President Donald Trump has pushed Indiana lawmakers to approve the maps, which would benefit Republicans.
Austin McCubbin, a senior adviser to Rep. Nancy Mace’s campaign for governor in South Carolina, resigned on Monday, accusing the Republican congresswoman in a post on X of deciding “to turn her back on MAGA.”
McCubbin last year served as South Carolina state director for President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign. Mace’s campaign had touted his hiring as a move that “underscores Mace’s commitment to the America First agenda.”
The contested GOP primary for governor had already turned into a fight to win Trump’s endorsement — with Mace playing a big role in that battle.
In his post, McCubbin said Mace had “fully embraced” a super PAC that has supported Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Thomas Massie. Trump has been deeply critical of Paul and Massie, Kentucky Republicans who have broken with him on multiple policy fronts.
“My name has been used publicly, while going back on her word to pay me, to trade on my Team Trump status and to work on her behalf with the White House, and I am 100% breaking with her campaign out of loyalty to the President,” McCubbin wrote. “The 2026 gubernatorial race has always been first and foremost a run for the President’s endorsement. South Carolina is Trump Country.”
McCubbin said he first noticed the Paul-affiliated PAC, Protect Freedom PAC, began spending on Mace’s behalf last month, though he did not make much of it at the time.
“When I talked to Nancy last Wednesday, it became clear she has fully embraced the Rand Paul PAC,” he added.
“Nancy Mace is wittingly or unwittingly a proxy for Rand Paul’s 2028 presidential campaign,” he continued. “That’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
McCubbin added that after warning Mace of the political risks she would face, the congresswoman “accused me of mansplaining, a woke term used by people who hate men, who ironically are her best demographic.”
“Anyone who knows me knows that I have nothing personally against Rand or Nancy,” he wrote. “This is about loyalty.”
“My advice to the President, my friends in the White House, and South Carolina Trump voters: scratch her name from the list,” McCubbin wrote.
Trump said yesterday that he would release the results of his MRI test that he received in October.
“If you want to have it released, I’ll release it,” the president said during an exchange with reporters as he traveled back to Washington from Florida.
He said the results of the MRI were “perfect.”
Read the full story here.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld a lower court ruling disqualifying Alina Habba from her position as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
The decision stems from a motion from Julien Giraud Jr., a New Jersey man who faced drug trafficking and firearm charges that predated Habba’s appointment.
Read the full story here.
In an overnight Truth Social post, Trump pointed to a law that makes it illegal for someone “with intent to interfere with, impair, or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the military or naval forces of the United States” by urging someone to be insubordinate.
The penalty for violating the law is a fine and/or a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
“This is right on point,” Trump said in his post. “DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE!!!”
The post appeared to be a reference to Trump’s criticism of Democratic lawmakers who released a video urging troops to refuse illegal orders. The president’s backlash culminated in him accusing them of “seditious behavior” that he said was “punishable by death.” He later walked back the comments, saying he was “not threatening death.”
The House and the Senate will be back in session this afternoon after the Thanksgiving holiday. The first votes today are not expected until this evening.
Tomorrow, lawmakers will also be watching the results of a special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District, which is open after GOP Rep. Mark Green resigned from Congress this summer. Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn and Republican former state official Matt Van Epps will face off.
Trump again urged Tennessee voters to support the Republican candidate in tomorrow’s special election to fill an open congressional seat that was vacated when GOP Rep. Mark Green resigned this year.
“GET OUT AND VOTE FOR MATT VAN EPPS, who has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” he said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump pushed for people to support Republican Matt Van Epps, a former state official, over Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn.
The race has attracted outsized attention, despite Trump having carried the district by more than 20 points. Democrats have expressed optimism about their prospects, as off-year elections tend to generate less turnout overall and favor candidates who have more energized voters.
Trump is expected to sign congressional bills at 4 p.m., though the White House did not release details about which bills he is signing.
The Oval Office event is the only event on his public schedule today.
Indiana state lawmakers will consider redistricting when they reconvene today, even though the GOP state Senate leader previously said there are not enough votes to redraw the map.
Trump has publicly pressured the state’s Republican lawmakers to take up new maps to bolster the GOP’s prospects to keep the House after next year’s midterm elections.
It’s unclear if lawmakers have changed their minds after the pressure campaign. The Indiana push is the latest in a series of redistricting efforts across the country.
Both the House and the Senate have started inquiries into a reported second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September that killed the survivors of an initial strike.
The Defense Department conducted a second strike on a boat the Trump administration says was carrying drugs from Venezuela after the first strike on the boat failed to kill all of its occupants, one U.S. official and a source familiar with the Pentagon’s actions that day told NBC News.
Read the full story here.
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said that Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are “not serious people” in response to their comments about a video Kelly and several fellow Democrats made earlier this month urging military and intelligence personnel to “refuse illegal orders.”
“This president thinks he can bully and intimidate people, and he is not going to, he’s not going to stop me from speaking out and holding him accountable for the things that he does that are wrong and unlawful,” Kelly told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Read the full story here.
Trump says there’s a “good chance” for a deal, but his bid for peace now heads to the Kremlin and faces more work with Kyiv after what the United States described as “very productive” talks.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected in the Russian capital to discuss changes that Kyiv and its allies have secured to the U.S. peace plan. Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled last week that he was ready to have a “serious” conversation, but has shown little sign of stepping away from his hard-line demands that formed the basis of the original 28-point proposal backed by Trump.
Read the full story here.
NBC News