Pete Hegseth, Polarizing Pick to Lead the Pentagon, Faces Senate Confirmation Hearing
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Israel and Hamas negotiators reached a ceasefire agreement that is expected to begin on Sunday, January 19. However, Israel’s cabinet and Prime Minister Netanyahu must still officially approve the deal, which was mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S. If approved, the agreement will consist of an initial 42-day phase in which fighting will stop, hostages will be exchanged, and aid will be allowed to flow freely into Gaza. The next phases, which will be aimed at a full withdrawal of troops, rebuilding Gaza, and a long-term peace truce, will be negotiated during the first phase.
OpenAI whistleblower found dead: A former OpenAI whistleblower was found dead in his apartment on November 26, 2024. Authorities have ruled the death a suicide, while his mother says he was intentionally murdered. Suchir Balaji, 26, worked at OpenAI for four years as a data researcher before he left in August 2024. He became critical of the company when it switched from being a non-profit to a for-profit company. His mother told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson this week that "on November 18, The New York Times named my son as custodian witness. Custodian witness is very very important. He had the documents against OpenAI,” she continued. "That was on 18th...22nd... He just came back from vacation from LA and Catalina island the same night. They have attacked him and killed him.”
More: The family is calling for an FBI investigation into the death of their son. OpenAI is the company that runs ChatGPT. Elon Musk responded to the report on X saying, “Extremely concerning.”
Inauguration: President-elect Trump will be inaugurated on Jan. 20 as the second U.S. president, after Grover Cleveland, to serve non-consecutive terms. Some notable people expected to be in attendance include Jake Paul, Dana White, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk. Carrie Underwood will perform “America the Beautiful.” President Biden’s Press Secretary gave her final briefing on Wednesday as the Administration prepares to officially leave their roles starting at noon on Jan. 20.
More: President-elect Trump released his presidential portrait this week with a serious face having one eye wide-open and another half-closed. It’s the first non-smiling presidential photo since Lyndon B Johnson in 1963. (here is a list of each president’s photos)
Two people were formally arrested for arson in LA amid the wildfires. Los Angeles Police Chief, Jim McDonnell, told reporters on Wednesday that a citizen detained a suspect who had purposefully started a fire in a tree. After being arrested, the suspect said he started the fire because he “liked the smell of burning leaves.” In another instance hours later, police responded to reports of a suspect setting trash on fire. That suspect told police later that she started multiple fires that day because she enjoyed the “chaos and destruction.” (video)
More: Looting and arson has taken LA by storm in recent days as people have taken advantage of the chaos. (More in main story)
The FDA announced a ban of Red No. 3, a dye used in a variety of packaged foods, such as popsicles and candies, and drugs, that give the products a cherry-red tint. The regulatory agency said a petition from the Center for Science in the Public Interest presented data that showed the additive induced cancer in male rats. The FDA said a similar cancer-inducing effect was not found in tests on other animals or humans. Food and drug companies have until 2027 and 2028 to phase out the use of Red No. 3.
TikTok is set to be banned in the U.S. starting January 19 unless the Supreme Court delays the law from going into effect, or the company’s U.S. operations are sold. In recent years, President Trump has spoken much more positively about TikTok, especially because of his surge in support from younger voters.
More: The CEO of TikTok plans to attend Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Chart of the week: The percentage of early-term births (blue line) has increased significantly over the past decade, while the percentage of full-term births (green line) has decreased.
Pete Hegseth, Polarizing Pick to Lead the Pentagon, Faces Senate Confirmation Hearings
“All glory, regardless of the outcome, belongs to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ…may His will be done.” - Pete Hegseth’s opening statement during his confirmation hearing
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s appointment to lead the Department of Defense, submitted to hours of Senate confirmation hearings on Tuesday. The hearings were briefly interrupted three times due to protestors that began shouting and were escorted out by Capitol police (video). Overall, Republican leaders seemed pleased with Hegseth’s handling of questions, which became heated at times.
The News Memo watched the multiple-hour hearing. Here are a few key exchanges:
Hegseth expressed strong support for Israel, including “destroying and killing every last member of Hamas.” (video)
Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed Hegseth on his back-and-forth statements about women serving in combat (video).
Senator Gary Peters questioned Hegseth for not having managed an organization with more than a hundred people (video). The chair of the committee, Senator Wicker, poked back at Peters, saying, “Mr. Hegseth, it seems to me that you’ve supervised far more people than the average United States Senator.” The remark drew laughs from the crowd (video).
Hegseth talks about his Christian faith (video).
Why it matters
The leader of the Pentagon oversees more than 3M people, including active duty military personnel and civilian employees, and a budget of $850B. The Pentagon has failed its annual audit for 7 straight years, which is a key priority to fix for the incoming administration. In addition, the U.S. is dealing with multiple global conflicts, including Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Hamas, and China/Taiwan.
Who is Pete Hegseth?
Hegseth, 44, is from Forest Lake, Minnesota. A graduate of Princeton, he served in the Army National Guard for many years, including a deployment in Iraq. He has been criticized in the media for events in his personal life, including multiple prior affairs and two divorces. He has also been accused of sexual misconduct and financial mismanagement of two non-profits that he led. Hegseth denies the allegations, as do many of his former and current colleagues.
To learn more, we recommend listening to Pete Hegseth’s Interview on The Megyn Kelly Show in which he addresses the accusations and discusses how he would reform the U.S. military. (Spotify, YouTube)
Hegseth has said that he went through a religious conversion in 2018, following his marriage to his third wife, Jennifer Rauchet. Today, the couple lives in Tennessee with their seven children.
Trump’s other cabinet picks
In addition to Pete Hegseth, other Trump picks are also being heard before the Senate this week including:
Pam Bondi for Attorney General appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Marco Rubio for Secretary of State appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
John Ratcliffe for CIA Director appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
LA Wildfires Expected to be Most Expensive in History
New updates
To date, 25 people have died from the wildfires in Los Angeles. Just one week ago, 10 people were reported dead. 31 more are still missing. In addition to the loss of human life, AccuWeather released its latest report estimating north of $250B in damages and economic loss, making it the costliest set wildfires in U.S. history.
Two fires continue to blaze today:
The Palisades Fire, starting on Jan. 7, has destroyed 5,000 physical structures and has covered more than 23,000 acres, roughly the size of Manhattan, New York. It currently has about 27% containment.
The Eaton Fire, which also started on Jan. 7, has destroyed more than 7,000 structures covering roughly 14,000 acres. Today, it has about 55% containment. The Eaton Fire is considered the second most destructive fire in California history and the most destructive fire ever in LA.
People in Los Angeles County who evacuated their homes might have to wait multiple weeks before they can return and survey the damage done. LA County remains under an air pollution alert "due to harmful particle pollution levels from windblown dust and ash," while rescue crews continue to remove debris, looking for human remains.
Looting continues
Meanwhile, more than 50 arrests have been made relating to criminals looting and robbing homes where residents have evacuated. The majority of the people were not from the area according to police. Some dressed as firefighters to go unnoticed. The National Guard has also been protecting boutique luxury shops in the fire zone. Some homes have spray painted signs in the yard reading, “looters will be shot.”
How did the fires start?
Investigators have identified 150 leads on the cause of the fires reviewing 911 calls made by citizens and scouring tips and social media videos. There is still no official explanation of how the fires began. Some of the potential reasons could be homeless people, who have been known to start fires in LA, electrical wiring coming into contact with vegetation, arson, and lightning strikes.
Criticisms of California’s fire management
1. Forest management: California has stricter regulations on forest ground cleanup and controlled burns from the Environmental Quality Act. The act aims to protect wildlife, the natural environment and water quality. This means that several more aggressive forest management processes are not a possibility and makes wildfires less manageable.
2. Water shortage: Instead of letting rain water flow from Canada throughout the whole of California, the state routes much of the water to the ocean because of environmental protections aimed to save certain species of “smelt” fish. Fire hydrants and water reserves in key areas ran dry for firefighters use. (Here’s a clip of Trump speaking about the water issue on Joe Rogan for 7 minutes just two months ago) (clip of firemen using water buckets to put out small section of fire)
3. Fire department budget cut: The mayor of LA, Karen Bass, cut the LA Fire Department budget by $17M last year in fierce opposition from the fire chief. It was the second largest cut in her 24-25 fiscal budget, which included $1.3B in funding for homelessness.
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