Republican wins Tennessee special election for House seat, NBC News projects

Trump congratulated Van Epps "on his BIG Congressional WIN in the Great State of Tennessee."

"The Radical Left Democrats threw everything at him, including Millions of Dollars. Another great night for the Republican Party!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Van Epps thanks Trump in speech after projected win

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NBC News projects that Van Epps defeated Democrat Aftyn Behn.

Trump campaigned for Van Epps at a tele-rally yesterday and repeatedly offered his support leading up to the election. Trump carried the district by 22 percentage points in 2024.

Van Epps has won the hotly contested special election for a deep-red congressional seat in Tennessee, NBC News projects, seeing off a Democratic challenge for the longtime GOP district.

Republican Van Epps projected winner in Tennessee House special election

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Though Trump carried the 7th Congressional District by 22 points in 2024, Republican super PACs poured millions into defending the seat as Van Epps faced off against Aftyn Behn, a Democratic state representative. Democrats spent almost as much trying to capture it, as Trump’s political standing has taken a hit this year and the Democratic Party made gains in November elections in New Jersey, Virginia and other states.

Still, this red district remained reliably Republican. Van Epps, an Army veteran and former state official, ran on reliably MAGA themes and promised to continue the legacy of Mark Green, a Republican who resigned from the seat this year.

Read the full story here.

Two smaller, rural counties in the 7th District, Perry and Decatur, have mostly completed their vote counting.

Van Epps leads Behn 79%-20% in Decatur County. Trump carried it by slightly more in 2024, 84%-15%.

In Perry County, Van Epps leads 77%-22%, compared with Trump's 85%-15% showing in 2024.

That translates to a 10-point shift toward Democrats in Decatur County and a 15-point shift in Perry County. Trump carried the district overall by 22 points in 2024.

As Democrats build up an advantage in the special election in early votes, Republicans are looking to make up the difference by running up the score in ballots cast on Election Day.

Only a handful of precincts have started reporting their Election Day votes so far, but early results show Van Epps winning big among those Election Day voters.

One key county to watch in tonight's special election in Tennessee: Montgomery County, which includes Clarksville.

Trump won Montgomery by 18 points last year. But in the state's 2018 Senate race, former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen lost the county by just 2 points to GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn.

So far the early vote shows Behn leading in Montgomery County by about 3 points, with 51% of the vote. That's a shift of about 21 points in the margin since 2024 in a district Trump carried by 22 points.

The key question is how much more Democratic-leaning the early vote is compared with the Election Day vote. If the Election Day vote is more Republican, as it usually is, then the margin shift will fall away from that 22-point line compared with the 2024 results, which is the threshold that Democrats are targeting to try to flip the district.

Polls have closed in Tennessee's special election, in which Van Epps and Behn are facing in for the 7th Congressional District, a deeply Republican slice of the state. Trump carried the district by 22 points in 2024, but both parties have poured money into the special election.

See live results here as votes are counted.

Steve Kornacki breaks down what to look for as polls close in Tennessee special election

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The signs have been ominous this fall for Trump and the Republican Party: a sliding presidential job approval rating, an increasing gap against Democrats in the generic congressional ballot and landslide gubernatorial election losses in Virginia and New Jersey.

Tonight’s special election in Tennessee’s 7th District could bring another. Republican Matt Van Epps remains favored to win the seat, but it may be far closer than his party is accustomed to, and an upset by Democrat Aftyn Behn isn’t entirely out of the question.

The district, which takes in some of Nashville, all of Clarksville and swaths of exurban and rural middle Tennessee, is typically a GOP bastion. Trump carried it by 22 percentage points in 2024 and by 15 points in 2020. But Democrats have been overperforming in special elections this year, a combination of their extra-motivated base turning out disproportionately and some swing voters who’d backed Trump last year turning against him and his party.

In the four previous special House elections in 2025, Democrats have posted net improvements of 16 to 22 points over last year’s presidential results.

The Trump administration indicated today that it will begin withholding SNAP benefits from recipients in most Democratic-led states starting next week after those states refused to provide the Agriculture Department with data including recipients’ names and immigration statuses.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said during a Cabinet meeting today that 29 Republican-led states have complied but that 21 states, including California, New York and Minnesota, have refused to provide the data, which was requested in February. Rollins has said her department requested the info to “root out … fraud.”

“So as of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states, until they comply and they tell us and allow us to partner with them to root out this fraud and to protect the American taxpayer,” Rollins said at the White House meeting.

Close to 42 million people in the U.S. receive benefits for food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Read the full story here.

Adm. Frank Bradley will brief leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees Thursday about the strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, according to lawmakers and three sources familiar with the planning.

The plan is for Bradley to brief both the House and Senate Armed Services committees' leadership first at 9:30 a.m., the three sources said, before he briefs the House and Senate Intelligence committees' leaders.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said that he would be in a briefing Thursday with Bradley and that they would “try to get a full committee classified brief next week.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth today was given a final copy of the completed Defense Department inspector general's report that examined his sharing sensitive military information on a Signal group chat back in March, according to two people familiar with the investigation.

The much-anticipated report is expected to become public as early as this week, these people said.

The report outlines the findings of a more than eight-month investigation into Hegseth’s use of Signal, an encrypted but unclassified messaging app, to share details of planned U.S. military strikes in Yemen before they had begun.

Hegseth has maintained that he shared no classified information on the group chat.

Read the full story here.

Congress has less than a month before health insurance premiums are set to spike for millions of people. And hopes of a deal to mitigate the pain are fizzling among lawmakers in both parties.

“I’m not hopeful that that’s going to happen,” said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. “We’ll keep trying to work at it, but I’m not feeling good about it right now. ... Things are not coming together like I would’ve hoped that they would.”

Peters was among a group of senators seeking a health care deal when eight Democrats voted with Republicans to reopen the government last month, ending the record-long shutdown that Democrats had forced to try to extend Affordable Care Act money.

The eight agreed to end the shutdown after Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., promised Democrats a vote on a health care bill of their choosing next week, a promise he reiterated today. But that would require 60 votes, and as Republicans struggle to coalesce around a proposal of their own, Thune said the two sides still aren’t close to an agreement.

Read the full story here.

Trump told reporters that he had a "great talk" about trade with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva today.

"We had a great talk. We talked about trade. We talked about sanctions, because, as you know, I sanctioned them having to do with certain, certain things that took place," Trump said, an apparent reference to the sanctions the U.S. put in place this year over the prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro, a Trump ally.

"But we had a very good talk," Trump continued. "I like him, very good."

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP - Getty Images

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s nameplate at today’s Cabinet meeting.

At the beginning of an event today with Dell's CEO, Trump looked at Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, and said: "I guess a potential Fed chair is here."

Trump continued: "Am I allowed to say that?"

"He's a respected person, thank you, Kevin," Trump said.

In recent weeks, Trump has hinted that he knew whom he would choose to be the next head of the Federal Reserve. Earlier today, Trump said the interview process was "down to one."

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, the prominent progressive Massachusetts lawmaker, told The Boston Globe today that she won't run for the Senate next year, skipping out on a primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey.

“Ultimately in this moment, I feel called to fight for the MA 7th in Congress,” Pressley said in an interview, referring to her congressional district. “I’m not closing the door to a Senate run down the line, and I’ve never done the work of organizing or movement building just for an election cycle, that’s the work that I do year-round and especially in these unprecedented times, so that work will continue.”

Markey, 79, already faces a primary challenge from Rep. Seth Moulton, who is calling for "change" and invoked Markey's age in his announcement video. Moulton is 47.

Paul Finebaum, the prominent college football commentator who cut his teeth as a journalist in Alabama, won't run for the Senate next year, he told AL.com.

Finebaum had been publicly considering a bid for weeks as a Republican to replace GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the former college football coach-turned lawmaker who is running for governor.

But in a statement to AL.com, Finebaum said that while he has been "deeply moved" by those asking him to run, it’s time for him to devote his full attention "to something everyone in Alabama can agree upon — our love of college football.”

ESPN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In remarks during a Cabinet meeting that went for two hours and 18 minutes, Trump warned that any country selling drugs into the U.S. is at risk of a military attack.

"If they come in through a certain country or any country, or if we think they're building mills, whether it's fentanyl or cocaine — I hear Colombia, the country of Colombia, is making cocaine, they have cocaine manufacturing plants, OK? And they sell us their cocaine, we appreciate that very much.

"But anybody that's doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack," Trump said, adding in response to a follow-up question, "No, not just Venezuela."

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, is making a "special announcement" Monday, the state's candidate filing deadline, as she has been openly weighing a run for the Senate.

The announcement will take place at 4:30 p.m. Monday in Dallas, according to an invitation obtained by NBC News. Crockett's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Crockett has suggested that she is leaning toward challenging GOP Sen. John Cornyn next year, telling MS NOW over the weekend that her campaign has conducted polling. "The data says that I can win," she said, adding that she can build a coalition of "Black and brown" voters.

"I am closer to yes than I am no," Crockett said.

Republicans in Texas have moved forward with a new congressional map that significantly redrew district boundaries in North Texas, where her district is based.

At the end of the Cabinet meeting, Trump ranted about Minnesota's political leadership and the state's large Somali population, calling Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar "garbage" and saying Somali immigrants "come and they complain and do nothing but b----."

“I don’t want them in our country," Trump said. "Somebody says, ‘Oh, that’s not politically correct.’ I don’t care. I don’t want them in our country. Their country is no good for a reason.”

Trump calls Rep. Ilhan Omar 'garbage' at Cabinet meeting

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During the Cabinet meeting, Trump and Hegseth remarked on a double strike on an alleged drug boat from Venezuela in September that killed the initial survivors, with the defense secretary saying he did not see the survivors and criticizing the media's coverage.

When pressed on whether he saw any survivors after the first strike, Hegseth said, “I did not personally see survivors.”

“The thing was on fire,” with billowing smoke, he said, adding moments later, “This is called the fog of war.”

Hegseth says he did not see survivors of boat strike due to 'fog of war'

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Trump's final Cabinet meeting of the year has now gone on for a little more than two hours after beginning around 11:50 a.m.

Trump's longest Cabinet meeting, in August, ran for more than three hours.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during today's Cabinet meeting. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP - Getty Images

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted the Food and Drug Administration's recent announcement that hormone therapies for menopause would no longer carry a black box warning about serious risks.

"Two weeks ago, we ended, under your leadership, a 20-year war on women by removing the black box warnings from hormone replacement therapy," he said during the Cabinet meeting.

Kennedy continued, "The medical cartel was telling women replacement therapy during menopause was dangerous for them," saying that science shows it reduces risks for major health issues.

"Tens of millions of women in this country have been deprived of that therapy because of scientific malpractice in the medical cartel. We are now remedying that, and this remedy will now be available to all women during one of the most difficult transitions in their lives," he said.

Many doctors have said that the black box warnings are unnecessary and that the benefits of hormone therapy outweigh potential risks.

Trump’s Cabinet meetings are often long, with every person around the table given the chance to speak. The longest one was more than three hours, and even shorter ones run for more than an hour.

Trump, at times, has appeared to be briefly closing his eyes, slouching and leaning on his hand, as the meeting has gone on. It’s now been going for more than 90 minutes.

Attorney General Pam Bondi touted the number of times the administration has faced lawsuits during remarks at today's Cabinet meeting.

"We've have been sued 575 times — 575 times, more than every administration going back to Reagan combined," she said.

The publication Just Security is tracking 575 legal cases involving the Trump administration. NBC News has not independently confirmed the number.

The administration has been sued on a variety of issues, including deportation efforts, mass federal worker layoffs and tariffs.

Speaking at the Cabinet meeting, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that he expects Americans to see "substantial tax refunds" in the upcoming year as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill, the president's sweeping domestic policy legislation that passed earlier this year.

"You also insisted on the four benefits for working people, no tax and tips, no tax and overtime, no tax on Social Security, auto deductibility for American cars, and that is retroactive," Bessent said.

"So as a result, in 2026 we are going to see very substantial tax refunds in the first quarter," he continued. "The best way to address the affordability crisis is to give Americans more money in their pockets, which is what this bill has done. We’re going to see real wage increases. I think next year is going to be a fantastic year."

The treasury secretary misstated what the bill does for seniors with regard to Social Security, which will still be taxed, but the law allows seniors a separate tax deduction.

The One Big Beautiful Bill, which Trump signed into law in July, also included controversial cuts to federal funding for Medicare, Medicaid and clean energy programs.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced during the Cabinet meeting that his department would soon officially announce a Dulles Airport bidding opportunity.

"The people movers of Dulles, we had a crash recently, so we're going to announce that later today, a request for bids on this," Duffy said, referring to travelers getting hurt after a mobile lounge crashed at the D.C.-area airport.

Moments earlier, Trump said, "We're also going to rebuild Dulles Airport."

"We have a design," he added later, without providing further information.

Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which oversees D.C.-area airports like Dulles, said in a statement that "the Airports Authority appreciates the administration’s interest in making improvements" to Dulles.

"We look forward to seeing the results of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s request for information and working collaboratively with the administration," spokesperson Crystal Nosal said.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought touted the administration's expansion of its deregulatory agenda during the Cabinet meeting.

"Last time I was here, I said that the amount of [deregulatory] that we had for regulatory was 30 to 1. Since then, it’s up to 48 to 1. Your goal had been 10 to 1, which was in excess of 6 to 1 in the first term," Vought said to Trump.

As OMB director, Vought oversees not only the federal budget but also federal regulations.

Trump criticized the media for scrutinizing his mental and physical health despite what he characterized as his "acing" cognitive and physical exams. The president appeared to be referring to recent reporting from The New York Times that the president was showing signs of fatigue.

"I sit here, I do four news conferences a day. I ask questions from very intelligent lunatics, you people, I give the right answers," Trump said. "There's never a scandal, there's never a problem. I give you answers that solve your little problems. If I go one day where I didn't do a news conference, 'there's something wrong with the president.'"

NBC News reported that the White House released a summary of the president’s MRI results from a physical exam in October. White House physician Sean P. Barbabella called the results "normal" and said the president had the MRI because “men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health”

"I'll let you know when there's something wrong," Trump said. "There will be some day that's going to happen to all of us. But right now, I think I'm sharper than I was 25 years ago."

During the Cabinet meeting, Trump again floated the idea of getting rid of federal income tax to offset revenue generated from his tariff policy.

"I believe that at some point in the not too distant future, you won't even have income tax to pay," Trump said, adding that the money the U.S. takes in would be "so enormous that you're not going to have income tax to pay."

"Whether you get rid of it or just keep it around for fun, or have it really low, much lower than it is now, but you won't be paying income tax," he said.

Congress would have to approve such a change to tax law.

The Supreme Court appeared skeptical of the administration's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose sweeping tariffs around the globe when the justices heard arguments on challenges to the levies last month.

During today's Cabinet meeting, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth defended military commanders while discussing strikes on alleged drug boats in international waters.

"As President Trump always has our back, we always have the back of our commanders who are making decisions in difficult situations, and we do in this case and all these strikes," Hegseth said.

"They're making judgment calls and ensuring that they defend the American people," he continued. "They've done the right things. We'll keep doing that, and we have their backs, Mr. President."

His comments come amid controversy over a follow-up strike that killed survivors of an initial attack on an alleged drug boat in September. Reports of the follow-up strike led to both the House and Senate launching inquiries.

Trump's Cabinet meeting has kicked off. The meetings are often lengthy, with one Cabinet meeting in August running longer than three hours.

Today's meeting comes amid scrutiny over a follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat from Venezuela in September, which prompted congressional inquiries. It also comes on the heels of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem proposing a "full travel ban" from countries that she says have been "flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies."

Around 30 countries will be included in the Trump administration's proposed travel ban, according to a source familiar with the plan that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem floated yesterday.

The list could expand, and it is not yet clear which countries are on the list. A spokesperson for DHS said, “We will be announcing the list soon.”

Noem said in a post on X last night that she was "recommending a full travel ban on every d--- country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies."

Trump instituted a travel ban during his first term, banning people from seven countries from entering the U.S.

Public tours of the White House are resuming today after being suspended over the summer during the demolition of the East Wing and construction of a new ballroom.

The White House tour website previously advertised tours as including “the public rooms in the East Wing and the Residence,” according to archived versions of the page from earlier this year, but the site now only lists “the public rooms on the State Floor.” It also no longer includes “a view of the White House Kennedy Garden.”

Trump had the White House Rose Garden outside transformed into a marble and stone-topped patio.

The State Floor tour includes the Blue Room, Red Room, Green Room, State Dining Room, Cross Hall and Entrance Hall.

The president today celebrated the hand-counting of ballots in Dallas, but falsely claimed the whole county is making the switch.

Dallas Republicans alone are preparing to hand-count ballots in their March primary. The county's general election and Democratic primaries, in which the majority of Dallas voters typically cast ballots, will continue using election machines.

Trump also claimed the method was “more accurate, totally secure with watermark paper, FASTER, and only 9% of the cost.”

Numerous studies and trials have found the method to be less accurate, more time-consuming and more expensive.

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced last year to 45 years in prison for his role in helping drug traffickers move hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States, was released from prison following a pardon from Trump, his wife announced today.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons inmate website showed that Hernández was released yesterday from U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton, in West Virginia, and a spokesperson for the bureau today confirmed his release.

Read the full story here.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said yesterday she is recommending a “full travel ban” from countries that are “flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.”

“Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom — not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS. WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE,” Noem wrote on X.

Read the full story here.

A coalition of more than 30 pro-democracy and progressive groups are mobilizing against the GOP's mid-decade redistricting push in Florida this week with plans to bus more 300 people to the state Capitol in Tallahassee on Thursday, organizers tell NBC News.

State lawmakers are scheduled to conduct their first committee hearing on drawing new maps on Thursday, the latest move in the national redistricting arms race ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Florida is represented by 20 Republicans and eight Democrats in Congress. The current map was passed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP-controlled Legislature, but Republicans are hoping to further expand their advantage with the party's narrow House majority on the line.

The Trump administration is responding to growing questions from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle over the launch of a follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. Officials are now defending that decision while claiming the order to carry out the attack was not given by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth but by Adm. Frank Bradley who is overseeing the growing U.S. military buildup in the region. NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reports for "TODAY."

Fallout grows over 'double tap' strikes on boats in Caribbean

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Tech billionaires Michael and Susan Dell announced they are pledging more than $6 billion for so-called Trump accounts for children ages 10 and under who were born before the program eligibility date of Jan. 1, 2025.

The funds are expected to inject $250 into 25 million additional accounts, according to a press release from the Dell Foundation. The pledge was first reported by USA Today. 

“This gift is expected to reach nearly 80% of children age 10 and under across 75% of U.S. zip codes,” according to Invest America, a nonprofit advocacy group that is promoting the accounts.

Michael Dell is expected to join Trump at the White House today to announce the donation, a spokesman for Dell's company said.

In the Dell Foundation press release, the couple said they believed the move "will expand opportunity, strengthen communities, and help more children take ownership of their future."

"And we believe everyone has a role to play," they continued.

Read the full story here.

Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes announced today that he will run for governor, joining a crowded Democratic primary race for the open seat in the critical battleground state.

In a campaign launch video, Barnes, 39, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2022, pitched his candidacy as a way to push back against the “chaos” of Trump’s administration and promised to make affordability one of the main planks of his bid.

Read the full story here.

General elections for former Rep. Mark Green’s congressional seat in Middle Tennessee have been sleepy, safely Republican affairs. But today’s special election for the district west of Nashville has turned into a more contested campaign, even though Trump carried it by 22 points in 2024.

National party figures and big money are pouring into parts of Nashville and the counties to the south and west that make up the 7th Congressional District, which was represented by Green until the Republican resigned earlier this year. Trump joined GOP nominee Matt Van Epps for a tele-rally, while former Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin have canvassed with the Democrat, state Rep. Aftyn Behn.

Read the full story here.

Trump’s special envoy is meeting Russian President Putin today for highly anticipated talks that Washington hopes will convince the Kremlin to end the war in Ukraine.

Fresh off negotiations with Ukrainian officials in Florida this weekend, Steve Witkoff is expected to lay out for Putin a version of the peace plan that has been agreed with Kyiv, hoping the Russian leader will compromise on his hard-line demands.

Trump envoy to meet Putin for Ukraine-Russia peace talks

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