Amelia Benavides-Colón

Hegseth Extends D.C. National Guard Deployment Through February The deployment, which began in August, had already been extended once.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered National Guard troops to extend their mission in Washington, D.C., through February, according to multiple reports.

www.notus.org/defense/hegs...

3-Star General on Pentagon’s Joint Staff Retires After Reported Clashes With Hegseth Lt. Gen. Joseph McGee, the director for Strategy, Plans, and Policy on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, left his position earlier this month.

A three-star general serving on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff has retired from his position after sustained tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine.

www.notus.org/defense/gene...

Top CDC Vaccine Adviser Says School Mandates Are ‘Not Necessary’ “I don’t think we should be involved at all in mandating any vaccines,” said Martin Kulldorff, who heads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel.

Dr. Martin Kulldorff, who leads the CDC's vaccine advisory panel, said in a new interview with Politico that school vaccine mandates are “not necessary.”

“I don’t think we should be involved at all in mandating any vaccines,” he added.

www.notus.org/health-scien...

Jeffries Suggests Maryland Redistricting Effort May Not Be Dead After All The House minority leader said the state will respond “aggressively and appropriately” to Republicans’ partisan, mid-decade redistricting push.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Wednesday that Maryland is preparing to redraw its congressional maps, despite recent comments from the state’s Democratic leaders indicating the effort faces long odds.

www.notus.org/congress/hak...

California to Deploy Its Own Observers to Watch Trump Admin’s Poll Monitors Voters in the state are casting their ballots on the state’s highly anticipated Proposition 50 next week.

California officials on Monday announced that they would deploy their own observers to watch over federal election monitors the Trump administration is sending to the state for next week’s election.

www.notus.org/california/c...

Bessent Names the Trump Admin’s Five Finalists to Replace Powell as Fed Chair The treasury secretary said he is planning to conduct second-round interviews soon and hopes to present a “good slate” to Trump after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters on Monday that the Trump administration has narrowed its list of candidates to replace Jerome Powell as federal reserve chair to five finalists.

www.notus.org/economy/scot...

Rand Paul Pitches Novel Shutdown-Solving Idea to Trump The Kentucky Republican wants Trump to appoint a bipartisan commission to address expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies at the heart of negotiations.

Sen. Rand Paul has a new idea to end the shutdown, calling on Trump to appoint a commission to address the expiring ACA subsidies at the heart of negotiations.

The White House told me the administration will only talk policy "once the government is open." www.notus.org/senate/rand-...

Congress to be Briefed on Potential U.S. Military Operations Inside Venezuela, Graham Says “President Trump told me yesterday that he plans to brief members of Congress when he gets back from Asia,” Sen. Lindsey Graham said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham said President Donald Trump is preparing to brief Congress on planned military operations inside Venezuela and Colombia once he returns from his trip to Asia this week.

www.notus.org/senate/congr...

California Clash? Newsom and Harris Both Say They’re Considering 2028 Runs “I’d be lying otherwise,” Newsom told CBS Sunday Morning when asked if he is seriously considering a run for the White House.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former vice president Kamala Harris both said they are considering presidential runs this weekend, setting up a potential California clash in the 2028 Democratic primary.

www.notus.org/california/g...

Mamdani Spends Final Days of Campaign Decrying ‘Cheap Jokes’ and Islamophobia If elected, Mamdani stands to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor.

New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani spent the weekend condemning “racist” and “baseless” attacks centered on his Muslim faith from both his opponents and leaders of the Republican party.

www.notus.org/new-york/zoh...

Democrats Seize on Trump’s Ballroom Project as Shutdown Messaging War Ramps Up The party has latched onto one video clip in particular: Karoline Leavitt saying during her Thursday briefing, “The ballroom is really the president’s main priority.”

President Donald Trump’s decision to unilaterally bulldoze the entirety of the White House’s East Wing this week has provided Democrats with new ammunition in the shutdown messaging war.

www.notus.org/democrats/de...

Virginia Democrats to Open Surprise New Front in Nationwide Redistricting Battle The sudden development comes just weeks before Virginians head to the polls in statewide elections for governor, attorney general and other offices.

Virginia Dems are preparing to redraw the state’s congressional districts, a surprise addition to the redistricting fight.

"Virginia can’t take any option off the table to ensure a fair and even playing field in 2026," US Rep. James Walkinshaw told me.

www.notus.org/virginia/vir...

Trump Says Tech Leaders Convinced Him to Call Off San Francisco ‘Surge’ “Stay tuned!” Trump posted.

President Donald Trump said he is calling off plans to authorize a deployment of National Guard troops to San Francisco after a series of clarifying phone calls with Mayor Daniel Lurie and technology industry leaders Wednesday night.

www.notus.org/california/t...

Nearly All of This GOP Congressional Candidate’s Net Worth Is Invested in a Single Stock Robin Ficker is running to represent Maryland’s 6th Congressional District.

Republican Maryland congressional candidate Robin Ficker has a unique investment strategy, reporting in his recent financial disclosure that nearly all of his net worth is invested in the stock of one company: computer technology and chip giant Nvidia.

www.notus.org/campaigns/ro...

Indiana Republicans Say the ‘Votes Aren’t There’ for Trump’s Redistricting Push Trump held a personal phone call with reluctant state senators on Friday.

Indiana Republicans say they do not have the support necessary to pass a mid-cycle, partisan redistricting map more favorable to the party, despite an ongoing pressure campaign from the White House.

www.notus.org/republicans/...

Merkley Holds Marathon Speech but Falls Short of Cory Booker's Record Merkley began speaking at 6:21 p.m. Tuesday evening, and finished just after 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Close, but no cigar.

Sen. Jeff Merkley approached Sen. Cory Booker’s record for the longest floor speech in Senate history on Wednesday, but stopped just two hours short of the milestone.

www.notus.org/senate/jeff-...

Hegseth Announces New Front in Cartel ‘Conflict’ With Pacific Ocean Strike The Trump administration has killed 34 people with similar strikes in the Caribbean Sea.

The United States military on Tuesday night struck another alleged drug vessel, the first strike of its kind in the Pacific Ocean after more than a half dozen in the Caribbean Sea.

www.notus.org/defense/pete...

‘Shakedown’: Dems Decry Massive DOJ Payout Reportedly Demanded by Trump “It's strange to make a decision where I am paying myself,” Trump admitted to reporters Tuesday.

Democrats are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s reported demands that the Department of Justice pay him upwards of $200 million in restitution for its criminal investigations into him.

www.notus.org/trump-white-...

‘I Am Not a Secret Nazi’: Graham Platner Tattoo Controversy Roils Maine Senate Race The oyster farmer said he got the ink while on a drunken trip to Croatia during his time in the U.S. Marines.

Democrats are defending Senate candidate Graham Platner's newly revealed tattoo that features imagery associated with neo-Nazi groups.

"Everyone has the right to grow out of stupidity," Sen. Gallego said on Tuesday.

www.notus.org/campaigns/gr...

Trump Administration Joins Bluesky En Masse to Blame Democrats for Shutdown The White House had previously avoided the largely liberal-aligned site, which was created as an alternative to Elon Musk-owned X.

The White House and nearly a dozen federal agencies joined the social media platform Bluesky over the weekend to spread their message blaming Democrats for the government shutdown.

www.notus.org/trump-white-...

George Santos Says He Isn’t Ruling Out Another Run for Congress Santos said he would also be open to television work, including “Dancing with the Stars.”

Former Rep. George Santos — just hours after being released from prison thanks to a commutation from President Donald Trump — said Sunday that he isn’t ruling out a future return run for Congress.

Or at TV show, like Dancing with the Stars.

www.notus.org/congress/geo...

Trump Posts Bizarre AI Video of Himself Bombing ‘No Kings’ Protesters With Brown Sludge The video, set to the song “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins, was posted the evening after seven million people took to the streets for another “No Kings” demonstration.

President Donald Trump posted yet another bizarre AI-generated video on social media Saturday night, this time featuring himself wearing a crown and flying a fighter jet labeled “King Trump” while dumping what appears to be feces on a crowd of protesters.

www.notus.org/trump-white-...

Navy Admiral Overseeing Caribbean Sea Resigns Amid Furor Over Boat Strikes Admiral Alvin Holsey is just one year into his three-year term.

The Navy admiral responsible for overseeing military efforts in the Caribbean Sea stepped down on Thursday, just one year into his three-year term and in the middle of a major U.S. operation against alleged drug boats in the region.

www.notus.org/defense/navy...

Democrats Lay Out ‘Damning’ Examples of ICE’s Tactics in Chicago Democrats on the Judiciary Committee, more than a dozen in all, included the examples in a Thursday letter to the White House, DHS and ICE.

EXCLUSIVE: Judiciary Democrats have compiled a “damning” list of incidents involving federal immigration officials who they say overstepped their authority while deployed to Chicago.

The letter, signed by 16 Dems, was sent to Trump admin officials on Thursday.

www.notus.org/democrats/ju...

Trump Wants to Use Leftover Ballroom Money to Build Massive D.C. Arch The proposed monument would be located on the Virginia side of the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

Trump is flaunting plans for his next imprint on D.C.’s landscape: a gold-embossed arch at the entrance to Washington’s Memorial Bridge.

At a dinner last night, Trump said the WH ballroom is fully funded & future donations will go towards the arch.

www.notus.org/trump-white-...

Young Republicans Demand Resignation of Leaders Allegedly Involved in Racist Group Chat “Such behavior is disgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents,” the organization’s statement said.

The Young Republican National Federation demanded the resignation of several of the organization’s leaders Tuesday, just hours after a report outlined their alleged racist and sexist remarks in a leaked group chat.

www.notus.org/republicans/...

Trump Claims a ‘Very Wealthy Person’ Has Offered to Cover Military Paychecks Trump’s statement comes days after he posted to Truth Social directing his defense secretary to “use all available funds to get our troops PAID on October 15.”

President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that a “very wealthy” donor had offered to pay members of the military during the ongoing government shutdown — a generous offer that he said he turned down for now.

www.notus.org/trump-white-...

Texas National Guard Troops Pulled From Duty in Illinois for Failing to Meet ‘Fitness Standards’ The move came just days after a viral photo of the troops arriving in Illinois sparked comments about the men’s weight.

A select number of Texas National Guard troops have reportedly been pulled from duty in Illinois for failing to meet the Defense Department’s new “physical fitness standards.”

www.notus.org/illinois/tex...

Trump Declares ‘Dawn in the Middle East’ During Speech to Israel’s Knesset Following his stop in Israel, Trump flew to Egypt for a global summit to help determine the future of Gaza.

President Donald Trump declared victory over Hamas in a speech to Israel’s legislature on Monday, urging the country to help him carry out his vision for the Middle East as the terms of a permanent peace are negotiated.

www.notus.org/foreign-poli...

Federal Judge Questions Trump Admin’s ‘Credibility’ While Pausing Chicago Deployment “DHS’ perception of events are simply unreliable,” U.S. District Judge April Perry said.

A federal judge in Illinois on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops into Illinois, questioning the administration’s “credibility” in a blistering hearing.

www.notus.org/illinois/fed...