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Congressional Republicans continue to introduce bills eliminating the Department of Education

(WASHINGTON) -- South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds introduced the "Returning Education Back to Our States Act" on Thursday, signaling a commitment to deliver on President-elect Donald Trump's vow to dismantle the Department of Education.

In the conservative movement to return education back to local control, Rounds said the legislation would "eliminate" the department while redistributing all critical federal programs to other agencies.

Rounds' announcement was first reported by Fox News.

"For years, I've worked toward removing the federal Department of Education," the Republican senator wrote in a statement, adding "I'm pleased that President-elect Trump shares this vision, and I'm excited to work with him and Republican majorities in the Senate and House to make this a reality. This legislation is a roadmap to eliminating the federal Department of Education by practically rehoming these federal programs in the departments where they belong, which will be critical as we move into next year."

In his statement, Rounds said the United States spends too much on education for students' test scores to be lagging behind other countries in standardized assessments. He called the DOE ineffective and earmarked the department's responsibilities for the Departments of Interior, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Labor and State, according to the bill text.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and aid programs under Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act will be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Indian Education of the Department of Education will be transferred to the Department of the Interior, the Federal Pell Grant and other higher education loan programs will be transferred to the Department of the Treasury.

According to the bill, the treasury department will allocate Block grants to states for K-12 and postsecondary education. The treasury secretary also has the power to withhold these funds if they are mishandled by the states. The Justice Department will oversee federal civil rights laws that were previously under Title VI.

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie told ABC News Thursday morning that he would also bring forward legislation to abolish the DOE within the "first few weeks" of the 119th Congress.

"There'll be one sentence - only thing that will change is the date: The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2026," Massie told ABC News.

Massie has been pushing to defund the U.S. Department of Education since the start of 2023 when he introduced H.R. 899. Massie's bill wasn't voted on in the House last year.

However, education analyst Neal McCluskey at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, argued Massie's one-sentence bill was not realistic.

"You've got to figure out what to do with all the legislation that feeds into the Department of Education," McCluskey said.

"If Congress were to pass that law that says, abolish the Department of Education, technically the department would go away, but then you'd have all sorts of questions, well, who's going to administrate or be administrator for all these programs," he said.

In March 2023, Massie wrote an amendment H.Amendment 124 in H.R. 5, the "Parents Bill of Rights Act" – the House's signature K-12 education policy – to abolish the department. That amendment failed as all Democrats and 60 House Republicans voted against it.

Here are ways to gut the department

Even as Republicans hold majorities in both chambers next Congress, the Senate typically needs 60 votes to do anything, according to McCluskey. McCluskey said, "There's no chance they're going to be at 60, and so it's going to be tough [to abolish the department legislatively]."

"The Department of Education administers a whole lot of laws, and then those laws have to be changed about who runs student aid and who is tasked with making decisions about canceling student debt, and who decides or who administers Title I and lots of these other federal programs," McCluskey told ABC News.

"He [President-elect Trump] can certainly use the bully pulpit to drive this a lot. He could provide legislative blueprints if he wanted to. But ultimately this has to come through Congress," McCluskey underscored.

Meanwhile, Augustus Mays, vice president for partnerships and engagement at the advocacy group The Education Trust, told ABC News that the president-elect could also ask Congress to gut federal programs like Title 1, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), and others, in his congressional budget request.

Public education, particularly in high-need districts, would effectively be drained of millions of dollars, according to Mays.

"It would really cripple the ability to function and aid the support that these students need to really succeed from an academic standpoint," Mays said.

Trump announces Pam Bondi is his new AG pick after Gaetz withdraws

(NEW YORK) -- On the same day that former Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general, Trump announced that he will pick former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to fill that role in his administration.

Bondi, 59, has remained in Trump’s inner circle for years and has continued to advise him on legal matters. She was one of the lawyers who defended Trump during his first Senate impeachment trial.

"I have known Pam for many years -- She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!" Trump said in a Truth Social post.

Bondi's nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. She did not immediately comment about Trump's announcement.

For more than a decade, Bondi has been a key Trump supporter and has been involved in some controversies, including the "big lie," pushed by Trump in 2020.

In 2013, the Trump Foundation sent a $25,000 donation to Bondi's fundraising committee for her attorney general reelection campaign. Around the same time, Bondi's office had been considering reviewing a lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general's office that probed Trump and Trump University, but it ultimately did not join the suit.

Bondi and Trump both denied allegations that the donation led to her decision to not join the lawsuit. She endorsed Trump for his presidential run and spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention leading a "lock her up chant" against then-Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. She also served as a co-chair of Trump's 2020 reelection bid.

Bondi left the Florida Attorney General's office in 2019 and a year later was named part of Trump's defense team for his first impeachment trial. He was acquitted in the Senate.

Bondi continued to be part of Trump's legal team during the 2020 election and repeatedly made false claims about voter fraud when he lost to Joe Biden.

Recently, she has been a member of the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute where she serves as the chair for the Center for Litigation, and co-chair of the Center for Law and Justice, according to the think tank's website.

Retirement plans are changing in 2025: What to know

(NEW YORK) -- If you are nearing retirement, you will soon be able to stash even more money into your nest egg -- if you can afford it.

The Internal Revenue Service announced that the maximum amount individuals can contribute to their 401(k) or similar plans in 2025 will increase to $23,500, up from $23,000 for 2024.

The federal government already lets those 50 and older make extra contributions so that they can save more as they near retirement age. This is known as a "catch-up" contribution.

In 2025, the standard catch-up contribution will stay the same, with a max of $7,500, according to the IRS.

But starting next year, workers ages 60 to 63 will be able to make “super” catch-up contributions, up to $11,250 annually, which is an additional $3,750.

That means they can potentially contribute up to $34,750 in total, each year, to a workplace retirement account.

The substantially higher catch-up contributions are part of SECURE 2.0, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022 as part of a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending package.

“While anything that encourages more investing is generally a good thing, I'm afraid this rule change probably won't make a big impact, " Bankrate's Senior Industry Analyst Ted Rossman, told ABC News. “There has to be a very small population between the ages of 60 and 63 who were maxing out their accounts and can now go higher.”

In 2023, just 14% of retirement plan participants maxed out their 401(k) limits, according to Vanguard Research.

Even those who have always maxed out their retirement savings contributions may need to reallocate funds as they age and start to face extra expenses, like sending children to college or caring for aging parents.

Aside from 401(k) plans and similar employee-sponsored plans, the limit on annual Individual Retirement Account contributions is unchanged next year, at $7,000, while the catch-up contribution for people 50 and older will remain $1,000.

Those limits apply to both traditional IRAs, which may offer a tax deduction depending on income, and to Roth IRAs, which don’t come with a tax deduction but do offer tax-free growth and withdrawals in retirement.

An aging population, coupled with fewer companies offering pensions, means that a smaller portion of the population overall is prepared for retirement.

The typical household headed by someone ages 55 to 64 has just $10,000 saved in a retirement account, according to an analysis of federal data by the Economic Policy Institute and the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis.

“Not to discourage investing at any age, but there's a reason why Einstein said compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world,” Rossman said. “Investing is more powerful when you're young.”

Still, catch-up contributions can be a valuable way to grow your retirement fund and enjoy the tax benefits.

Rossman said it’s also important to contribute regularly to your 401(k) and gradually increase your contributions. He suggested putting reminders in your calendar to increase your 401(k) contribution every year.

“The idea is that you're less likely to miss the extra money if you do it gradually or if you do it in tandem with a pay raise,” Rossman said.

For instance, he said, if you're currently contributing 5% of your salary, could you bump that up to 6% or 7% next year?

“Gradually dialing up your percentage makes it more likely that you'll stick with the approach," Rossman added, "and you won't diminish your standard of living.”

Giraffes need endangered species protection for the first time, US officials say

(NEW YORK) -- The tallest animal on Earth is in danger, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has called for federal protections for giraffe species for the first time.

In the face of poaching, habitat loss and climate change, the agency proposes listing three subspecies of northern giraffes from west, central and east Africa as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

"Federal protections for giraffes will help protect a vulnerable species, foster biodiversity, support ecosystem health, combat wildlife trafficking, and promote sustainable economic practices," U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams said in a press release Wednesday.

"This action supports giraffe conservation while ensuring the United States does not contribute further to their decline," Williams added.

The subspecies officials say need endangered designation include the West African, Kordofan and Nubian giraffes.

The populations of these subspecies of northern giraffes have declined approximately 77% since 1985, from 25,653 to 5,919 individuals, according to the agency, which notes, only 690 West African giraffes remain.

Additionally, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recommends two subspecies of southern giraffes, Angolan and South African, be listed as threatened.

If the proposal is finalized, officials say the designation would reduce illegal hunting and trade of giraffes by requiring permits for import into the U.S. and increase funding for conservation and research efforts.

"Giraffes have been moving towards extinction for years, but their plight has gone largely unnoticed," Danielle Kessler, U.S. Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), said in a statement to ABC News.

The IFAW helped craft and submit the Endangered Species Act listing proposal.

Kessler said the decline in giraffe populations is known as the "silent extinction" with subspecies numbers plummeting dramatically by up to 40% over the last 30 years.

"Losing giraffes would be a devastating loss to Earth's biodiversity," Kessler said. "We hope that USFWS will move quickly to finalize this decision and safeguard the future of these species."

Texas land commissioner open to offering Trump more land for mass deportation

(STARR COUNTY, Texas) -- A Texas official, who this week offered the incoming Trump administration a 1,402-acre plot of land to build "deportation facilities," says other parts of Texas near the border could be offered up in a similar fashion.

"Absolutely -- I have 13 million acres, if any of them can be of help in this process, we're happy to have that discussion," Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham told ABC's Mireya Villarreal in an interview.

The Texas General Land Office purchased the plot of land from a farmer in October originally to facilitate Texas' efforts to build a border wall. Together with this land, the state office owns about 4,000 acres in Starr County, about 35 miles from McAllen, Texas.

"My office is fully prepared to enter into an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or the United States Border Patrol to allow a facility to be built for the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation's history," Buckingham wrote in a letter addressed to President-elect DonaldTrump, earlier this week.

In an interview via Zoom, Buckingham claimed authorities were frequently "getting reports from the community" that crimes were happening on the property.

"There was a significant mass of humanity and terrible things happening on this property. We heard it again and again and again," she said.

Buckingham placed the blame squarely on what she called the Biden administration's "open border policies" and said the county voted Republican for the first time in a century because residents there felt those policies are "directly harming their communities" and jeopardizing their safety.

During the interview, Villarreal noted she had been speaking with residents and community leaders in the region who paint a different picture of the area, one of a safe community that does not have the violent crime that Buckingham has described.

When asked by Villareal to provide details of where those crimes are occurring, Buckingham said most of the migrants are passing through and, using some of the same rhetoric about migrants and crime used by President-elect Donald Trump on the campaign trail, said they "unleash some of their violent criminal habits" in other states across the country.

"Well, a lot of it is migrant-migrant crime, but you're right, the communities along the border are lovely," she said. "The people who live there are lovely. Obviously, most of the migrants who come across aren't interested in sticking around too long. They go to other parts of the country, as we have seen in faraway states -- people who came across the Texas border -- and then tend to unleash some of their violent criminal habits in other states."

She added, "But the bottom line is, until we have complete operational control of the border, until we have these violent criminals off of our soil that continue to hurt our sons and daughters, we need to keep working on it and get it done."

In 2023, in the same county where the Texas commission recently bought the 1,402-acre plot of land, the Biden administration announced it had authorized building about 20 miles of southern border wall using money that was already appropriated under the first Trump administration.

President Joe Biden at the time claimed he had no choice to build the wall, which directly contradicted a promise he made during his 2020 presidential run.

"I tried to get them to reappropriate -- to redirect the money," Biden told reporters at the time. "They didn't, they wouldn't. And in the meantime, there's nothing under the law other than they have to use the money for what is appropriated. I can't stop that."

After that announcement, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said there was an "immediate need to construct physical barriers" in the area.

Buckingham said she's confident she'll hear back from the incoming Trump administration about her offer of land.

"We have heard through back channels that they're aware of our letter and they are definitely looking at it," she said.

Incoming "border czar" Tom Homan, in an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham, indicated the incoming administration would be open to using the land Texas is offering.

"Absolutely we will," he said, adding that when they arrest a migrant, they'll need a place to detain them.

Democratic governors of border states -- such as Arizona and California -- have said they will not aid the Trump administration's mass deportation plans.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs told ABC News Live earlier this week that she would not use state police or the National Guard to help with mass deportation.

ABC News' Mireya Villareal contributed to this report.

Matt Gaetz AG nomination: Timeline

(WASHINGTON) -- In the span of eight days, former Rep. Matt Gaetz went from a reelected House member to an attorney general pick in President-elect Donald Trump's second administration to ultimately bowing out before a Senate confirmation.

Here is a timeline of the roller coaster of events for the embattled ex-congressman.

Nov. 13, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump announces that Gaetz, who had won reelection for Florida's 1st district on Election Day, was his nominee for attorney general.

Gaetz resigns from Congress that day, according to House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Several House Republicans meeting behind closed doors said there was an audible gasp in the room when they heard Trump had picked Gaetz, sources told ABC News.

Gaetz was investigated for alleged sex trafficking by the Justice Department, however, no charges were ultimately brought.

The House Ethics Committee has also been probing Gaetz on those allegations, which he has repeatedly denied.

Nov. 14, 2024

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announces he will hold a special election to fill the Gaetz's seat but doesn't immediately provide details.

Sen. John Thune, the incoming Senate majority leader, tells reporters he doesn't know if Gaetz can get confirmed until they start the confirmation process.

Senators on both sides of the aisle call for the release of details from the Ethics Committee's investigation into the former congressman.

ABC News reports the woman who was at the center of the Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations surrounding Gaetz testified to the House Ethics Committee that the former congressman had sex with her when she was 17 years old.

Nov. 15, 2024

Johnson tells reporters that he would urge the Ethics Committee not to release their report on their probe into Gaetz.

The speaker says he didn’t think it was "relevant" for the public to know what’s in the report.

An attorney representing two women who were witnesses in the House Ethics Committee's investigation tells ABC News one of his clients testified that she witnessed the Florida congressman having sex with a minor.

Nov. 18, 2024

In an interview with ABC News' Juju Chang, Florida attorney Joel Leppard reveals new details regarding his clients' closed-door testimony before the Ethics Committee -- including that his clients told congressional investigators that Gaetz allegedly paid for them to travel across state lines to have sex on at least two occasions.

Nov. 19, 2024

Trump backer and Tesla/SpaceX/X CEO Elon Musk backs Gaetz despite more stories about his scandals coming to light. Musk said the scandals were "worth less than nothing" and called the former congressman "our Hammer of Justice," in a post on X.

Johnson denied that he discussed the details of the draft ethics report on the Gaetz matter with House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, and further denied that Trump or Gaetz pressured him to bury the report.

A hacker gained access to an online secure document-sharing file between attorneys involved in a civil lawsuit brought by a close friend to Gaetz, and potentially revealed documents, including unredacted depositions from key witnesses in the case, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

During a Space X launch, Trump tells reporters he is not reconsidering his pick for attorney general.

ABC News reports the Ethics Committee obtained records, including a check and records of Venmo payments, that appear to show that Gaetz paid more than $10,000 to two women who were later witnesses in sexual misconduct probes conducted by both the House and the Justice Department, according to documents.

Nov. 20, 2024

Gaetz meets with Republican senators ,who push for his nomination process to continue.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee write to FBI Director Christopher Wray to request the complete evidentiary file in the bureau's closed investigation into Gaetz.

The Ethics Committee voted against releasing the report after multiple rounds of votes, with all Republicans on the committee voting against its release, during a closed-door, two-hour meeting. The committee schedules another meeting in December. Two Democrats introduce privileged resolutions to make the report public.

Nov. 21, 2024

Johnson says said the House will take up the privileged resolution to force the release of the Gaetz report after Thanksgiving break.

Gaetz announces on X that he is withdrawing his name from the nomination process.

"While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition," he said in the post.

Illinois Democratic Rep. Sean Casten suggests that he plans to still move forward with forcing the House to vote on compelling the Ethics Committee to release the Gaetz report.

Angelina Jolie talks motherhood and her new role in ‘Maria’

In her new movie Maria, Angelina Jolie plays the titular role of iconic opera singer Maria Callas, for whom singing meant so much.

For Jolie, who sat down to discuss her new work with Good Morning America co-anchor Michael Strahan, motherhood is the main focus in her life, in the way singing was for Callas.

"It's my happiness," Jolie shared. "You can take everything else away from me. Nothing else matters."

Jolie is mom to six kids: sons Maddox, Pax and Knox, and daughters Zahara, Shiloh and Vivienne.

And despite her life in the spotlight, Jolie said her children don't have the desire to follow her footsteps into acting.

"None of my children want to be in front of the camera at this time," Jolie said. "They're quite private. Shiloh's extremely private. They weren't born with privacy, right? So I hope they can have that as they grow."

For her starring role in Maria, Jolie learned how to sing opera in order to embody the tragic prima donna and her final days living in Paris while struggling to make a career comeback.

"All of my children suffered through my early opera singing in the house before I got kinda good, which was a nightmare," Jolie recalled.

Jolie said she and Callas may have even been friends, had their paths ever crossed in real life. Callas died on Sept. 16, 1977, following a heart attack.

"There's obvious things that people would tie our lives and see we have in common. But I think it's more ... how hard she is in herself with her work, sometimes seen as strong, but actually very vulnerable and human. I certainly am," Jolie said.

"I think we would have been friends," she added. "She might have hated me at first. Think it would have grown on her."

Maria debuts in select theaters on Nov. 27 and will be available to stream on Netflix starting on Dec. 11.

Can Matt Gaetz return to Congress after withdrawing as AG pick?

(WASHINGTON) -- Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his bid to serve as attorney general in the next Trump administration, but the question remains: can he go back to his old job as a member of Congress?

Gaetz, for his part, has only expressed an intent not to take the oath of office for the 119th Congress -- which begins on Jan. 3, 2024 and for which Gaetz won reelection. He cannot preemptively resign from a session of Congress that has not yet convened or that he has not taken an oath to serve -- that means he is still eligible to serve in the 119th although he cannot under any circumstances withdraw his resignation from the 118th to return to the lame duck session, according to House rules.

The House clerk read a resignation letter from Gaetz on Nov. 14 -- after President-elect Donald Trump named his as his attorney general pick -- which read: "I hereby resign as a United States representative for Florida's first congressional district, effective immediately. And I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump administration."

The rules of the House of Representatives mandates that at the beginning of the first session of Congress, members must make their presence known to occupy their seat. The rule reads: "House Rules 2. (a): At the commencement of the first session of each Congress, the Clerk shall call the Members, Delegates and Resident Commissioner to order and proceed to record their presence by States in alphabetical order, either by call of the roll or by use of the electronic voting system."

If Gaetz or another member does not report to the Capitol to record their presence, that district's seat will be designated vacant.

The House rules have very few further specifics. ABC News has an inquiry out to the Office of the Clerk for additional guidance.

And Florida's own election laws seem vague on the issue.

Florida elections official Paul Lux, the Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections, which is within Gaetz's district, told ABC News that he anticipates that the primary for the special election to fill Gaetz's seat once he announced his plans to resign would likely be sometime in February, and the general election would likely be in April -- though he stressed nothing is final until the official dates come out of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office.

DeSantis, for his part, has yet to formally set a date for that special election.

ABC News has reached out to the Division of Elections in the Florida Department of State to inquire whether the language in Gaetz's letter triggers any sort of automatic vacancy or if there is anything within Florida law that bars him from returning to the 119th Congress. Some Republicans in the district have already declared their intent to run, though one candidate, Joel Rudman, said he would support Gaetz if he wanted to return to Congress.

Gaetz has not publicly said what he plans to do next. His wife Ginger Gaetz posted a photo with him earlier Thursday on the steps of the Capitol with the caption, "The end of an era."

Tyler man charged with murder in fentanyl overdose

SMITH COUNTY— A Tyler man has been arrested for murder after a body was discovered that was later ruled as fentanyl overdose. According to our news partner KETK, Smith County Sheriff’s Office was called to a residence on CR 490, between Swan and Lindale. On their arrival, deputies were told the body of Michael Crone was found by a roommate lying on the floor of their residence.

The sheriff’s office said, “During the investigation, deputies observed a small piece of tin foil just inside the sink in the bathroom which contained what appeared to be a partially burned substance. Also located within the same area was a paper rolled which appeared to be utilized as a straw.”

Detectives determined that Crone’s phone was missing and alongside the narcotics found at the residence, led them to believe the phone contained “information regarding his death.” Investigators also felt that the phone was destroyed to hinder the death investigation.
Continue reading Tyler man charged with murder in fentanyl overdose

Even though Gaetz has withdrawn, Democrats will keep pushing for release of ethics report

(WASHINGTON) -- Even though former Rep. Matt Gaetz has withdrawn from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general, Illinois Democratic Rep. Sean Casten said Thursday that he'll continue to try to compel the House Ethics Committee to release its report on Gaetz.

“While I welcome the news that Matt Gaetz is withdrawing from consideration for Attorney General, it remains important that the Gaetz report be made available to the American people,” Casten said in a statement.

Casten and Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee introduced privileged resolutions on Wednesday to try to force the committee to release the report after the Ethics Committee voted along party lines not to disclose it. Under House rules, once a privileged resolution is introduced, the House must take it up within two legislative days. Republicans have the majority in the House and leadership will decide when the resolution is brought up for a vote. Republicans will attempt to block the effort but it's not yet clear how this could play out.

In an interview with ABC News Live on Thursday, Kasten pushed back on accusations that continuing to seek the report's release was partisan. He said a precedent had already been set for Ethics to continue its efforts, pointing to the case of former Democratic Rep. Eric Massa, who resigned from the House in 2010 amid accusations he had groped members of his staff. Despite Massa's resignation, the Ethics Committee voted to reauthorize its investigation the following year.

The Ethics Committee was investigating allegations that Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift.

"No workplace would allow that information to be swept under the rug simply because someone resigned for office," Casten said. "It matters for the integrity of the law, it matters for the integrity of this House and it matters for the respect that we expect the American people to give us that those of us entrusted with this job will uphold the United States as a land where all are treated equally under the law."

On Thursday, Cohen posted on X that the Ethics Committee will have another chance to release the report when it meets in December. "I hope they'll do the right thing. But we can't count on it. That's why I introduced a resolution yesterday to force the release of the report," he wrote.

Speaker Mike Johnson has opposed releasing the report, saying that the Ethics Committee customarily drops its investigations once a member has left Congress. Gaetz resigned last week shortly after Trump announced his intention to nominate him for ABC. Johnson said Thursday the House will take up the resolutions after it returns from its Thanksgiving break.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said “Yes” when asked if the report should be public, so it's likely the Democratic caucus will stand behind the efforts to force the report's release.

Financial aid applications are open: What you need to know after last year’s mess

(NEW YORK) -- The college financial aid application used by millions of American families is now officially open for the 2025-2026 school year -- 10 days ahead of schedule.

Top officials from the Department of Education said on a call with reporters Thursday they're "confident" in this year's FAFSA form after the botched rollout of a new form last year led to delays and glitches for students seeking financial aid.

What do I need to know about applying for financial aid?

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, form is the main gateway for students and their families to qualify for financial aid through the federal government. It helps determine access to aid packages from colleges and universities, Pell grants and other loans.

The FAFSA form is now available here.

The first step is for students and their parents to create an FSA ID, which can take several days to be approved. The application itself should then take about 15 minutes to complete, Department of Education officials estimated to ABC News. Though last year officials were overly optimistic about the timeline to fill out the form.

Most of the information required on the application are basic questions like your name, address and schools you are interested in attending, officials said.

The FAFSA must be completed every year students are enrolled in school.

Why was last year's FAFSA rollout such a disaster?

In 2023, the Department of Education overhauled the form for the first time in 40 years. It was part of a mandate from Congress to streamline the application, making it simpler and faster to fill out.

Changes to the FAFSA formula also allowed more students to qualify for Pell grants -- awards from the federal government that do not need to be repaid.

But the rollout was plagued by constant errors and delays, ultimately resulting in fewer students applying for financial aid.

About 430,000 fewer students -- mainly from low and middle-income families -- took advantage of the FAFSA last year because of the Department of Education's failures, according to a September report by the Government Accountability Office.

The report also found that nearly three out of every four calls to the Department of Education's call center went unanswered during the first five months of the rollout due to understaffing.

Responding to the new FAFSA rollout Thursday, House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx, one of the Biden Education Department's loudest critics, said she was glad the form was out, but "the Education Department now needs to ensure that the processing of applications is accurate, that missing capabilities are implemented quickly, and that future applicants never have to deal with this sort of botched rollout."

How will the financial aid process be better this year?

This year's form already went through four rounds of "beta testing," with about 167,000 students submitting their applications.

"Simply put: the 2025-2026 FAFSA form is ready for prime time and is available both online and on paper," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters Thursday.

The Department of Education said it has boosted staffing at its call centers by nearly 80% compared to last year. It added more than 700 agents since January -- with an additional 255 agents coming on board over the next few weeks as applications ramp up.

Starting Friday, it will also expand the opening hours for call centers for families seeking help with their FAFSA forms -- from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET on weekdays and noon to 5 p.m. ET on Saturdays.

Officials said they expect to see a "surge of users today" after the announcement that the form is live, which could result in delayed wait times.

Mayorkas, Wray draw bipartisan fire for declining to testify in public at threats hearing

(WASHINGTON) -- Top officials from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security on Thursday drew bipartisan fire for declining to testify in public at a Senate hearing on "worldwide threats" and instead offering to testify in a classified setting.

Both Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security Committee expressed anger at what they called Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray's "refusal" to testify in public.

"In a shocking departure from the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's longstanding tradition of transparency and oversight of the threats facing our nation, for the first time in more than 15 years, the Homeland Security and FBI Director have refused to appear before the Committee to provide public testimony at our annual hearing on Threats to the Homeland," Chairman Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat, said in a statement.

Peters said it was "their choice" to not provide public testimony for the American people.

"Americans deserve transparency, public answers about the threats we face," Peters said.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, went a step further and said he "looked forward to Director Wray's resignation."

"This is Mayorkas & Wray giving the middle finger to the American people," he tweeted.

While it wasn't immediately clear specifically why they declined to testify in public, a Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement that Mayorkas has appeared before Congress more than 30 times.

"DHS and the FBI have offered to the Committee a classified briefing to discuss the threats to the Homeland in detail, providing the Committee with the information it needs to conduct its work in the months ahead," a the spokesperson said in a statement. "DHS and the FBI already have shared with the Committee and other Committees, and with the American public, extensive unclassified information about the current threat environment, including the recently published Homeland Threat Assessment."

The FBI said in a statement they've "repeatedly" showed their commitment to being transparent with the American people.

"We remain committed to sharing information about the continuously evolving threat environment facing our nation and the extraordinary work the men and women of the FBI are doing -- here at home and around the world -- to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States," according to an FBI statement. "FBI leaders have testified extensively in public settings about the current threat environment and believe the Committee would benefit most from further substantive discussions and additional information that can only be provided in a classified setting."

Here come The Disrupters.

President-elect Trump is moving a warp speed to fill out his administration.

Top Democrats, the legacy media and most of the permanent Washington bureaucracy are aghast. The reaction of Sidney Blumenthal, a senior advisor to Bill Clinton, is fairly typical. He said in a Wednesday op-ed in The Guardian:

Trump’s cabinet picks are agents of his contempt, rage and vengeance.”

Well, Sid, that’s a bit much don’t you think? But I’ll give you this. Trump’s picks this go-around constitute a clear departure. Missing are the likes of Jim Baker, Bill Barr, Dick Cheney, Jeff Sessions and Josh Bolten – all central casting Washington establishment types – that served in either or both of the last two Republican administrations.

This crowd is different. I’m going to call them “The Disrupters.” Trump is trying to create a quasi-superhero force to turn Washington on its head. And I have news for you, Sidney. The implicit promise in the Trump campaign of such disruption is exactly why he won the election.

The American people have had it with Washington-as-usual.

Is America’s education of its youth better than it was when the Department of Education was formed in 1979? (Don’t answer. It’s a rhetorical question.)

The motto of the Department of Health & Human Services is, “Improving the health, safety and well-being of America.” Are we healthier, safer and more well than when the department was formed in 1980? Another question that answers itself.

Starting under Obama the Department of Justice has transformed itself into something resembling the STASI of East Germany. Do you feel confident that we still have ‘equal justice under the law?’

We can pretty much go department by department and ask similar questions and get similar answers about each.

The Congressional Budget Office reported recently that at least 1,264 federal agencies and bureaus have expired authorizations yet still received a total of $516 billion in funding in fiscal year 2024.

There are 2.2 million civilian federal employees, which makes the executive branch of the United States government the largest civilian employer in the country and among the top three in the world. (Wal-Mart and Amazon are bigger only if you count their overseas employees.) Most of those federal employees were sent home during COVID and most of them have stayed home, despite being ordered by President Biden to return to the office. As a result, according to the Government Accountability Office, 17 of the 24 largest federal agencies use on average only 25 percent of the office space that you and I are paying for.

I have news for Sid Blumethal and his fellow travelers. Cleaning this up (and there’s so much more of it) is what the American people hired Donald Trump to do.

So, I’m onboard with The Disrputers. Their arrival is long overdue. The swamp creatures are going to resist The Disupters with everything they have. Victory is by no means assured.

But Trump’s cabinet lineup this time sends a clear signal that the battle to drain the swamp will be fully joined.

Trump has promised again to release the last JFK files

DALLAS (AP) — More than 60 years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, conspiracy theories still swirl and any new glimpse into the fateful day of Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas continues to fascinate.

President-elect Donald Trump promised during his reelection campaign that he would declassify all of the remaining government records surrounding the assassination if he returned to office. He made a similar pledge during his first term, but ultimately bended to appeals from the CIA and FBI to keep some documents withheld.

At this point, only a few thousand of the millions of governmental records related to the assassination have yet to be fully released, and those who have studied the records released so far say that even if the remaining files are declassified, the public shouldn’t anticipate any earth-shattering revelations.

“Anybody waiting for a smoking gun that’s going to turn this case upside down will be sorely disappointed,” said Gerald Posner, author of “Case Closed,” which concludes that assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

Friday’s 61st anniversary is expected to be marked with a moment of silence at 12:30 p.m. in Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy’s motorcade was passing through when he was fatally shot. And throughout this week there have been events marking the anniversary.
Nov. 22, 1963

When Air Force One carrying Kennedy and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy touched down in Dallas, they were greeted by a clear sky and enthusiastic crowds. With a reelection campaign on the horizon the next year, they had gone to Texas on political fence-mending trip.

But as the motorcade was finishing its parade route downtown, shots rang out from the Texas School Book Depository building. Police arrested 24-year-old Oswald and, two days later, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald during a jail transfer.

A year after the assassination, the Warren Commission, which President Lyndon B. Johnson established to investigate the assassination, concluded that Oswald acted alone and there was no evidence of a conspiracy. But that hasn’t quelled a web of alternative theories over the decades.
The collection

In the early 1990s, the federal government mandated that all assassination-related documents be housed in a single collection in the National Archives and Records Administration. The collection of over 5 million records was required to be opened by 2017, barring any exemptions designated by the president.

Trump, who took office for his first term in 2017, had boasted that he’d allow the release of all of the remaining records but ended up holding some back because of what he called the potential harm to national security. And while files have continued to be released during President Joe Biden’s administration, some still remain unseen.

The documents released over the last few years offer details on the way intelligence services operated at the time, and include CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination. The former Marine had previously defected to the Soviet Union before returning home to Texas.

Mark S. Zaid, a national security attorney in Washington, said what’s been released so far has contributed to the understanding of the time period, giving “a great picture” of what was happening during the Cold War and the activities of the CIA.
Withheld files

Posner estimates that there are still about 3,000 to 4,000 documents in the collection that haven’t yet been fully released. Of those documents, some are still completely redacted while others just have small redactions, like someone’s Social Security number.

There are about 500 documents where all the information is redacted, Posner said, and those include Oswald’s and Ruby’s tax returns.

“If you have been following it, as I have and others have, you sort of are zeroed in on the pages you think might provide some additional information for history,” Posner said.

Trump’s transition team hasn’t responded to questions this week about his plans when he takes office.
A continued fascination

From the start, there were those who believed there had to be more to the story than just Oswald acting alone, said Stephen Fagin, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, which tells the story of the assassination from the building where Oswald made his sniper’s perch.

“People want to make sense of this and they want to find the solution that fits the crime,” said Fagin, who said that while there are lingering questions, law enforcement made “a pretty compelling case” against Oswald.

Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said his interest in the assassination dates back to the event itself, when he was a child.

“It just seemed so fantastical that one very disturbed individual could end up pulling off the crime of the century,” Sabato said. “But the more I studied it, the more I realized that is a very possible, maybe even probable in my view, hypothesis.”

Icelandic volcano previously dormant for 800 years erupting again

ICELAND POLICE DEPARTMENT/Anadolu via Getty Image

A once long-dormant volcano in Iceland is erupting again and impacting activity in a populated region nearby.

The volcano, on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland, began erupting at Sundhnukar on Wednesday night and peaked at about 2 a.m. local time Thursday, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office. It has prompted evacuations at the Blue Lagoon, an iconic tourist destination, and the nearby town of Grindavik.

West Iceland's volcano is a rift activity volcano, which involves the earth being pulled apart in two different directions through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, rather than a cone erupting magma through a central pipe, Thomas Algeo, a professor of earth sciences at the University of Cincinnati, told ABC News. The style of eruption is "much less dangerous, because most of the activity involves slow moving basaltic lava flows," he added.

"It's a style of volcanic activity that is effusive, slow flowing, not violently eruptive, like would be the case with a subduction zone volcanic system" Algeo said.

The fissure that was created on Wednesday night stretched about 1.8 miles long, according to the country's meteorological office. This is the volcano's seventh eruption this year, according to Iceland's Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.

These types of eruptions are "spectacular" sights, because once a fissure opens up, a large supply of magma oozes out, Tobias Fischer, director of the Volatiles Laboratory at the University of New Mexico, told ABC News.

The eruption activity is "typical" for these types of systems, said Shawn Willsey, a geology professor College of Southern Idaho who has been conducting livestream tours using drones above the lava flows on YouTube. Once the lava erupts, the pressure is relieved and magma starts to fill into the shallow storage zone below -- repressurizing the system and setting the stage for the next eruption, Willsey said.

"It's known that this region goes through these episodes where there are a lot of these eruptions," said Fischer, who has flown drones into eruption gas clouds to collect samples and analyze the composition of the carbon for his research.

By Thursday afternoon, the lava had reached the parking lot of the Blue Lagoon and consumed a service building, The Associated Press reported. There is no danger to the area, and the flights out of the Keflavik International Airport have not been affected, according to the civil protection agency.

Gas emitted from the eruption is expected to move south and out to sea, according to emergency officials.

Video taken from Grindavik show rivers of fast-moving lava flowing from the rift zones, where the lava can be seen spewing from the ground.

The ongoing eruption is "significantly smaller" than the eruption that took place in August, according to the meteorological agency.

Iceland is known as a "hot spot" for volcanic activity, Algeo said.

There are 32 active volcano systems in the region spread across three rift zones spread to the north, south and west -- all part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a mountain range that mostly runs down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

But in Iceland, the mountain range comes above the ocean certain due to "an excessively high production of magma in that area," Algeo said.

Iceland's western rift zone, also known as the Reykjanes-Langjökull rift zone, was active prior to the 13th century. These types of eruptions tend to have every 1,000 or so years, Fischer said,

"The big question is, is this going to continue on for centuries?" Willsey said.

In 2021, the volcano in western Iceland became active again. There have been 10 eruptions since there, seven of which have occurred in 2024, according to Icelandic officials said.

During the last 800 years, the majority of volcanic activity were in the north and east volcanic zones -- both lightly populated regions, Algeo said. But western Iceland, which includes the capital of Reykjavik, is highly populated.

"They were in a nice little valley up in the mountains, and so that lava was pretty well contained," Willsey said, adding that lava in those regions are "tourist-friendly" eruptions that can be enjoyed with little threat.

The recent eruptions in western Iceland have damaged infrastructure and property and forced residents to relocate, according to AP.

Previous eruptions throughout history have caused destruction in Iceland, Algeo said.

A large eruption that took place in 1783, known as the Laki eruption, is one of the worst in recorded history. It spewed so much toxic volcanic gasses across the landscape that it killed off most of the local farm animals and reduced the harvest, leading to starvation for about 25% of the population, Algeo said.

Eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula in December 2023 triggered toxic gas warnings, causing emergency managers to fear that the pollution would spread to the capital.

A disruptive eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in 2010 disrupted trans-Atlantic air travel for months due to ash being spewed into the air.