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(74)Reporters at Pentagon briefing given warning to remain professional or be removed
Reporters in the Pentagon briefing room were given a “special announcement” from security ahead of Tuesday morning’s press conference with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that they would be removed from the room if they did not remain professional.
Reporters immediately began asking what would be deemed unprofessional, including if shouting questions would have them removed. The officials did not further explain what would be considered unprofessional.
The warning is highly unusual for a Pentagon briefing. Reporters asked officials of a recent example of a time when there was unprofessionalism and did not receive an answer.
What we covered today
• Hegseth impeachment efforts: President Donald Trump said he would stand by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth if he’s impeached, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, who introduced articles of impeachment, is “a stone cold loser.”
• Trump sows doubt: Earlier, in an abrupt shift from last week, the president is now questioning the results of the midterm elections.
• Latest midterm results: Retired Rear Adm. Eileen Laubacher, a Democrat, will flip Colorado’s 4th District, CNN projects, ending conservative firebrand Rep. Lauren Boebert’s tenure in Congress. Also, California voters are projected to reject a measure to impose a one-time 5% wealth tax on residents with a net worth of over $1 billion.
• On the Hill: Congress returns this week, marking the start of a lame-duck session. With fewer than 25 days in session before the new — and dramatically reshaped — 120th Congress begins, lawmakers have a long list of agenda items.
Massie predicts Hegseth will be out before end of the year
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie on Monday predicted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth won’t make it to the end of the year as Pentagon chief, hours after filing eight articles of impeachment against him.
“I still put it at a high probability that Pete Hegseth won’t make it until December 31st of this year,” Massie told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.”
The outgoing congressman also argued that impeaching Hegseth now would be “polite” compared to what Democrats will do when they take over the House in January.
“I’m not proposing he go to prison. I’m not proposing that he be exposed to civil liability. We’re just saying you need to be out of a job right now,” Massie said. “When the Democrats get control in January, they are not going to be as polite as I am. Look, they’re going to have hearings in the House. They’re going to bring in people who’ve served under Hegseth, people who’ve seen some things and know some things that aren’t even public yet.”
Massie also predicted that GOP lawmakers who are either retiring from Congress or won their races by a narrow margin are likely to cross party lines in the impeachment vote.
“They felt their political mortality on November 3rd. I think they’re scared and they realize in two years this could go even more south for President Trump and the Iran war,” Massie said, adding that he thinks a vote will take place Tuesday evening or Wednesday.
California voters will reject one-time wealth tax on billionaires, CNN projects
Voters in California will reject a measure to impose a one-time 5% wealth tax on residents with a net worth of over $1 billion, CNN’s Decision Desk Projects.
Proposition 40 became one of the highest-profile and expensive fights over ballot measures this election cycle. With the backing of billionaire funders, groups opposing the proposition spent tens of millions of dollars in ads against the measure.
GOP Rep. Ken Calvert will defeat fellow GOP Rep. Young Kim in California, CNN projects
Republican Rep. Ken Calvert will win California’s 40th Congressional District, CNN’s Decision Desk projects, defeating fellow GOP Rep. Young Kim.
The member-on-member clash came after California voters approved a Democratic redistricting plan that merged large parts of their Southern California districts into one conservative seat.
Calvert, the longest-serving Republican in California’s congressional delegation, chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees defense spending.
"People chose against Trump": Republicans point fingers after election shellacking
House Republicans on Monday stewed over the factors that led to their bruising loss of the majority, including the Iran war, high prices and voters’ opinions of the president.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who said he intends to run again after losing his New Jersey seat, acknowledged the toll President Donald Trump’s unpopularity took on his race.
Rep. Victoria Spartz, who lost her race in Indiana, blamed Senate leaders for failing to try to force through House-passed bills, telling Raju the “Senate really screwed us.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert, who lost her seat in Colorado, said she was “very frustrated” about the Iran war but that there was “nothing” Republicans could have done to stop it.
Boebert said her Democratic opponent, Eileen Laubacher, “decided to be against” the Iran war, and “that was enough, I guess.”
Some Republicans who retained their seats warned their party should have a reckoning.
Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee attributed his colleagues’ losses to failing to address affordability, and “we didn’t do one dadgum thing about it.”
Rep. Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican who held his seat, said his party faced a “perfect storm” of obstacles, including gas prices and the Iran war.
AOC won’t weigh in on challenge to Schumer, sees "sentiment" among many Dems for new leaders
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said there is a “sentiment” for new leadership among Democrats, declining to say whether she will challenge Chuck Schumer in a primary for his Senate seat in two years.
Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju whether she agrees with the several incoming members who say it’s time for Schumer to go and that they plan on voting for someone new to lead the Senate Democratic Caucus, Ocasio-Cortez said:
Pressed on whether she will challenge her fellow New York Democrat for a Senate seat in 2028, Ocasio-Cortez responded:
“That’s what people want to hear about with what we’re going to do with the power that they just gave us, as opposed to being exhausted and talking about an election,” the progressive lawmaker added.
Johnson won’t commit to serving out term in new Congress
House Speaker Mike Johnson would not commit Monday to serving out his two-year term in the 120th Congress as Democrats take the helm and he steps down from leadership.
Johnson noted the only speaker to stay around in the “speaker emerita” position was former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who will depart Congress in January.
Johnson said that after “a lot of prayer and reflection,” he did not think it would be the “best thing” to run for minority leader.
“We have two extraordinary guys that are running to lead the conference. I’m close to both of them, and we’ll see how that shakes out,” he said, speaking of his fellow Louisiana lawmakers, Rep. Jim Jordan and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who will face off in leadership elections Tuesday.
What to know about Trump's response to articles of impeachment against Hegseth
President Donald Trump was joined in an impromptu White House press briefing by UFC CEO Dana White to clear the air on whether White will become Trump’s new press secretary.
President Donald Trump said he would stand by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth if he’s impeached.
Here’s what he said on Hegseth and other issues:
On Hegseth: “We won two wars, and we’ve made the world a lot safer place, and then we’re supposed to be impeached?” Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins at an impromptu press conference, calling Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who introduced articles of impeachment earlier Monday, “a stone cold loser.”
GOP leadership: The president called Senate Majority Leader John Thune a “fine man,” and said he hoped GOP senators would reelect him to lead their minority in the Senate starting January.
On immigration: Trump said his deportation policy “hasn’t changed,” after he suggested in an interview he was open to letting some undocumented immigrants stay in the country. “There won’t be amnesty,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We focus on the worst of the worst. We want to get the murderers out,” he added.
On Iran: After a meeting with Qatar’s prime minister, Trump said he doesn’t believe additional action in Iran is necessary. “Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East, the United States of America is fully ‘locked and loaded,” Trump said. “We don’t think there’ll be any reason to use it.” He said the conflict was “effectively over” and that he would be “keeping it the status quo” for now.
In other news, here’s what GOP lawmakers said:
• Massie explained his reasoning for bringing eight articles of impeachment against Hegseth. The articles focus mostly on Hegseth’s actions in the Iran war, but Massie also pointed to strikes against alleged drug boats that have killed at least 243 people. “There’s no argument in these impeachment articles that he’s ineffective. The argument here is that he’s broken laws and he’s violated the Constitution, and so that’s the question put in front of my colleagues,” Massie said. He said he had not received any commitments from fellow House Republicans in supporting his efforts. In an interview with CNN, Massie also said his party “earned” its midterms losses and railed against lawmakers for failing to cut government spending or curb tariffs.
• Retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis said he has “no confidence” in Hegseth and also called the appointment of Stephen Miller as chief of staff “a horrible decision” and that Trump “made a huge mistake.”
Democratic stance: Meanwhile, Democratic Rep.-elect Nancy Lacore discussed the potential impeachment of Hegseth, who fired her from her Navy post.
CNN’s Molly English, Donald Judd, Alejandra Jaramillo, Kevin Liptak, Alison Main and Manu Raju contributed to this post.
Hard feelings linger after Election Day in some marquee races
The midterm elections are (mostly) over, but in a number of races it’s clear that hard feelings aren’t going away any time soon.
In a new interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Ohio Democratic Gov.-elect Amy Acton recounted how Vice President JD Vance alluded to rumors that she had a drinking problem.
When Tapper noted that Acton had referred to the man she beat, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, as “my opponent,” she said it was a “great point.”
Acton said last week she had “no intention” of speaking to Ramaswamy after he ran a widely decried ad featuring her estranged mother, who stayed with a man charged with sexually abusing Acton.
Similarly, in neighboring Michigan, Democratic Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed said over the weekend that GOP former Rep. Mike Rogers had not called him to concede.
In Texas, outgoing GOP Sen. John Cornyn still won’t say whether he voted for the man who beat him in a primary and then lost the seat, state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
GOP Sen. Cramer believes Miller will negotiate with Dems, backs Thune as leader
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer said that after a phone conversation with new White House chief of staff Stephen Miller on Sunday, he believes Miller can work with Democrats and be a strong negotiator, despite Democratic doubts that the hardline aide is right for the job.
Pressed on concerns from Democrats that Miller will be able to work with them, Cramer insisted, “You don’t have to be moderate to be a negotiator; you just have to be pragmatic. And I think Stephen is quite pragmatic.”
“I did have a sense from him that he’s willing to work with Democrats to get things done that we can get done together,” he said.
Cramer was also clear he wants Senate GOP Leader John Thune to keep his job ahead of conference elections on Tuesday, arguing that the South Dakota senator doesn’t bear the blame for Republicans’ losses last week.
The North Dakota senator dismissed calls from some of his GOP colleagues to delay their leadership elections. “A delay just is a delay, and it keeps us from … governing starting tomorrow afternoon,” he said.
Cramer would not say whether he wants Pete Hegseth to keep his job, though he did say he opposed impeaching the defense secretary.
Sen. Van Hollen says he’s “not shut the door” on challenging Schumer for leader
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen told reporters he has “not shut the door” on challenging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for the role of majority leader, adding that Democrats “shouldn’t just anoint somebody.”
While Senate and House Republicans are scheduled to pick their leadership on Tuesday, Senate Democrats have until early December to decide who will lead their caucus — and the chamber — next year.
At least one of those new members has voiced support for Van Hollen: Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan.
Van Hollen said he and Schumer have been “trading phone calls” and that Democrats need a plan for how they will use their new majority.
“I don’t think anybody should be asked to support a blank check without knowing what the plan is,” he told reporters, saying that Americans want “Democrats and the majorities in Congress to meet their kitchen-table needs.”
“And until we have a full conversation in the caucus, we shouldn’t just anoint somebody,” he added.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet would not say whether he plans to back Schumer as leader, noting the party has a few weeks to reach a consensus.
“We are going to have some time to discuss this, to debate this as a caucus, to think about how we put our best foot forward,” the Colorado senator said.
Tillis: Hegseth impeachment not going away; Trump made "huge mistake" with Stephen Miller
Retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis said he has “no confidence” in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and that his looming impeachment “is not going to go away.”
“If he wants to help us avoid a distraction and maybe another one following that one, he should step down. And the president should ask him to step down,” Tillis said today.
“It’s absolutely not going to go away,” he continued, telling CNN’s Lauren Fox that the “House has the latitude to send another” impeachment.
“We can play that, be distracted for the remainder of this Congress, or recognize that he’s a distraction that needs to go.”
Tillis also commented on Trump’s elevation of longtime aide Stephen Miller to White House chief of staff, saying it was “a horrible decision” and that Trump “made a huge mistake.”
“I’ve been against Stephen Miller for a long time. A part of it is because he has taken away what should have been a winning message on border security and immigration reform,” the North Carolina senator said. “Instead, he’d made it toxic and had Hispanics leave in droves. … He doesn’t know politics. He doesn’t know policy. Why is he in the White House?”
Trump’s comments about immigration are needlessly provocative to his base
President Donald Trump already had problems with his base.
And he seems to have unnecessarily exacerbated them by floating a path to legal status for some undocumented immigrants.
Trump’s comments in a “60 Minutes” interview airing Sunday set off many criticisms — some of them veiled, others not so much — from Republicans and MAGA activists.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin later seemed to double down on the contours, while claiming it didn’t amount to “amnesty.” Trump also denied Monday that he was talking about amnesty.
But many have responded by saying, “No amnesty.” Others went further. They pointed directly to Trump’s “60 Minutes” comments, called the White House’s denial that he was talking about amnesty “insulting,” and said he risks a base revolt if he moves forward.
Read more analysis of his comments here.
Trump pledges to stand by Hegseth if he's impeached
President Donald Trump said he would stand by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth if he’s impeached, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who introduced articles of impeachment earlier Monday, is “a stone cold loser.”
President Donald Trump said he would stand by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth if he’s impeached, telling CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, who introduced articles of impeachment earlier Monday, is “a stone cold loser.”
“Yeah, I’ll stand by him,” Trump told Collins during an impromptu press conference at the White House.
Massie’s introduction of the articles of impeachment means a vote will have to happen by Wednesday.
Hegseth brushed off the impeachment effort earlier Monday, saying he agreed with Trump that he’d “do it again” on launching the war with Iran.
Trump again praised his Defense secretary on Monday, saying, he’s “done a very good job.”
“What about impeaching that went, that ran Iraq and Afghanistan, and all of these other wars, where thousands of lives have been lost,” Trump added.
Massie: GOP “earned” midterms losses after failing to stand up to Trump
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie said his party “earned” the devastating loss of its majorities in the midterm elections by failing to respond to the will of voters, including the pressing desire to end the war in Iran.
Just after introducing articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over his role in the war, Massie argued it wasn’t Hegseth’s fault that Republicans lost dozens of seats, pointing a finger at GOP lawmakers who did not vote to rein in the president’s war powers in Iran.
“They can repent in this vote because several of the articles are litigating who has the power: Congress or the executive branch,” the outgoing Kentucky lawmaker said of the impeachment resolution.
Asked by Raju whether Republicans deserved to lose their majority, Massie responded, “They earned it. I don’t know if they deserve it, but they earned it,” also railing against lawmakers for failing to cut government spending or curb tariffs.
“Congress is culpable in every one of these things that happened,” he said.
Trump says it's up to GOP senators to reelect Thune to leadership: "John's a good man"
President Donald Trump said it’s up to GOP senators to reelect Senate Majority Leader John Thune to a leadership position, calling him a “fine man.”
Asked if Thune deserves to lead the party after last week’s massive Republican losses, Trump said, “I know him very well, but that’s really up to the senators. I like John Thune.”
The South Dakota Republican has said he plans to run for GOP leader despite calls from some in his party to delay the leadership election scheduled for tomorrow.
Trump rules out amnesty and says his deportation policy “hasn’t changed”
President Donald Trump said Monday that his deportation policy “hasn’t changed,” after he suggested in an interview he was open to letting some undocumented immigrants stay in the country.
“There won’t be amnesty. Somebody suggested, will there be amnesty? No, but they came in. They knew the law, and we’re working with a lot of different groups … but my policy hasn’t changed,” Trump told reporters during an impromptu press briefing at the White House.
“We keep that, but we focus on the worst of the worst. We want to get the murderers out,” he added.
In an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, the president said he was open to legalizing the status of millions of undocumented immigrants.
“Get the killers out, get the rapists out, get all the rough ones out, get the drug dealers out. But let the people that are here — and in some cases here for 10 and 15 years — work a deal for them,” Trump said.
Trump has a history of floating policy ideas and then quickly backing away from them.
A reporter today pointed out that Trump said in the interview that his deportation policy may have gone too far and then named Stephen Miller, the architect of that policy, as his chief of staff. Asked whether he told Miller he wants changes, Trump said: “We have a very strong deportation policy, there’s no amnesty, no anything.”
Dana White insists he has "zero political aspirations" after Trump's press secretary offer
UFC CEO Dana White insisted he has “zero political aspirations” and said his meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday was unrelated to the president’s offer of the open press secretary job.
After being introduced by Trump during an impromptu press briefing, White took questions at the podium, where he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that he doesn’t “tell the president no to anything.”
“No, I didn’t say no. I — literally everybody, every media outlet was calling me — and I didn’t want to be disrespectful and say anything until he said something first,” White said.
Trump, also at the podium, added, “We were having a very bad press day, and I said — I don’t know why I thought of his name. He’s been my friend for a long time — I said, you know, I think I’m going to get Dana White to be my new press secretary.”
The president reiterated that he was “sort of kidding.”
White’s appearance at the podium followed an earlier exchange with a reporter from TMZ, where he confirmed Trump called him after publicly offering him the job over the weekend.
“He called me after he did it. He called me,” White told the reporter, adding that he was already planning on coming to Washington to meet about a “one-of-one” trading card Trump was signing.
“Well, I’ve said many times, and I’ll say it again: I have no political aspirations. The exact opposite,” White told TMZ. “I have no political aspirations.”
At the podium, however, he seemed to enjoy a taste of what that job might look like.
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” White said. “Who has the first question?”
Trump says additional military action in Iran "won't be necessary" for now
President Donald Trump said after a meeting with Qatar’s prime minister that he doesn’t believe additional action in Iran is necessary, suggesting instead he’s prepared to allow the status quo in the region continue until Tehran agrees to a new deal.
“Should there be any change with respect to developments in the Middle East, the United States of America is fully ‘locked and loaded,” Trump said during a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Monday afternoon. “We don’t think there’ll be any reason to use it.”
“At this point, it won’t be necessary, taking the military action,” Trump said later.
The president has been signaling for weeks that the US may need to resume the Iran conflict to complete its objective of ensuring Tehran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.
Trump did not specify what, if anything, had changed during his remarks Monday. He met earlier in the day with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a key mediator between the US and Iran in ongoing discussions over how to end the war.
The president said Qatar, along with other Gulf Arab nations, “would prefer the status quo.”
“We’re seeing momentum toward the end of this conflict. I think it’s going to be ending fairly soon,” Trump said.
He said the conflict was “effectively over” and that he would be “keeping it the status quo” for now.
