(WASHINGTON) — A senior Department of Justice official is meeting with longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday in Tallahassee, Florida, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The meeting between Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Maxwell is occurring in downtown Tallahassee at the U.S. attorney’s office, which is located inside the federal courthouse, sources familiar with the matter said.
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. She is serving her sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee.
Blanche arrived at the federal courthouse around 9 a.m. ET. He shook his head and said “no” when asked if he had anything to say ahead of his meeting with Maxwell.
Maxwell’s attorneys were also seen entering the federal courthouse in Tallahassee.
“We’re looking forward to a productive day,” David O. Markus, Maxwell’s appellate lawyer, told ABC News. He declined further comment.
The Justice Department said earlier this week that the meeting between Blanche and Maxwell would occur “in the coming days.”
“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in the statement posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi on X earlier this week.
Maxwell’s attorney confirmed earlier this week that they were in discussions with the government about the visit, saying in a statement that “Ghislaine will always testify truthfully.”
Separately, on Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena for Maxwell for a deposition to occur at the prison on Aug. 11.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,” Comer wrote in a statement Wednesday.
(WASHINGTON) — A senior Department of Justice official is meeting with longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday in Tallahassee, Florida, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
The meeting between Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Maxwell is occurring in downtown Tallahassee at the U.S. attorney’s office, which is located inside the federal courthouse, sources familiar with the matter said.
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. She is serving her sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee.
Blanche arrived at the federal courthouse around 9 a.m. ET. He shook his head and said “no” when asked if he had anything to say ahead of his meeting with Maxwell.
Maxwell’s attorneys were also seen entering the federal courthouse in Tallahassee.
“We’re looking forward to a productive day,” David O. Markus, Maxwell’s appellate lawyer, told ABC News. He declined further comment.
The Justice Department said earlier this week that the meeting between Blanche and Maxwell would occur “in the coming days.”
“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in the statement posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi on X earlier this week.
Maxwell’s attorney confirmed earlier this week that they were in discussions with the government about the visit, saying in a statement that “Ghislaine will always testify truthfully.”
Separately, on Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena for Maxwell for a deposition to occur at the prison on Aug. 11.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,” Comer wrote in a statement Wednesday.
(WASHINGTON) — A senior Department of Justice official is expected to meet with longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell on Thursday in Tallahassee, Florida, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the expected meeting between Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Maxwell is occurring in downtown Tallahassee at the U.S. attorney’s office, which is located inside the federal courthouse.
Maxwell will be transported Thursday morning from the federal prison where she is being held to the U.S. attorneys office.
Blanche arrived at the federal courthouse around 9 a.m. ET. He shook his head and said “no” when asked if he had anything to say ahead of his meeting with Maxwell.
Maxwell’s attorneys were also seen entering the federal courthouse in Tallahassee.
“We’re looking forward to a productive day,” David O. Markus, Maxwell’s appellate lawyer, told ABC News. He declined further comment.
The Justice Department said earlier this week that the meeting between Blanche and Maxwell would occur “in the coming days.”
“President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say,” Blanche said in the statement posted by Attorney General Pam Bondi on X earlier this week.
Maxwell’s attorney confirmed earlier this week that they were in discussions with the government about the visit, saying in a statement that “Ghislaine will always testify truthfully.”
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022. She is serving her sentence at a federal prison in Tallahassee.
Separately, on Wednesday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer issued a subpoena for Maxwell for a deposition to occur at the prison on Aug. 11.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,” Comer wrote in a statement Wednesday.
(WASHINGTON) — Ghislaine Maxwell engaged in a “significant pattern of dishonest conduct,” enabled and participated in the abuse of multiple teenage girls, and failed to take responsibility for her crimes.
That was the assessment of the federal prosecutors who brought a criminal case against the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein and sent her to prison for 20 years.
Now, three years later — and amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files — the Department of Justice has decided to approach Maxwell, 63, to purportedly learn more about her knowledge of whether Epstein’s sex trafficking extended to people other than himself.
Prosecutors’ sentencing memorandum after Maxwell’s 2021 conviction offers a frank assessment of Maxwell’s “monstrous” crimes and casts doubt on her honesty ahead of her meeting with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche later this week.
“In short, the defendant has lied repeatedly about her crimes, exhibited an utter failure to accept responsibility, and demonstrated repeated disrespect for the law and the Court,” federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York wrote in June 2022.
Blanche is set to meet with Maxwell in the coming days to potentially learn more information “about anyone who has committed crimes against victims.”
Ahead of the meeting, Maxwell’s appellate counsel David Oscar Markus vowed that she would “testify truthfully” and thanked President Donald Trump for his “commitment to uncovering the truth in this case.”
Maxwell continues to appeal her conviction. Her lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to throw out her case, arguing a non-prosecution agreement that Epstein made with federal prosecutors in Florida in 2007 allegedly barred her subsequent prosecution in New York more than a decade later.
The Trump administration asked the high court earlier this month to deny Maxwell’s petition.
In their sentencing memo in 2022, defense lawyers argued Maxwell “should not bear all the punishment for which Epstein should have been held responsible.”
“Epstein was the mastermind, Epstein was the principal abuser, and Epstein orchestrated the crimes for his personal gratification. Indeed, had Ghislaine Maxwell never had the profound misfortune of meeting Jeffrey Epstein over 30 years ago, she would not be here,” they argued.
Prosecutors said Maxwell enabled Epstein and directly participated in the abuse.
According to prosecutors, the testimony elicited at Maxwell’s trial demonstrated she was a vital participant in Epstein’s crimes, offering a veneer of respectability and trust before the convicted sex offender abused dozens of teenage girls.
She identified and preyed on vulnerable young women, groomed them to normalize their abuse and participated in the abuse — directly enabling one of the most significant sex trafficking operations in US history, prosecutors said.
“Maxwell befriended her victims, won their trust, slowly broke down their boundaries, and normalized sexual abuse,” prosecutors wrote in the the memo. “Maxwell’s victims trusted her: she was a seemingly respectable woman who showed interest in them and promised to help them. She was key to the entire operation of the scheme, and Epstein could not have committed these crimes without her.”
According to the government’s sentencing memorandum, Maxwell “personally engaged in sexual abuse when she fondled the breasts” of three victims. She was also “the person who was most frequently in the room when Epstein abused” one of the victims, who testified under the name Jane.
“Years of sexual abuse, multiple victims, devastating psychological harm: none of this could have happened without Maxwell,” prosecutors wrote.
Maxwell repeatedly lied to officials, prosecutors said Prosecutors repeatedly emphasized at trial that Maxwell should not be trusted, arguing that she “engaged in a significant pattern of dishonest conduct, which speaks volumes about her character.”
They identified at least four instances in which Maxwell allegedly lied or made dishonest representations to the authorities or in civil lawsuits.
During a 2016 deposition, she said under oath that she never gave Annie Farmer, a victim who testified at trial, a massage. Farmer’s testimony at trial “established that was a lie,” prosecutors said.
She allegedly lied to court officials during an interview about her assets. When the court denied her bail application, the judge noted that Maxwell “misrepresent[ed] key facts to Pretrial Services and, by extension, the Court.”
Prosecutors said that Maxwell lied in November 2021 when she told the court, “I have not committed any crime” in response to a question about whether she engaged in plea discussions with the government.
Maxwell also falsely claimed she had no assets when she interviewed with the court’s probation office, despite having previously claimed she had $22 million in assets. She also declined to provide information about the circumstances of her marriage, prosecutors said.
“In short, the defendant decides when she wishes to disclose facts to the Court, and those facts shift when it serves the defendant’s interests,” prosecutors wrote.
Maxwell profited from relationship with Epstein, prosecutors said Prosecutors alleged that Maxwell lived a “remarkable life of privilege” and received approximately $23 million from Epstein during the timeframe of their alleged crimes.
Maxwell also received a townhouse in New York from Epstein and benefited from his lavish lifestyle, prosecutors allege. Epstein also bequeathed her $10 million from his estate, though Maxwell has not received those funds because the estate is in probate.
“As part of a disturbing agreement with Jeffrey Epstein, Maxwell identified, groomed, and abused multiple victims, while she enjoyed a life of extraordinary luxury and privilege. In her wake, Maxwell left her victims permanently scarred with emotional and psychological injuries,” prosecutors wrote.
Maxwell deflected responsibility for her crimes, prosecutors said At her sentencing, some of the witnesses who testified at trial urged Judge Alison Nathan to impose a severe sentence due to the harm Maxwell had caused and her apparent lack of remorse.
A witness who testified under the name Kate described Maxwell as “a manipulative, cruel and merciless person who only uses kindness to manipulate and generosity to seek recognition.”
“The lack of remorse or responsibility taken by Ghislaine for how she ruined the lives of countless women and children is exactly how we can tell that she doesn’t think what she did is wrong. She is not sorry, and she would do it again,” Kate said.
Annie Farmer asked the judge to consider the “ongoing suffering of the many women whom she abused and exploited” and how Maxwell’s inability to accept the consequences of her crimes continued to harm the victims.
“I ask you to bear in mind how Maxwell’s unwillingness to acknowledge her crimes, her lack of remorse and her repeated lies about her victims created the need for many of us to engage in a long fight for justice that has felt like a black hole sucking in our precious time, energy and well-being for much too long now, things that cannot be replaced,” Farmer said.
When Maxwell briefly addressed the court, she said that she “empathize[s] deeply with all of the victims in this case” and that meeting Epstein years earlier was her “greatest regret.”
Her lawyers have long argued that Maxwell was unfairly targeted for Epstein’s crimes after his death, and her statement at sentencing echoed that argument.
“Jeffrey Epstein should have been here before all of you. He should have stood before you all those years ago,” she said. “He should have stood before you in 2005, again in 2009, and again in 2019, all of the many times he was accused, charged, and prosecuted. But today it is not about Epstein ultimately. It is for me to be sentenced and for the victims to address me, and me alone, in this court.”
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate on Wednesday took a step toward approving its first appropriation bill, agreeing to advance military construction and Veterans Affairs spending in a 90-8 vote.
But lawmakers have a long way to go to avoid a government shutdown, with 12 appropriations bills to get through before the Sept. 30 deadline.
The House, which has passed two appropriations bills, saw its legislative session ended early by Speaker Mike Johnson amid turmoil over the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The Senate is set to begin its August recess next week, though Senate Majority Leader John Thune has kept open the possibility of canceling the weekslong break at President Donald Trump’s request to advance his nominees.
And unlike many of the things that Republicans have done this Congress, passing any of the 12 appropriations bills in the Senate will require 60 votes to pass.
Thune, during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” said “we’ve got to find a way” to start moving the measures.
“We are going to need to get appropriations done. That will require some cooperation from Democrats and hopefully they will be willing to make sure that the government is funded,” Thune told host Maria Bartiromo.
Democrats seek to strategize on funding
Democrats met behind closed doors on Tuesday to try to hash out a cohesive strategy for approaching government funding ahead of the s hutdown deadline.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also met with their Democratic appropriators.
At a brief joint press conference afterward, Schumer and Jeffries said Democrats were committed to a “bipartisan, bicameral” appropriations process but blamed Republicans for making a clear path forward to averting a shutdown difficult.
“As has always been the case we are prepared to engage in those discussions in good faith, but House Republicans are not there. House Republicans are in fact marching us toward a possible government shutdown that will hurt the American people. We remain ready, willing and able to have the type of appropriations process that will yield a good result for the American people, but that process must be bipartisan and bicameral in nature,” Jeffries said.
Schumer said Senate Democrats supported the first appropriations bill on military construction and VA funding because it will help veterans and undo some cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency — but that other issues wouldn’t be as simple.
Democrats are weighing a number of considerations as they think about how to deal with government funding, especially with most saying they feel scorned after Republicans struck $9 billion in previously-approved funds from the federal budget.
Republicans were able to pass the rescissions package, which included cuts to foreign aid and public broadcasting, without any Democratic support. Democrats say it amounts to a betrayal of a previous agreement that’s left them reluctant about future deals.
“Speaking for myself, I am really hard put to vote for appropriations when I know Republicans are just going to ride roughshod and reverse them down the line on a strictly partisan basis,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said on Monday. “The pattern of partisan betrayal on the part of my colleagues gives me a lot of pause so I am really torn about it.”
Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, echoed those sentiments.
“There’s a trust issue that we have to have to legislate where you reach an agreement and then there’s a switch-a-roo on rescissions and you have 60 votes and it suddenly goes to 50,” Welch said. “What we thought was solid and set in stone suddenly melts away, that is a problem.”
Thune on Tuesday also called for a bipartisan path forward on the appropriations process, but put the onus on Democrats to work with Republicans.
“The Democrats have indicated, because they’re so upset over the rescissions bill last week — which, by the way, cut one-tenth of 1 percent of all federal spending — that somehow they can use that as an excuse to shut down the appropriations process and therefore shut down the government,” Thune said at a press conference with Senate Republican leadership. “We think that would be a big mistake, and hopefully they will think better of it and work with us.”
The White House, though, has made the case the government funding process should be “less bipartisan.”
“It’s not going to keep me up at night, and I think it will lead to better results, by having the appropriations process be a little bit partisan. And I don’t think it’s necessarily leading to a shutdown,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought told reporters last week.
“Who ran and won on the on an agenda of a bipartisan appropriations process? Literally no one. No Democrat, no Republican,” he added. “There is no voter in the country that’s went to the polls and said, ‘I’m voting for a bipartisan appropriations process.'”
Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the vice chair of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, said on the Senate floor before Wednesday’s vote that she thought his process should move forward in its historically bipartisan fashion despite Republicans’ recent moves to work on government funding through a rescissions package.
“To be clear, if Republicans continue cutting bipartisan deals with more rescissions, that’s not cooperation,” Murray said. She added, “So for anyone considering the partisan route, you cannot write a bill without talking to Democrats and then act surprised when Democrats don’t support it. You want our votes. You work with us, and this bill today that we’re considering shows that is possible.”
(WASHINGTON) — The White House on Wednesday released its promised “AI Action Plan,” a sweeping set of policy proposals aimed at boosting the United States’ goal for dominance in artificial intelligence through sweeping deregulation.
The plan was developed by the Trump administration’s AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
The 24-page plan outlines over 90 federal actions focused on three areas of focus: increasing private-sector innovation, expanding AI-related infrastructure and exporting American AI. It follows President Donald Trump’s January executive order directing the creation of an “AI Action Plan” within 180 days.
The proposals appear to break from the Biden administration’s more safety-first AI framework, but White House officials cast the strategy as essential to “winning the AI race” against global competitors, especially China.
The new plan comes as consumer advocates warn it gives tech companies outsized influence and effectively lets them write their own rules. Public Citizen called it “a corporate giveaway.
“The Trump administration’s reckless AI agenda prioritizes corporate profits over public safety. The administration plans to give billions to Big Tech so they can burn even more dirty energy, release untested products, and rush into the AI era without accountability to the American public,” the group said in a statement.
Trump is expected to issue executive orders tied to the plan’s priorities. The president on Wednesday will appear at the “Winning the AI Race” event, hosted by the Hill and Valley Forum and the All‑In podcast, which is co-hosted by Sacks.
Key pillars of the White House’s AI plan
The plan aims to accelerate AI Innovation by cutting regulations, pushing for private-sector adoption of AI technologies and relying on the private sector to recommend regulatory barriers to cut.
Building and expanding AI infrastructure in America is also among the priorities of the proposal. This means fast-tracking permits for the creation of data centers, removing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and climate requirements, as well as investing in AI-related workforce training.
Additionally, the plan recommends, in the name of protecting “free speech” and “American values,” to remove references to misinformation, DEI and climate change from federal AI safety guidelines.
The plan, however, does not address the use of copyrighted data for AI training, which has emerged as a key issue for AI and the basis for lawsuits. When asked about this, a senior official told ABC News the issue is currently before the courts and beyond the scope of executive action, stating: “Fair use is the law of the land.”
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in Florida denied one of three Justice Department requests to unseal grand jury records tied to federal investigations into Epstein, according to a public order released Wednesday.
The request is one of three made by the Justice Department to judges in New York and Florida seeking to unseal records from federal investigations into Epstein.
According to the order by District Judge Robin Rosenberg, the records the department sought to unseal related to grand juries convened in West Palm Beach in 2005 and 2007 that had investigated Epstein.
Judge Rosenberg faulted the Justice Department for failing to outline sufficient arguments to justify the unsealing of the records, which are normally protected under strict secrecy rules.
Rosenberg’s opinion states her “hands are tied” given existing precedent in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals which only permits the disclosure of such grand jury materials under narrow exceptions.
She further denied a request to transfer the issue into the jurisdiction of the Southern District of New York, where two judges are separately mulling over similar motions from the department seeking to unseal grand jury records tied to Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the order.
Meanwhile, a federal judge in New York denied Ghislaine Maxwell’s request to review grand jury testimony related to Epstein.
“It is black-letter law that defendants generally are not entitled to access to grand jury materials,” U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer wrote.
Maxwell’s lawyers requested access to the sensitive grand jury records to determine if Maxwell would take a position on the records’ release.
Judge Engelmayer wrote that there is no “compelling necessity” for Maxwell to review the records. An objection from Maxwell into unsealing the records could further complicate the process of potentially releasing the records.
“She has not shown, or attempted to show, that the grand jury materials in her case are apt to reveal any deficiency in the proceedings leading to her indictment,” he wrote.
Judge Engelmayer noted that he plans to “expeditiously” review the transcripts himself and would consider providing an excerpt or synopsis to Maxwell’s lawyers.
Sylvain Gaboury/Paul Bruinooge/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Wednesday issued a subpoena to Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted associate of Jeffrey Epstein, for a deposition to occur at Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee on Aug. 11.
“The facts and circumstances surrounding both your and Mr. Epstein’s cases have received immense public interest and scrutiny,” Comer wrote in a statement Wednesday.
Maxwell was convicted of sex trafficking and other charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2022.
“What we’re talking about here is someone who’s in federal prison on appeal, so our attorneys will have to communicate with her attorneys to see if there are terms, if she wants,” Comer said before the subpoena was issued. “If there are no terms, we’ll roll in there quick.”
The situation will be similar to Comer’s effort to interview Jason Galanis, a former business partner of Hunter Biden and Devon Archer, during the GOP’s impeachment inquiry of then-President Joe Biden.
“I did that with [Jason] Galanis, and the Democrats were real offended that we would want to interview anyone in prison. But now you know they’re, they’re all they want to interview someone in prison,” Comer said.
The committee has shown a propensity to record video of the interviews and release content afterwards — as it did with several former Biden officials who invoked their 5th Amendment rights earlier this summer — so it’s possible there could be handout video from the deposition.
Separately, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday that Deputy Attorney Todd Blanche will meet with Maxwell sometime in the “coming days.”
President Donald Trump last week said on his social media platform that he had ordered the Justice Department to “release all Grand Jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to Court Approval.”
Comer has also signaled that the circumstances of a closed-door deposition at a federal prison could attract both Democrats and Republicans to attend the interview.
“There will be so many members of Congress that’ll want to be in that prison,” Comer said. “I would assume that there’ll be a lot of members of the Oversight Committee on both — in both parties that’ll want to be there.”
A congressional subpoena is a formal legal order issued by a congressional committee or individual compelling their testimony.
David Oscar Markus, appellate counsel for Maxwell, said in a statement to ABC News that Maxwell “looks forward” to meeting with Blanche and that meeting will inform how she proceeds with the subpoena.
“As for the congressional subpoena, Ms. Maxwell is taking this one step at a time. She looks forward to her meeting with the Department of Justice, and that discussion will help inform how she proceeds,” he said.
Markus also responded to comments from House Speaker Mike Johnson earlier Wednesday questioning Maxwell’s credibility as a witness.
“If they see fit to bring in Ghislaine Maxwell for testimony, that’s fine. I will note the obvious concern, the caveat that Chairman Comer and I and everyone has that could she be counted on to tell the truth? Is she a credible witness?” Johnson said to reporters.
“We understand Speaker Johnson’s general concern — Congress should always vet the credibility of its witnesses. But in this case, those concerns are unfounded. If Ms. Maxwell agrees to testify before Congress and not take the 5th — and that remains a big if — she would testify truthfully, as she always has said she would and as she will with Mr. Blanche. The truth should not be feared or preemptively dismissed,” Markus said in a statement.
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in Florida denied a Justice Department request to unseal grand jury records tied to federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, according to a public order released Wednesday.
The request is one of three made by the Justice Department to judges in New York and Florida seeking to unseal records from federal investigations into Epstein.
According to the order by district judge Robin Rosenberg, the records the department sought to unseal related to grand juries convened in West Palm Beach in 2005 and 2007 that had investigated Epstein.
Judge Rosenberg faulted the Justice Department for failing to outline sufficient arguments to justify the unsealing of the records, which are normally protected under strict secrecy rules.
Rosenberg’s opinion states her “hands are tied” given existing precedent in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals which only permits the disclosure of such grand jury materials under narrow exceptions.
She further denied a request to transfer the issue into the jurisdiction of the Southern District of New York, where two judges are separately mulling over similar motions from the department seeking to unseal grand jury records tied to Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the order.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — As a new school year approaches, multiple school systems around the country told ABC News that a Department of Education funding freeze is causing confusion.
Some school districts told ABC News education cuts are illegal and will hurt students, but others said they support the Trump administration’s decision to reevaluate the department’s funding.
“Of course states and programs rely on these federal funds but we also rely on the president’s leadership to ensure they are aligned with our values,” Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said in a statement to ABC News.
Alaska’s largest school district, a collection of Democratic states ranging from California to Rhode Island, and advocacy groups across the country have sued the Trump administration over the $6 billion funding freeze of valuable education programs.
“There’s going to be a direct impact in every single school in our nation. And I think people forget that,” Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green told ABC News.
“I am here today because of the teachers, the education that I got, and it actually is a game changer,” Infante-Green, who is a first-generation American and learned English through school, said. “It changes the lives of not just the students, but the community as a whole. They can participate in the American dream.”
Although some states support the administration’s decision, Infante-Green has called it “illegal.”
“These are dollars that were appropriated by Congress, and this [pause] hurts kids.” she said.
A pause on the total $6 billion funding happened on July 1, when federal aid for schools is typically allocated each year. However, states were notified on June 30 that an ongoing programmatic review of education funding would occur, according to a Department of Education memo sent to Congress, obtained by ABC News. School districts and programs have been concerned that programs and staff could be eliminated if funding isn’t restored.
These funds are used to aid after-school programs, English learning acquisition, adult basic education, and many more important initiatives. States received a letter from Congress that said there would be a programmatic review to ensure the legitimacy of each program as the Office of Management and Budget suggested these programs have become misused to promote “radical left wing agendas.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaksa, and nine other Republican senators signed onto a letter last week requesting the Trump administration reverse the funding pause, which they said prompted the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to unfreeze more than $1 billion in after-school and summer learning funding.
However, OMB did not indicate whether it would be unfreezing the rest of the roughly $6 billion in federal funds for programs.
Despite the uncertainty caused by the education funding freezing, the Montana Office of Public Instruction Superintendent, Susie Hedalen, is supportive of the funding pause and feels confident that Montana will see its funding soon.
“I appreciate that they’re [the funding] being evaluated and that we’re taking a close look, because we don’t need federal funds with the strings attached. We don’t need the bureaucracy, and we need to make sure that we can use our funding to align to our values, not the agendas from the bureaucrats in DC,” Hedalen told ABC News.
Echoing other conservative education leaders who’ve spoken with ABC News about the pause, Hedalen believes there is a need to reevaluate the funding.
“I appreciate the President’s approach to take a critical look at our funding streams. That’s long overdue,” Hedalen said. “We are optimistic in Montana that those will continue to flow. But we do think it’s important that we take a close look, and we are looking forward to having education returned to the state agencies,” Hedalen added.
While there is ultimately a divide regarding the funding, Infante-Green suggested most states are concerned that the pause potentially hurts kids, “everybody understands that this is not a political issue,” she said, “this is about our students.” ABC News
