Grand jury declines to indict N.Y. attorney general; Supreme Court lets Texas use new congressional district map
This version of Trump Rwanda Congo Congress Hegseth Venezuela Aca Live Updates Rcna246591 - Politics and Government | NBC News Clone was adapted by NBC News Clone to help readers digest key facts more efficiently.
The FBI has arrested a suspect in the investigation into pipe bombs planted near the Republican and Democratic national party headquarters in Washington, D.C., in 2021.
Highlights from Dec. 4, 2025
- NO INDICTMENT: A grand jury today declined to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News. James is a frequent political target of President Donald Trump and previously brought a fraud lawsuit against him. The move comes less than two weeks after her first case was dismissed.
- SUPREME COURT DECISION: The Supreme Court today allowed Texas to use a redrawn congressional district map in next year's midterm elections. The new map could add up to five more Republican House seats.
- PIPE BOMB SUSPECT ARRESTED: The FBI has arrested a suspect in the investigation into pipe bombs planted near the Republican and Democratic national party headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, a federal law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said.
- PEACE DEAL SIGNING: Trump delivered remarks at the signing of a peace and minerals agreement with the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The signing took place at the newly renamed U.S. Institute of Peace, which the State Department said yesterday it has renamed for Trump, amid the president’s lobbying for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end various conflicts around the world.
White House brings in new architect for Trump’s sprawling $300 million ballroom
The White House has brought in a new architect to work on Trump’s “vision” for his massive $300 million ballroom project, officials said today.
Shalom Baranes, head of Shalom Baranes Associates, has “joined the team of experts to carry out President Trump’s vision on building what will be the greatest addition to the White House since the Oval Office — the White House Ballroom,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement.
Trump touts achievements, offers respects to National Guard members who were shot
Trump struck an optimistic tone tonight at the National Christmas Tree Lighting, highlighting his administration's immigration crackdown and economic policies.
"On this holiday season, our border is secure. Our spirit is restored. Most secure border we've ever had in the history of our country," Trump said.
"Our economy is thriving. Inflation has stopped. Our nation is strong, and America is back, bigger and better, stronger, better than ever before," he added.
Trump also offered his respect to the two National Guard members who were shot last week while they were patrolling in Washington, saying "I want to pay my highest respect to those two great guardsmen, you know who I'm talking about, they paid, in one case, the ultimate and the other, Andrew, is getting better. Sarah, unfortunately, is watching from high, watching from heaven."
Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were shot in the head in what officials have described as a "targeted" attack near the White House last week.
Beckstrom died from her wounds, while Wolfe remains hospitalized.
Vance says antisemitism isn’t ‘exploding’ on the right
Vice President JD Vance, reflecting today on his first year in office, said he disagrees with fellow Republicans who have warned of a rise in antisemitism in their party.
“Judging anybody based on their skin color or immutable characteristics, I think, is fundamentally anti-American and anti-Christian,” Vance said in an interview with NBC News. “I do think it’s important to call this stuff out when I see it. I also, when I talk to young conservatives, I don’t see some simmering antisemitism that’s exploding.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has positioned himself as a potential Vance rival in the 2028 presidential race, raising his profile in part by condemning what he sees as an escalation of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiment. Cruz has singled out young conservatives who pressed Vance with questions about Israel at a recent political event, and he criticized Tucker Carlson, a Vance ally who hosted a Holocaust denier on his podcast.
“Do I think that the Republican Party is substantially more antisemitic than it was 10 or 15 years ago? Absolutely not,” Vance said. “In any bunch of apples, you have bad people. But my attitude on this is we should be firm in saying antisemitism and racism is wrong. ... I think it’s kind of slanderous to say that the Republican Party, the conservative movement, is extremely antisemitic.”
Vance offered the comments — his first on the subject since Cruz began raising it — in an interview in his West Wing office, wading into an issue that has roiled his party in recent weeks amid a broader focus on antisemitism by the Trump administration.
U.S. Southern Command says it conducted a new ‘lethal kinetic strike’ on alleged drug boat
U.S. Southern Command said today that the Defense Department carried out another “lethal kinetic strike” at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s direction on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean that killed four men.
“On Dec. 4, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization,” U.S. Southern Command wrote on X.
The Pentagon has repeatedly said targeted vessels are traveling along known drug routes and carrying narcotics when the United States conducts its strikes. U.S. Southern Command offered a similar explanation today, saying intelligence “confirmed that the vessel was carrying illicit narcotics and transiting along a known narco-trafficking route.”
Biden commerce secretary to join Costco board as company sues over Trump’s tariffs
Costco Wholesale said today that it has nominated Gina Raimondo, who was commerce secretary in the Biden administration, to its board of directors.
Raimondo led the Commerce Department, which plays a major role in overseeing U.S. trade policy, for the entirety of Joe Biden’s term as president. From 2015 to 2021, she was the Democratic governor of Rhode Island.
Costco filed a lawsuit last week seeking a refund of tariffs it has paid this year under Trump’s country-specific tariff program. It also asked a trade court to prohibit the Trump administration from collecting any more of the customs duties.
Supreme Court allows Texas to use new congressional district map drawn to favor Republicans
The Supreme Court today allowed Texas to use a new congressional district map in next year’s midterm elections that was drawn to maximize Republican political power.
Granting an emergency application filed by Gov. Greg Abbott, the conservative majority paused a lower court ruling that said the map was unlawful because Republican lawmakers, at the direction of the Trump administration, explicitly considered race when they drew new districts.
The unsigned order said Texas is “likely to succeed on the merits of its claim,” including that the lower court “failed to honor the presumption of legislative good faith” in assessing the Legislature’s motives.
The ruling appeared to be 6-3, with the three liberal justices dissenting.
New H-1B visa vetting takes aim at foreign workers with ties to regulating online content
The State Department is adding a new level of screening for highly skilled foreign workers looking to come to the U.S., telling consular officers in a new internal memo to be on the lookout for H-1B visa applicants complicit in the censorship of Americans.
The Trump administration has repeatedly raised concerns about what it sees as restrictions of freedom of speech, taking specific aim at Europe and the Digital Service Act, which regulates illegal content, hate speech and disinformation posted online.
“All aliens are subject to this policy, but you should consider its application H-1B nonimmigrants in particular,” reads the cable, dated Tuesday, “as many work in or have worked in the tech sector, including in social media or financial services companies involved in the suppression of protected expression.”
Reuters first reported the memo. The State Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The directive, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and sent to all U.S. embassies and overseas posts, instructs the screening officers to “thoroughly explore” employment histories “to ensure no participation such activities” by reviewing résumés, LinkedIn profiles or other professionally oriented sites.
The memo highlights key activities that could fall under the policy, including “combatting ‘misinformation,’” “disinformation” and “malinformation”; combating “infodemics” and “false narratives”; “pre-buttal”; “fact-checking”; content moderation; compliance; “online safety”; and “trust and safety.”’
“If you uncover evidence an applicant was responsible for, or complicit in, censorship or attempted censorship of protected expression in the United States, you should pursue a finding that the applicant is ineligible,” the cable says.
Grand jury declines to indict N.Y. Attorney General Letitia James, less than two weeks after the first case was dismissed
The Justice Department today failed to secure an indictment against New York Attorney General Letitia James, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News.
The case was presented to the grand jury less than two weeks after the original criminal case against her was dismissed.
James, a frequent political target of Trump who had successfully brought a fraud lawsuit against him, had previously been indicted by a grand jury on one charge of bank fraud and another making false statements to a financial institution.
James has denied any wrongdoing.
D.C. Circuit pauses order blocking deployment of National Guard on streets of Washington
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has paused an order blocking the Trump administration from deploying members of the National Guard on the streets of the nation’s capital while the appeals process proceeds.
U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb's order never went into effect, because she had paused her ruling until Dec. 11 to allow the administration to appeal.
The Supreme Court has yet to weigh in on the Illinois National Guard emergency docket case, which may have an impact on this case.
House Democrats say they 'saw or heard nothing' to justify second September strike on alleged drug boat survivors
Following the meeting with Adm. Bradley on Capitol Hill, the top Democrats on the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees said in a statement that “we saw or heard nothing today to convince us that the decision to strike the vessel a second time was justified.”
"The video we saw today showed two shipwrecked individuals who had no means to move, much less pose an immediate threat, and yet they were killed by the United States military. Regardless of what one believes about the legal underpinnings of these operations, and we have been clear we believe they are highly questionable, this was wrong," Reps. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Jim Himes, D-Conn., said in the statement.
Some House Republican women are in open revolt against Speaker Mike Johnson
Speaker Mike Johnson is staring down a revolt from House Republican women.
Several female lawmakers have been increasingly defying Johnson, R-La., on legislative matters and lobbing public broadsides at him — including a member of Johnson’s own leadership team.
This week alone, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., launched a discharge petition to go around Johnson and force a floor vote on a congressional stock trading ban, posting on X that she’s “pissed” that leadership isn’t moving fast enough on the issue while clarifying, “I like Mike.” Johnson prefers to go through regular order, and there has been an initial hearing on the issue.
Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the chair of House Republican Leadership, not only signed on to Luna’s petition but also publicly unloaded on Johnson over an unrelated issue in the national defense bill, suggesting in a series of social media posts that Johnson lied about the matter. The spat has seemingly since been resolved, but the bad blood between the two has long been simmering.
Meanwhile, a number of high-profile Republican women are fleeing the House for other opportunities, weighing retirement or quitting Congress early, fueling some concern that GOP women’s ranks could be depleted in the next Congress.
Speaker Johnson applauds investigators who found pipe bomb suspect
In a statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., applauded the work of investigators who worked to identify the suspect arrested today in connection with pipe bombs planted in Washington, D.C., in 2021.
He said: "All of Congress commends the hard work of investigators and law enforcement officials at the FBI and USCP who helped bring a suspect into custody after a search of nearly five years. We are confident that today’s arrest will mark the start of a process that will yield transparency, accountability, and justice."
Government Accountability Office opens investigation into FHFA chief Bill Pulte
The Government Accountability Office, an independent and nonpartisan investigative watchdog for Congress, says it has opened an investigation into Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte.
In November, top Senate Democrats wrote to the agency asking that it “promptly investigate recent actions undertaken at the Federal Housing Finance Agency” by Pulte, specifically actions related to “recent referrals of New York Attorney General Letitia James, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, and Congressman Eric Swalwell to the U.S. Department of Justice for mortgage fraud.”
All the officials Pulte has referred to the Justice Department have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Trump, leaders of Rwanda and DRC sign peace agreement
Trump and the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed the peace agreement after they delivered remarks.
Trump thanks Rubio for adding his name to U.S. Institute of Peace
In remarks at the peace agreement signing, Trump thanked Secretary of State Marco Rubio for putting his name on the U.S. Institute of Peace, where the event is taking place.
"President Trump will be remembered by history as the President of Peace," Rubio had said on X about Trump's name being added. "It’s time our State Department display that."
Trump's name was added to the sign on the building before the signing ceremony.
Trump to visit Pennsylvania to address the economy and inflation
Trump will travel to Pennsylvania on Tuesday to tout his economic agenda as polls consistently show Americans are concerned about their financial outlooks.
In an October NBC News survey, nearly two-thirds of respondents said they believed Trump was failing to fulfill his promises to bring down costs and supercharge the economy.
White House officials insist that Trump’s policies have bolstered the economy and that he is trying to undo damage from his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden.
U.S. Institute of Peace renamed for Trump after his administration dismantled the agency
Trump’s name has been added to the sign on the U.S. Institute of Peace headquarters in downtown D.C., above the existing building title.
The State Department’s X account shared a photo of the new facade yesterday in a post that called Trump “the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history,” an apparent reference to his work to end multiple conflicts around the world.
“President Trump will be remembered by history as the President of Peace. It’s time our State Department display that,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said about the name change on X.
The agency has been embroiled in a legal battle over whether the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency, then led by Elon Musk, had the power to dismantle it this year. Most of the independent nonpartisan institution’s staff members were let go in March.
Mexico's president says she's meeting with Trump and Canadian prime minister in D.C. tomorrow
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said at a news conference today that she plans to meet with Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney tomorrow in Washington.
"The three of us being together is a symbol and also a symbol of friendship, because what we want is peace and friendship between our peoples and nations," Sheinbaum said, adding that they they'll have the opportunity to discuss the status of trade agreements.
The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Jim Himes says what he saw in military briefing on boat strike was 'troubling'
Bradley and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine briefed House Intelligence leaders this morning. They are now in the Senate's Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility to brief the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services committees.
Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intel Committee, said, “What I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I’ve seen in my time in public service.”
“You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion, with a destroyed vessel, who are killed by the United States,” Himes said.
He later said, “The admiral confirmed that there had not been a kill them all order, and that there was not an order to grant no quarter.”
Speaker Johnson tells Americans to 'relax' on affordability
Following the swearing-in ceremony of Rep. Matt Van Epps, R-Tenn., this morning, Speaker Mike Johnson encouraged Americans to "relax" about the cost of living, one day after Trump appeared to dismiss concerns about affordability as a "hoax."
“We are exactly on the trajectory of where we’ve always planned to be. Steady at the wheel, everybody, it’s going to be fine. Everything — our best days are ahead of us,” Johnson told reporters.
Rep. Matt Van Epps, left, with House Speaker Mike Johnson before a ceremonial swearing-in today. Win McNamee / Getty Images
The speaker added that Americans would start to feel relief in January, when provisions from the One Big, Beautiful Bill kick in, saying “people will feel the effects of that, positive effects.”
Yesterday in the Oval Office, Trump blasted Democrats who are campaigning on affordability and lowering prices, saying, “It’s a Democrat hoax."
“When they use the word ‘affordability,’ they just say — they never say anything else. Just election’s about affordability, and then they go into the next subject. It’s a con job,” he said.
Sen. Bill Cassidy calls CDC vaccine panel 'totally discredited'
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee this morning blasted Aaron Siri, an attorney who is scheduled to appear before a CDC vaccine advisory panel this week.
"Aaron Siri is a trial attorney who makes his living suing vaccine manufacturers. He is presenting as if an expert on childhood vaccines. The ACIP is totally discredited. They are not protecting children," Cassidy wrote in a post on X.
ACIP, or the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, is meeting today and tomorrow. According to an agenda for this week's meeting, Siri is presenting to the panel tomorrow about the childhood and adolescent immunization schedule.
In a statement to NBC News, a Health and Human Services official pushed back on Cassidy's assertion that Siri isn't an expert on childhood vaccines.
"All individuals who present to ACIP are experts in their subject area. Aaron Siri is an expert on the vaccine schedule due to his extensive legal work in this field," the official said. "ACIP continues to review all evidence presented and will issue recommendations based on evidence and sound judgment to best protect America’s children."
This isn't the first time Cassidy has criticized ACIP, a committee whose membership was gutted and replaced by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this year.
After Kennedy replaced experts on the committee with his handpicked members, including known vaccine skeptics, Cassidy slammed the new committee for its lack of expertise with vaccines and called for them not to meet.
The Louisiana senator expressed major reservations about Kennedy's leadership before he was confirmed to lead HHS by the Senate earlier this year. In remarks accompanying a statement about his decision to vote in Kennedy's favor, Cassidy said that the incoming secretary had committed to "maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes."
Green Berets rush to defend their Afghan counterparts after D.C. shooting
In the days and months after the U.S. military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, Thomas Kasza and some of his fellow U.S. Army Special Forces members focused their attention on the Afghans who had fought alongside them.
These Afghans who risked their lives for the U.S. were prime targets of the Taliban. Remaining in their homeland was akin to a death sentence.
“Given how they served exclusively alongside U.S. Green Berets, they were by default among those highest on Taliban target lists,” said Kasza, who was one of many military veterans who assisted their former Afghan counterparts in leaving the country and resettling in the U.S.
After the shooting of two National Guard members near the White House last week, Kasza and other U.S. war veterans find themselves having to come to the defense of their former Afghan partners yet again.
An Afghan who worked with a CIA-trained military unit has been charged in the attack, which killed Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounded Andrew Wolfe, 24.
The Trump administration immediately moved to crack down on Afghans in the U.S., pausing asylum decisions and halting the issuing of visas.
First lady Melania Trump says seven children have been reunited with families in Ukraine
First lady Melania Trump said in a statement this morning that seven more children have been reunited with their families in Ukraine.
The first lady praised the leadership and diplomacy in Russia and Ukraine to reunify the children — six boys and one girl — with their families.
"Their bridge-building has created a tangible collaborative environment — an anchor for optimism. This cooperation will continue to drive the process forward through the next phase," Trump said.
The first lady announced in early October that she had been working with Russian President Vladimir Putin on reuniting Ukrainian children who were believed to be taken to Russia during the conflict.
Russia has taken thousands of Ukrainian children since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimated earlier this year that more than 200,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia or territories it controls since the war began. Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, has estimated that around 700,000 children have been displaced since Russia’s 2014 invasion of Crimea.
Lawmakers call for video of second strike on alleged drug boat
Fallout is growing over the U.S. attack on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in September with the Pentagon now facing calls to release video of the second strike that killed survivors of the first hit. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also facing new scrutiny for the information he shared on a Signal group chat in March about a pending military operation in Yemen. NBC’s Peter Alexander reports for "TODAY" from the White House.
Florida dives into the redistricting arms race despite political and legal hurdles
Florida is entering the national redistricting arms race, with a legislative committee hearing today set to kick off yet another contentious map-drawing fight.
Republicans are hoping Florida, where they have full control of state government and already represent 20 of 28 congressional districts, will be fertile ground for further shoring up the party’s narrow House majority ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
But it won’t be easy, legally or politically.
New York Times sues Pentagon over reporting rules, citing First Amendment rights
The New York Times filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon over new rules restricting how reporters cover the U.S. military, claiming they violate the First Amendment.
The lawsuit, filed today in the U.S. District Court in Washington, alleges that the 21-page agreement that Pentagon reporters were told to sign in October was unlawful and unconstitutional. Many reporters, including six at The New York Times, handed in their Pentagon access badges in protest over the policy.
Suspect arrested in January 2021 D.C. pipe bomb case
The FBI has arrested a suspect in the investigation into pipe bombs planted near the Republican and Democratic national party headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021, according to a federal law enforcement official familiar with the investigation.
The arrest marks a breakthrough in a case that has stymied investigators for nearly five years.
Trump pardons sports executive charged by his Justice Department
Trump has pardoned the former chief executive of the entertainment venue company Oak View Group months after he was indicted on a federal conspiracy charge.
Tim Leiweke, 68, who remains a shareholder of the company after he stepped down as CEO in July, expressed his “profound gratitude” to Trump for the pardon.
“This has been a long and difficult journey for my wife, my daughter, and me,” Leiweke said in a statement yesterday. “The President has given us a new lease on life with which we will be grateful and good stewards.”
Leiweke was charged during the Trump administration.
A federal grand jury in Texas returned an indictment in July that accused Leiweke of conspiring with a competitor to rig the bidding process to develop the $375 million Moody Center, a 15,000-seat arena at the University of Texas at Austin, which hosts major music events, as well as basketball and other sporting events. The would-be competitor agreed to stand down in the bidding process in exchange for subcontracts.
Admiral saw alleged drug boat strike survivors as legitimate targets, defense official says
Adm. Frank M. Bradley saw the two survivors of a September strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat as legitimate military targets based on the rules for the operation, which may have identified them as narco-terrorists, a defense official told NBC News.
The military then launched a second strike on the same boat, generating controversy over whether the second strike was legal or could potentially constitute a war crime.
Admiral Frank Bradley arrives for a closed-door meeting with lawmakers today at the Capitol. Andrew Harnik / Getty Images
Rep.-elect Matt Van Epps to be sworn in after winning Tennessee special election
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will swear in Rep.-elect Matt Van Epps at 9 a.m.
Van Epps won a Tennessee special election earlier this week. The seat was vacated when former Republican Rep. Mark Green resigned earlier this year.
Once Van Epps is sworn in, Republicans will have 220 members and Democrats remain at 213 members. Republicans will again lose a member in January, when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has said she will resign.
Senate Democrats to unveil health care plan
Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will unveil their health care plan at a press conference this afternoon on Capitol Hill.
In a statement shared with NBC News, Schumer said Democrats’ plan will “protect ACA tax credits,” referring to the Affordable Care Act, and “lower costs for millions of Americans.”
The Democratic plan does not currently have buy-in from Republicans. NBC reported this week that hopes of a bipartisan deal to address rising insurance premiums under Obamacare are fizzling among lawmakers in both parties.
The Democratic effort to address expiring ACA tax credits was a central issue in their fight with Republicans over a short-term extension of government funding, leading to the longest-ever government shutdown, which ended earlier this month.
Trump to meet with leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for peace deal signing
Trump will hold a trilateral meeting this morning with the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and sign a "historic peace and economic agreement that he brokered," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this week.
The meeting comes months after the two countries signed a U.S.-facilitated peace agreement in June to push for an end to decades of fighting. The agreement will help the U.S. to gain access to critical minerals in the area.
Reuters reported that both sides have accused each other recently of violating a ceasefire.
