Trump to pardon two turkeys in annual Thanksgiving tradition that starts holiday season: Live updates

Gabby Giffords, former Arizona Senator and wife of Senator Mark Kelly, defended her husband after the Pentagon said it would probe the Democrat following his video message telling military service members they “can and must refuse illegal orders.”

Giffords wrote on X: “Intimidation tactics are not going to keep @SenMarkKelly from his duty to protect our constitution.”

“My husband is a patriot. He’s served our country since he was 22 years old – no matter how dangerous the mission. That’s who he is. Proud of you, sweetie.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning for the military to sever all ties with Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts, according to a report.

In a draft memo to Congress, which has not been sent, Hegseth accused the group of having become designed to “attack boy-friendly spaces,” according to documents obtained by NPR.

The military has supported the Scouts for decades, according to the outlet.

“The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys,” Hegseth reportedly said, accusing the group of becoming “genderless.”

A Pentagon spokesperson said the department couldn’t comment on “leaked documents that we cannot authenticate and that may be pre-decisional.”

The Independent has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

Several prominent Democrats celebrated after a federal judge threw out the indictments against Trump’s perceived political foes James Comey and Letitia James.

The federal judge ruled that Lindsay Halligan, Trump’s handpicked prosecutor, was unlawfully appointed.

“Turns out that replacing a qualified federal prosecutor with… …an insurance lawyer with no prosecutorial experience… …to more easily target your political opponents… …is unlawful,” Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth remarked in a social media post.

“It’s always a relief when a branch of government does their job! This is a win for Comey & AG James, but ALSO the American people!” Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett wrote on X.

“Sadly, in Trump’s America, it is clear that we all must now pray for the safety of the Judge. In Trump’s America, following the law is an act of courage… while breaking the law, on his behalf, is demanded,” she added.

New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani posted: “Justice has prevailed today. This is a victory for our democracy, for the rule of law, and for one of New York’s fiercest fighters.”

The Trump administration is planning to re-interview and potentially revoke the status of hundreds of thousands of refugees admitted to the U.S. during the Biden administration, the latest move by the White House to drastically curtail resettlements inside the U.S., a government memo reveals.

The November memo, signed by Joseph Edlow, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, directs the agency to review and re-interview all of the roughly 233,000 refugees who were admitted to the country between January 20, 2021, and February 20, 2025, and blocks processing of green card applications from refugees admitted during that time period.

It criticizes the prior administration for allegedly having “prioritized expediency and quantity,” and characterizes the unprecedented move to reexamine every refugee admission during former president Joe Biden’s time in office as a necessary measure to assess national security vulnerabilities.

MAGA pundit Jack Posobiec has said he was surprised by President Donald Trump’s unexpectedly cordial meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani at the White House on Friday.

Before their first in-person encounter, the pair had traded vicious barbs at a distance throughout the democratic socialist’s victorious run for City Hall, with Trump calling him a “100% Communist Lunatic” and threatening to withdraw federal funding to his hometown if he won.

But, contrary to expectations, they seemed to get on famously in the Oval Office, with the president even reacting good-humoredly when a reporter asked Mamdani whether he still considered Trump a “fascist,” telling his guest to answer “yes” because it was easier than mounting an explanation.

After six Democratic lawmakers issued a video statement telling military service members they “can and must refuse illegal orders,” President Donald Trump slammed the members of Congress as exhibiting “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

The Pentagon has since vowed to probe Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly for alleged “serious allegations of misconduct.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned Trump’s remarks and the Department of Defense’s latest move.

“Trump is attempting to use the Pentagon as his personal attack dog. Just days after calling for violence against members of Congress. This is what dictators do. I stand with Sen. Kelly, as should any American who doesn’t want to be ruled by a King,” Schumer said on X.

Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and a dozen of his colleagues in the Senate are demanding the Trump administration to declassify and publicly release “documents justifying” the 21 “unauthorized military strikes” in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean since September.

The strikes have killed more than 80 people.

The Senators wrote a letter, dated November 24, to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, stating: “Few decisions are more consequential for a democracy than the use of lethal force.”

In an X post, Blumenthal said: “Up to this point, Trump’s public explanation for these attacks has been lacking in key respects & seriously flawed. The American people shouldn’t be kept in the dark about the supposed legal reasoning for this action.”

Read the full letter here:

The Department of Defense is performing a “thorough review” of “serious allegations of misconduct” against Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, a naval veteran and astronaut who joined members of Congress to urge service members to honor their oath to the Constitution.

Kelly and several other lawmakers with military backgrounds issued a video statement last week telling troops they “can and must refuse illegal orders,” emphasizing that threats to constitutional order can emerge “from right here at home.”

President Donald Trump labeled the Democratic officials “traitors” who “SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW” as he raged against them in a series of Truth Social statements in the days that followed. “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!,” he wrote.

Alex Woodward has the story.

Senator Mark Kelly spoke out about the Department of Defense’s “review,” defending his and other lawmakers’ video message as “non-controversial.”

“I said something that was pretty simple and non-controversial, and that was that members of the military should follow the law,” he told MS NOW host Rachel Maddow Monday night.

“And in response to that, Donald Trump said I should be executed. I should be hanged. I should be prosecuted. He even went on and said something about, ‘go get them,’ I guess sending a mob to round me and the other folks up. So this is — I think it says a lot more about him than it says about me. He doesn’t want accountability.”

The Democratic Senator continued: “But, Rachel, I’m not going to be silenced. I’m not going to be intimidated.”