Trump defends Hegseth, bashes Massie
Donald Trump defended defense secretary Pete Hegseth, who is facing articles of impeachment introduced by Republican senator Thomas Massie, saying Hegseth “won two wars”.
“He won the war in Venezuela,” Trump said of Hegseth, adding that the United States’ military raid to capture former president Nicolás Maduro “was flawless”.
“He’s winning the war in Iran,” Trump added.
Meanwhile, the president called Massie “a stone cold loser” and “sick”.
Key events
Closing summary
This concludes our live coverage of the second Trump administration for the day. Here are the latest developments:
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Republican congressman Thomas Massie introduced eight articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth, refiling a resolution in the hope of ousting the defense secretary. Massie, the outgoing representative from Kentucky, accused Hegseth of illegally waging war in Iran without congressional authorization and abusing his powers.
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Donald Trump was joined by Dana White, the CEO of UFC, at his press conference today. At the conference, Trump defended Hegseth, saying his defense secretary “won two wars”, and called Massie “a stone cold loser” and “sick”.
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After saying that his deportation policy was “too tough” and offering to strike an immigration deal with Democrats in an interview on 60 Minutes broadcast yesterday, Donald Trump today said his administration’s deportation policy was “very strong.” “Somebody suggested, will there be amnesty? No, but— they came in. They knew the law,” Trump told reporters during a press conference today. He added that he had not spoken with incoming chief of staff Stephen Miller about any changes.
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In its first major move since last week’s elections, the Senate has advanced bipartisan legislation to speed up permitting reviews for data centers and other infrastructure projects. The Senate voted 73-25 to formally take up the bill, which would shorten the timeline for approving both clean and fossil fuel energy projects.
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A Utah judge scheduled the trial of the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk for June 2028. District Judge Tony Graf allocated 105 days for the trial. Graf said the 2028 date balances the defense’s right to prepare with the Kirk family’s desire for a speedy resolution.
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The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to resume border wall construction in the Big Bend region of Texas. The majority paused a lower court’s decision as the case plays out. The Trump administration had filed an emergency appeal, saying there are illegal border crossings and drug seizures in the region.
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After initially saying he would accept the results of the midterm elections, Trump has begun to cast doubt Democrats’ electoral wins. “Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest,” he wrote on Truth Social. Democratic senator Chuck Schumer responded to Trump’s statement, saying that the president’s “return to election denialism was inevitable”.
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Chris van Hollen said he is in “listening mode” and hasn’t “shut the door” on a possible bid for Senate majority leader. The senator from Maryland has been floated as an alternative to Schumer.
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Mike Johnson declined to commit to serving out his term in Congress while answering questions from reporters this evening. The House speaker noted that “Really the only person in the modern era that decided to stick around and serve in the Speaker emeritus position was Nancy Pelosi.”
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California voters rejected a first-in-the-nation tax on the net worth of billionaires.
California billionaires won a contentious ballot measure campaign, defeating a proposed one-time tax on their wealth. The measure would have imposed a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of Californians whose net worth exceeds $1bn.
As my colleague Dara Kerr writes:
The bruising campaign over Proposition 40 was the most expensive in state history and witness to back-and-forth dealing from tech billionaires and democratic leaders, including Gavin Newsom, the governor, who steadfastly opposed the measure. While supporters of Prop 40 cast it as a solution to drastic healthcare cuts from Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, opponents led by prosperous billionaires mounted an influential campaign saying the billionaire tax was instead “an everyone tax”.
Here’s our full story:
A democratic socialist candidate who is originally from Gaza will challenge John Fetterman, the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, in 2028.
Ahmed Moor, a Palestinian American, today announced his bid to primary Fetterman when the senator is up for reelection.
As my colleague Robert Tait writes:
The move is the first sign of Fetterman’s weakened position in the party since the Democrats won back control of the Senate in last week’s US midterm elections, when the party won at least 54 of the upper chamber’s 100 seats.
Here’s our full story:
Republican Ken Calvert has won election his race to represent California’s 40th district in the House of Representatives.
Calvert, who is the longest-serving Republican in California’s House delegation, beat the incumbent, fellow Republican Young Kim. Calvert and Kim were set to face each other after California redrew its districts to favor Democrats.
The education department announced today that it has launched investigations into public school districts in Pennsylvania and New Mexico, alleging that the schools’ gender identity policies violate federal law. The Trump administration has taken repeated actions to restrict transgender rights.
In a press release, the education department cited “recent reports from Albuquerque Public Schools and Santa Fe Public Schools in New Mexico” that “raise concerns that these districts maintain policies that prevent school personnel from sharing information about a child’s ‘gender transition’ or ‘gender identity’ with their parents.”
It added that “in Pennsylvania parents allege that the Pennsbury School District facilitated their daughter’s so-called “social transition” to appear as a boy for three years without informing them” and said it was taking enforcement action with the justice department against the Pine-Richland School District “for policies directing school staff, including nurses and psychologists, to facilitate ‘gender transitions’ for students without parental consent.”
“The Trump Administration has made upholding parental rights and transparency in the classroom a key part of our education agenda – and we will continue to do so,” said education secretary Linda McMahon. “Policies designed to conceal or hide the most sensitive information about a child’s well-being not only violate federal law but also educators’ moral obligation to let parents be the first decision-makers in their child’s lives.”
The justice department has sued Lyft, alleging the ride-share service discriminated against passengers with disabilities, including those who use service animals and mobility devices such as stowable wheelchairs.
In a press release, the department said its lawsuit “seeks $53 million for individuals with disabilities who Lyft has discriminated against, and who have submitted complaints to Lyft or the Department.”
California congressman Ro Khanna said he “will vote to cut off every dollar for” border wall construction in Big Bend National Park when Democrats take control of Congress in January.
In a social media post, Khanna noted today’s Supreme Court ruling allowing construction of the wall to proceed. “Texas ranchers oppose this wall. A Bush-appointed judge blocked it. In January, Democrats run Congress. I will vote to cut off every dollar for it,” said in a social media post.
Donald Trump urged senators to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure permitting bill yesterday, calling it a “BIG WIN for U.S. ENERGY INDEPENDENCE and DOMINANCE” in a social media post.
The bill will “ensure that we can build Pipelines, Mines, and Power Plants faster than ever before, lowering Energy Costs for American Families”, Trump wrote.
Here’s more of our recent coverage:
Mike Johnson declined to commit to serving out his term in Congress while answering questions from reporters this evening.
Johnson, the current House speaker, said “after a lot of prayer and reflection” he had decided not to run to be House minority leader in January.
“I’m still in charge here until early January. And we’re going to do our duty and after that my commitment and my objective is to help my team ensure that the Republican Party has a very successful 120th Congress, and we’ll see how all that develops,” he said. But he noted, “Really the only person in the modern era that decided to stick around and serve in the Speaker emeritus position was Nancy Pelosi.”
California senator Adam Schiff said “the need for a permitting reform package has only grown in the past decade” but that current bipartisan legislation intended to speed up permitting reviews for data centers and other infrastructure projects “needs further improvement before I can support it.”
In a lengthy social media post, Schiff, a Democrat, said “the transmission and grid reform provisions are very positive” but “that we need to have confidence that any permitting reform legislation is not going to be weaponized by this or any future administration to single out states and provide giveaways to the oil and gas industries.”
Schiff added that the “legislation would jeopardize tribal sovereignty through major changes to the National Historic Preservation Act, impact the State of California’s authorities under the Clean Water Act, and constrict federal agencies’ ability to protect vulnerable wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.”
Chris van Hollen said he is in “listening mode” and hasn’t “shut the door” on a possible bid for Senate majority leader.
The Democratic senator from Maryland told reporters: “What I’ve said from the very beginning is, we shouldn’t have a coronation. We should have a caucus discussion about what we’re going to do with the power and responsibilities that have been invested in us.”
He added, “In response to people calling upon me to step up here, what I’ve said on it is. ‘I’m in listening mode and haven’t shut the door.’”
In its first major move since last week’s elections, the Senate has advanced bipartisan legislation to speed up permitting reviews for data centers and other infrastructure projects.
The Senate voted 73-25 to formally take up the bill, which would shorten the timeline for approving both clean and fossil fuel energy projects.
As my colleague Hilary Beaumont recently reported:
Donald Trump urged all senators to vote for the 417-page bill, which is sponsored by two Republicans and two Democrats in the Senate, but after last week’s historic “blue wave” elections, some environmental and tribal advocates called on Democratic leadership to pump the brakes.
Here’s more of our recent coverage of the bill:
The White House has nominated Palantir’s chief information security officer Michael LoSapio to head the homeland security department’s cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency.
The agency has been without a Senate-confirmed head for 22 months.
Here’s more of our recent coverage of the agency:
After saying that his deportation policy was “too tough” and offering to strike an immigration deal with Democrats in an interview on 60 Minutes broadcast yesterday, Donald Trump today said “we’re not going to have amnesty.”
“Somebody suggested, will there be amnesty? No, but— they came in. They knew the law,” Trump told reporters during a press conference today. He said his administration’s deportation policy was “very strong” and that he had not spoken with incoming chief of staff Stephen Miller about any changes.
“My policy hasn’t changed,” he said.
The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to resume border wall construction in the Big Bend region of Texas. The majority paused a lower court’s decision as the case plays out. The Trump administration had filed an emergency appeal, saying there are illegal border crossings and drug seizures in the region.
“This horrific decision clears the way for contractors to bulldoze pristine desert and dynamite canyon walls before the courts have even decided whether this destruction is legal,” Laiken Jordahl, national public lands advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that sued to stop the construction, told the Associated Press.
The man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk will stand trial in June 2028, a Utah judge ruled today.
District Judge Tony Graf allocated 105 days for the trial, with jury selection slated to begin on 21 June 2028. Graf said the 2028 date balances the defense’s right to prepare with the Kirk family’s desire for a speedy resolution.
Attorneys for defendant Tyler Robinson, 23, had proposed a trial starting in 2029. Robinson could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
In a statement, the Kirk family called the hearing date a “delay” and said that “every additional day without justice prolongs our family’s pain.”
Josh Hawley, the Republican senator from Missouri, called for “a time of fasting and prayer for the nation” after Republicans’ losses in the midterms.
In a social media post, Hawley wrote, “What happened last Tuesday was shocking and historic. It calls for a historic response. Christians need to gather and seek the Lord. I’m going to host a time of fasting and prayer for the nation on Tuesday, December 15 from 12 to 1 at the Capitol. Meet me there!”
During his press conference today, Donald Trump alternately claimed that the Iran war has already been won and is going to be solved soon.
Speaking about his recent meeting with the prime minister of Qatar, Trump told reporters he believes the war “militarily is effectively over.”
Later he added that Pete Hegseth is “winning” the war and that there is “positive momentum” toward resolving the conflict.
