(WASHINGTON) — Most Americans oppose the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make way for President Donald Trump’s ballroom, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
A 56% majority of Americans oppose the Trump administration tearing down the East Wing of the White House as part of the construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom paid for by $300 million in private donations, including 45% who “strongly” oppose it, the poll finds.
Just 28% of Americans support it, with 15% strongly supporting the East Wing being torn down for a ballroom, the poll found. Another 16% say they are not sure.
Support breaks down by party lines, with a 62% majority of Republicans in support and 88% of Democrats opposed. A 61% majority of independents oppose the East Wing tear town and ballroom, with nearly half opposing it strongly, according to the poll.
Opinions are much stronger among Democrats: 78% of Democrats strongly oppose the teardown and ballroom, a much smaller 35% of Republicans strongly support it.
A majority of liberals (76%) and about half of moderates (51%) strongly oppose the East Wing teardown and ballroom, while just about a third of conservatives (34%) support it strongly.
Strong support peaks among strong Trump approvers, with 58% saying they strongly support the teardown of the East Wing and ballroom. Among those who somewhat approve of Trump, just 11% strongly support the plan.
Among strong Trump disapprovers, 82% strongly oppose tearing down the East Wing and building a ballroom, while a much smaller 37% of those who somewhat disapprove of the president strongly oppose the plan.
Just about four in 10 conservative Republicans (42%) say they are strongly in favor of the plan. Conversely, 82% of liberal Democrats and 73% of moderate and conservative Democrats oppose it strongly.
Methodology: This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® Oct. 24-28, 2025, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 2,725 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points, including the design effect. Error margins are larger for subgroups. The partisan divisions are 28% Democrats, 31% Republicans and 41% independents or something else.
See more details on ABC News’ survey methodology here.
(LONDON) — President Donald Trump touted an “amazing” meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, saying the two leaders reached agreements to reduce tariffs on Chinese imports, delay Chinese restrictions on its rare earth mineral exports and secure Chinese purchases of American soybeans and other farm products.
Still, key topics — including Chinese designs on Taiwan and a potential deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. — were not addressed, according to the post-meeting remarks from Trump and official Chinese readouts.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One following the meeting with Xi, which lasted about 1 hour and 45 minutes, Trump said the 20% tariffs on China related to fentanyl were being reduced to 10%, bringing the total amount of duties imposed on Chinese imports from 57% to 47%.
Trump said he agreed to reduce the tariff rate because China had agreed to “work very hard to stop the flow” of fentanyl.
Trump said the U.S. had reached a one-year agreement with China ensuring Beijing would not impose dramatic restrictions on rare earth minerals — materials key for producing computer chips that are needed for everything including smartphones, AI systems and defense technology.
China’s Ministry of Commerce confirmed the temporary suspension of those restrictions in an official readout. Trump said he believes the one-year deal will be “routinely” extended.
Meanwhile, Trump also said Xi had “authorized China to begin the purchase of massive amounts of Soybeans, Sorghum, and other Farm products.”
“We have a deal now,” Trump told reporters. “Every year we’ll renegotiate the deal, but I think the deal will go on for a long time, long beyond the year. We’ll negotiate at the end of the year. But all of the rare earth has been settled, and that’s for the world.”
The president said the meeting touched on most key bilateral issues. “A lot of decisions were made,” Trump said. “There wasn’t too, too much left out there.”
Overall, Trump said the meeting with Xi in South Korea was “amazing,” and on a scale of 1 to 10 gave it a 12. “He’s a great leader, great leader of a very powerful, very strong country, China, and we, what can I say? We have — it was an outstanding group of decisions, I think that was made,” Trump said.
The two leaders agreed that Trump will visit China in April, the president said, with Xi then visiting the U.S. “sometime after that.”
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce released a statement following the meeting saying that Beijing “looks forward to working with the United States to do a good job in implementation and inject more certainty and stability into Sino-U.S. economic and trade cooperation and the world economy.”
Leaders talk soybeans, but not Taiwan Trump said China would begin purchasing U.S. soybeans “immediately” as part of the new deal. The Chinese pause on purchasing Americans soybeans had been a major part of the ongoing trade war and had deeply affected American farmers.
“We’re in agreement on so many elements, large amounts, tremendous amounts of the soybeans and other farm products are going to be purchased immediately, starting immediately,” Trump told reporters after the meeting.
In a later social media post, Trump said Xi “authorized China to begin the purchase of massive amounts of Soybeans, Sorghum, and other Farm products.”
Trump also said that he discussed computer chips with Xi, claiming China said they would speak with U.S. chipmaker Nvidia and some others about purchasing products from America.
Trump said the two men did not discuss Nvidia’s high-end Blackwell artificial intelligence chip during the talks.
In his post to social media after the meeting, Trump said China also agreed to “begin the process of purchasing American Energy. In fact, a very large scale transaction may take place concerning the purchase of Oil and Gas from the Great State of Alaska.”
Trump did not address a potential deal to keep TikTok running in the U.S. China’s Commerce Ministry said it is committed to “properly resolving issues related to TikTok.” The statement did not say a deal had been finalized.
The thorny issue of Taiwan did not come up, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.
Russia’s war in Ukraine was discussed at length, the president added, with Trump saying he and Xi agreed to work together to get the war “finished.”
“Ukraine came up very strongly,” Trump said. “We talked about it for a long time, and we’re both going to work together to see if we can get something done.”
“We agree the sides are, you know, locked in fighting, and sometimes you have to let him fight, I guess, crazy, but he’s going to help us, and we’re going to work together on Ukraine. Not a lot more we can do,” Trump said.
Trump said that he didn’t broach China’s continued purchases of oil from Russia.
“He’s been buying oil from Russia for a long time. It takes care of a big part of China,” Trump said. “But we didn’t really discuss the oil. We discussed working together to see if we could get that war finished. You know, it doesn’t affect China. It doesn’t affect us.”
The president said his pre-meeting announcement on the planned resumption of U.S. nuclear testing was not aimed at China. Rather, he said, it “had to do with others.”
“They seem to all be nuclear testing,” he said. “We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing. We’ve halted it years, many years ago. But with others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we’d … also testing.”
When pressed, Trump would not say who the “others” were. The U.S. and Russia, he added, have the most nuclear warheads, with China able to “catch up within four or five years.”
“I’d like to see a denuclearization,” Trump said. “I think de-escalation would be — they would call denuclearization — would be a tremendous thing, and it’s something we are actually talking to Russia about that and China would be added to that, if we do something.”
(NEW YORK) — Tens of thousands of children and families could be affected by dozens of Head Start programs potentially closing if the federal government shutdown extends past Nov. 1.
About 134 programs across 41 states and Puerto Rico will see their operational funding cease on Saturday, affecting nearly 65,000 kids, or 10% of all Head Start children, according to the National Head Start Association (NHSA).
Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Ohio may see the most impacts, potentially affecting more than 24,000 children and more than 7,500 staff members, NHSA data shows.
Head Start is a federal program run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that provides early childhood education, health, nutrition and family support services to low-income children and families.
Programs shutting down could mean that children under age 6 could lose access to preschool education, health services and referrals. Families could lose access to affordable childcare that allows parents to work, attend school or undergo job training.
“We are concerned that the longer a government shutdown runs, the more likely it is that Head Start programs might be faced with potential closures and having deep impacts on children and families that we serve,” Tommy Sheridan, deputy director of NHSA, told ABC News. “The longer the shutdown goes, the more that number will increase and, at the end of the day, children and families should never be put at risk because of political gridlock. However, that’s exactly what’s happening right now.”
Programs struggle to find funding Sheridan said not all of the 134 programs affected will close in November. Some are reaching out to state and local leaders and some are asking private organizations for funding, which may cover costs for a short period of time.
He said there are 1,600 programs across the U.S. so, while a majority of Head Start programs will not be affected after Nov. 1, it is still a substantial number that will either be struggling to remain open or may have to close.
An HHS spokesperson told ABC News that Democrats are to blame for the government shutdown and that, when the shuthown is over, the HHS’ Office of Head Start will work to expedite grant awards.
Central Kentucky Community Action Council Head Start and Early Head Start (CKCAC), which serves 400 children in nine centers across six counties, will lose access to an $8 million federal grant on Nov. 1, Bryan Conover, executive director of CKCAC, told ABC News.
Although CKCAC’s Head Start policy council affirmed unanimously to allow the group to pursue a line of credit for about $1 million with a local bank, it will only allow operations to be maintained until Nov. 21.
“All 400 of those families could be put in a situation where, if we have to close our doors, they’re going to choose whether or not to take care of their kids or work,” Conover said. “And so there really is multiple ripples of pain that ceasing operations would cause, and we’re hoping beyond hope that this shutdown ends very soon, that we don’t have to go through those painful conversations.”
Conover said if the shutdown extends past Nov. 21, “it’s going to make for some very unfortunate Thanksgiving situations.”
“If we get to Nov. 22 and we don’t have funding available, and we have to close our doors and SNAP may not be in place yet, we’re going to have vulnerable families missing out on nutrition for their kids, let alone education, let alone therapy, let alone the other supports they need to be able to be kindergarten-ready and let alone the impacts on the families who are going to have to make choices to potentially work or stay home to provide child care,” he continued.
The Ohio Head Start Association said seven providers serving more than 3,700 kids are at risk of closing because their federal funds will be exhausted on Nov. 1. The association said closures could force 940 staff members out of work.
“Every day the shutdown continues, Ohio children and families are paying the price,” said Julie Stone, executive director of the OHSA said in a statement. “Head Start is not a political issue — it’s a lifeline. Congress must act now to restore funding, keep classrooms open, and protect the stability of families, the staff who serve them, and communities.”
Closures could affect childhood development Dr. Lindsey Burghardt, chief science officer at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, said there could be negative effects on development from Head Start programs ending so suddenly.
She said these services help support children’s healthy physical and mental development through education, nutrition, having consistently available and responsible caregivers and having safe and clean places to play and learn.
Head Start programs may be the only way by which children receive nutritious meals, get health screenings or receive early intervention for developmental delays and special education.
“When you disrupt it, especially when you destabilize these services suddenly, I think you have the potential to disrupt healthy brain development, to derail the healthy development of all these other organ systems,” Burghardt told ABC News.
“And that’s important, because it can disrupt mental and physical health in childhood, but actually, really importantly, can disrupt health and well-being across those children’s life spans and have really long-lasting developmental implications,” she added.
Burghardt said the longer or larger disruption to these services, the more potential to negatively impact a child that could span throughout adolescence and decades later, when they’re an adult.
This can include poor academic and cognitive function as well as greater behavioral problems, Burghardt said.
The NHSA said research has shown Head Start programs have short-term and long-term impact, including less chronic absenteeism in middle school, improved high school graduation rates, increased higher education enrollment and completion and a decreased reliance on public assistance.
Sheridan said families, including parents and caregivers, may also feel negative impacts from Head Start programs shutting down.
“Families that are eligible for Head Start often work multiple jobs,” he said. “They might be in college or community college or a technical college or are in job training programs. … So the families that are in Head Start, they’re doing everything that they can to try to better their situation and their child’s situation. They count on Head Start to be there so that they can navigate whatever they need to in order to be able to provide for their families.”
Sheridan went on, “Without Head Start, many parents will have no affordable child care option. They may be forced to leave their jobs. They may … reduce the hours that they might be working, not attend class, different things like that, horrible decisions that families do not want to have to make … and it’s going to be incredibly destabilizing and challenging.”
(NEW YORK) — Last week, Joel Camas, a 16-year-old living in the Bronx, New York, showed up for a routine immigration check-in at a federal building in the city, hoping he would be able to return to class at his high school later that morning.
But when Camas appeared at the immigration office accompanied by his lawyers, his attorneys say he was immediately detained and taken into custody, despite telling officials that he has Special Immigrant Juvenile Status — a federal pathway to legal residency for undocumented minors who have allegedly been abused, neglected, or abandoned.
The detention of the 16-year-old, who was granted SIJS status due to the conditions in Ecuador and because his father abandoned him, occurred one month after his mother, who was issued an order of removal in 2024, self-deported to Ecuador, the country they both fled almost three years ago due to gang violence.
Camas’ detention has raised alarm among immigration attorneys about the Trump administration’s rollback of protections for SIJS recipients and their risk for deportation to their home countries.
In June, the administration announced a policy change that eliminated the automatic consideration of deferred action and work permits for those with approved SIJS status who are awaiting an available green card visa. The move, according to immigration attorneys, has resulted in the detention and possible deportation of young immigrants who were granted protections by immigration judges.
The government has defended the changes made to the SIJS program by alleging they are addressing “significant national security and public safety concerns” stemming from alleged abuses within the program.
In Camas’ case, a federal judge on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order blocking his removal, shortly after the Department of Homeland Security said that Camas “will be reunited with his family” in Ecuador.
“One of the findings that a judge needs to make is that it’s in the best interest for this young person to remain in the U.S.,” said Beth Baltimore, the attorney representing Joel. “I’ve never seen young people targeted in this way.”
Similarly, Carlos Guerra Leon, an 18-year-old from Spring Valley, New York, was stopped and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in August while on his way to work.
According to Guerra Leon’s attorney, Sarah Decker, he was detained without a warrant by officers and told he had a final order of removal, despite having SIJS status and being granted deferred action through 2026.
Guerra Leon was transported to Jackson Parish Detention Center in Louisiana, where he remains in detention. His attorneys have a pending lawsuit alleging that his detention is unlawful and that his arrest was in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.
In a statement to ABC News, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that Guerra Leon chose to remain in the U.S. despite a removal order “in violation of the [country’s] immigration laws.”
McLaughlin did not address Guerra Leon’s SIJS status.
“He had just graduated from high school this past June,” Decker said of Guerra Leon. “He was diligent and a well-respected worker at a local car wash, and community members have described him as an extremely hardworking, kind, and responsible young person who was dedicated to building a career in a special trade and finishing his education.”
(LONDON) — Five more suspects have been arrested in connection to the the Oct. 19 jewel heist at the Louvre museum in Paris, according to Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau.
The arrests took place on Wednesday in the Seine-Saint-Denis region in the suburbs of Paris though French authorities have not yet named any of the suspects.
Beccuau, who was speaking on French radio station RTL, said that the stolen jewelry has still not been found but that police believe one of the suspects arrested in yesterday’s raid could be a major person of interest due to his DNA being found at the scene of the crime.
French police told ABC News that one of the suspects was already identified and had been under surveillance for a few days already.
The fresh arrests bring to seven the total number of people detained related to the heist. Two other people — both men in their 30s and from the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis — were arrested last weekend, French National Police confirmed to ABC News.
Investigators said they matched trace DNA evidence recovered from a helmet left at the scene of the crime to one of the suspects, enabling police to put the alleged thief under phone and physical surveillance.
One suspect was arrested at 10 p.m. on Saturday at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport while trying to board a plane bound for Algeria, according to police.
Investigators previously told ABC News that the second suspect was arrested as he was about to travel to Mali, but on Wednesday, Beccuau said the man had no intention of leaving the country.
One of the suspects has dual citizenship in France and Mali, and the other is a dual citizen of France and Algeria, investigators said, adding that both were already known to police from past burglary cases.
Investigators say they’re still determining whether a source inside the Louvre may have had a role in the theft.
“They knew exactly where they were going. It looks like something very organized and very professional,” French Culture Minister Rachida Dati told ABC News last week.
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met for their first face-to-face talks in six years with hopes of ending a monthslong trade war — a meeting that came shortly after Trump said the U.S. would “immediately” begin testing nuclear weapons, which it has not done in more than 30 years.
The meeting at an air base in Busan, South Korea, lasted roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes. Leading up to the meeting, Trump said it could last three to four hours.
The two leaders appeared to be in good spirits leaving the meeting, exchanging a brief word and shaking hands. Trump is now headed back to Washington.
There was no immediate readout of high-profile talks.
The two shared a handshake for the cameras ahead of the meeting and, in brief remarks, projected optimism about the U.S.-China relationship.
“I think we’ve already agreed to a lot of things, and we’ll agree to some more right now, but President Xi is a great leader of a great country, and I think we’re going to have a fantastic relationship for a long period of time,” Trump said.
Xi said, since Trump’s reelection, the two leaders have spoken three times on the phone.
“Given our different national conditions, we do not always see eye-to-eye with each other, and it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then,” Xi said through an interpreter.
But he said the relationship between the two countries remained “stable on the whole.”
About an hour before the meeting was set to start, Trump posted on his social media platform, touting U.S. nuclear capacity and saying he had ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear testing on an “equal basis” to other countries’ testing programs, which will begin “immediately.”
The U.S. has “observed a voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing since 1992,” according to the Congressional Research Service, though it has maintained the ability to resume the tests.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” Trump said in the post, adding “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years.”
The post went on to say, “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”
After negotiations in Malaysia earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said U.S. and Chinese officials agreed to a framework around trade talks. But ultimately, it’s up to the two leaders to finalize the deal.
Even if truces are made and deadlines extended, experts say any breakthrough will only offer temporary relief: short-term adjustments rather than structural change to one of the world’s most consequential relationships.
What’s on the table in talks Weeks ago, China announced it would dramatically expand restrictions on rare earth minerals — materials key for producing computer chips that are needed for everything including smartphones, AI systems and defense technology. The new rules mean that foreign firms must get Chinese government approval to export products that have even trace amounts of certain rare earths that originate from China.
Bessent said China has agreed to delay its restrictions by one year. But that’s not a lot of time, certainly not enough build viable alternatives to China.
And experts say restrictions on rare earths are part of Beijing’s long-term plans. While they can delay these controls, it still gives Beijing powerful leverage for years to come.
The rare earth export restrictions are part of a “broader shift in China’s approach to economic diplomacy,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.
“It’s been studying the U.S. export control regime and absorbing the lessons of just how powerful a diplomatic tool can be. … Beijing wants Washington to reduce its own export controls on China,” Thomas said.
Tariffs are also to be a main topic of the talks.
In response to China’s rare earth controls, Trump threatened to impose additional 100% tariffs on China. Bessent says that threat is now off the table.
But Nov. 10 is another deadline: That’s when the 90-day truce on the sky-high tariffs on each country expires. Bessent says he expects an extension, but even with this truce, tariffs on goods from both countries remain in the double digits.
Trump imposed 20% tariffs on China earlier this year over claims that China has failed to crack down on exporting chemicals used to make fentanyl. Trump said he expects to lower those fentanyl tariffs. The flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals has been a longstanding challenge between the U.S. and China.
Bessent said the deal with China also addresses the concerns from American soybean farmers. China has turned to Argentina for soybeans during the trade war, a shift that has deepened financial pressure on U.S. farmers.
Bloomberg and Reuters report that China has purchased a few soybean cargoes — its first purchases from this year’s U.S. harvest. ABC News has reached out to the White House and Treasury Department for comment. While this could be temporary relief, the long-term trend is that China has been steadily reducing its reliance on the U.S.
Plus, the TikTok deal to keep the hugely popular app operating in the United States could be finalized during their meeting. Bessent said on Sunday his “remit was to get the Chinese to agree to approve the transaction” and he believes “we successfully accomplished that” during their negotiations in Malaysia.
The White House announced last month the deal would create a joint venture majority owned by U.S. investors, with Oracle overseeing the algorithm.
Some experts say President Xi is angling for President Trump to signal a shift in U.S. support for Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing claims as its own.
Trump played down the issue, telling reporters he doesn’t know if they’ll even mention Taiwan, which relies on the U.S. for political and military backing.
Also on the foreign policy front, Trump wants Xi to use his sway over Russian President Vladimir Putin to help end the war in Ukraine and to stop buying Russian energy.
(NEW YORK) — The National Guard is planning to train as many as 500 troops per state to serve as part of a rapid-response force focused on civil disturbance missions, according to a U.S. official.
The move follows an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in August that called for each state to have National Guard quick reaction forces that could be deployed on short notice for “quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order.”
Each state will be required to have a quick reaction force ready by the start of next year with most states required to have 500 personnel assigned to the force.
The development was first reported by The Guardian which obtained a copy of an Oct. 8 internal memo from the National Guard detailing each state’s allotment. The Guardian posted the memo on its website.
Each of the 50 states and four territories with National Guards already have dedicated quick-reaction forces that assist with natural disasters and civil disturbances.
It is unclear if the forces outlined in the memo are in addition to those — or a larger version specifically trained for civil disturbances.
It is also unclear how the force would be different from existing quick-reaction forces already available to each state.
Over the summer, Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops to Los Angeles amid protests over the surge of immigration enforcement there and later to Washington, D.C., as part of what he called a crime-fighting initiative.
The Trump administration has also sought to deploy Guard troops in Chicago and Portland.
Mayoral candidates, Independent nominee former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani participate in a mayoral debate at Rockefeller Center on October 16, 2025 in New York City. Angelina Katsanis/Pool/Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Almost 300,000 people have voted early in New York City’s 2025 election — which features a closely-watched mayor’s race that has grabbed headlines nationwide — as of the end of the fourth day of early voting on Tuesday, according to the New York City Board of Elections.
That marks a major increase from the 55,106 voters who voted by the end of the fourth day of early voting in 2021’s mayoral election. More than five times as many votes have been cast in the 2025 race as of the end of Tuesday.
Out of the city’s five boroughs, Brooklyn leads with the most early votes so far with 92,035 people having voted early there as of Tuesday night. By comparison, at the end of the fourth day of early voting in 2021, only 13,831 people had voted in Brooklyn.
Staten Island and the Bronx, meanwhile, are lagging behind. As of the end of the fourth day of early voting in 2025, 22,417 votes were cast on Staten Island and 24,919 were cast in the Bronx.
What this means for Democratic candidate State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, independent candidate former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, or Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa isn’t quite certain, according to Laura Tamman, a political science professor at Pace University.
“It’s hard to say definitively what is happening with only borough-wide numbers available,” she told ABC News on Monday.
“However, the proportionally low turnout in Staten Island and the Bronx is not great news for Andrew Cuomo. For him to have a chance, he would need those areas to be showing up in proportionally higher numbers than Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan,” Tamman added. “Given that Andrew Cuomo has consistently trailed Mamdani by double digits, Andrew Cuomo continues to appear highly unlikely to win the election.”
That said, early voting in 2025 is not entirely an apples-to-apples comparison with 2021.
Early voting was first implemented in New York in 2019, so 2021 was the first mayoral race it was used for. Many voters may have also still been getting used to voting in person again after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Additionally, the 2021 matchup between Democratic candidate Eric Adams and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa was a much more traditional matchup, without a high-profile independent in the race, and Adams was effectively on a glide path in the Democratic-dominated Big Apple, according to Tamman.
“Turnout in the 2021 contest between Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa was lower because the race was viewed as less competitive than this year’s contest,” she said.
ABC News’ Averi Harper, Emily Guskin and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
In this May 1, 2025, file photo, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference held at the ICE-Enforcement and Removal Operation office in Miramar, Fla. Joe Raedle/Getty Images, FILE
(FLORIDA) — All 43 Democratic state legislators in Florida have asked Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency as nearly three million Floridians are set to lose their access to SNAP food assistance benefits when funding for the program expires Saturday amid the federal government shutdown.
In a letter to the governor dated Oct. 28, the legislators ask him to “declare a State of Emergency on Food Insecurity to unlock state emergency resources” to make available resources that will allow various state agencies to acquire extra food and funding and to expand school meal programs until SNAP benefits are restored.
“Under Section 252.36 of the Florida Statutes, the Governor has clear authority to declare a State of Emergency when ‘the occurrence or threat thereof is imminent.’ Hunger is both,” the letter states.
“For families already struggling under record food and housing costs, the loss of this critical support would be catastrophic. Local food banks and pantries have already reported overwhelming demand and depleted supplies,” the letter states. “Food insecurity is also increasing for federal employees and our military families as the shutdown continues. This is not speculation; it’s reality.”
“We are days away from a full-blown hunger emergency that will leave families without food during the holiday season. The state cannot stand by,” the letter further states, adding “No child should go hungry because politicians in Washington can’t agree.”
An ABC News request for comment sent to the office of Gov. DeSantis did not immediately receive a response. However, when asked for a reaction to the letter during an unrelated press conference Wednesday at the University of South Florida, DeSantis responded, “Did those Democrats write a letter to Chuck Schumer asking him to stop filibustering the spending?” referring to the Democratic Senate minority leader.
Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have been at the center of an impasse with Republican leadership, Senate Majority Leader Tom Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson, since the shutdown began on Oct. 1.
Nearly 42 million Americans were receiving SNAP benefits as of May 2025, the most recent data available, according to the USDA, which funds the state-administered program. Just over 2.9 million Floridians receive SNAP benefits, making Florida the fourth-highest SNAP recipient, according to the latest USDA data, after California, Texas and New York.
There have been thirteen failed votes in the Senate to reopen the government, with the most recent on Tuesday. Democrats have refused to vote on a short-term funding bill that doesn’t address the issue of extending subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, which expire Dec. 31, and Republicans have said they will not address the issue without Democrats first voting on a bill to re-open the government.
On Tuesday, 25 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration over the impending loss of SNAP benefits amid the federal government shutdown, which is now the second-longest in U.S. history.
President Donald Trump talks at a press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (not pictured) at Chequers at the conclusion of a state visit on September 18, 2025 in Aylesbury, England. This is the final day of President Trump’s second UK state visit, with the previous one taking place in 2019 during his first presidential term. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The White House fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, which is slated to review President Donald Trump’s controversial construction projects, and will replace them with its own appointees, a White House official told ABC News.
The six members, who were appointed by former President Joe Biden, were removed Tuesday night by the White House, according to an administration official. The seventh seat on the commission had been vacated before Tuesday.
The official said the White House is “preparing to appoint a new slate of members to the commission that are more aligned with President Trump’s America First Policies.”
The Washington Post first reported the move Tuesday evening.
In replacing the members of the CFA, Trump has removed a potential obstacle to the massive $300 million ballroom he is building on the White House grounds after demolishing much of the East Wing, and the ceremonial arch he wants to build.
The arch — similar to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris — would be built in a roundabout in front of Arlington National Cemetery at one end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial.
The president said both construction projects would be paid for by private donations.
Trump has faced questions about the legality and review process for the projects but he has provided few answers.
The Commission of Fine Arts provides the federal government “expert advice” to promote the “the federal interest and preserve the dignity of the nation’s capital.” The group is composed of seven members appointed by the president.
The CFA has the authority to review construction projects measuring whether they match the “design and aesthetics” of Washington, D.C., but does not have approval power on projects.
The commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 20, but it is unclear if it will happen because of the ongoing government shutdown. According to the CFA website, the commission will begin accepting submissions for new projects once the government reopens.
In addition to reviewing designs for federal construction projects, the CFA also provides feedback on coins, medals and private building projects.
The president is not obligated to follow the CFA’s recommendation.
When President Harry Truman added a balcony to the White House, the renovation was completed over the CFA’s objections.
Federal projects in the D.C. area are typically overseen and approved by the National Capital Planning Commission, which is also led by Trump appointees.
Will Scharf, the White House staff secretary, currently chairs the NCPC and has expressed enthusiasm for the ballroom project.
“I know the president thinks very highly of this commission, and I’m excited for us to play a role in the ballroom project when the time is appropriate for us to do so,” he said in a September meeting in which he brushed aside criticism of the White House construction from the media.
The Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to examine part of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires federal agencies to consider the effects of projects on historic properties.
The hearing was scheduled to focus on guidelines that don’t apply to the White House, but the ballroom project is expected to come up.
