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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said in his speech to a joint session of Congress that he’ll work to protect and support police. But his words set off a backlash that included a Democratic lawmaker accusing him of the “height of hypocrisy” and a former Capitol Police officer noting that Trump pardoned 1,500 people who attacked him and his colleagues during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Harry Dunn, a former Capitol Police Officer who risked his life to defend the Capitol Building as Trump’s supporters rioted in 2021, slammed Trump in a series of posts on the social media site Bluesky as the president was addressing Congress Tuesday night.

“Trump threatens public safety,” Dunn said in one post.

In an expletive-laced post, the 41-year-old Dunn, wrote in all capital letters, “YOU PARDONED OUR ATTACKERS.”

During his speech Tuesday night, Trump did not mention the insurrection, of which, according to the House Jan. 6 committee’s final report, he allegedly engaged in a criminally “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 presidential election and failed to act to stop his supporters from attacking the Capitol.

In his address, the president spoke about getting police officers nationwide “the support, protection and respect they so dearly deserve.”

“They have to get it. They have such a hard, dangerous job,” Trump said. “But we’re going to make it less dangerous. The problem is the bad guys don’t respect the law, but they’re starting to respect it, and they soon will respect it.”

In the first two months of 2025, at least 58 police officers have been shot in the line of duty, including eight who were killed, according to a report released on March 3 by the National Fraternal Order of Police. The report showed that the number of police shootings is down 11% from this time in 2024.

Among the officers killed this year are Virginia Beach Police Officers Cameron Girvin, 25, and Christopher Reese, 30, who authorities said were shot at point-blank range on Feb. 25 as they were already lying on the ground wounded and defenseless following a traffic stop. The suspected killer, who police said died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was identified as 42-year-old John McCoy III, a convicted felon.

Trump said that one of the first steps he has taken since returning to the White House is signing an executive order requiring a mandatory death penalty for anyone convicted of murdering a police officer.

“And tonight, I’m asking Congress to pass that policy into permanent law,” Trump said.

Trump cited the March 25, 2024, fatal shooting of New York Police Officer Jonathan Diller, who was gunned down while conducting a traffic stop in Queens — becoming the first NYPD officer killed in the line of duty in two years. The suspect, who was shot and wounded by Diller’s partner, was identified as 34-year-old Guy Rivera.

Rivera, who has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge, was previously arrested 21 times, according to police records. Also arrested in the fatal shooting, was 41-year-old Lindy Jones, who was in the car with Rivera at the time of the shooting. Jones pleaded not guilty to a charge of being a criminal possession of a weapon and possession of a defaced firearm. Jones had 14 prior arrests including attempted murder and robbery, and was out on bail in connection to a separate crime at the time of the shooting, police records indicate.

“We’re going to get these cold-blooded killers and repeat offenders off our streets. And we’re going to do it fast. Gotta stop it,” said Trump, who attended Diller’s wake.

Trump called on Congress to pass a new crime bill aimed at “getting tougher on repeat offenders while enhancing protections for America’s police officers so they can do their jobs without fear of their lives being totally destroyed.”

Following Trump’s speech, Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, posted a statement on social media accusing Trump of “the height of hypocrisy.”

“Trump talks a big game about standing with … the blue, yet on the first day of his administration he pardoned hundreds of cop-beaters who tried to steal an election on January 6, 2021,” Garcia wrote.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-California, who walked out of Trump’s speech with other Democrats, also took to social media, posting, “Trump insults the American people by saying, ‘let’s bring back law and order.’ Among his first acts as president? Pardoning 1500 violent felons involved in the January 6 attacks on our U.S. Capitol and democracy.”

Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., cited the hundreds of FBI agents and Department of Justice employees who have lost their jobs in the Trump administration’s sweeping reduction in the federal workforce being overseen by billionaire Elon Musk and the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“Purging hundreds of FBI and DOJ agents who investigated the Jan 6 insurrection — career law enforcement officers, not political appointees — does not make us safer, more secure, or prosperous,” Frankel wrote on social media.

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(IDYLLWILD, Calif.) — Two hikers who were stranded for three days after falling down a snowy cliff were rescued on Monday near Idyllwild, California, the Riverside Sheriff Aviation Unit said in a statement Tuesday.

The climbers — one man and one woman — were traveling along the Tahquitz Mountain trail on March 1 when they suddenly plummeted approximately 800 feet down a snowy cliff, located about 8,900 feet above Idyllwild, California, according to officials.

The hikers called 911, stating they were “injured badly and needed help,” officials said. A helicopter was sent to rescue the two individuals, but due to 45 mph winds, rescuers failed in their attempt.

Helicopters from Cal Fire and the Orange County Fire Authority also attempted to hoist the victims out, but “all were unsuccessful due to low clouds and high winds.”

Authorities said volunteers from Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit were able to locate the male and female hikers on the ground that first night.

Then, on the second day, “several attempts” were again made, but helicopters were “unsuccessful due to mountain obscuration and high turbulence surface winds.” The hikers had to endure temperatures as low as 15 degrees Fahrenheit that night, accompanied by persistent snow, officials said.

Finally, on the third day, the “weather and wind calmed just enough” and the hikers were successfully hoisted out via helicopter, officials said. The man, “who was the most severely injured,” was rescued first and flown to Desert Regional Medical Center for treatment, followed by the woman, officials said.

Body camera video capturing the rescue shows the snowy conditions officials had to deal with while saving the two stranded individuals.

“Many thanks to all those ground crews that were involved as well as all the helicopter crews who were involved in the rescue,” the aviation unit said in a statement.

Along with the helicopters, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said on social media that over 20 mountain team rescuers hiked to save these injured victims, who “most definitely would have died from exposure to the elements.”

“This was a very long and coordinated effort with amazing partners and volunteers. Outstanding job by all,” Bianco said on social media.

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(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Thursday pulled the expected signing of the executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, multiple sources tell ABC News.

A draft of the executive order called on Education Secretary Linda McMahon to facilitate a department closure by taking all necessary steps “permitted by law,” sources had earlier told ABC News.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt quoted a news report saying it was “fake news” that Trump was expected to sign the order on Thursday. She said he is not signing it.

Behind the scenes, there was concern among top administration officials about the blowback the order would receive and the lack of messaging in place ahead of the rollout.

Specially, how the administration would answer questions about how the executive order would impact the school lunch program along with other programs that could no longer exist.

The education community is celebrating this apparent reversal as a win.

“This is a tremendous victory for those of us who are standing up and holding the line and pushing back against the endless chaos that we are seeing from the Trump administration,” an education leader told ABC News.

The education leader, who represents parents and families across the country, stressed that Americans are not going to stand by as the Trump administration prepares to dismantle the agency that impacts millions of students.

“These EOs are not dictates from a king and we are going to challenge him using every resource we can, including the courts,” the education leader said.

The education leader said that the blowback has Trump “shook.” And, hundreds of parents and even some school districts across the country are preparing to trigger a massive legal fight if the expected executive order is signed, according to the education leader.

“This constant state of chaos that he has American families in is unacceptable and we are going to continue to fight him every step of the way,” the education leader said.

An order to dismantle the Department of Education would require congressional approval; any proposed legislation would likely fail without 60 Senate votes.

McMahon has previously acknowledged she would need Congress to carry out the president’s vision to close the department she has been tapped to lead.

“We’d like to do this right,” she said during her confirmation hearing last month, adding: “That certainly does require congressional action.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday denied a request from U.S. Agency for International Development contractors to issue a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration’s mass termination of their contracts.

The Personal Service Contractor Association, an advocacy group for U.S. personal services contractors employed by USAID, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last month after the secretary of state issued a stop-work order for all foreign assistance and contracts.

The contractors alleged the stop-work order prevented the association’s members from carrying out work for “which their positions were created and exist by law and from overseeing often lifesaving humanitarian relief.”

According to the complaint, the contractors were “irreparably injured” because they say the stop-word order cut “essential communication and network access, endangering their personal safety and security” and water and electricity for their homes overseas due to the funding freeze.

“The impact around the world of freezing foreign aid funding and stopping foreign aid programs has been and remains calamitous,” the contractors said in the complaint.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols denied the contractors’ request for the temporary restraining order.

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(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Thursday issued a nationwide injunction blocking the Trump administration from freezing federal funding without going through Congress — offering a scathing critique of what he said was the White House’s attempt to disrupt the separation of powers.

The judge, U.S. District Judge John McConnell, had already issued a temporary order in January blocking the freeze. Thursday’s injunction effectively finalized that order and will allow the Trump administration to appeal the ruling — though they had already tried to do so and were denied.

The injunction prohibits the Trump administration from “reissuing, adopting, implementing, giving effect to, or reinstating under a different name” a short-lived directive issued by the Office of Management and Budget that froze billions in funds.

“The Executive’s categorical freeze of appropriated and obligated funds fundamentally undermines the distinct constitutional roles of each branch of our government,” McConnell wrote in Thursday’s ruling. “The interaction of the three co-equal branches of government is an intricate, delicate, and sophisticated balance — but it is crucial to our form of constitutional governance. Here, the Executive put itself above Congress.”

Judge McConnell noted that his order is “not limiting the Executive’s discretion or micromanaging the administration of federal funds,” but rather it reiterates the limit of the president’s power.

“Rather, consistent with the Constitution, statutes, and caselaw, the Court is simply holding that the Executive’s discretion to impose its own policy preferences on appropriated funds can be exercised only if it is authorized by the congressionally approved appropriations statutes,” he wrote.

In his ruling, the judge offered a history lesson to explain why the funding freeze was unlawful.

“We begin by restating the American government principles learned during critical civics education lessons in our youth. Our founders, after enduring an eight-year war against a monarch’s cruel reign from an ocean away, understood too well the importance of a more balanced approach to governance, ” Judge McConnell wrote. “These concepts of ‘checks and balances’ and ‘separation of powers’ have been the lifeblood of our government, hallmarks of fairness, cooperation, and representation that made the orderly operation of a society made up of a culturally, racially, and socioeconomically diverse people possible.”

Regarding a claim made by a group of 22 state attorneys general about unlawfully freezing millions in FEMA funding, Judge McConnell ordered the Trump administration to issue a report to the court detailing their compliance — or lack thereof — with the court’s preliminary injunction.
 

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