President Donald Trump speaks at the McDonald's Impact Summit, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Both the House and Senate acted decisively Tuesday to pass a bill forcing the Justice Department to release its files on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leadership.

When a small, bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a petition in July to maneuver around Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of which bills reach the floor, it appeared a long-shot effort — especially as Trump urged his supporters to dismiss the matter as a “hoax.”

But both Trump and Johnson failed in their efforts to prevent the vote. Now the president has bowed to the growing momentum behind the bill and even said he will sign it. Just hours after the House passed the bill, the Senate agreed to pass it with unanimous consent once it is sent to the body.

The bill’s passage is a pivotal moment in Epstein survivors ’ yearslong push for accountability over his abuse and a reckoning over how law enforcement officials failed to act under multiple presidential administrations.

The Latest:

Democratic state election officials demand answers on Justice Department’s requests for voter data

The 10 secretaries of state asked the administration for more information about wide-ranging efforts to seek statewide voter registration lists, citing concerns that federal agencies have apparently misled them and might be entering the data into a program used to verify citizenship.

In a letter to the attorney general and Homeland Security secretary, they expressed “immense concern” over reports that the DOJ has shared the voter data with DHS.

“Given the unprecedented nature and scope of the DOJ’s requests, we require additional information about how this information will be used, shared, and secured,” they said.

Asked for comment, the DOJ shared a previous statement from the head of its Civil Rights Division. “Clean voter rolls and basic election safeguards are requisites for free, fair, and transparent elections,” it said, adding that the division has a mandate to enforce federal voting rights laws.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Court settlement calls for NPR to get $36M in government funds to operate US public radio system

The settlement announced late Monday, partially resolves a legal dispute in which National Public Radio accused the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of bowing to pressure from Trump to cut off its funding.

The president said in March that he would “love to” defund NPR and the Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, because he believes they are biased in favor of Democrats.

NPR said the CPB violated its First Amendment free speech rights when it moved to cut off its access to grant money appropriated by Congress. NPR also claimed that Trump, a Republican, wants to punish it for the content of its journalism.

? Read more about the dispute and settlement

Saudi crown prince thanks Trump for a ‘great welcome’

In brief remarks, Prince Mohammed said the relationship between the two countries dates back nine decades.

He noted that next year the United States will celebrate its 250th anniversary, while Saudi Arabia will mark 300 the year after that.

“We’ve been since the last nine decades working together in many areas,” he said.

Fall was the theme of the menu at dinner for Saudi crown prince

The evening’s menu included a honeynut squash soup with cranberry relish, spiced hazelnuts and brown butter crème, followed by pistachio-crusted rack of lamb with sweet potato puree, broccoli rabe and pomegranate lemon jus. Dessert was a couverture mousse pear with vanilla ice cream.

Trump says he wants Prince Mohammed to serve on the Board of Peace for Gaza

“I hope your highness will be on the board,” the president said. “You’ll accept, I hope.”

Trump has planned to serve as chair of the board, which under his peace plan for Gaza will be a transitional authority for the territory.

Trump designates Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally

The president made the announcement at the dinner, a move that aims to elevate the military relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

The designation is largely symbolic but provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation.

Countries with the designation include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Columbia, Japan and New Zealand, among others.

Trump gives Cristiano Ronaldo a shoutout

The president opened his remarks by thanking some of the guests including the superstar Ronaldo, who plays in the Saudi soccer league.

“Wherever Ronaldo is here,” Trump said.

The president said he introduced his youngest son, Barron, to the soccer player, impressing the young Trump.

Ronaldo has been the face of the Saudi league since joining the Al-Nassr club in 2022 on a reported $200-million-a-year contract.

Elon Musk returns to the White House

Five months after the tech billionaire and world’s richest man had a public and personal falling-out with Trump, it appears Musk has mended fences.

The Tesla founder was among the guests inside the East Room at the White House dinner for the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

The president gave Musk a small tap on the arm as he walked into the dinner.

Trump to make remarks Wednesday at investment summit with Saudi Arabia

The president is to appear at midday at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum with the crown prince, according to a schedule released by the White House.

The investment summit, put on by the two nations, will include the heads of Salesforce, Qualcomm, Pfizer, the Cleveland Clinic, Chevron and Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil and natural gas company.

The day’s developments on federal deployments

In addition to news of an upcoming immigration sweep in parts of Louisiana and Mississippi, there were several other developments Tuesday regarding the administration’s deployments of federal agents to local jurisdictions:

? In North Carolina, federal agents expanded their immigration crackdown to the area around the state capital, Raleigh, with fear spreading in at least one immigrant-heavy suburb where restaurants closed and many people stayed home.

? In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee’s office said the National Guard would continue supporting a crime-fighting task force ordered by Trump in Memphis while state lawyers appeal a judge’s order that blocked the troops from operating in the city.

? In New York, a judge dismissed a legal challenge to policies barring immigration officials from arresting people at state courthouses, saying the federal government can’t force states to cooperate with those enforcement efforts. And New York City’s fiscal chief, who was arrested while protesting at an immigration holding facility, decided to go to trial, saying it will highlight federal authorities’ actions.

? In Wisconsin, a federal prosecutor said plea negotiations are underway with a judge accused of helping an immigrant evade agents.

? And at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV strongly backed U.S. bishops who condemned the administration’s immigration crackdown, urging the American people to listen to them and treat migrants humanely.

Crown prince returns to White House for dinner

The president and first lady Melania Trump greeted Prince Mohammed on a red carpet and under a white tent as rain fell at the White House.

Trump tapped the crown prince on his arm a few times in greeting before his wife shook their guest’s hand.

A military band was playing as they walked inside to the East Room dinner.

US and Saudi Arabia sign framework agreements

The agreements signed Tuesday signify closer cooperation between the nations on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, capital markets collaboration and critical minerals markets.

They also include an agreement to share tax information “enhancing both nations’ abilities to prevent and punish cross-border tax abuse and fraud,” according to the U.S. Treasury.

“The Saudis have shown they are valuable allies in the region,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Bret Baier’s show on Fox News in the evening.

China buys more US soybeans

The additional haul of 792,000 metric tons this weekpushes Beijing’s total purchase to about 1 million metric tons following a leaders’ summit in late October. The purchase figures were released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Trump said Tuesday that China was “pretty much on schedule” in buying U.S. farm products but also told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to call Beijing and “speed it up.”

The purchases since late October have broken China’s boycott of U.S. soybeans, which were hurting farmers. But they’re still a far cry from the 12 million metric tons of beans that Agricultural Secretary Brooke Rollins says Chinahas agreed to buy this harvest season.

Beijing has never confirmed a purchase deal with detailed quantities.

Trump administration takes major step toward dismantling the Education Department

The department is handing off some of its biggest grant programs to other federal agencies. The changes announced Tuesday represent a major step forward for the dismantling of the department, which has mainly involved cutting jobs since Trump called for its elimination with an executive action in March.

Six new agreements signed by the Education Department will effectively move billions of dollars in grant programs to other agencies. Most notable is one that will put the Department of Labor over some of the largest federal funding streams for K-12 schools, including Title I money for schools serving low-income communities.

Opponents of such a shake-up say it could disrupt programs that support some of the nation’s most vulnerable student populations.

? Read more about the new changes and what the dismantling of the department means

Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers steps down from public commitments after Epstein emails

Summers, also a former president of Harvard University, said he would step back from public commitments after the release of emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein long after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in 2008.

Summers said in a statement that he seeks to “rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.”

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein,” Summers said.

Summers did not detail exactly what stepping back would entail, saying he would continue to teach.

However the Center for American Progress, a progressive Washington-based think tank, confirmed Tuesday that he was “ending his fellowship at CAP.” A spokesperson for the Budget Lab at Yale also said Summers is no longer a member of its advisory group.

? Read more about Summers

Who is Clay Higgins, the only House member to vote against releasing the Epstein files?

Higgins, who is in his fifth term representing a congressional district in southwest Louisiana, explained in a lengthy statement that he was “a principled ‘NO’ on this bill from the beginning.”

A fervent Trump supporter and a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, he said his concern with the bill was that it “reveals and injures thousands of innocent people — witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc. If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt.”

Higgins suggested that he would be open to voting for it if the Senate amended it to protect the privacy of those “who are named but not criminally implicated.”

But the bill’s main sponsors have warned that is only a measure to protect people in Epstein’s orbit from embarrassment, and Senate leaders have shown no interest in taking up the proposed changes.

DHS plans to deploy 250 border agents to Louisiana in major immigration sweep, AP sources say

The federal agents are set to descend on New Orleans for a two-month crackdown dubbed “Swamp Sweep,” with the aim of arresting roughly 5,000 people across southeast Louisiana and into Mississippi. That’s according to documents obtained by AP and three people familiar with the operation who could not publicly discuss details and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The deployment, expected to begin in earnest Dec. 1, marks the latest escalation in a series of rapid-fire crackdowns unfolding nationwide as the administration moves aggressively to fulfill the president’s campaign promise of mass deportations.

The Louisiana operation is unfolding on the home turf of Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, a close Trump ally who has moved to align state policy with the White House’s enforcement agenda. But as seen in other blue cities in Republican-led states, increased federal enforcement presence could set up a collision with officials in liberal New Orleans who have long resisted federal sweeps.

— Jack Brook and Sara Cline

Congress acts swiftly to force release of Epstein files, sending bill to Trump

Both the House and Senate acted decisively Tuesday to pass a bill to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the convicted sex offender , a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from Trump and Republican leadership.

When a small, bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a petition in July to maneuver around Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of which bills reach the floor, it appeared a long-shot effort — especially as the president urged supporters to dismiss the matter as a

But both Trump and Johnson failed in their efforts to prevent the vote. Now the president has bowed to the growing momentum behind the bill and even said he will sign it. Just hours after the House passed the bill, the Senate agreed to pass it with unanimous consent once it is sent to the body.

US approves Ukraine arms sale to maintain Patriot missile air defense systems

The Trump administration has approved a $105 million arms sale to Ukraine to help is maintain existing Patriot missile air defense systems.

The State Department announced on Tuesday that it had signed off on and notified Congress of the deal, which will be for spare parts, upgrades of Ukraine’s current launchers as well as support, training and other accessories.

In a statement, the department said the sale would “support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a partner country that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe.”

The administration has run hot and cold on supplying weaponry to Ukraine with President Donald Trump thus far unsuccessfully trying to arrange peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and alternating between insisting that Kyiv must cede territory occupied by Moscow and also suggesting that Ukraine might be able to retake all areas Russia has seized since its invasion in 2022.

Rapper Nicki Minaj speaks about Nigeria at the UN

The Trinidadian-born star thanked U.S. President Donald Trump for his leadership and calling for urgent action “to defend Christians in Nigeria, to combat extremism and to bring a stop to violence against those who simply want to exercise their natural right to freedom of religion or belief.”

Minaj spoke at a panel organized by the U.S. mission to the United Nations on the killing of Christians in Nigeria along with Ambassador Mike Waltz and faith leaders.

Trump has threatened military intervention in the West African country, where he says Christianity faces an “existential threat.” Violence has long plagued Nigeria. Data shows that while Christians are targeted over faith in some attacks, most victims of overall violence are Muslims.

Saying she was “very nervous” to speak, Minaj vowed to keep standing up “in the face of injustice” for anyone, anywhere, who is being persecuted for their beliefs.

Newsom says Trump, Abbott ‘played with fire, got burned’ on Texas redistricting

In an X post on Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the ruling “a win for Texas, and for every American who fights for free and fair elections.”

Earlier this month, the Democrat celebrated in his home state as California voters approved new congressional boundaries that give Democrats a shot at winning five additional seats.

The measure had initially been contingent on Texas’ GOP-backed maps winning approval, but California lawmakers later removed that provision.

Texas governor promises swift appeal of redistricting ruling

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is promising that Texas will be quick to appeal a ruling from three federal judges that prevents the states from using a new congressional map favoring the GOP.

Abbott called the 2-1 decision that the new map represented improper racial gerrymandering “absurd” and “clearly erroneous.”

Texas was the first state to heed President Donald Trump’s call Republicans to redraw maps in to help the GOP pick up additional seats in the 2026 midterm elections and preserve its slim U.S. House majority. The new Texas map was designed to give Republicans five more winnable seats and touched off a state-by-state fight over partisan redistricting.

“The Legislature redrew our congressional maps to better reflect Texans’ conservative voting preferences -– and for no other reason,” Abbott said in a statement.The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that federal courts cannot review partisan gerrymandering claims.

House passes bill to force release of Epstein files

The House voted overwhelmingly in favor of a bill Tuesday to force the Justice Department to publicly release its files on the convicted sex offender , a remarkable display of approval for an effort that had struggled for months to overcome opposition from President Donald Trump and Republican leadership.

When a small bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a petition in July to maneuver around House Speaker Mike Johnson’s control of which bills reach the House floor, it appeared a longshot effort — especially as Trump urged his supporters to dismiss the matter as a

But both Trump and Johnson failed in their efforts to prevent the vote. Now the president has bowed to the growing momentum behind the bill and even said he will sign it if it also passes the Senate.

The Epstein files bill passed 427-1

The only no vote came from Rep. Clay Higgins, a Louisiana Republican who is a fervent supporter of Trump. He also chairs a subcommittee that initiated a subpoena on the Justice Department for the Epstein files.

DNC chair says Texas ruling show how state’s Democrats ‘rose up and fought back’

Calling the ruling “a win for Texas voters,” Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin cheered the judges’ decision, saying the maps debate “arose because Donald Trump and his Texas Republican allies are afraid of facing voters” in next year’s midterm elections.

Trump says he hasn’t spoken yet with Venezuela’s Maduro

Asked if they’d spoken, Trump said, “No. He wants to talk. Yeah, I’m open to talking. I talk to everybody.”

Trump first said on Sunday that that U.S. “may be having some discussions” with President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela.

The comments were a potential diplomatic avenue as the U.S. continues to build up is military presence off the South American country’s coast.

News from © The Associated Press, 2025