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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
U.S. ELECTIONS
Republicans have won control of the House of Representatives, AP News projects, completing the party’s sweep into power. However, with a slim majority, smooth functioning of the House is far from guaranteed. Stephen Groves and Lisa Mascaro report.
Elon Musk’s swing state sweepstakes were allowed to continue through Election day as the Philadelphia district attorney failed to establish it was an illegal lottery, a judge said in a new opinion. Maryclaire Dale reports for AP News.
U.S. PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION AND NEW CONGRESS
President Biden asked President-elect Trump to work together on securing a Gaza ceasefire and urged him to continue supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia during their Oval Office meeting yesterday. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Matt Viser, Isaac Arnsdorf, and Marianna Sotomayor report for the Washington Post.
Trump yesterday said he will nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to serve as Attorney General in his second administration. Gaetz, who is under investigation by the House Committee on Ethics over allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, is already proving a controversial pick, with two GOP senators openly voicing concerns and Trump ally Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) saying Gaetz has “a zero percent shot of getting through the Senate.” Erin Doherty reports for Axios; Anthony Adragna reports for POLITICO.
In other Trump Cabinet updates, the President-elect selected Tulsi Gabbard to be his nominee for the next Director of National Intelligence and confirmed Marco Rubio is his pick for Secretary of State. Gabbard is also a controversial pick, given her lack of intelligence experience and past support for Kremlin-aligned conspiracy theories, which Republican lawmakers have rebuked. Ellen Nakashima and Marianne LeVine report for the Washington Post; Michael Gold reports for the New York Times; Dan De Luce reports for NBC News.
Senate Republicans yesterday chose Sen. John Thune (R-SD) to be their new leader. Liz Goodwin, Dylan Wells, and Marianne LeVine report for the Washington Post.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) yesterday won the GOP nomination to remain in his post for another two years, ahead of the whole-House vote in January. Juliegrace Brufke reports for Axios.
Trump’s transition team is drawing up a list of military officers to fire, sources say, setting the stage for what could be an unprecedented shakeup at the Pentagon. Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali report for Reuters.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday expressed concern about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s role in the upcoming Trump administration, saying Kennedy might use his post to spread misinformation and sow distrust. Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports for the New York Times.
TRUMP LEGAL MATTERS
Special counsel Jack Smith yesterday asked to pause the prosecution’s appeal seeking to revive the classified documents case against Trump in light of his presidential victory. Legal experts say the case could continue even with Trump removed as a co-defendant. Alanna Durkin Richer reports for AP News; Perry Stein and Spencer S. Hsu report for the Washington Post.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress yesterday after Trump picked him to be the next Attorney General, days before a House Ethics Committee vote on whether to release a report on its investigation. The resignation of a lawmaker is grounds for the immediate cessation of any ongoing Ethics Committee investigation. Marianna Sotomayor, Jacqueline Alemany, and Marianne LeVine report for the Washington Post.
A CIA official working overseas was arrested on Tuesday over allegedly leaking classified documents that appeared to show Israel’s plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran, court records show. Ellen Nakashima and Samuel Oakford report for the Washington Post.
A U.S. military judge yesterday moved to schedule hearings in early January for alleged 9/11 planners to enter guilty pleas in exchange for life sentences, despite Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s effort to stop the agreements. Ellen Knickmeyer reports for AP News.
Rudy Giuliani’s lawyers yesterday asked to quit representing the former New York City mayor in his $146 million defamation verdict, citing a “fundamental disagreement” with their client. Zach Schonfeld reports for The Hill.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
An Israeli airstrike yesterday caused a “huge” explosion and damaged a Doctors Without Borders clinic within a southern Gaza humanitarian zone, the aid agency said. The IDF claimed it had issued advance warnings. The Washington Post reports.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
A Human Rights Watch report released yesterday accuses Israel of using evacuation orders to pursue the “deliberate and massive forced displacement” of civilians in Gaza, concluding that its actions may amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and at least in buffer zones and security corridors, “ethnic cleansing.” Peter Beaumont reports for the Guardian.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell yesterday proposed that the bloc suspend a political dialogue with Israel, citing “serious concerns about possible breaches of international humanitarian law” in Gaza. However, diplomats say the proposal is “very unlikely” to be approved by all 27 EU states. Andrew Gray reports for Reuters.
An entire generation would be “denied the right to education” in Gaza if the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) were to collapse, the agency’s head warned yesterday. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH WAR
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s aide Ron Dermer told Trump this week that Israel is rushing to advance a ceasefire deal in Lebanon as a “gift” to the President-elect, Israeli officials said. Shira Rubin, Suzan Haidamous, and John Hudson report for the Washington Post.
Israel’s military has expanded its ground operation in southern Lebanon, Defense Minister Israel Katz said yesterday. Mohammed Tawfeeq and Lauren Izso report for CNN.
Residents of south Lebanon say “nowhere is safe anymore” after a series of Israeli strikes launched without warning on residential buildings or houses hosting displaced people. residents of south Lebanon say. Carine Torbey reports for BBC News.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Israeli ministers are insisting on retaining the capacity to strike Lebanon at any moment as part of ceasefire conditions, France’s foreign minister said yesterday. Several diplomats said it would be “all but impossible” to convince Hezbollah or Lebanon to accept the demand. John Irish reports for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukraine is prioritizing the security of an eventual ceasefire agreement over retention of territory amid Trump’s push for an accelerated negotiations timetable, according to senior Ukrainian officials. Meanwhile, diplomats say Ukraine’s European allies are also bracing for the prospect of land-for-security concessions. Andrew E. Kramer reports for the New York Times; Ellen Francis reports for the Washington Post.
A car bombing in Crimea yesterday killed a senior Russian naval officer. An official in Ukraine’s security services told local media the agency had orchestrated the attack, saying the target was a “war criminal” who ordered missile strikes on civilian targets. Pjotr Sauer reports for the Guardian.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
Trump’s pick for U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) refused to reiterate her previous support for NATO membership for Ukraine, with her spokesperson saying she is aligning with Trump’s approach. Andrew Kaczynski reports for CNN.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Biden will meet with China’s Xi Jinping next Saturday during a summit in Peru, in what is expected to be the final meeting between the two before Trump’s return to the White House. Aamer Madhani reports for AP News.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
French prosecutors yesterday asked for the far-right French lawmaker Marine Le Pen to be found guilty of embezzlement, sentenced to prison, and barred from running for public office for the next five years over accusations of illicit use of European Parliament funds for internal party spending. Victor Goury-Laffont reports for POLITICO.
A police and vigilante attack on a Doctors Without Borders ambulance in Haiti on Monday killed at least two patients, the medical charity said yesterday. The Guardian reports.
Explosions near Brazil’s Supreme Court yesterday killed one person, believed to be the attacker, and prompted an evacuation of the area, police said. Ana Ionova and Paulo Motoryn report for the New York Times.
European countries are pushing for a new U.N. atomic watchdog resolution against Iran next week to pressure Tehran over poor cooperation in restricting its nuclear activities, diplomats say. John Irish and Francois Murphy report for Reuters.
A well-known Iranian human rights activist killed himself yesterday in protest over Tehran’s imprisonment of four political activists. Ruth Comerford reports for BBC News.
Argentina yesterday withdrew its negotiators from the COP29 summit, adding to concerns about the stability of the Paris Agreement after Trump’s election. Patrick Greenfield reports for the Guardian.