House Republicans on Tuesday blocked impeachment charges against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. By a margin of just seven votes, Republicans managed to bury the charges in committee through a 211-204 party-line procedural vote. Eleven Democrats skipped the vote, including Democratic Congressmember Nancy Pelosi of California. While House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is vying for the speakership in January, expressed support for Hegseth’s impeachment, many wondered how it was such a surprise that he was unable to corral Democratic votes to impeach Hegseth. President Trump hailed the outcome as an “exoneration.” Hours before the vote, Hegseth blasted the impeachment articles and said he’d carry out the same operations again.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: “Let’s be clear about what this resolution actually does. It tells our enemies, Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching, that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership for successfully executing lawful military operations.”

Vermont’s independent Senator Bernie Sanders said Tuesday he will not back Senator Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader. Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan also said she won’t support Schumer until he presents a plan to govern differently. Senators-elect Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota, Troy Jackson of Maine, Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, Juliana Stratton of Illinois and Adam Hamilton of Kansas have all said they won’t support Schumer, as has Senate candidate Scott Colom of Mississippi. This comes as Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland indicated Monday he’s open to running for Senate majority leader when the new Congress convenes in January. This is Senator Sanders.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: “If this campaign was about anything, it was about change and the need for the Democratic Party, in my view, to move in a new and bold direction. I personally have known Chuck Schumer for over 30 years, and I like Chuck. Nobody who works harder than Chuck Schumer. But in my view, the time is now for change, and I will not be supporting Chuck to be reelected as the Democratic leader.”

House Republicans elected Congressmember Jim Jordan, a staunch Trump ally, as their leader after last week’s sweeping midterm losses. Jordan will replace Speaker Mike Johnson come January when a new Democratic majority takes office with at least 256 seats in the House. In the Senate, Republicans reelected Senator John Thune of South Dakota as leader. Democrats currently have a 54-seat majority in the Senate, with the races in Alaska and Mississippi leaning toward Democrats. The Democratic Senate candidate in Mississippi, Scott Colom, leads his Republican opponent by 3,000 votes.

President Trump’s former lawyer Alina Habba Mildon has been fired by Concord Partners, a secretive company with no public profile, set up by a prominent and wealthy Venezuelan family, which had previously signed Habba Mildon to a $50 million deal. Habba Mildon had received the contract shortly before Trump pardoned the head of the family, Julio Herrera Velutini, who was facing felony bribery charges in Puerto Rico. According to The New York Times, Trump recently erupted in anger after learning about Habba Mildon’s $50 million contract. In a letter from last week, Concord Partners said that Habba Mildon was fired due to a “failure to perform duties.” She will still keep $6.5 million that was paid to her, as well as an $8 million signing bonus.

The U.S. government received over $12 billion in revenue from exports of Venezuela’s natural resources in the first nine months of this year, following the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. That’s according to a report by the global financial firm KPMG, which is among the first to provide detailed insight into the Trump administration’s financial holdings in Venezuela. The report was reviewed by The New York Times. After the U.S. removed Maduro from power in January, the Treasury Department reportedly established a “Venezuela Custody Account,” initially based in Qatar and then moved to Citibank in New York.

The New York Times reports that foreign governments are accepting U.S. deportees and then sending them to their home countries, where they risk torture, sexual abuse or persecution. The Times identified more than 110 immigrants who were deported from the U.S. to third-party countries and then passed on to their home countries despite U.S. court orders. Alma David, a consultant with the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, said, “It’s immigration colonialism — making these governments do the dirty work.”

An investigation by The Washington Post reveals ICE hired at least 19 officers who had past allegations of misconduct, violence and criminal charges during a mass hiring spree after Trump took office in 2025. The findings come after a Homeland Security Department data breach in October leaked the names of an estimated 1,500 new ICE hires. The Washington Post ran a background check on about 300 of them, with over a dozen officers coming back with red flags, including a former Detroit police officer involved in a fatal shooting that resulted in a $2.5 million wrongful-death settlement.

A group of immigrants jailed at the troubled Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, have been on a hunger strike for over eight days denouncing due process violations, medical neglect and inhumane conditions. They’re also demanding all ICE jails be shut down. This is at least the 22nd hunger strike inside the Northwest ICE jail this year alone. Despite mounting reports of abuse, Northwest will continue to operate for another 10 years, after the for-profit prison company GEO Group signed a $1.5 billion contract with the federal government in October.

In news from Gaza, Israeli forces have killed ⁠at least eight Palestinians, including a father and his 13-year-old son, in attacks on Gaza City and Khan Younis. Israel has conducted near-daily attacks on Gaza despite a so-called ceasefire brokered by the U.S., killing more than 1,600 Palestinians since the deal went into effect last October. This comes as damage and destruction caused by Israel’s relentless bombings on Gaza’s infrastructure since 2023 have contributed to worsening flash floods as the enclave faces another winter with torrential rains. Gaza’s stormwater and sewage networks are so deteriorated that thousands of tents are being flooded. This is UNICEF spokesperson James Elder.

James Elder: “So, toxic sewage could flow into the streets and tents of Gaza City, forcing children and families from their makeshift home once more and grossly increasing the threat of disease. So we’re a bit baffled. Let’s do the rehabilitation before this becomes another entirely preventable killer of girls and boys in Gaza.”

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers have killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy and wounded two other teens during a raid on the village of Burqa Tuesday. The boy was identified as Moataz Iyad Daghlas. This comes as more than 50 illegal Israeli settlers attacked a village south of Nablus, setting vehicles on fire. The U.N. has warned that attacks by Israeli settlers have escalated to an “unprecedented level,” with at least 1,143 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, including 250 children.

Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday held their first peace talks in nine months in Abu Dhabi. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not in attendance at the summit, where Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff renewed pressure to end the war.
In related news, a senior U.S. Army soldier was arrested in Britain for allegedly attempting to steal secret NATO information and deliver it to Russia. The 41-year-old has not been identified. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any links between Russia and the suspect.

In more news from Russia, the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta closed its Moscow office on Monday, saying it was not able to continue operating due to a campaign of state persecution. The investigative outlet was co-founded by the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, with money from his 1990 Nobel Peace Prize. Russian President Vladimir Putin had designated the paper as a “foreign agent.” Last month, Novaya Gazeta’s landlord refused to renew the news outlet’s lease. Also, Russian banks said that they would stop processing donations from readers. In October, Russian authorities raided the home of editor-in-chief Sergei Sokolov and took him in for questioning. Another editor, Oleg Roldugin, was arrested in April.
Dmitry Muratov, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning editor of Novaya Gazeta, said, “Those in our country who advocate for peace have been denied the right to read what they choose, as we see happening today. We are currently at a point where the section of the Russian constitution that guarantees political and civil rights has ceased to function.”

A court in Egypt has postponed proceedings in the criminal trial of Mada Masr’s editor-in-chief, Lina Attalah, until November 18. Attalah faces charges of publishing false news and managing a website without a license. Click here to see our recent interview with Lina Attalah.

A federal appeals court panel ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration illegally fired the head of Voice of America (VOA), Michael Abramowitz, last year. Earlier this year, a federal judge also revoked the firing of more than 1,000 journalists at VOA and voided Trump’s installment of his ally to serve as the interim chief of the United States Agency for Global Media, which is the parent agency of VOA. In a statement, Abramowitz said, “There is no longer any reason for the government to prevent me from doing the job for which I was legally installed on a bipartisan basis more than two years ago.”

As world leaders and delegates from over 190 nations kicked off the U.N. climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took the opportunity to celebrate the discovery of two new oil fields in the Gabar Mountains and the possibility of future fossil fuel projects. Phasing out fossil fuels has been a central proposal at the annual climate talks pushed by Indigenous and environmental activists who are again demanding urgent climate solutions.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg arrived at COP31 on Tuesday. It is the first time she is attending the climate summit since 2021.

Greta Thunberg: “In all the catastrophes we are facing, it is scientific fact that if we continue like now, things like food, clean water, functioning infrastructure will become luxury.”

In Indonesia, thousands of students and activists rallied across the country on Tuesday over the government’s inadequate response to forest and land fires. They demanded that the government declare a national disaster and punish those responsible for the blazes. The protesters also called for more jobs and economic relief.

Faturrohman Jaguna: “We call on the local government and the Yogyakarta Regional House of Representatives to improve the welfare of small and medium-sized enterprises, pedicab drivers and all the people of Yogyakarta who today are facing hardships from a weakening economy. Therefore, we urge the government to restore the people’s economy in Yogyakarta and across Indonesia.”