(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — An 80-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing another man in a turkey hunting incident in Northern California, authorities said.
The 65-year-old victim was shot once on Sunday morning while turkey hunting at the Fremont Weir Wildlife Area, which is about 20 miles north of Sacramento, the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect, 80-year-old John Lee, of Sacramento, was turkey hunting separately from the victim, authorities said.
Lee was taken into custody on charges of second-degree murder and negligent discharge of a firearm, the sheriff’s office said.
(CHANDLER, AZ) — Lori Daybell, the mother convicted of murdering two of her children in a so-called doomsday plot, is now on trial in Arizona on allegations she conspired to also kill her fourth husband.
Opening statements are scheduled to start Monday in Maricopa County in the 51-year-old’s latest trial. She is representing herself and has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
The trial is scheduled through mid-May.
She was indicted by a Maricopa County grand jury in 2021 in connection with the killing of her estranged husband, Charles Vallow, who was fatally shot by her brother in July 2019 during a confrontation at her home in Chandler, Arizona.
Her brother, Alex Cox, told police he shot his brother-in-law in self-defense. Police were investigating the claims when Cox himself died from natural causes months later.
Dubbed the “doomsday mom,” Lori Daybell is currently serving life in prison without parole after a jury found her guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the 2019 deaths of her children, Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7, and Tylee Ryan, 16.
J.J. and Tylee were last seen in September 2019 and, following a monthslong search, their remains were found on an Idaho property belonging to Lori Daybell’s fifth husband, Chad Daybell, in June 2020.
She was also found guilty of conspiring to kill her children and her husband’s first wife, Tamara Daybell, in the high-profile case.
She and Chad Daybell, the author of religious fiction books, both reportedly adhered to a doomsday ideology. She once claimed she was “a god assigned to carry out the work of the 144,000 at Christ’s second coming in July 2020” and didn’t want anything to do with her family “because she had a more important mission to carry out,” according to court documents obtained by ABC News.
Friends have said Lori Vallow’s 13-year marriage to Charles Vallow started to deteriorate after she became a fan of Daybell’s books, with the two separating in 2019. Their blended family had included Tylee from Lori Daybell’s third marriage, and Charles Vallow’s nephew J.J., whom they adopted.
Lori Daybell has denied murdering her children, saying in court at her sentencing in July 2023: “Jesus Christ knows the truth of what happened here. … No one was murdered in this case. Accidental deaths happen. Suicides happen. Fatal side effects from medications happen.”
Chad Daybell was also convicted of murdering the two children, as well as his first wife, in a separate trial in last year. He was sentenced to death and now awaits execution on Idaho’s death row.
In Arizona, Lori Daybell is additionally accused of scheming with her brother to kill Brandon Boudreaux, the ex-husband of her niece.
She will stand trial for premediated murder in that case in Maricopa County following the murder trial. She has pleaded not guilty.
(HONG KONG) — Key global stock markets tumbled upon opening on Monday as the world’s reaction to President Donald Trump’s tariffs campaign continued — and as U.S. futures signaled more turmoil for American markets.
In the U.S., Dow Jones futures were down about 1,200 points or 3.33% on Monday morning. S&P 500 and NASDAQ futures were down about 3.5%. A drop of 7% on the S&P 500 before 3:35pm ET will trigger a market-wide circuit breaker that will halt trading for 15 minutes.
Hong Kong leads Asian slide
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index lost nearly 9% shortly after the market opened on Monday, the steep decline triggering a circuit breaker that temporarily halted trading. Japan’s broader TOPIX index sank 8%.
In Taiwan, the Taiex lost 9.7%, while in Singapore the STI fell more than 8%.
South Korea’s KOSPI index fell more than 5.5% in Monday trading, with Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sliding more than 6% before recovering slightly.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 13.22% — its worst one-day performance since 1997 during the Asian Financial Crisis — with Chinese tech stocks like Alibaba and Baidu among the big losers.
On the mainland — where there are fewer international investors — the Shanghai Composite Index dropped more than 7%, despite being buoyed by state-owned investors known as the “National Team.”
India’s stock markets also struggled. The BSE’s Sensex dropped 5.19% while the broader Nifty tumbled 5%.
Asian markets collectively posted their worst day trading session since 2008.
Europe joins rout
European indexes followed suit on Monday morning.
The British FTSE 100 index fell 6% upon opening, while the pan-European Stoxx 600 index dropped more than 6%.
Germany’s DAX index fell 10%, France’s CAC lost 6.6% and Italy’s FTSE MIB slid 5.7%.
US braced for more losses
Investors are bracing for continued market turmoil on Monday in response to Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announced last week.
Speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump addressed the recent market turbulence and subsequent fears of an imminent recession.
“Now what’s going to happen with the market? I can’t tell you, but I can tell you, our country has gotten a lot stronger, and eventually it’ll be a country like no other, it’ll be the most dominant country economically in the world,” Trump said.
“I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something and we have such a horrible — we have been treated so badly by other countries because we had stupid leadership that allowed this to happen,” the president added.
U.S. markets closed significantly down on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 2,230 points, or 5.5%, while the S&P 500 plunged 6%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 5.8%. The decline put the Nasdaq into bear market territory, meaning the index has fallen more than 20% from its recent peak.
The trading session on Friday marked the worst day for U.S. stocks since 2020. The second-worst day for U.S. stocks since 2020 happened on Thursday, a day earlier.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, Karson Yiu, Zunaira Zaki, Max Zahn and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A contract to inspect low-income and other assisted housing for gas leaks, faulty smoke detectors and other life-threatening deficiencies was terminated by the Trump administration in February as part of its cost-cutting efforts, according to a Department of Government Efficiency database, potentially leaving thousands of vulnerable Americans in harm’s way.
Tom Feehan, a veteran home inspector who lost work as part of the termination, told ABC News that these legally required inspections frequently uncover painted-over ceiling sprinklers, defective gas ranges and any number of home-related liabilities that can pose a danger to occupants.
“By not doing [the inspections], we’re not catching those,” Feehan said. “So those are not being repaired, and it’s putting people at risk.”
Last year, the contractor, Project Solutions Inc., in its third year of working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, was assigned to inspect roughly 6,200 public housing and multifamily properties across the country over the course of 12 months. In addition to flagging dangerous conditions, the inspections ensure that tenants have hot and cold water, safe electrical outlets, and working heating and cooling systems, experts said.
A HUD official told ABC News that the contract was for “software modification,” despite Project Solutions identifying the contract as being for inspection services. The HUD official declined to elaborate on the reason behind the contract’s termination.
The sudden termination threatens thousands of inspections, according to Robin Miller, a contract manager at Project Solutions, including those at roughly 250 “priority” properties, where inspections were already delayed or significant deficiencies were found during previous inspections.
Project Solution’s contract termination was among more than 7,000 federal contracts canceled by DOGE and posted to the agency’s “Wall of Receipts” web page in recent weeks. The DOGE site claimed that terminating the inspection contract would return $285 million to taxpayers.
But Miller, the Project Solutions official, said that figure was inflated because it was based on a high estimated ceiling value that wasn’t reflective of what the contract would actually cost. According to federal spending records, HUD had only awarded Project Solutions roughly $29 million so far.
Experts said it was unclear how housing officials planned to carry out the outstanding inspections.
HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett said in a statement that “HUD is reviewing all contracts for efficiency and effectiveness to accomplish good government goals,” and that “certain contracts were found not to accomplish HUD’s mission with economy, efficiency, and effectiveness.”
Industry experts said that the inspections, which are required by law, will likely fall to other contractors at a similar price. But arranging those inspections will take time, experts said, and delaying inspections compounds the risks for tenants.
“We’re helping low-income people and we’re helping senior citizens maintain a safe, livable environment,” Feehan said. “And with not getting these inspections done on time, it’s hurting them.”
Another HUD-certified inspector based in Illinois, who asked that their name not be used so they could speak freely about their field of work, told ABC News that one of the properties that was scheduled to be inspected until the Project Solutions contract was canceled was a 24-unit multifamily property that had received far below the “failing” score, meaning significant deficiencies were found during its previous inspection and the property needed more frequent inspections. The property was already past due its Dec. 13, 2024, inspection date, and its inspection has yet to be rescheduled, the inspector said.
Project Solutions was one of at least three contractors that were hired to inspect HUD-insured and assisted properties under the agency’s Real Estate Assessment Center program, which is aimed at “improving housing quality by performing accurate, credible, and reliable assessments” of its properties.
“I 100% agree that all governments, all organizations, businesses, even personal family units, should routinely review budget and spending habits and cut things out that are not necessary,” the Illinois inspector said. “Get rid of the fraud, waste abuse — but you have to be responsible about it.”
“If it wasn’t for DOGE, we’d still be doing the contract. That’s my opinion,” Feehan said. “DOGE is trying to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse. I didn’t see where there was waste fraud and abuse with PSI.”
Alia Trindle, co-director of political strategy at housing advocacy group Right to the City Alliance, stressed that many HUD-funded buildings have been in dire shape for decades due to past funding cuts. She said for some properties, tenants and advocates have had to organize to push for basic repairs after years of neglect.
“Working-class and poor communities have to contend with substandard and neglected housing that could have devastating long-term health consequences for those that live there, from mold to pest to a lack of access to basic utilities like water and heat,” Trindle said.
“So regular inspections, whether done by HUD or HUD-affiliated groups or by municipalities, are critical to ensuring that those who are responsible for this housing stock do the bare minimum to maintain them,” she said.
(LOS ANGELES) — A minivan plowed into a crowd of bystanders in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, leaving several injured — including two children and one teenager, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The incident took place shortly after 3 p.m. local time in the downtown area, the LAFD reported.
“A total of 9 patients were assessed for injury on scene,” the fire department said in a statement. That included four adults who were transported to a nearby hospital for medical treatment, two adults who refused treatment, and three minors — ages 8, 11 and 17 — who were also transported for treatment.
The LAFD said that there were no fatalities and “no critical patients at time of transport.”
It also stated that fire companies were still on the scene, where the minivan was “static under a collapsed patio.”
Traffic officers initiated an investigation into why the van went into the patio area. The Los Angeles Police Department told ABC News that there were no early indications that the collision was intentional or criminal in nature.
Later in the evening, the LAPD confirmed that there no alcohol or drugs were involved. Based on statements, police told ABC News, the driver swerved to avoid a stopped car and hit the barrier next to the restaurant.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(JUPITER, FL) — As markets braced for another meltdown triggered by President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, Democrats hammered the president for spending the weekend golfing rather than responding to Americans’ fears that their retirement accounts are plummeting with the markets.
Trump left Washington, D.C., for Florida on Thursday to attend a LiV Golf Tournament dinner ahead of a tournament at his Doral club in Florida. On Saturday and Sunday, he played in a club championship at his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter.
On Thursday, the first trading day after Trump announced the tariffs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted nearly 4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined almost 6%. On Friday, the downward spiral continued with the Dow falling by 2,230 points, or 5.5%, while the S&P 500 plunged by 6%.
Dow futures opened Sunday evening down 1,500 points, or 4% percent., while the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 futures were also down 4%.
Democrats criticized Trump’s apparent lack of concern at Americans’ anxiety surrounding the tanking markets.
“I think people have seen their retirement savings on fire. And there he is out on the golf course,” Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “That may end up being the most enduring image of the Trump presidency, that is, the president out on a golf cart while people’s retirement is in flames.”
On Saturday, Trump encouraged Americans to “HANG TOUGH” in a post on his Truth Social platform. “THIS IS AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN,” he said.
The same day, the White House told reporters covering the president that Trump had won his second-round matchup for the senior championship at his Jupiter club and was to play in the championship round on Sunday. Trump posted a video of him teeing off on Truth Social on Sunday, though it was not clear when the video was shot.
During Saturday’s “Hands Off” protests, Democratic lawmakers railed against Trump’s policies and his time on the golf course.
“Get your ass off the golf course and face the people!” California Rep. Eric Swalwell told Trump in front of a crowd protesting at the National Mall in Washington.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas posted on Bluesky: “Trump’s out here swinging golf clubs while folks are in the streets fighting back.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren called on Republicans to help Democrats reverse Trump’s tariffs and stop what she called “the dumbest trade war in history.”
“While Donald Trump is relaxing on the golf course, working people are worried about rising prices and an economic crash,” she posted on X.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also took issue with Trump’s weekend.
“You know, Donald Trump, the biggest lie that this guy ever told was that he cared about you, the American people. He does not. He cares about himself and his billionaire donors like Elon Musk,” Jeffries said Saturday on MSNBC’s “The Weekend.” “And as if we didn’t need any additional proof, but at the same time that the retirement savings is crashing, the stock market is crashing, the economy is crashing, Donald Trump is on the golf course? This is what he chooses to do?”
Trump boarded Air Force One in Palm Beach, Florida, en route back to Washington on Sunday without speaking to reporters.
ABC News’ Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
(BALTIMORE) — A federal judge is defending her decision to order the Trump administration to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a notorious El Salvador prison by Monday and has denied the government’s request to stay her order while it appeals her decision.
In a new court filing, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis called the government’s decision to send the 29-year-old Abrego Garcia to El Salvador’s CECOT prison a “grievous error.”
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official admitted in a sworn declaration on March 31 that an “administrative error” led to Abrego Garcia, who is married to a U.S. citizen, being sent to El Salvador despite a 2019 court order barring the government from deporting him to his home country.
“As Defendants acknowledge, they had no legal authority to arrest him, no justification to detain him, and no grounds to send him to El Salvador – let alone deliver him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere,” Xinis wrote in the court document, filed Sunday.
In 2019, an immigration judge issued a withholding of removal order for Abrego Garcia, prohibiting the government from sending him back to his home country because he feared persecution there from gangs.
Judge Xinis argued that Abrego Garcia’s placement in the El Salvadorian mega-jail despite the “risk of harm shocks the conscience.”
“Defendants have forcibly put him in a facility that intentionally mixes rival gang members without any regard for protecting the detainees from ‘harm at the hands of the gangs,'” the judge wrote.
“Defendants have claimed – without any evidence – that Abrego Garcia is a member of MS-13 and then housed him among the chief rival gang, Barrio 18. Not to mention that Barrio 18 is the very gang whose years-long persecution of Abrego Garcia resulted in his withholding from removal to El Salvador,” Xinis further wrote.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys have maintained that he is neither a member of nor has any affiliation with Tren de Aragua, MS-13, or any other criminal or street gang. They also argue that the U.S. government “has never produced an iota of evidence to support this unfounded accusation.”
In Sunday’s filing, Xinis wrote that the government has not produced any evidence to suggest they cannot secure Abrego Garcia’s return and said that the court retains jurisdiction in the case because Abrego Garcia challenges his removal to El Salvador, “not the fact of confinement.”
“They do indeed cling to the stunning proposition that they can forcibly remove any person – migrant and U.S. citizen alike – to prisons outside the United States, and then baldly assert they have no way to effectuate return because they are no longer the ‘custodian,’ and the Court thus lacks jurisdiction,” Xinis wrote.
“As a practical matter, the facts say otherwise,” Xinis added.
Citing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s own words from a video posted March 26 on X that the CECOT prison is “one of the tools in our toolkits that we will use,” Xinis said the record reflects that the defendants have “outsourced part of the U.S. prison system.”
“Just as in any other contract facility, Defendants can and do maintain the power to secure and transport their detainees, Abrego Garcia included,” Xinis wrote.
Xinis also included some of the arguments made by Erez Reuveni, the U.S. Department of Justice attorney who argued on behalf of the government on Friday in a lawsuit brought by Garcia’s family. Reuveni was placed on administrative leave by the DOJ over what the department alleged was a “failure to zealously advocate” for the government’s interests during the hearing.
“As their counsel suggested at the hearing, this is not about Defendants’ inability to return Abrego Garcia, but their lack of desire,” Xinis wrote.
During Friday’s hearing, Xinis asked Reuveni, “Can we talk about, then, just very practically, why can’t the United States get Mr. Abrego Garcia back?”
“Your Honor, I will say, for the Court’s awareness, that when this case landed on my desk, the first thing I did was ask my clients that very question. I’ve not received, to date, an answer that I find satisfactory,” Reuveni responded.
Xinis claimed in Sunday’s filing that, while the legal basis for the Trump administration’s decision to deport over 200 alleged gang members to El Salvador “remains disturbingly unclear,” there is no legal grounds for Abrego Garcia to be among them.
“Nor does any evidence suggest that Abrego Garcia is being held in CECOT at the behest of Salvadoran authorities to answer for crimes in that country. Rather, his detention appears wholly lawless,” Xinis wrote.
On Saturday, the Trump administration filed an emergency motion to stay Judge Xinis’ order. The appellate court has given Abrego Garcia’s legal team until 2 p.m. Sunday to respond.
In March, Abrego Garcia was stopped by ICE officers who “informed him that his immigration status had changed,” according to his attorneys. After being detained over alleged gang affiliations, he was transferred to a detention center in Texas. He was then sent to El Salvador on March 15, according to a complaint his lawyers filed last month in a U.S. District Court in Maryland.
During a news conference on Friday, Abrego Garcia’s wife, Vasquez Sura, demanded that the Trump administration return her husband to the United States.
“If I had all the money in the world, I would spend it all just to buy one thing: a phone call to hear Kilmar’s voice again,” Vasquez Sura said. “Kilmar, if you can hear me, I miss you so much, and I’m doing the best to fight for you and our children.”
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Speaker Mike Johnson and Florida GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna say they have cut a deal to end the fight over proxy voting for new parents, which will re-open the House floor after nearly a week of legislative paralysis.
House Republican leaders will formalize “vote pairing,” a procedure that allows a member who is absent during a vote to coordinate with a present member on the other side of the matter to offset the absence, multiple sources familiar with the deal told ABC News.
For example, the procedure in this case would allow a new mother, who is absent for a House vote, to team up with a present lawmaker voting opposite from their stance to form a “pair.”
Some logistics of this deal remain unclear including how this will be enforced.
Vote pairing — which is a rare practice in Congress — is certainly not an equivalent to remote voting but allows for an absence to be offset. But the absent member’s vote is not recorded into the tally of a recorded vote.
The vote pairing process was used in 2018 when the Senate voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. At the time, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who said she would vote against Kavanaugh, paired her vote with Sen. Steve Daines’ of Montana so their votes would cancel out.
Johnson laid out the specifics of the agreement on a GOP member conference call Sunday afternoon, sources said.
In light of the deal, sources said Rep. Luna will not trigger her bipartisan discharge petition — which has 218 signatures — to allow mothers and fathers to vote remotely for up to 12 weeks after childbirth.
“Speaker Johnson and I have reached an agreement and are formalizing a procedure called ‘live/dead pairing’—dating back to the 1800s—for the entire conference to use when unable to physically be present to vote: new parents, bereaved, emergencies,” Rep. Luna posted in a statement on X.
Luna thanked President Donald Trump for his “support” of new mothers. “If we truly want a pro-family Congress, these are the changes that need to happen,” she added.
It is possible for other members — including any Democrat who signed the petition — to call up and force action on Rep. Luna’s measure. But it would likely fail if Republicans stick to the vote pairing agreement.
Johnson is still looking at ways to increase accessibility for new mothers in Congress like adding a room off the House floor for nursing mothers, sources said.
(NEW YORK) — A 49-year-old man wielding a blood-covered meat cleaver was shot and critically injured by New York City police officers on Sunday after allegedly stabbing four young girls believed to be his relatives in their home, authorities said.
Two officers opened fire on the suspected attacker when they forced their way into the home and he allegedly ignored repeated orders to drop the bloody weapon and stepped toward the officers, NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Sunday outside the home where the attack occurred.
Tisch said officers found a “horrific scene” with the walls and floors spattered with blood when they arrived at the apartment in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The commissioner said officers went to the home when one of the victims, an 11-year-old girl, called 911 after running and hiding in a bedroom as the attack was going on.
“The 11-year-old caller stated that she and her siblings had been stabbed by their uncle,” Tisch said.
Tisch said the girl didn’t know her address and police used technology to trace the phone the child used to make the call to find the location of the assault in progress.
“Officers and EMS arrived at the door within minutes of receiving the 911 call. Their fast, decisive action pinpointing the location and taking down the door absolutely saved the lives of these young girls,” Tisch said.
The incident unfolded around 10:15 a.m., Tisch said. She said that once the attack began, a young boy who is related to the family ran to a neighbor’s apartment to get help and let police into the building when they arrived.
Tisch said officers were standing in a vestibule of the building when they heard screams coming from an apartment to their left. Officers then kicked open the door to the apartment, she said.
“Once they entered, they encountered a man standing near the entrance holding a large meat cleaver covered in blood and they could see blood on the floor and the walls of the home,” Tisch said.
She said the suspect was ordered several times to drop the weapon.
“He refused and advanced toward them,” Tisch said. “Two officers discharged their firearms, firing seven total rounds between them, striking the subject, ending the threat.”
The suspect was taken to Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, where he was in critical condition, police said.
Tisch said the victims — four sisters ages 8, 11, 13 and 16 — all suffered serious slash and stab wounds. They were also taken to Maimonides, where they were being treated. All of the victims are expected to survive.
A motive for the attack remains under investigation.
NYPD Chief of Department John Chell said detectives are attempting to confirm the relationship between the victims and the suspect. He said the mother of the children was not at home at the time of the attack.
Chell said relatives of the suspect told police he has a history of mental illness and lives at the home where the attack occurred.
He added that the preliminary investigation shows that the NYPD had received no previous calls for service to the address.
Besides the meat cleaver, police recovered a second kitchen knife from the scene that Tisch said was also covered in blood.
Tisch said the police shooting was captured on police-worn body cameras.
(LUBBOCK, TEXAS) — A second child in Texas has died of measles, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
“The school-aged child who tested positive for measles was hospitalized in Lubbock and passed away on Thursday from what the child’s doctors described as measles pulmonary failure,” the statement said, in part. “The child was not vaccinated and had no reported underlying conditions.”
The University Medical Center in Lubbock, Texas, said the child had been receiving care for “complications of measles while hospitalized” and also emphasized, as the state health department did, that the child was unvaccinated with no underlying conditions.
An unvaccinated school-aged child also died of measles in Texas in late February, according to the Texas Department of Health Services – the first measles death in a decade in the United States. A week later, an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico died with measles, the New Mexico Department of Health reported.
The outbreak has so far led to 642 confirmed cases across 22 states, but the vast majority — 499 cases — have been in Texas, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy posted on X on Sunday afternoon.
Kennedy also said in the post that he visited Texas on Sunday to “comfort” the family of the child. He said he’d developed a close relationship with the impacted community — which has largely been unvaccinated — including the family of the first child to die in the outbreak.
He added that the “most effective way to prevent the spread of measles” is the measles, mumps and rubella — or MMR — vaccine.
The HHS secretary, who has a long history of vaccine skepticism, has come under fire from public health officials for downplaying the measles outbreak and not advocating enough for widespread vaccination.
In Kennedy’s first public comments on the measles outbreak last month, he said that outbreaks were not “uncommon” because they happen every year and declined to specifically encourage vaccination.
Public health experts who criticized Kennedy pointed out that outbreaks do not have to happen every year and are preventable with the MMR vaccine, which is 97% effective with two doses. Kennedy has since repeated that the vaccine is the “most effective way” to prevent measles, though often also noted that it’s a “personal choice.”
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a physician who publicly wrestled with his support for Kennedy but eventually voted to support him as HHS secretary, said the second death in Texas proved that “top health officials” should be “unequivocally” encouraging the vaccine.
“Everyone should be vaccinated!” Cassidy wrote on X Sunday. “There is no treatment for measles. No benefit to getting measles. Top health officials should say so unequivocally [before] another child dies.”
The Texas Department of State Health Services said on April 4 that Texas is experiencing its worst measles outbreak in 30 years.
There are more than double the number of cases of measles in the U.S. in the first quarter of this year than the entirety of last year, which saw 285 cases nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These are the highest number of measles cases in the U.S. since 2019, which saw 1,274 cases, according to the CDC. New Mexico is experiencing its worst measles outbreak in 40 years, with 54 cases. Kansas and Ohio are also experiencing outbreaks.
If the number of this year’s cases continues to grow at the current rate, the U.S. would likely surpass that 2019 number, which would lead to the highest number of cases in the U.S. since 1992.
The U.S. declared measles eliminated in the year 2000, after finding no continuous spread of the highly contagious disease over 12 months. The country would be at risk of losing that status if an outbreak continued for more than one year. The Texas outbreak saw its first measles cases in January.
The CDC currently recommends that people receive two doses of the MMR 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 against measles.
In his statement on Sunday, Kennedy said a CDC team was deployed to Texas in early March to support state and local health officials and to supply pharmacies and clinics with MMR vaccines.
“I’ve spoken to Governor Abbott, and I’ve offered HHS’ continued support. At his request, we have redeployed CDC teams to Texas. We will continue to follow Texas’ lead and to offer similar resources to other affected jurisdictions,” he said in the post.
Kennedy’ visit to Texas comes shortly after the secretary, a prominent vaccine skeptic, has cut one-fourth of the HHS workforce and one-fifth of those employed by the CDC.
The HHS recently clawed back roughly $11 billion in funding from state and local health departments for COVID recovery efforts, saying the money was no longer needed as the pandemic was over. But health officials said the money was being used to better equip communities’ abilities to deal with the spread of diseases — including measles — and better prepare for the next pandemic.
Dr. Philip Huang, the top health official for the city of Dallas, told ABC News that the cuts to the HHS funding and its workforce could impact efforts to respond to the measles outbreak in his state.
“This definitely impacts our measles response,” he said. “We were looking to build out our lab capacity, some of our ability to get immunizations out into the community and into schools.”
“These smaller health departments, they don’t have many staff. You make a small cut and that takes away a considerable percentage of their workforce and ability to respond to anything at all,” Huang said.
ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.
