(CAMDEN, N.J. ) — A New Jersey woman has been charged with attempted murder after she allegedly tried to hire someone on Tinder to kill her ex-boyfriend — a police officer — and his teenage daughter, according to prosecutors and a probable cause statement.
Jaclyn Diiorio, 26, was charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder and one count of third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance, according to the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.
A confidential informant allegedly met Diiorio on the dating app, where they exchanged messages and later met at a Wawa in Runnemede in March, according to the probable cause statement.
The two allegedly exchanged “numerous text messages and phone calls” and Diiorio allegedly said she “wants her ex boyfriend killed,” according to the document.
The couple, whio had met when she was his barber, had split on March 6, the document said.
Diiorio is set to appear in court on Friday for a pretrial detention hearing, according to court records.
The prosecutor’s office was informed of the murder-for-hire plot on April 3.
Diiorio allegedly told the confidential informant that she wanted to have her 53-year-old ex-boyfriend — a Philadelphia Police Department officer — and his 19-year-old daughter killed, according to the prosecutor’s office. She allegedly offered to pay the informant $12,000 to kill both victims, the prosecutor’s office said.
Diiorio met with the informant and gave him $500 in cash on April 4. After the money was exchanged, she was taken into custody, prosecutors said.
She was also found to be in possession of a bottle of suspected alprazolam pills, the generic version of Xanax, according to officials.
An attorney for Diiorio did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(NEW YORK CITY) — All six people on board were killed when a helicopter plunged into the Hudson River by Lower Manhattan in New York City on Thursday afternoon, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The helicopter was carrying a pilot, two adults and three children, according to law enforcement sources. The family members were tourists from Spain, sources said.
The helicopter was in the air around Manhattan for about 15 minutes before the crash. Video showed the chopper plunging into the water without a tail rotor or a main rotor blade.
Dani Horbiak told ABC News she watched the helicopter “fall out of the sky” from her apartment window.
“I heard five or six loud noises that sounded almost like gunshots in the sky and saw pieces fall off, then watched it fall into the river,” she said.
“I was walking by and the helicopter went down at 45-degree angle,” Eric Campoverde told ABC News. “Big splash — it was very scary.”
“It sounded like a sonic boom,” a witness told New York ABC station WABC. He said he saw the “helicopter splitting in two with the rotor flying off.”
Another witness told WABC “one propeller broke into pieces.”
The chopper — identified by Federal Aviation Administration as a Bell 206 helicopter — was on its sixth flight of the day. It was found upside-down in the 50-degree water when rescuers arrived to the scene, which was closer to the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, according to sources.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
ABC News’ Leah Sarnoff and Erin Murtha contributed to this report.
(DOMINICAN REPUBLIC) — The recovery phase has ended after the roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub collapsed during a concert, killing at least 221 people, officials said Thursday.
Another 155 people were injured in the roof collapse early Tuesday at the Jet Set nightclub, located in the capital of Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic Emergency Operations Center said.
The agency said 189 people were rescued alive.
No one remains in the rubble following an extensive search, the sub-director of the Dominican Republic Emergency Operations Center said at the scene of the nightclub roof collapse Thursday afternoon.
Effort to identify victims
Forensic police specialists have been deployed to identify deceased victims using modern biometric identification systems, authorities said earlier Thursday.
The incident happened at 12:34 a.m. Tuesday, during a concert by the Dominican merengue singer Rubby Pérez, according to the police. The roof collapsed within seconds, police said.
“We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred at the Jet Set nightclub,” Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said in a post on social media on Tuesday. “We have been following the incident minute by minute since it occurred. All relief agencies have provided the necessary assistance and are working tirelessly in the rescue efforts. Our prayers are with the affected families.”
Pérez, 69, a renowned singer in the country, was among those found dead in the collapsed club, according to the Dominican Republic’s National Police.
A tribute posted to his Instagram account said Pérez’s music and legacy “will live forever in our hearts.”
Former MLB players among those killed
The incident has impacted those with ties to MLB, with two former players among those killed and other athletes’ family members involved.
The deceased included former MLB player Octavio Dotel, 51, according to the Dominican Republic’s minister of interior and police, Faride Raful.
Dotel was pulled from the rubble by rescue crews but died in an ambulance while en route to a hospital, according to Col. Randolfo Rijo Gomez, head of the country’s 911 emergency services.
The Dominican pitcher played for 13 MLB teams, including the Mets, which held a moment of silence for Dotel before their game on Tuesday.
“We mourn the passing of Octavio Dotel,” the Mets said in a social media post. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the tragedy in the Dominican Republic.”
Dotel was part of a combined no-hitter against the Yankees in June 2003, a team he would play for three years later.
Another former MLB player, 44-year-old Tony Blanco, was also killed in the roof collapse, according to the Dominican Republic Ministry of Sports and Recreation. The Dominican native played for the Washington Nationals as well as professionally in Japan and the Dominican Republic.
“His legacy will live on in the history of national baseball,” the ministry said in a statement on social media. “We share in their grief with their family, friends, and colleagues, and we offer our prayers for their eternal rest.”
Montecristi Gov. Nelsy Milagros Cruz Martinez was also among those killed, according to national police and Abinader’s office. She was the sister of former MLB star Nelson Cruz, who shared a statement from the Cruz Martinez family on social media that said her “legacy of service and love for others will live forever in our hearts.”
“Major League Baseball is deeply saddened by the passings of Octavio Dotel, Tony Blanco, Nelsy Cruz, and all the victims of last night’s tragedy in Santo Domingo,” MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred Jr. said in a statement on Tuesday. “We send our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of all those who have been affected and to our colleague Nelson and his entire family. The connection between baseball and the Dominican Republic runs deep, and we are thinking of all the Dominican players and fans across the game today.”
MLB Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez said Tuesday that he has family members missing in the rubble.
“We don’t know what happened to them, but we just want to be strong like we have always been,” the Dominican-born pitcher said in a video posted to Instagram. “We’re a country that prays a lot and remains united all the time. So I just hope that everybody has the same courage.”
Investigation underway
Fashion designer Martin Polanco died in the roof collapse, his family confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday. A fashion icon in the Dominican Republic, Polanco dressed artists including Daddy Yankee and Sergio Vargas as well as designed for Abinader.
At least nine U.S. citizens are among those killed, according to the State Department. U.S. lawful permanent residents also died in the collapse, according to the department, which did not specify how many.
“We are working with local authorities to determine if any additional U.S. citizens were affected and stand ready to provide consular assistance,” a department official said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X on Wednesday that the U.S. “stands ready to support our Dominican allies amid this difficult time.”
In the wake of the collapse, many families gathered at the site looking for their loved ones who were inside the club amid the search and rescue effort.
Authorities in the Dominican Republic are now moving into the expert assessment phase to determine what caused the nightclub to collapse, District Attorney of the National District Rosalba Ramos said from the site of the collapsed nightclub on Thursday. The expert assessment phase is the step done before a legal investigation can be opened.
The Dominican Republic government is creating a commission of experts to identify possible causes of the roof collapse, a government spokesperson said Thursday. This does not affect the district attorney’s role in investigating the incident, the spokesperson added.
There was a fire in 2023 that damaged part of the nightclub, authorities said.
ABC News’ Aicha El Hammar Castano and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — Far as he was from Washington, D.C., as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hiked to the top of a towering sandstone arch in rural Arizona with a group of Navajo Nation leaders, the impact of his agency’s cuts reached farther.
Wearing a shirt with a clear request written on the front, “Save IHS Jobs and Diabetes Program,” a Navajo council delegate, Eugenia Charles-Newton, approached Kennedy to tell him she was concerned HHS cuts were impacting the diabetes program that she relied on for care.
Charles-Newton said she’d heard funding wasn’t being renewed for aspects of the Special Diabetes Program for Indians, a program within Indian Health Services (IHS) at HHS. The rapid restructuring at HHS had made it difficult to track the actual impact, she said.
Kennedy, who listened and then walked arm-in-arm with Charles-Newton for the last leg of the hike, promised to look into the program and whether any funding was being impacted by the HHS-wide restructuring. The improvements to Navajo health care that she was asking for seemed like “common sense,” he said.
The president of Navajo Nation, Buu Nygren, also mentioned an impacted program — the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which provides federally funded assistance to reduce utility bills and help with weatherizing homes. Navajo people — living with the extreme temperatures of the desert — relied heavily on its assistance, he said.
But the program was gutted by HHS cuts. Nygren told ABC News he held out hope that Kennedy, made aware of its importance to Navajo Nation, might consider reinstating it.
From the start of the layoffs, Kennedy has insisted that no “essential services” would be cut. “The cuts in all of our agency are not affecting science,” Kennedy told ABC News last week.
But the scope of the cuts — and the work impacted, from utility bill assistance on Navajo Nation, to research into black lung disease for coal miners, to a division that monitors lead exposure among children — has continued to dog Kennedy, raising questions about his oversight and involvement in the major restructuring.
In all, the tribal leaders were resoundingly appreciative of Kennedy’s visit, which was part of his first major trip as HHS secretary. The trip focused on combatting chronic disease, with a heavy emphasis on the importance of healthy, unprocessed foods.
Dubbed the Make America Healthy Again tour, Kennedy also visited Utah, the first state in the nation to pass a law to remove fluoride from drinking water systems, and met with local officials. While there, he toured the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Utah, which is aiming to center healthy diet and exercise in the health care conversation, and got aboard their “food pharmacy,” which delivers prescribed healthy foods to patients.
In Arizona, which passed a law to ban SNAP recipients from using the assistance for soda, Kennedy held a press conference with the legislators who championed the bill and toured a Phoenix health center that offers healthy cooking programs for local native communities. He also stopped in for a panel discussion at the 2025 Tribal Self-Governance Conference, sitting with tribal leaders including the chairwoman of the Wampanoag Tribe, which he fondly described spending time around during his childhood in Massachussetts.
On Navajo Nation, the crowd that gathered at the foot of Window Rock, a memorial, commended him for his devoted attention to issues of outdated medical centers, lack of water infrastructure and inadequate access to healthy foods.
“Processed food hurts all of us. It disproportionately injures Native people,” Kennedy told the group of Navajo leaders, who nodded in agreement.
But they also used the opportunity to tell Kennedy that they needed more support, not less — warning against the impact of his agency’s cuts. It was a conversation that Kennedy was receptive to.
“We are all going back with a long laundry list of tasks that we need to perform. And I’m going to give you my commitment today that I am available and listening to you,” Kennedy said.
In an interview with CBS News that aired on Wednesday, Kennedy struck a similar tone to what he told the tribal leaders on Navajo Nation — that he would look into cuts that he wasn’t aware of, and reinstate those that had disrupted “scientific research.”
“There’s a number of studies that were cut that came to our attention and that did not deserve to be cut, and we reinstated them. Our purpose is not to reduce any level of scientific research, that’s important,” Kennedy said in an interview with CBS News on Wednesday.
Kennedy’s comments come after he also told ABC News last week that studies and personnel were being reinstated, adding that the plan was always to make large cuts and then “remedy” mistakes.
But government officials later walked back those comments — and have largely stood by the cuts, which hit nearly one-fifth of the workforce at both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
On Wednesday, HHS did not respond to a request from ABC News for clarity on which research studies Kennedy was referring to in his interview with CBS News, and whether they had been reinstated.
Asked about various cuts in the CBS interview, from a grant for diabetes research at the University of Michigan to over $11 billion in cuts to COVID recovery efforts at the state level, Kennedy said he wasn’t “familiar,” but would look into it.
Across the CDC, FDA and the National Institute of Health, three of the main public health arms of HHS, there have not been significant changes to the cuts that hit around 10,000 employees last week.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump’s decision to pause so-called “reciprocal tariffs” for most countries triggered a historic stock market rally on Wednesday, but the levies that remain in place are still expected to hike prices and put the U.S. at risk of a recession, experts told ABC News.
Alongside the suspension of some tariffs, Trump increased duties on Chinese goods to a total of 145%, marking a significant escalation of a trade war between the two largest economies in the world.
Stock markets plunged on Thursday as investors digested Trump’s tariff announcement, slashing roughly half of the previous day’s rally.
The high tariffs on China, the third-largest U.S. trade partner, are expected to raise prices for an array of widely used products, including smartphones, shoes, clothes and video game systems, experts said.
Plus, experts added, the extra costs for U.S. shoppers and a general sense of policy uncertainty increases the likelihood of an economic downturn.
“China is not the only country we trade with but they are an important trading partner for a lot of goods,” Christopher Conlon, a professor of economics at New York University who studies trade, told ABC News.
Even after Trump paused some tariffs, U.S. consumers face an average effective tariff rate of 25.2%, the highest since 1909, the Yale Budget Lab found in report on Thursday. An effective tariff rate factors in the impact of tariffs on imports of finished goods as well as inputs used by domestic firms.
In addition to the tariffs on Chinese goods, the White House kept in place an across-the-board tariff of 10% on nearly all imports. The U.S. also continues to impose 25% levies on foreign autos, aluminum and steel.
Goods from Mexico and Canada face tariffs of 25%, though the measure excludes products covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.
Current tariffs are expected to hike prices by an additional 2.7% in 2025, costing consumers on average about $4,400 per household over that time, the Yale Budget Lab said.
“Higher tariffs will push prices up significantly over the next year or so,” Preston Caldwell, chief U.S. economist at Morningstar, told ABC News in a statement on Thursday.
On Thursday, the White House said U.S. tariffs on China stand at 145%, more than the 125% levy that had been widely reported a day earlier.
At the previous tariff level of 125% for Chinese goods, the cost of a nearly $60 car seat would’ve increased an average of $132.75 for a new price of about $192, according to the left-leaning Center for American Progress, or CAP. A Playstation 5 video game system, meanwhile, would’ve increased $623.75 for a new price of roughly $1,122, CAP found.
Under the current 145% tariffs, those price increases would rise further.
Smartphone prices are also expected to rise, experts said. China accounted for more than four of every five of smartphones imported into the U.S. last year, S&P Global said in a note to clients on Thursday.
Experts told ABC News they anticipate price hikes will coincide with an elevated risk of a recession.
They pointed to risks of a slowdown for businesses mired in higher tax costs, as well as a shopping slump as consumers curtail spending to pad their savings to help weather price increases and a possible economic downturn.
“It was encouraging to see the President reverse himself on the so-called “reciprocal” tariffs yesterday, but I wouldn’t take much solace in it as the global trade war continues to rage,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in a post on X. “I still put the odds of a recession this year at 60%.”
The view echoed a note J.P.Morgan sent to clients hours after Trump’s tariff pause on Wednesday.
“The drag from trade policy is likely to be somewhat less than before, and thus the prospect of a recession is a closer call,” J.P.Morgan said. “However, we still think a contraction in real activity later this year is more likely than not.”
For now, the economy remains in solid shape by several key measures.
The unemployment rate stands at a historically low level. Meanwhile, inflation cooled in March, putting price increases well below a peak attained in 2022, fresh data on Thursday showed.
Meanwhile, hiring surged in March, blowing past economists’ expectations and accelerating job growth from the previous month.
Conlon, of New York University, said the likelihood of a recession eased after Trump’s tariff pause but the risk of a downturn remains elevated.
“A lot of the permanent disruption and damage has been done, mostly because you’ll see consumers and companies react to this uncertainty by pulling back,” Conlon said. “People will be way less likely to go out and make big-ticket purchases because of recession fears and that can be self-perpetuating.”
(WASHINGTON) — The wingtip of an American Airlines plane hit another American Airlines plane on a taxiway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
No one was hurt, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said. Both planes returned to gates and airport operations weren’t impacted, the agency said.
Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., tweeted that his plane was “stationary on the runway” when another plane “bumped into our wing.”
“Thankfully everyone is ok!” he added.
“The plane shook violently,” Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., another member of Congress on the flight, told ABC News Live. “It was pretty clear that we got hit.”
“The pilot came on and told us we weren’t going anywhere except back to the gate,” he said.
“This is not a time to be cutting the FAA[‘s jobs] when they’re understaffed already,” he said, calling it “deeply concerning.”
Rep. Grace Meng, D-N.Y., who was also on the flight, agreed with Gottheimer, writing on social media, “I’m grateful no one was hurt today, but this incident underscores this urgent need restore all FAA jobs that keep our runways safe.”
The representatives’ flight was headed to JFK International Airport in New York. The other plane was headed to Charleston, South Carolina.
The FAA said it’s investigating.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(DELANO, Calif.) — An escaped California inmate is now wanted for killing a Mexican police commander who hunts down foreign fugitives — also known as a “gringo hunter” — during a shootout in Tijuana, officials said.
Abigail Esparza Reyes, who was part of a specialized Mexican state police unit responsible for locating foreign fugitives who cross the border, was killed on Wednesday while trying to arrest Cesar Hernandez, an escaped inmate from Southern California, officials said.
Marina del Pilar, the governor of Baja California State, confirmed Reyes’ death in a statement on Wednesday.
“To the family and loved ones of Agent Abigail, we recognize their courage and dedication to the service of their state,” Pilar said on X. “Our wishes for prompt resignation are with you, Abigail’s life will be honored and her death will not go unpunished.”
The shooting took place two days after Hernandez’s 35th birthday.
Surveillance footage shows an individual, who authorities identified as Hernandez, changing into bright yellow worker’s clothing, seeming to blend in after the shooting.
Hernandez escaped from custody on Dec. 2, 2024, shortly after arriving for a court appearance in Delano, California, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Upon arrival, Hernandez “evaded staff custody, jumped out of the van and is currently at large,” officials said at the time.
He was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to 80 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole, officials said. He received 25 years for first-degree murder, a sentence “doubled because it was a second strike,” and discharging a firearm during the crime, officials said. Hernandez also received five years for a prior offense, officials said.
Before his escape, Hernandez was housed at the Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, officials said.
Hernandez is still on the run after the shootout that killed Reyes, officials said.
Reyes was featured in a “Nightline x Impact” episode in 2024 that highlighted the “gringo hunters” and their work to catch fugitives who evade law enforcement by fleeing to Mexico.
In the episode, Reyes is seen leading a mission to arrest a fugitive charged with murder who was found in Tijuana.
ABC News’ Sara Sandrick, Ellie Kaufman, Jen Watts and Alondra De La Cruz contributed to this report.
(DOMINICAN REPUBLIC) — The death toll continues to rise amid an ongoing search and rescue effort after the roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub collapsed during a concert.
At least 218 people were killed, Dominican authorities said on Thursday, and another 155 injured in the roof collapse at the Jet Set nightclub, located in the capital of Santo Domingo, according to national police.
The incident happened at 12:34 a.m. Tuesday, during a concert by the Dominican merengue singer Rubby Pérez, according to the police. The roof collapsed within seconds, police said.
Specialized technical teams were active throughout Wednesday, with heavy machinery employed for debris removal, officials said.
“We deeply regret the tragedy that occurred at the Jet Set nightclub,” Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said in a post on social media. “We have been following the incident minute by minute since it occurred. All relief agencies have provided the necessary assistance and are working tirelessly in the rescue efforts. Our prayers are with the affected families.”
Pérez, 69, a renowned singer in the country, was found dead in the collapsed club, according to the Dominican Republic’s National Police.
A tribute posted to his Instagram account said Pérez’s music and legacy “will live forever in our hearts.”
Former MLB players among those killed
The incident has impacted those with ties to Major League Baseball, with two former players among those killed and other athletes’ family members involved.
The deceased included former MLB player Octavio Dotel, 51, according to the Dominican Republic’s minister of interior and police, Faride Raful.
Dotel was pulled from the rubble by rescue crews but died in an ambulance while en route to a hospital, according to Col. Randolfo Rijo Gomez, head of the country’s 911 emergency services.
The Dominican pitcher played for 13 MLB teams, including the Mets, which held a moment of silence for Dotel before their game on Tuesday.
“We mourn the passing of Octavio Dotel,” the Mets said in a social media post. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the tragedy in the Dominican Republic.”
Dotel was part of a combined no-hitter against the Yankees in June 2003, a team he would play for three years later.
Another former MLB player, 44-year-old Tony Blanco, was also killed in the roof collapse, according to the Dominican Republic Ministry of Sports and Recreation. The Dominican baseball player played for the Washington Nationals as well as professionally in Japan and the Dominican Republic.
“His legacy will live on in the history of national baseball,” the ministry said in a statement on social media. “We share in their grief with their family, friends, and colleagues, and we offer our prayers for their eternal rest.”
Montecristi Gov. Nelsy Milagros Cruz Martinez was also among those killed, according to national police and Abinader’s office. She was the sister of former MLB star Nelson Cruz, who shared a statement from the Cruz Martinez family on social media that said her “legacy of service and love for others will live forever in our hearts.”
“Major League Baseball is deeply saddened by the passings of Octavio Dotel, Tony Blanco, Nelsy Cruz, and all the victims of last night’s tragedy in Santo Domingo,” MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred Jr. said in a statement on Tuesday. “We send our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of all those who have been affected and to our colleague Nelson and his entire family. The connection between baseball and the Dominican Republic runs deep, and we are thinking of all the Dominican players and fans across the game today.”
MLB Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez said Tuesday that he has family members missing in the rubble.
“We don’t know what happened to them, but we just want to be strong like we have always been,” the Dominican-born pitcher said in a video posted to Instagram. “We’re a country that prays a lot and remains united all the time. So I just hope that everybody has the same courage.”
Investigation underway
Fashion designer Martin Polanco died in the roof collapse, his family confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday. A fashion icon in the Dominican Republic, Polanco dressed artists including Daddy Yankee and Sergio Vargas as well as designed for Abinader.
At least one U.S. citizen was among those killed, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. U.S. lawful permanent residents also died in the collapse, according to Rubio, who did not specify how many.
“Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones affected by this devastating event,” he said in a post on X on Wednesday. “The U.S. stands ready to support our Dominican allies amid this difficult time.”
Many families gathered at the scene looking for their loved ones who were inside the club, according to DJ Shakirax, who was at the nightclub and shared videos from the scene on Tuesday.
An investigation into the cause of the collapse is underway, police said.
There was a fire in 2023 that damaged part of the nightclub, authorities said.
ABC News’ Aicha El Hammar Castano and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The House narrowly voted to approve the GOP budget blueprint Thursday by a vote of 216-214, delivering a major victory for President Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
Trump congratulated the House on the bill’s passage, saying in a post on his Truth Social platform that this “sets the stage for one of the Greatest and Most Important Signings in the History of our Country.”
“Among many other things, it will be the Largest Tax and Regulation Cuts ever even contemplated,” Trump said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the bill’s passage “a statement of purpose and strength.”
“The Trump Administration will continue pushing for the certainty, simplicity, and stability that will unlock long-term prosperity for all American,” Bessent said in a statement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson suffered a setback on Wednesday night when he was forced to scrap a planned vote due to opposition from a small group of Republican hardliners who are concerned the budget would add to the nation’s deficit.
Standing alongside Senate Majority Leader John Thune Thursday morning, Johnson said he had “very productive” deliberations with members on Wednesday night and on Thursday sought to highlight efforts to slash spending by more than a trillion dollars.
“We are committed to finding at least $1.5 trillion in savings for the American people while also preserving our essential programs,” Johnson said.
Thune seemed less enthusiastic about the target for deficit reduction but meekly endorsed the House’s lofty goal for budget savings — announcing the Senate’s ambition for fiscal sustainability is “aligned with the House.”
“We have got to do something to get the country on a more fiscally sustainable path and that entails us taking a hard scrub of our government, figuring out where we can find those savings,” Thune said. “The speaker has talked about $1.5 trillion. We have a lot of United States senators who believe that is a minimum and we’re going to do everything we can to be as aggressive as possible.”
President Trump, who has been personally involved in trying to get the measure adopted, weighed in on Thursday morning that Republicans were “getting close.”
“‘The Big, Beautiful Bill’ is coming along really well. Republicans are working together nicely. Biggest Tax Cuts in USA History!!!,” Trump wrote in a post to his conservative social media platform.
Johnson faces a short window to get the measure over the finish line before the House is slated to go on its two-week April recess.
The speaker can only afford to have only three defections from his caucus with all members voting and present.
House GOP leaders have scrambled for the past week to lock down the votes, after more than 20 Republicans expressed concern that the Senate’s resolution set a floor of just $4 billion in savings. Now, Johnson says he has the support needed.
“Our aim is to deliver on our promises,” Johnson said.
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
(LOS ANGELES) — Authorities in Los Angeles County said they’re searching for the suspect who shoplifted from a discount store before killing a man in a hit-and-run in the store’s parking lot.
The victim was visiting his brother’s shop, Giant Discount Store in South El Monte, when, just after noon on Wednesday, a man came in and stole merchandise, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
The victim chased the shoplifter into the parking lot and the two started fighting, authorities said.
That’s when a second suspect got out of a dark-colored sedan and joined in with the suspect in the fight against the victim, authorities said.
The two suspects then got into the sedan and deliberately drove into the victim, hitting him several times, according to the sheriff’s office.
The victim suffered from blunt force trauma and died at the scene, authorities said.
Jim Yaghoubi said he witnessed the attack that killed his brother, who he identified as Steve Yaghoubi.
His “body under the car was turning all the way from the front tire to the back tire,” Jim Yaghoubi told Los Angeles ABC station KABC.
“I don’t know why this happened, honestly,” he said, overcome with emotion. “I was there at the last minute of his life. I saw his face. I saw his eyes.”
The sheriff’s department urges anyone with information to call its homicide bureau at 323-890-5500.
