Politics

In battleground states across the country, environmental activists like Dr. Emily Church are canvassing on behalf of an organization called the Environmental Voter Project in an effort to turn out people who care the most about climate change — but who haven’t shown up for past elections.

During a recent effort in Pittsburgh, Church, a biology professor who leads local canvasses for the project, recalled to ABC News how she used to lobby lawmakers directly to take action on climate change, but they told her voters don’t care about the issue.

She said she’s now trying to prove them wrong.

“The people who prioritize climate and the environment need to show up,” Church said. “That’s how we’re going to get anything done.”

The Environmental Voter Project, or EVP, is targeting very specific individuals: registered voters who list climate change as their No. 1 issue but who are unlikely to cast ballots in November’s election based on their voting history.

“Our biggest problem in the climate movement right now [is] we don’t have enough voting power,” EVP founder and executive Nathaniel Stinnett said.

EVP takes a targeted approach to door knocking, Stinnett explained. Using polling, the group first determines which registered voters in a particular area, like Pittsburgh, would rank climate as their top voting issue. They then cross-reference profiles with voting records to find people who have not come out to the polls recently or regularly.

By Stinnett’s accounting, the group has been successful across general elections, primaries and even in local races.

“We’ve sometimes increased turnout by as much as 1.8 percentage points in general elections, 3.6 points in primaries and 5.7 points in local elections,” he said, noting that while 1.8 percentage points might sound small, it could determine an election. Pennsylvania, for example, was only won by President Joe Biden in 2020 by 1.17%.

For the canvassing effort in Pittsburgh, Stinnett said EVP targeted people who didn’t vote in the 2020 election or elections in the years since. He added that they identified 22,135 voters in the city who are highly likely to rank climate as their top priority but unlikely to vote in November.

The group claims nonpartisanship but acknowledges that right now it’s Democrats working on climate change almost exclusively. One of their hopes is to bring more Republicans to the table, too.

“We want to scare the bejesus out of as many politicians as possible, no matter what side of the aisle they’re on, until they think, ‘You know what, the only way I can win elections is if I start recognizing the biggest crisis,'” Stinnett said.

Over time, climate change has become a more salient voting issue. In 2010, only a slim majority of Americans agreed that global warming was occurring, according to polling by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Now, 72% of Americans agree.

But climate is currently not one of the biggest motivators for people this election cycle, surveys have indicated — though climate advocates hope to change the electorate by encouraging turnout of climate-concerned voters.

According to a February poll by the Wall Street Journal, registered voters listed immigration (20%), the economy (14%), abortion (8%) and democracy (8%) as their top issues. Climate change ranked 11th, with 2% of voters choosing it as their top issue.

More broadly, Gallup’s tracking of what Americans say is the country’s most important problem over time shows climate, pollution and the environment at 2% in March, far below economic issues and immigration.

Polling has also shown that in addition to a partisan divide on the issue, a generational shift may be at play.

“Young voters in general tend to be more Democratic, and that is kind of tied up inextricably with their belief that climate is really important,” said Nathaniel Rakich, a senior editor and senior elections analyst at 538. “So if Republicans don’t want to basically be losing this upcoming electorate by large margins for decades to come, they’re going to have to eat into that Democratic support by at least proposing some solutions and addressing climate change.”

Even the Biden administration, which has prioritized fighting climate change, is being pushed by progressives to do more on the issue.

Twenty-one activists with the environmental advocacy group Sunrise Movement were arrested outside of Biden campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, in February. That group and other advocates have additional demonstrations planned in the run-up to the November election.

“I think there were some missteps by the administration — permitting the Willow project in Alaska was a step backwards. That was unfortunate,” Evergreen Action Executive Director Lena Moffitt said, referring to a large-scale oil drilling initiative backed by Alaska lawmakers and others in the state for its economic value, but which environmentalists criticized as undercutting the White House’s climate goals.

“We know that we need to move away from fossil fuels and, at the same time, the administration is doing a lot to hasten that move away from fossil fuels,” Moffitt said.

The choice for voters in November, on the issue of climate, is stark. President Biden has spoken urgently of the dangers of not slowing climate change and has pushed renewable energy solutions, backed electric vehicle infrastructure and created a new Climate Corps to train and expand the environmental workforce.

Biden last week finalized new protections against oil and gas production for some13 million acres of land in Alaska and, through the Environmental Protection Agency, has imposed aggressive emissions standards for vehicles to cut future greenhouse gases.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, who has long questioned climate science, without evidence, has opposed Biden’s clean energy policies and promised to roll them back — arguing they are a drag on the economy and make the U.S. less competitive and independent.

“The fact is President Biden has done more to address climate change than any president in U.S. history. And there’s a lot more to be done,” Moffitt said. “Scientists have said that we still can avoid the worst of the worst of the climate crisis. But what we do in these next few years is essential to which path we choose.”

Stinnett agreed, telling ABC News that too often Americans have been told to focus on their own individual habits rather than government policy.

“[Politicians say,] ‘Hey, don’t pay attention to that coal-fired power plant back there. Instead, it’s all your fault for having a plastic water bottle in your hand.’ And we bought it. We bought it hook, line and sinker,” he said. “In truth, it is far more of a political and a systemic problem that needs political and systemic solutions.”

In Pittsburgh, Church said that despite the difficulty in getting new, environmentally minded voters to the polls, she thinks the challenge is worth it.

“The science is very clear. So we know what we need to do,” she said, “it’s just a matter of getting it done.”

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After much public debate, a Maine law has brought the country closer to having the popular vote determine the winner of national presidential elections — but it’s unlikely that will happen before November or even at all.

Earlier this week, Maine Gov. Janet Mills allowed a bill to become law without her signature that would take effect once the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact is able to gather pledges for at least 270 electoral votes — the number of delegate votes needed to elect a president.

The movement has now gathered pledges from 17 states and Washington, D.C. — accounting for a total of 209 electoral votes.

The movement seeks to change the way a president is chosen, without a constitutional amendment, but experts say it’s unclear what happens when enough states have signed on. It’s unlikely this would happen before the 2024 election.

The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact seeks to guarantee that the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia wins the presidency.

When there are enough states pledging their popular votes to meet the 270 Electoral College vote threshold, all the votes in those states will be added up to a national count that determines the winner of the election. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact says that will give each vote equal weight regardless of where a voter lives.

Five of the 46 presidents who came into office lost the popular vote, including Donald Trump most recently in 2016. The compact argues that not every vote is equal under the current system.

“Under the current system, a small number of votes in a small number of states regularly decides the Presidency. All-or-nothing payoffs fuel doubt, controversy over real or imagined irregularities, hair-splitting post-election litigation, and unrest,” the compact says on its website.

“In 2020, if 21,461 voters had changed their minds, Joe Biden would have been defeated, despite leading by over 7 million votes nationally.  Each of these 21,461 voters (5,229 in Arizona, 5,890 in Georgia, and 10,342 in Wisconsin) was 329 times more important than the 7 million voters elsewhere,” the compact says.

One expert says that everything that has to do with the Electoral College is controversial these days with a partisan divide on the issue. Many Democrats want to get rid of it, while more Republicans support it.

“If you look at all the presidential elections from 1992 through 2020, Republicans have won the presidential popular vote only once — and that was in 2004 when [George W.] Bush beat John Kerry in the popular vote. In every other election over the last 30 years, Democrats have won the popular vote, but because of the Electoral College, Republicans have gotten the presidency a couple of times despite losing the popular vote,” Darrell West, a Douglas Dillon chair in governmental studies at the Brookings Institute, told ABC News in an interview.

“Republicans feel the Electoral College advantages them now and so they don’t want to get rid of it,” West said.

West said the country currently only has a handful of swing states because of the Electoral College, so candidates spend most of their money on that small number of states.

“If we got rid of the Electoral College, candidates actually would campaign more broadly. They would visit more states because a vote in Illinois is the same as a vote in California,” West said.

Could this work?

Experts say the most direct way to change how presidents are elected is to amend the U.S. Constitution, but there doesn’t currently seem to be a feasible pathway without a consensus between both parties.

“Ultimately, there probably is going to have to be a constitutional amendment to get rid of the Electoral College, but everyone knows that’s not possible now for political reasons. It takes a very large majority in Congress as well as in the states to make any change to the Constitution. So what states are trying to figure out is, ‘Short of a constitutional amendment, are there ways to improve the Electoral College?'” West said.

But it remains unclear what happens when enough states pledge their delegates.

“There’s a lot of deep legal contestation over what happens next. I mean, in my judgment, I think it needs congressional consent,” Derek Muller, a law professor at Notre Dame Law School, told ABC News.

“If Congress fails to do that, I’m sure there will be litigation,” Muller said.

There are other legal questions, such as whether it would violate equal protections if the U.S. were to have different states with different rules for their elections and questions about whether a state has the authority to do this, Muller said.

“There are lots of open, contested questions … where I think the national popular vote, if it does hit 270, will immediately face a series of legal challenges,” Muller said.

West agreed that the legal situation is unclear.

“It’s not obvious what the status would be of these laws. States do have the authority to set election laws. But according to the Constitution, the electors to the Electoral College actually are free to vote the way they want,” West said.

“And so states can pass laws, but there haven’t been a lot of cases testing these provisions. And so it’s not clear how the Supreme Court would rule on this issue,” West added.

Muller said if a state sues another state, that case would go directly before the U.S. Supreme Court.

“It’s really unclear who would bring the challenge or where they would bring it. One of the more interesting wrinkles is that there is the possibility, when you’re dealing with a compact, you file directly in the United States Supreme Court so that could be a place where it goes. But again, I think there’s a lot of possibilities about the litigation strategy if it does hit 270 [pledges],” Muller said.

Has something like this happened before?

About 100 years ago, before the 17th Amendment was passed — which allows for the direct election of senators — states had begun shifting from legislatures choosing members sent by the state to the U.S. Senate to having “preference polls” for the public where they would signal who they wanted to represent the state.

“Some states — I think Oregon was one of the leaders among some others — would institute preference polls for the people for their senators. So they would hold an election that wasn’t binding, but it would just request, ‘Who do you want us to vote for?’ And then you got a sentiment from the people and the legislature could or could not follow that,” Muller said.

Later, those states — including Oregon — began binding themselves to the results of the preference polls, Muller said. He pointed to this as an analogy in which the states were trying to “convert legislative elections into a popular vote, even though there was no formal mechanism to do so.”

Eventually, the Constitution was amended to make Senate seats elected by popular vote.

West argues that the direct election of senators did require the constitutional amendment to go into effect.

“And that was 100 years ago, when the political times were less polarized than what we have today,” West said.

Some states unsuccessfully tried to implement term limits for members of Congress about 20 or 30 years ago, Muller said. The Supreme Court said that was unconstitutional in 1995.

“So Missouri tried something a little more creative, which was to say, ‘OK, we’re going to ask all candidates to take a term-limits pledge, and we’re gonna print if they violated their pledge, we’re gonna put that on the ballot, or if they declined to support the term-limits pledge … we’re gonna print that on the ballot,'” Muller said.

“The goal was to say, ‘Well, we’re not keeping you off the ballot, we’re just telling everyone whether or not you’re adhering to term limits,'” Muller said. “And the Supreme Court said, ‘Well you can’t do that either.'”

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(WASHINGTON) — The House of Representatives on Saturday passed a series of foreign aid bills that include $60.8 billion in aid to Ukraine, $26.38 billion in aid to Israel, $8 billion in aid to the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan, and a foreign aid bill that includes a TikTok ban provision.

The four bills will now be sent to the Senate as a package.

An amendment to the TikTok ban provision bill also passed 249-267, which requires the Treasury Department to submit a report on Iranian assets and sanction exemptions.

A bill which provides $8 billion in military aid for the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan, passed overwhelmingly in the House by a vote of 385-34-1. Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan was the only member who voted present.

The House passed the Ukraine foreign aid bill by a vote of 311-112-1.

The House passed the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act by a vote of 366-58.

Democrats briefly waved Ukrainian flags during the vote, an action that prompted House Speaker Mike Johnson to remind them it was a violation for members to wave flags on the floor.

Earlier, a GOP border security bill failed by a vote of 215-199. It was considered under suspension and did not reach a two-thirds majority. This bill was separate from the four foreign aid bills.

After Democrats helped Speaker Mike Johnson avoid defeat and advance the legislation on Friday, lawmakers considered amendments and held debate on Saturday before voting on final passage.

President Joe Biden thanked House members for passing foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel and said that the package comes at a “critical inflection point” for those nations.

“It comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia,” Biden said in a statement Saturday.

Biden also pointed to the “desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti” included in the funding. Biden hailed the work of leaders in the House and the bipartisan group of lawmakers who he said “voted to put our national security first,” and called on the Senate to get the package to his desk.

“I urge the Senate to quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs,” Biden added.

Johnson’s push to get the aid across the finish line has angered some of his conference’s far-right members, causing a growing threat to his speakership.

A third Republican, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, announced Friday he was joining a looming motion to oust Johnson just after the aid bills advanced.

Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced the motion last month, accusing Johnson of “standing with the Democrats” after he worked across the aisle to avoid a government shutdown.

After Johnson unveiled his plan to forge ahead on foreign aid, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky became the second hard-liner to back Greene’s cause. Massie called on Johnson to resign, a suggestion Johnson flatly rejected.

All three lawmakers have expressed frustration on Johnson moving ahead with foreign aid without addressing immigration. Though earlier this year, a bipartisan border deal was produced by a group of senators but was quickly deemed dead on arrival by former President Donald Trump and Johnson.

“Our border cannot be an afterthought,” Gosar said in a statement. “We need a Speaker who puts America first rather than bending to the reckless demands of the warmongers, neo-cons and the military industrial complex making billions from a costly and endless war half a world away.”

Johnson said Friday that the bills are “not the perfect legislation” but are “the best possible product” under the circumstances.

It remains to be seen when, or if, the hard-liners force a vote on the motion to vacate the speaker’s chair. If they do, Democrats would potentially need to step in to save Johnson’s job.

Several Democrats told ABC News Saturday that they’re open to saving Speaker Johnson — if Greene makes good on her threat to call for a vote to oust him — if Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries gave them the okay, or at minimum didn’t oppose the move.

ABC News White House correspondent MaryAlice Parks asked the administration if President Joe Biden discussed that possibility with Speaker Johnson in their phone call earlier this week.

“We do not get involved when it comes to leadership in, whether it’s the Senate or in the House,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded. “We’re very mindful. That is something that the members, in this case the members in Congress, have to decide on.”

ABC News’ Jay O’Brien contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Donald and Melania Trump are set to hold dueling fundraisers in different states on Saturday, the former president raising money for his campaign and the Republican Party in North Carolina in the afternoon ahead of a rally and the former first lady raising money for a conservative LGBT group at the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach later that evening.

Especially for Melania Trump, it would be a rare appearance at a fundraising event as she has mostly stayed away from the former president’s campaign trail this election cycle and instead only occasionally been seen at private events at his properties.

The last two times she was seen publicly were at a major Palm Beach fundraiser for Trump and the Republicans earlier this month where they raised more than $50 million and last month at a Palm Beach polling location where the former president voted in the Florida Republican primary.

She’d be headlining the fundraiser for Log Cabin Republicans, the largest 501(c)4 nonprofit organization representing LGBT conservatives in the United States.

The fundraiser is co-hosted by a slew of longtime Donald Trump allies and prominent Republican donors, including former U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who also served as acting director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. He was the first openly gay person to hold a Cabinet-level position in the United States.

Former president of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum and an active fundraiser of the former president Bill White and his husband Bryan Eure are also among the co-hosts.

Other notable guests and co-hosts include former Trump-endorsed Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, who lost to Democratic Sen. John Fetterman in the 2022 general election, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes’ widow Elizabeth Ailes, longtime Republican donor Saul Fox and Deborah Magowan, the wife of former Giants Chairman Peter Magowan, according to a source and an invitation for the fundraiser.

According to the invitation, each ticket costs $10,000.

Ahead of the fundraiser Saturday morning, Grenell posted on X that Melania Trump “will launch the most aggressive campaign we’ve ever seen from Republicans to win support from gay and lesbian Americans.”

“We have largely achieved equality in America for gays,” Grenell wrote, praising the United States as the champion of freedom and liberties and throwing support for Donald Trump.

“He is the best candidate for our safety, security and prosperity,” he continued. “He sees you as 100% equal – it’s up to you to be responsible, hardworking and successful. Anyone telling you that you are oppressed in America or that you need special side agreements because you’re gay is only seeking to control you. Break out from their condescending cult-like manipulations.”

“You can be anything you want to be in America,” he continued, saying Trump will win a significant amount of the gay vote in 2024.

An organizer of the fundraiser told ABC News that the event sold out within 36 hours and has already raised more than $1 million, with additional people donating even if they can’t attend the event.

Roughly 70 people from all across the country – California, New York, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C. – are expected to attend the event, the organizer said.

“For the first lady to choose this as her first campaign event is an honor to the conservative Republican gay community,” the organizer told ABC News. “Definitely negates the false narrative that Biden and the Democrats have peddled about the Trump administration.”

“Trump has grown the Republican base of all types of minorities unlike any other Republican has,” the organizer continued. “The Log Cabin has a clear plan of how this money will be spent to educate voters about President Trump’s record and to help him win with the gay community in swing states.”

Melania Trump has maintained a close relationship with Log Cabin Republicans over the years, headlining their annual gala at Mar-a-Lago in 2021 and receiving the group’s Spirit of Lincoln award, for her role in “helping children reach their full potential” and “championing a more inclusive Republican Party.” In 2022, Donald Trump himself headlined Log Cabin Republicans’ Spirit of Lincoln gala held at Mar-a-Lago, where he told the audience, “we are fighting for the gay community, and we are fighting and fighting hard.”

Meanwhile in Charlotte, North Carolina, Saturday afternoon, Trump is scheduled to fundraise with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who was previously the North Carolina Republican Party’s chairman, as well as Trump’s daughter-in-law and RNC Co-chair Lara Trump.

After the fundraiser, Trump will head over to Wilmington, North Carolina, to hold his first campaign rally since the New York criminal trial started earlier this week. Trump has denied all wrongdoing in the case.

Ticketed from $5,000 per couple for general admission to $250,000 per couple to be on the host-committee, the fundraiser is expected to raise at least $5 million, according to the event’s invitation and the organizer. A photo opportunity with the former president is priced at $25,000 per couple and a roundtable would cost $100,000 per couple.

Money raised from this fundraiser would be split among the Trump campaign, Trump’s Save America PAC, which has footed much of Trump’s legal bills, the RNC and 40 other state GOP committees.

Notable co-hosts of the fundraiser include North Carolina’s National Committeeman Ed Broyhill, who was previously Trump’s North Carolina Finance Committee chair in 2016, and Army veteran Scott Greenblatt, who runs a veterans claims consulting company.

The North Carolina fundraiser and rally comes on the heels of Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper saying President Joe Biden can win the state despite Trump carrying the state both in 2016 and 2020. Both Biden and Harris campaigned in North Carolina last month, highlighting their health care messaging.

Broyhill, one of the co-hosts of the Trump fundraiser, however, told ABC News that North Carolina is a GOP stronghold, claiming Republicans success in down ballot seats.

“I don’t know what people talk about when they say this is a purple state,” Broyhill said. “There is no chance in hell that Joe Biden is going to come close to winning North Carolina.”

“There are quite a large number of top donors that are flying in, and once they arrive, their expectations will far surpass 5 million,” Broyhill said of the upcoming fundraiser.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House of Representatives will vote Saturday on a series of bills to provide $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

After Democrats helped Speaker Mike Johnson avoid defeat and advance the legislation on Friday, lawmakers will consider amendments and hold debate on Saturday before voting on final passage.

The long-stalled assistance would supply roughly $26 billion for Israel, $61 billion for Ukraine and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific. A fourth bill being voted on Saturday includes measures to ban TikTok, sanction Iran and seize Russian assets to help fund Ukraine.

The White House said it “strongly supports” the legislation, which is expected to pass with bipartisan backing from Democrats and Republicans. House Democrats plan to hold a closed-door caucus meeting ahead of votes Saturday at 12 p.m. EDT.

But Johnson’s push to get the aid across the finish line has angered some of his conference’s far-right members, causing a growing threat to his speakership.

A third Republican, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, announced Friday he was joining a looming motion to oust Johnson just after the aid bills advanced.

Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced the motion last month, accusing Johnson of “standing with the Democrats” after he worked across the aisle to avoid a government shutdown.

After Johnson unveiled his plan to forge ahead on foreign aid, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky became the second hard-liner to back Greene’s cause. Massie called on Johnson to resign, a suggestion Johnson flatly rejected.

All three lawmakers have expressed frustration on Johnson moving ahead with foreign aid without addressing immigration. Though earlier this year, a bipartisan border deal was produced by a group of senators but was quickly deemed dead on arrival by former President Donald Trump and Johnson.

“Our border cannot be an afterthought,” Gosar said in a statement. “We need a Speaker who puts America first rather than bending to the reckless demands of the warmongers, neo-cons and the military industrial complex making billions from a costly and endless war half a world away.”

Johnson said Friday that the bills are “not the perfect legislation” but are “the best possible product” under the circumstances.

It remains to be seen when, or if, the hard-liners force a vote on the motion to vacate the speaker’s chair. If they do, Democrats would potentially need to step in to save Johnson’s job.

ABC News White House Correspondent MaryAlice Parks asked the administration if President Joe Biden discussed that possibility with Speaker Johnson in their phone call earlier this week.

“We do not get involved when it comes to leadership in, whether it’s the Senate or in the House,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded. “We’re very mindful. That is something that the members, in this case the members in Congress, have to decide on.”

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(NEW YORK) — Lawyers for the New York Attorney General asked Judge Arthur Engoron on Friday to reject former President Donald Trump’s $175 million bond for his civil judgment and require him to post a new one within seven days.

Letitia James contended that the former president failed to demonstrate that Knight Specialty Insurance Company, the company behind his bond, had the resources to pay the bond if Trump’s appeal failed.

“Defendants and KSIC have failed to justify KSIC as the surety on this extraordinarily large undertaking for a number of reasons,” James said in the filing.

In February, Engoron determined that Trump and his co-defendants engaged in a decade-long scheme to inflate the former president’s net worth to get better business deals and interest rates on loans.

Trump was at risk of having his properties seized after he failed to obtain a bond for the $464 million judgment, but a New York Appellate Court reduced the amount of money Trump would need to post to $175 million.

Trump and his co-defendants posted a $175 million bond on April 1.

The attorney general’s filing stated that Trump and the company failed to demonstrate the collateral of the bond beyond $175 million in cash in a Charles Schwab brokerage account. In the motion, James also raised concerns that KSIC uses affiliates in the Cayman Islands to reduce the liabilities shown on their books and allegedly violates federal laws.

“(KSIC is) a small insurer that is not authorized to write business in New York and thus not regulated by the state’s insurance department, had never before written a surety bond in New York or in the prior two years in any other jurisdiction, and has a total policyholder surplus of just $138 million,” James said in the filing.

Judge Engoron is scheduled to hold a hearing on this issue on Monday.

Don Hankey, the chairman of Knight Insurance Group, declined to comment on the matter.

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(WASHINGTON) — Hours after a senior U.S. official told ABC News that Israeli fighter aircraft struck an air defense radar site inside Iran, top U.S. and Israeli officials on Friday declined to publicly acknowledge the incident in an apparent move aimed at de-escalating the situation and keeping Iran from retaliating.

The radio silence was notable after weeks of U.S. officials publicly urging Israel to show restraint.

At the end of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Capri, Italy, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked why he wouldn’t address what happened overnight.

The reporter also asked, “Isn’t it important that you do so? Can you tell us if you’ve spoken to your Israeli counterparts?”

Blinken replied, “I’m going to be incredibly boring and not make your day by saying, again, I’m not going to speak to what’s been reported — other than to say that the United States has not been involved in any offensive operations.”

“The United States, along with our partners, will continue to work for de-escalation,” he added.

But even as Blinken defelcted, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani seemed reveal that Israel gave the US a heads up before the strike.

“They were – [the] United States — were informed the last minute, but there was no involvement on the part of the United States it was simply information which was provided,” Tajani said.

According to a senior U.S. official, three missiles were fired early Thursday local time from Israeli fighter aircraft outside of Iran. The target was an air defense radar site near Isfaha that helps to protect a nearby nuclear facility.

The limited strike was believed to show Iran that Israel has the ability to cause real damage, but at the same time not provoke Iran.

Iran called the Israeli strike a dramatic exaggeration by the media. In a meeting at the United Nations, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian said “the downed micro-aerial vehicle did not cause any financial or life damage.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed not damage was done to the Natanz nuclear facility.

Shuki Friedman of the Jewish People Policy Institute, a former head of the Iran sanctions program for the Israeli prime minister’s office, likened the strike to Israel sending Iran a “text message.”

“Israel sent the message that ‘we can reach anywhere,'” and to “demonstrate capabilities of a much more meaningful attack,” Friedman said.

Mick Mulroy, a former deputy secretary of defense for the Middle East and an ABC News national security and defense contributor, agreed the attack was carefully calibrated.

“I believe the Israeli’s are determined to show Iran that it could target a sensitive facility in Iran, but did so in a manner not to provoke a response,” he said

“They also with the notable exception of their national security minister chose not to publicly discuss (the incident) as that would of been counterproductive to trying to contain and deescalate the situation,” Mulroy added.

The U.S. appeared to be doing the same.

At the Pentagon, aides on Thursday were teleworking or declared themselves busy with no plans to brief reporters. The State Department, too, was quiet.

Such a slow pace can be typical in Washington for a Friday, as staffers eye the exits for an early weekend.

But the quiet hallways were noteworthy, given that a close U.S. ally had just launched a direct attack on Iran and no comment was to be found.

At the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who briefed reporters at length throughout the week, was not at the podium for the daily press briefing.

When pressed by reporters about whether declining comment was part of an administration strategy to de-escalate, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre would say she was going to be “super mindful” in her remarks.

“I understand the interest and I’m going to be disappointing many people here. This afternoon, I just don’t have anything to share,” she said.

She added that “more generally,” the U.S. has been clear “we do not want to see this conflict escalate.”

One U.S. official who declined to discuss any detailed offered this assessment of the unusual silence so long as they were granted anonymity: “In the end, we’re trying to stop a war here.”

ABC’s Matt Gutman contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House on Friday cleared a key procedural hurdle in passing foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, despite dozens of Republican defections, with Democrats helping Speaker Mike Johnson avoid a stinging defeat.

Soon after, a third Republican said he would join a threatened move to oust him.

The chamber voted 316-94 to advance the bills, setting up Saturday votes on final passage of $95 billion in foreign assistance that has been held up in a political fight in Washington for several months.

Procedural votes such as Friday’s are typically passed by the House majority alone, but Democrats stepped in to help push the legislation forward after Republican hard-liners collectively opposed the measure. More Democrats voted to advance the bills than Republicans.

“Democrats, once again, will be the adults in the room,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., during debate ahead of the vote.

Pennsylvania board’s cancellation of gay actor’s school visit ill-advised, education leaders say
Leaving the House floor after the vote, Johnson said the four foreign aid bills are “the best possible product” under the circumstances. “We look forward to final passage on the bill tomorrow.”

The individual bills provide roughly $26 billion for Israel, $61 billion for Ukraine and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific. The measures are similar to legislation passed by a bipartisan group in the Senate back in February, which tied all aid together into one measure.

A fourth bill packaged into the foreign aid contains conservative priorities such as a TikTok ban bill, sanctions on Iran and legislation to seize Russian assets to help provide funding to Ukraine.

“Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan are on the frontlines of the struggle to preserve democracy around the world,” said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., during debate. “In the case of Ukraine and Israel, these two nations are quite literally in harm’s way.”

Pressure increased on lawmakers to pass aid after Iran’s unprecedented attacks on Israel over the weekend.

Johnson has forged ahead with the foreign aid measures, calling them pivotal, despite pushback from the right-flank of his party and looming threats to his job.

A third House Republican, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, announced after Friday’s vote his support for the motion to vacate the speaker’s chair first introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene last month. In a statement, Gosar expressed frustration with moving ahead on aid to Ukraine rather than providing resources to the souther border.

“We need a Speaker who puts America first rather than bending to the reckless demands of the warmongers, neo-cons and the military industrial complex making billions from a costly and endless war half a world away,” Gosar said.

Three Republicans supporting a motion to vacate would be enough to remove Johnson, unless Democrats decide to help defend the Republican speaker.

On his way to the House floor for the vote, ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Selina Wang asked Johnson if he was worried about possibly being ousted.

Pennsylvania board’s cancellation of gay actor’s school visit ill-advised, education leaders say
“I don’t worry,” Johnson responded. “I just do my job.”

But GOP hard-liners aired their frustrations with Johnson and his approach to this issue during debate.

“I’m concerned that the speaker’s cut a deal with the Democrats to fund foreign wars rather than to secure a border,” Rep. Thomas Massie.

Massie, R-Ky., earlier this week called on Johnson to resign and joined Greene’s motion to vacate.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, also took issue with “another $100 million to fund war, unpaid for, with zero border security — under a rule which Republicans should oppose because it is a process predesigned to achieve a desired predetermined outcome, with no border security.”

Pennsylvania board’s cancellation of gay actor’s school visit ill-advised, education leaders say
“This was all precooked,” Roy said. “It’s why President Biden and Chuck Schumer are praising it.”

Democrats, meanwhile, criticized Republicans for bringing dysfunction to the chamber.

“I would just say to my colleagues, ‘Look at what MAGA extremism has gotten you: nothing. Nothing, not a damn thing,'” Rep. McGovern said, who also told his colleagues,“You don’t get an award when you’re doing your damn job.”

“We are in a divided government. Nobody is going to get everything they want,” he added. “I hope today’s vote loosens the grip that MAGA extremism has on this body, and especially when it comes to supporting our allies.”

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, also a Democratic member of the House Rules Committee, also condemned the delay in getting aid passed: “Congress is finally going to vote … Why did it take us this long?”

The White House ahead of the vote released a statement of administration policy backing the bills, calling them “long overdue” and actions that would “send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership at a pivotal moment.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Biden administration has finalized new Title IX regulations that codify protections for transgender people, as well as enhance protections for victims of sexual assault or harassment and pregnant people.

“For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised an equal opportunity to learn and thrive in our nation’s schools free from sex discrimination,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a statement on the revision. “These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights.”

The new regulations officially add “gender identity” onto the list of protections from sex-based discrimination for the first time, though the administration said it has already been applying this standard.

A decision on the administration’s proposed Title IX rule that would prohibit a blanket ban on transgender athletes from participating on teams aligned with their gender identity was not included in today’s announcement. That process is still ongoing, according to a senior administration official.

The Title IX update also now offers full protection from all “sex-based harassment,” broadening the definition to include “sexual violence and unwelcome sex-based conduct that creates a hostile environment by limiting or denying a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from a school’s education program or activity.”

These changes roll back the narrowed definitions of sexual harassment implemented by former President Donald Trump’s Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

The regulations update also enhances protections for students, employees, and applicants against discrimination “based on pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, or recovery from these conditions.”

The final regulations, which take effect Aug. 1, also require increased accountability for schools in promptly responding to information about misconduct based on sex discrimination, according to the Biden administration.

Schools will be required to train employees “about the school’s obligation to address sex discrimination, as well as employees’ obligations to notify or provide contact information for the Title IX Coordinator” and strengthen requirements for schools conducting “reliable and impartial” investigations of all complaints.

“These regulations make crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and that respect their rights,” Cardona said.

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(WASHINGTON) — First lady Jill Biden, in Minnesota on Friday, will launch Educators for Biden-Harris — a national organizing program intended to engage and mobilize teachers, school staff and parents to vote for President Joe Biden, the Biden-Harris campaign shared exclusively with ABC News.

Kicking off the coalition in an evening speech to educators at the Education Minnesota Convention in Bloomington, the first lady, a classroom teacher for over 30 years, will brand her husband as “the education president.”

“You deserve a president who recognizes your service,” the first lady will say, according to excerpts from the Biden-Harris campaign. “Who understands that the work doesn’t end when the afternoon bell rings each day, who sees the early morning bus routes and piles of papers to grade, the care you give to every sick student and the extra granola bars you keep handy, because someone might come to school hungry… A president who matches your devotion with his own.”

“That person is my husband, Joe Biden. He knows what educators go through every day. He respects us. He empowers us. And he’s never going to stop fighting for us,” read excerpts from the first lady’s speech. “You saw that four years ago when you placed your faith in him, and he’s never taken it for granted.”

The first lady is expected to say the president delivered on his campaign promises from 2020, including “safely” reopening schools after COVID’s peak, expanding mental health access for students and passing the first major gun safety legislation in 30 years.

The campaign said to expect several Educators for Biden-Harris events over the next few days, beginning with events in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada,; Concord, New Hampshire,; and Lansing, Michigan. They add that plan to hit every battleground state over the next few weeks.

Jill Biden, who the campaign is dubbing “America’s First Teacher,” is the country’s first first lady to hold a paid job outside the White House, working as an English professor at Virginia Community College since 2009. She also worked full-time during her eight years as second lady in the Obama-Biden administration.

The campaign sees their Educators for Biden-Harris project as yet another opportunity for them to draw a contrast between Biden and former President Donald Trump, who has called for abolishing the Department of Education.

Teachers unions backing Biden amplify message

Presidents of the National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (NFT) will join the first lady on Friday in Bloomington for her remarks at the Education Minnesota Convention. The two national teachers’ unions endorsed Biden last year.

Together, the groups have nearly five million combined members with local affiliates in all 50 states, the Biden-Harris campaign said, adding, “96% of NEA members and over 90% of AFT members voted in 2020.”

The campaign said it will build on its launch of Educators for Biden-Harris with digital and on-the-ground organizing efforts to directly engage educators and parents. And, working alongside AFT and NEA, the campaign will organize door-to-door canvassing, phone and text banks and back-to-school events, some of which have already begun.

For their part, NEA has created a candidate comparison tool in both English and Spanish which highlights policy differences between the presumptive party nominees, including how Trump proposed cutting federal funding for public education when in office and has proposed eliminating funding for loan forgiveness programs if re-elected.

The union has already launched a 10-question “Biden-Harris Public Education Quiz” which tests users on the Biden administration’s record “for supporting public education and unions,” touting achievements from expanding free school meals to 30 million students to approving more than $137 billion in student debt relief.

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