Good evening, everyone. On the eve of Thanksgiving, we are tracking two major developments. The first is the tragic shooting of two members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C. As a D.C. resident, I can say with confidence that they should never have been deployed there in the first place. The second is the deepening turmoil in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson is overwhelmed, exhausted, and struggling to manage widening Republican fractures at a moment when the party could lose its majority before next year’s midterm elections.
In a revealing podcast interview, Speaker Mike Johnson depicted himself as overwhelmed and exhausted by the constant crises, heavy workload, and disorder of leading a fractured Republican majority—describing two years without a day off, chaotic daily “triage,” incessant calls from tens of thousands of people, strain on his family, and a sense that he is barely functioning in a role he jokingly (but tellingly) says he’s not really suited for.
Mike Johnson further described his speakership as an exhausting, nonstop, 24/7 grind in which he acts more like an overworked “mental health counselor” and “firefighter” than a political leader—constantly fielding crises, member drama, late-night calls, and heavy security demands, all while his family life, privacy, and normal routines have been overwhelmed.
Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries says that the reports of early retirements from Republicans are true, and that we may see many coming soon:
Two members of the National Guard were shot today near the White House.
DC police say security video shows a single gunman ambushed two National Guard members near the White House, with no clear motive emerging so far.
The two guardsmen were shot while on patrol, are being treated at a local hospital in critical condition, and the suspect—also shot—was detained by other Guard members.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he is deploying 500 additional Guard troops to DC at Trump’s request, even though a federal judge recently ruled the deployment likely illegal and ordered it halted pending appeal.
Trump reacted on Truth Social, calling the shooter an “animal” and saying they “will pay a very steep price,” noting that both soldiers and the suspect were severely or critically wounded.
The legality dispute stems from a ruling noting that over 1,000 Guard troops in DC are from other states, potentially violating laws prohibiting using troops for domestic policing.
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey retracted his earlier claim that the two guardsmen had died, saying his office is now receiving conflicting reports about their condition. West Virginia sent more than 300 Guard troops to DC in August to support Trump’s “public safety emergency,” including temporarily taking control of the DC police department.
According to the Guardian, Defense secretary Pete Hegseth is reportedly preparing a proposal to cut all US military support and access for Scouting America, claiming the now co-ed organization has become “genderless,” undermines “masculine values,” and fosters “gender confusion,” while the Scouts say they are “surprised and disappointed,” defend their longstanding partnership with the military, and warn that ending it would harm recruitment and a century of cooperation.
A leaked call showing Trump’s Ukraine envoy Steve Witkoff giving tactical advice to a top Kremlin aide and suggesting a peace plan requiring Ukraine to surrender major territory sparked bipartisan outrage—Republicans and Democrats calling him a “traitor” who “favors the Russians”—while Trump defended the call as normal dealmaking, even as the proposal would hand Russia control of Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, and more, ahead of Witkoff’s planned trip to Moscow for talks with Putin.
Trump announced that South African officials will not be invited to the 2026 G20 summit in Miami, repeating his baseless claims of a “white genocide” against Afrikaners and accusing South Africa of human rights abuses; this follows a tense Oval Office meeting with President Ramaphosa, U.S. absence from this year’s G20 in South Africa, and Trump’s prior executive order welcoming “Afrikaner refugees,” even as South African leaders deny any such genocide or land-seizure policies, and next year’s summit will be hosted at Trump’s own Doral resort.
A federal appeals court upheld nearly $1 million in sanctions against Trump and lawyer Alina Habba for filing a frivolous, bad-faith racketeering lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton and Democrats of conspiring to smear him in 2016, with judges agreeing the case was legally baseless, politically motivated, and filled with claims “no reasonable lawyer” would bring, while Trump’s team insists they will continue fighting.
Georgia’s last remaining criminal case against Donald Trump — the 2020 election racketeering prosecution — was formally dismissed after Fani Willis’s removal led to a new prosecutor, Pete Skandalakis, concluding the case could not proceed, ending all state-level criminal exposure for Trump over the Raffensperger “find 11,780 votes” call and marking the collapse of the final prosecution still standing after Trump’s return to the presidency prompted federal cases to be dropped.
The Guardian is now reporting that a California prosecutor’s office admitted it used generative AI in at least one criminal filing that contained inaccurate, hallucinated citations, prompting defense attorneys to argue the office used AI in multiple cases and that such errors threaten defendants’ due-process rights; the DA withdrew the flawed filing, denied using AI in the contested case, blamed other mistakes on human error, and has since implemented training and an AI policy as the state supreme court considers whether to review the issue.
The Trump administration announced it will terminate Temporary Protected Status for roughly 340,000 Haitians on 3 February, with DHS secretary Kristi Noem asserting—despite severe gang violence, political collapse, and mass displacement in Haiti—that allowing Haitians to remain is “contrary to US national interest,” reversing Biden-era protections and continuing a broader immigration crackdown even as humanitarian groups warn Haiti is in its worst crisis in decades.
NBC News has confirmed that Campbell’s fired its IT vice president Martin Bally after a lawsuit revealed a recorded 2024 meeting in which he allegedly made racist remarks about Indian workers, mocked Campbell’s products as “for poor people,” and insulted customers; the company confirmed the voice was Bally’s, called the comments “vulgar” and “offensive,” apologized, and said the behavior doesn’t reflect its values, while the whistleblower employee who recorded the meeting says he was retaliated against and fired after trying to report the misconduct and is now seeking damages.
