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Today’s top stories
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary, is fighting to save his nomination by defending himself against allegations of drinking and womanizing. In an interview with Megyn Kelly on her SiriusXM show, Hegseth said he has Trump’s support. He is the latest of Trump’s nominees to run into trouble.
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Defense, and his wife Jennifer Rauchet walk through the Russell Senate Office building on Capitol Hill on Dec. 3, 2024.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
- 🎧 Hegseth says the allegations toward him are part of a smear campaign from anonymous sources who don’t like what he would do with the Defense Department, NPR’s Tamara Keith tells Up First. He says he doesn’t have a drinking problem, but he would stop drinking if confirmed for the role. In addition to meeting privately with senators, he is doing something unusual for a nominee: He posted on social media, published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and did the interview with Kelly. Keith says no Republican senators have said they are a “no” vote for the nomination, but enough have expressed reservations to potentially sink it.
A manhunt is underway after Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was gunned down and killed in New York City. He was shot yesterday morning, on the day of his employer’s annual investors conference. Authorities say it was a targeted attack.
- 🎧 Police released surveillance footage and photos showing the alleged gunman, who was wearing dark clothes and a mask. He was armed with a pistol, which appeared to have a silencer, NPR’s Maria Aspan says. Thompson joined UnitedHealth Group two decades ago and took over the UnitedHealthcare unit three years ago. UnitedHealth isn’t a household name, but it touches pretty much every part of the U.S. health care experience and is the largest employer of doctors in the country. With its size and scale, UnitedHealth has drawn criticism from consumers, regulators and lawmakers over how it wields its power.
If Trump’s plan to deport millions of people from the U.S. succeeds, his administration won’t be the first. Millions of people have been deported during past administrations, providing an opportunity to answer the question: Does deporting a lot of foreign workers improve the job market for U.S. citizens and people who reside in the country legally?
- 🎧 An increase in deportations in a county doesn’t lead to more job opportunities or higher wages for U.S.-born workers, economist Chloe East at the University of Colorado in Denver tells NPR’s Jasmine Garsd. East says that for every half a million people deported, she estimates there were 44,000 fewer jobs for American workers. Immigrant labor is inextricably linked to the food supply. Over 90% of farm workers in California are foreign-born and mostly undocumented. According to East, the price of food would likely increase. She tells Garsd that if you are worried about the price of food now, you should be worried about mass deportations.
