hoping to seek asylum in the U.S.
“[It was] traumatic,” Jaen said during the interview. “It was a risky decision. We knew we had someone to take care of, our daughter. As a family, we felt we didn’t have another option.”
Once they reached the border the family said they were separated and were placed in different types of removal proceedings. Ambar and her daughter said they were eventually released and placed on a bus to Los Angeles, funded by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.
Jaen was issued a removal order under the expedited removal process, but Cargioli and other attorneys with Immigrant Defenders Law Center were able to successfully challenge the separation and he was released on humanitarian parole for one year.
Cargioli says Jaen has petitioned for asylum, a renewal of parole and a stay of removal but all are pending.
Jaen was scheduled for a check-in on June 16 as part of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP) — an alternative to the detention program run by ICE — but was unexpectedly told to come in on June 3 or 4, Ambar told ABC News.
That raised major red flags for his legal team, who has been monitoring increasing incidents of the Trump administration detaining migrants in the interior of the country and placing them on “expedited removal.” The process allows the government to remove migrants in a streamlined manner without requiring them, in some cases, to go before a judge.
Under the Biden administration, the process applied to migrants who had entered the U.S. within 14 days and within 100 miles of the border. Under the Trump administration, it has been expanded to apply to migrants anywhere in the interior who have arrived within two years.
Jaen and his family entered the United States on June 4, 2023, exactly two years before his latest detention, leading Cargioli to fear he’s being placed in expedited removal. Despite asking the ISAP officers where he was going to be detained, and if it was through expedited removal, the attorney says she has not received an answer.
Jaen spoke with Ambar on the phone after his detention and said he did not know where he was, but that he was being held at a facility close to where he was detained, Ambar said.
Ambar and Aranza have an asylum hearing scheduled for June 2028. Cargioli believes Jaen would be with his family if they had not been separated at the border.
“If he had not been separated from his family at that stage and put into expedited removal, he would have his case in immigration in New York, in immigration court with her, with both of them,” she told ABC News.
ISAP check-ins are carried out through a government contractor called BI Incorporated, according to DHS reports. Jaen has been regularly checking in at the Elk Street office since his initial detention, Ambar said.
Families with loved ones checking in stand outside the facility hoping they will not be detained. On Wednesday, ABC News saw one woman cry with joy when a relative and her baby walked out with no handcuffs in sight. Another woman was shocked to see her mom being quickly led into one of the vehicles waiting outside the building.
“Mom what happened, what is this,” the woman asked. The masked agents did not respond to her repeated questions about why her mom was being detained.
“I don’t understand,” the woman yelled. “She didn’t do anything. She has a work card.”
“Who do we speak to…what is going on,” she asked as the agents closed the car door and drove off with her mother.
(WASHINGTON) — A large part of funding for President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda would come from cuts to safety net programs like Medicaid, the health care program for lower-income Americans and those with disabilities, and SNAP, which helps millions of lower-income Americans buy groceries every month.
The bill passed by the House makes around $600 billion in cuts to Medicaid. About 10.9 million people could lose their coverage over the next 10 years, according to Wednesday’s estimate by the Congressional Budget Office.
The SNAP cuts total an estimated $230 billion over 10 years.
Republicans say their goal is reducing “waste, fraud, and abuse” in these programs to save hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade and to pay for Trump’s tax cuts and increased funding for the border and defense.
Here’s a breakdown of those cuts in the current form of the bill:
Medicaid cuts
Work requirements: The bill imposes new 80-hours 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.
Under the bill’s current text, these work requirements won’t kick in until 2026.
Increased eligibility checks: The bill also requires states to conduct eligibility redeterminations at least every six months for all recipients instead of the current 12 months.
Undocumented migrants: The legislation seeks to prohibit states from using their funds to cover undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid, but 14 states and the District of Columbia have opted to use their own funds to cover those individuals. This bill would penalize them by reducing Medicaid funding. The White House estimates approximately 1.4 million undocumented migrants would lose coverage.
Increased copays: The bill increases copays for Medicaid recipients who make more than the federal poverty level of just over $15,500 for single beneficiaries. They would be required to pay an extra $35 dollar copay in some visits.
Income and residency verification: Required Medicaid paperwork for income and residency verification will increase as lawmakers look to crack down on people who are “double-dipping” in multiple jurisdictions. The additional steps are expected to especially impact seniors and others who can’t promptly respond.
Prohibits funds for abortion providers and gender transition care: The legislation would ban Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood as long as the organization provides abortions and abortion services.
The legislation also prohibits Medicaid funds from going to gender transition care, including puberty blockers, hormone treatments and surgery. In the initial text of the bill, this language applied only to children, but it was expanded to include adults shortly before the House vote.
Obamacare enrollment: The bill ends open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act a month earlier. Most states hold open enrollment from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15. The House bill requires open enrollment to end on Dec. 15. An analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation found in 2025 that roughly 40% of enrollees, or about 10 million people, selected plans after Dec. 15.
The legislation also eliminates a Biden-era policy that allows year-round ACA enrollment for the poorest Americans — those who make up to 150% of the poverty level, or around $22,600 a year. Americans will still be able to enroll year-round if they’ve had a “change in circumstances or the occurrence of a specific event.”
These changes would codify a rule proposed in March by the Trump administration’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
SNAP cuts
The bill tightens eligibility requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which used to be called the “food stamp” program, which helped roughly 42 million low-income people buy groceries per month in 2024.
Work requirements: The bill raises the age for work requirements from 54 to 64. A similar bill introduced in the House in 2023 would have reduced rolls by between 3 million and 3.5 million people, according to the CBO. It would also require parents with children older than 6 to meet the work requirement. There is currently no work requirement for SNAP beneficiaries with dependent children at home.
Shifting costs to states: SNAP is currently 100% federally funded. The bill requires states to share in at least 5% of SNAP benefit costs starting in 2028.
Indirect effects: The changes could have an impact on school lunch programs, requiring some previously eligible families to apply for access and on federal reimbursement payments for some school districts.
(PHOENIX) — A 9-year-old boy allegedly accidentally shot and killed his 5-year-old sister with their father’s AR-style rifle, according to police and court documents.
Their father, 33-year-old Irvin Ramos-Jimenez, told police he was out front of his Phoenix home Tuesday night when he heard a loud bang inside, according to the probable cause statement. He said he ran into his son’s room where he found his daughter with a gunshot wound to her torso, the documents said.
Ramos-Jimenez told police he and his girlfriend rushed the little girl to a psychiatric center to meet an ambulance. He said he dropped off his daughter and girlfriend and then drove back home where his children had been left unattended with the gun, the documents said.
Ramos-Jimenez said he stored his weapon “in the top shelf of his son’s bedroom,” adding that “his son must have grabbed the gun,” according to the probable cause statement.
Ramos-Jimenez has been arrested for possession of a weapon by a prohibited person, Phoenix police said.
Ramos-Jimenez was convicted in 2021 of transporting and/or trafficking narcotics, according to court documents. He’s barred from having a firearm and he told police he bought the AR-style rifle “through a private sale for personal protection,” the probable cause document said.
“We ask all gun owners to ensure that all guns are stored in a location, preferably a secured safe, out of reach of all children in the home or who may visit,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Robert Scherer told ABC News via email. “No family should ever have to endure the loss of a child in circumstances like these.”
Guns are the leading cause of death for children in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Each year, hundreds of kids in the U.S. access loaded firearms and accidentally shoot themselves or someone else, according to Everytown for Gun Safety. The worst year on record was 2023, when there were more than 400 unintentional shootings by kids, Everytown said.
So far this year, kids have carried out at least 66 unintentional shootings, resulting in at least 30 deaths, according to Everytown.
(LONDON) — Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of graphic violence.
Aid distribution through the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites (GHF) resumed at two sites in Rafah, Gaza, on Thursday, the group said.
One of the sites, which has been used by GHF previously, is now closed after distribution was finished for the day, the U.S.-backed group said. The second site is a new one that is located 1 kilometer away and will open at 2:15 p.m. local time, according to the GHF.
Aid in Gaza was paused after several people died and were injured trying to reach the sites to obtain food, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, eyewitness reports on the ground and international aid organizations working in Gaza.
Palestinians described harrowing scenes of bullets flying and people dying around them as they tried to get aid with a famine looming in Gaza.
The U.S.- and Israel-backed GHF suspended distribution of aid in Gaza on Wednesday after a deadly shooting left at least 27 people dead and more than 90 others injured on Tuesday while people were trying to reach one of the distribution sites in southern Gaza, according to Gaza health officials, eyewitnesses on the ground in Gaza and the International Committee of the Red Cross working on the ground in Gaza.
The GHF asked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to “enhance its security measures beyond the perimeter,” “develop clearer guidance” and “enhance IDF force training to support safety,” a GHF source told ABC News on Wednesday.
The newly established food distribution centers, constructed last month according to satellite imagery obtained and reviewed by ABC News, in southern Gaza have been overrun since they opened last week, with thousands of Palestinians in search of food and medicine following Israel’s partial lifting of the 11-week blockade of aid, according to aid groups.
The Israeli government imposed an 11-week blockade on all humanitarian aid entering Gaza on March 2, after the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended. The Israeli government said the blockade was put in place to pressure Hamas to release the remaining hostages being held in Gaza.
One Palestinian who was injured trying to get flour at one of the sites said he was “surprised to find bullets hitting us,” when he went in search of food.
“I went to get some flour — only flour. Just a kilo or two of flour for our home. We were surprised to find bullets hitting us. Even lying on the ground bullets were still hitting us,” Kamel Muhanna, a Palestinian who was injured while attempting to receive aid in Rafah, told ABC News.
Muhanna described people dying around him while he was near the aid distribution site trying to get food. Those whose family members were with them collected their bodies, but those who did not remained on the ground, he said.
“The bullet passed through the head of the young man in front of me and then hit me. There were like 100 in front of me and I still got hit,” Muhanna said. “If the bullet hadn’t killed the young man in front of me, it would have taken off my arm.”
Dozens of Palestinians were killed and hundreds more were injured in two events in the last week, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health and the International Committee of the Red Cross working on the ground in Gaza.
Nasser NaserAllah, a Palestinian who was being treated inside Nasser Hospital, told ABC News the aid “is like a trap.”
“If there wasn’t aid, fewer people would have died,” he said. “They killed women, children [there was] blood on the ground everywhere — huge tragedies.”
The IDF acknowledged they “carried out warning fire approximately half a kilometer from the aid distribution center, targeting a few individuals who were approaching in a way that posed a security threat,” in a video statement given in English by IDF spokesperson Effie Defrin.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said they have responded to five incidents, four of which had occurred in the previous 96 hours.
The majority of victims suffered gunshot wounds, and “all responsive patients said they were trying to reach an assistance distribution site,” the ICRC said.
The GHF said it closed the distribution sites Wednesday for “preparations and staging” to prepare for the large number of people it expects to arrive.
“We did not expect 15,000 per hour,” the GHF said in the statement.
At the same time, the GHF said in a statement to media Tuesday they have distributed approximately 7 million meals in Gaza since they began operating last week.
The GHF also said they distributed 21 truckloads of food, totaling 20,160 boxes providing approximately 1,159,200 meals to Palestinians on Tuesday morning.
Established international aid groups operating inside Gaza — including Amnesty International and the ICRC — and the United Nations have criticized the U.S.-backed aid distribution plan, saying it is militarized and negates the neutrality of international humanitarian work.
NaserAllah claimed that the situation goes beyond hunger.
“People are living in famine,” he said.
Gaza’s entire population is experiencing critical levels of hunger, according to a report released last month. Gaza’s 2.1 million residents will face a “crisis” level of food insecurity — or worse — through the end of September, according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification partnership report.
He also noted that people are forced to go to the aid distribution areas despite the risks.
“A week ago, my cousin Ibn Hassoonah, went to the aid station. They shot him dead [but we still go] because of the severity of the hunger,” he said. “If they don’t die from bullets, they die from hunger.”
