Lawmakers Close On Covid Funding Deal That Halves White House Request

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, said he supports “all women serving in our military” when asked by CNN about his previous comments on women serving in combat roles. Said Hegseth: “We support all women serving in our military today who do a fantastic job across the globe in our Pentagon and deliver critical aspects, all aspects, combat included, and they have so for quite some time.

Politico: “Trump has appointed a raft of rich business people and investors — including several billionaires and multiple Wall Street executives with complex financial interests — to fill out top roles in his administration, raising a vast array of potential conflicts of interest that could span the federal government and complicate Senate confirmations.”

Wall Street Journal: “Despite his pledge to lower inflation, if Trump follows through on some of his tariff and immigration plans, economists worry he might do just the opposite…” “The problem presidents face with inflation is that there is only so much they really can do to cool it off.”

“Russia could launch its lethal new intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine again soon, the Pentagon said Wednesday, as both sides wrestle for a battlefield advantage that will give them leverage in any negotiations to end the nearly 3-year war,” the AP reports.

“President Biden will commute the sentences of around 1,500 people, in what constitutes the largest single-day act of clemency for any president in modern history,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “The commutations, announced in a statement Thursday, are for people who were released from prison and placed in home confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic.

New York Times: “The FBI cannot explain the sightings and has not been able to identify where the reported drones are coming from, or going.”