Senate votes to advance Pete Hegseth as Trump’s protection secretary regardless of some Republican opposition – reside | Trump administration

The US Home on Thursday handed an anti-abortion invoice that claims to guard infants “born alive” after tried abortions – a invoice, abortion rights advocates say, that misrepresents and stigmatizes excruciating medical conditions.

The invoice, the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Safety Act, requires medical suppliers to “protect the life and well being” of any youngsters born after tried abortions or face felony penalties. Republicans, who’ve pursued this type of federal laws for years, have framed the legislation as a commonsense protection in opposition to infanticide.

Nevertheless, abortion rights supporters concern the invoice would additionally apply in conditions the place, because of being pregnant or fetal problems, girls give beginning to infants with no likelihood of survival. In these eventualities, girls could want that their youngsters are supplied palliative care.

The overwhelming majority of US abortions happen earlier than fetal viability, which tends to happen at round 24 weeks of being pregnant. Infanticide can be already unlawful.

The passage of the invoice marks the primary anti-abortion legislative victory of the second Trump administration, however the invoice is unlikely to develop into legislation anytime quickly. Earlier this week, the US Senate blocked an analogous invoice from advancing.

The Related Press reviews that Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s nominee for protection secretary, advised Senator Elizabeth Warren in writing that he paid $50,000 to the girl who accused him of sexual assault in 2017.

The solutions, which have been seen by the AP, have been offered to Warren in response to further questions she had for Hegseth as a part of the vetting course of.

Hegseth’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, declined to remark to the information company on the greenback determine Thursday. Hegseth has insisted that the encounter was consensual and denied any wrongdoing. Throughout his affirmation listening to final week Hegseth stated that he was “falsely accused” and was utterly cleared.

At his conformation listening to final week, Warren grilled Hegseth over his “degrading statements about girls in fight roles” in a contentious trade.

In remarks to reporters on the White Home after signing a brand new batch of govt orders, Donald Trump claimed that Russia has misplaced a far increased variety of troopers preventing in Ukraine than consultants and researchers estimate.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine is “prepared to barter a deal; he’s able to cease” the warfare, Trump stated, as a result of he has “misplaced plenty of troopers”.

“Russia misplaced extra troopers,” Trump stated, “They misplaced 800,000.” Trump has cited that dying toll, with out giving any concept of his supply, a minimum of 3 times since taking workplace this week.

The impartial Russian information web site Mediazona, working with the BBC’s Russian information service and a staff of volunteers, reported in November that they’d had recognized the names of 80,973 Russian navy personnel killed within the Russia-Ukraine warfare since February 2022.

Earlier this week, Trump advised reporters that “virtually 1,000,000 Russian troopers have been killed; about 700,000 Ukrainian troopers have been killed”.

Because the New York Instances reviews, Russian researchers and journalists have estimated that Russia had suffered greater than 150,000 battlefield deaths, and the impartial Ukrainian warfare correspondent Yurii Butusov reported on YouTube final month that his sources inside Ukraine’s armed forces advised him that 105,000 troopers have been “irreversibly misplaced”, with 70,000 killed and 35,000 lacking. That’s a far increased dying toll the 43,000 troopers that President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed have been killed as of 8 December 2024, however far decrease than Trump’s estimate.

Right here’s a recap of the most recent developments:

• A federal choose in Seattle blocked Donald Trump’s govt order curbing the suitable to automated birthright citizenship within the US. US district choose John Coughenour issued a brief restraining order stopping the administration from implementing the order, calling it “blatantly unconstitutional”.

• The Senate voted to advance the nomination of Pete Hegseth to develop into the subsequent US secretary of protection, regardless of some Republican opposition. Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska introduced they might oppose Hegseth’s nomination, making them the primary two Republican lawmakers to publicly reject considered one of Trump’s cupboard picks.

• The Senate voted to substantiate John Ratcliffe as CIA director, giving Trump the second member of his new cupboard. The Senate voted to substantiate Ratcliffe, a former Texas consultant and director of nationwide intelligence throughout Trump’s first time period, by 74-25, with 20 Democrats and one impartial becoming a member of Republicans in backing the nomination.

• Trump made a combative return to the world stage in an tackle to the World Financial Discussion board in Davos, accusing oil producers of prolonging the Ukraine warfare by failing to chop costs and threatening tariffs on all US imports. He repeated his name for Nato international locations to dramatically improve defence spending and complained about what he known as an “unfair” buying and selling relationship with China.

• The state division has frozen all functions for passports with “X” intercourse markers and adjustments to gender identification on current passports, following a brand new govt order signed by Trump on his first day of workplace. “The coverage of america is that a person’s intercourse just isn’t changeable,” in keeping with an inner e mail from the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, that was shared with the Guardian.

• Trump has ended safety element for 3 of his former administration officers up to now since returning to the White Home: his former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former high aide Brian Hook and former nationwide safety adviser John Bolton.

• Trump held his first official name with a overseas chief since returning to the White Home, talking with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on Wednesday. In its readout of the decision, the Saudi state-run Saudi Press Company stated the crown prince advised Trump that he wished to take a position $600bn within the US over the subsequent 4 years.

Lauren Gambino

Donald Trump “overreached by a mile” together with his try and dismantle the longstanding constitutional assure of birthright citizenship, the California lawyer common, Rob Bonta, stated.

California together with a coalition of states and the town of San Francisco are suing the administration over an govt order issued simply hours after Trump was sworn into workplace on Monday that might deny automated citizenship to some youngsters born in america – a transfer they argue is in “flagrant violation” of the US structure.

“Simply because he’s the president doesn’t imply he can change the US structure,” Bonta, a Democrat, stated in an interview this week. “In actual fact, it’s completely clear – it’s civics 101 – that he can not.”

The lawsuit, led by California, New Jersey and Massachusetts and filed within the US district courtroom for Massachusetts, argues the order would trigger “irreparable hurt” to the states and their residents by denying citizenship rights to the US-born youngsters whose dad and mom should not lawful residents.

A second multi-state lawsuit difficult the order was filed within the western district of Washington, the place a federal choose on Thursday quickly blocked the order from taking impact. The American Civil Liberties Union and different teams representing pregnant girls whose youngsters can be affected by the order have additionally sued.

The Senate has voted 51 to 49 to advance Pete Hegseth’s nomination to develop into secretary of protection, regardless of grave objections from Democrats over his habits and {qualifications} to steer the US navy.

All however two Republicans, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, voted to advance his nomination, clearing his method for a vote on his affirmation later this week.

The previous fight veteran and Fox Information host faces allegations of sexual assault, extreme alcohol use and monetary mismanagement.

Though he has denied the allegation of sexual assault, Hegseth paid a settlement to a lady who accused him of rape in 2017. A brand new declare emerged this week in an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law who claimed he was abusive to his second spouse to the pont that she feared for her security. Hegseth has denied the allegation.

The Senate is presently voting on a key procedural movement to finish debate on Pete Hegseth’s nomination for secretary of protection.

Susan Collins, the Republican senator of Maine, has voted in opposition to Hegseth’s nomination, becoming a member of the Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski.

In an announcement, Collins stated she was “involved” that Hegseth “doesn’t have the expertise and perspective crucial to reach the job”.

She additionally expressed concern about “a number of statements” that Hegseth has made about girls serving within the navy, including:

He and I had a candid dialog in December about his previous statements and apparently evolving views. I’m not satisfied that his place on girls serving in fight roles has modified.

The Senate voted on Thursday to substantiate John Ratcliffe as CIA director, giving Donald Trump the second member of his new cupboard.

The Senate voted to substantiate Ratcliffe by 74-25, with 20 Democrats and one impartial becoming a member of Republicans in backing the nomination.

Ratcliffe, a former Texas consultant, beforehand served as director of nationwide intelligence throughout Trump’s first time period.