Donald Trump’s influence over Senate Republicans is being tested by his cabinet choices. Why abortion rates didn’t drop as much as expected after Roe v. Wade was overturned. And former racing champion Mario Andretti shares early ideas for his new Formula 1 team.
Here’s what you need to know today.
Trump’s Cabinet nominees are testing his influence over Senate Republicans
After Donald Trump won the presidential election and Republicans regained the Senate majority, questions arose about whether his allies and those in his party would simply agree with his decisions or offer any resistance.
For former Rep. Matt Gaetz, the answer was no. The president-elect’s choice to lead the Justice Department apparently met enough opposition from Senate Republicans that Gaetz withdrew from consideration. Now another question arises: Will Trump’s other Cabinet picks face the same criticism — or face the same backlash?
Senators will get a brief Thanksgiving reprieve, but they’ll return to Washington next week to consider the newly elected president’s other choices. Three in particular have sounded the alarm.
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Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump picked as director of national intelligence, has been criticized for making positive comments about Russia and meeting with the Syrian president. Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, is facing questions about alleged sexual abuse in 2017. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump wants to become Secretary of Health and Human Services, has made many false or misleading claims about vaccines , fluoride, raw milk and more.
Republicans will control 53 seats in the new Senate, meaning they can only afford three defections from the Republican Party in each vote to confirm a candidate. They will have newly elected Vice President JD Vance at their side to serve as a tiebreaker.
Read the full story here.
The outspokenness of some senators has already made them people to watch when the nominations are voted on next month. Sen. Susan Collins, a five-term centrist Republican from Maine, has at times been willing to go against her party. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who is expected to become the next Senate majority leader, will have to walk a line between advancing the Trump agenda and sticking to the institutional instincts that have earned him respect on both sides of the aisle . And now that Senator Mitch McConnell is no longer the Republican leader of the Senate, how will he use his influence?
Read more about these senators and others we should keep an eye on during the confirmation process.
More coverage of Trump’s transition and politics:
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Trump said he wants that impose a 25% tariff on products imported from Mexico and Canada, as well as additional tariffs on China.
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Dave Weldon, a former congressman and doctor picked by Trump to lead the CDC, could be an ally against vaccines as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confirmed as Minister of Health.
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The federal prosecutor who oversaw the convictions of Senator Robert Menendez, Jeffery Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and disgraced crypto magnate Sam Bankman-Fried said he will resign next month as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
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Many immigrants hoping to take advantage of the H-1B — or high-skilled visa program, which Trump, his allies and Cabinet secretaries have pledged to cut — are “in panic” about what will happen if Trump comes to power.
Why abortions increased after Roe v. Wade was overturned
Illustration of a grid of scenes showing: access to abortion pills via telehealth; a glass of water with an abortion pill; a woman driving a car at a red traffic light; a woman in her house against a window; several women in an abortion clinic waiting room; a woman puts her hand on her stomach. (Xinyue Chen for NBC News)
When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, it seemed only logical that abortion rates would drop. Instead, the opposite happened. More than 1 million abortions were recorded in the US in 2023, the highest in a decade, according to the Guttmacher Institute, and so far this year abortion rates have remained about the same as in the last six months of 2023. So what happened ? to prevent the number of abortions from falling?
Health reporter Aria Bendix looked for the people and systems behind the trend – spending a day at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Illinois, meeting with a Dutch doctor whose work was crucial to maintaining access to abortion pills in the US, and speaking with key players from all corners of the abortion rights landscape. It turns out that much of the story comes down to a small network of medical manufacturers who have found ways to prescribe and ship abortion pills across the country from places where they are still legal.
Mario Andretti’s plans for his new Formula 1 team
Mario Andretti looks out at the track on May 17, Fast Friday, ahead of the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.
Formula 1 is getting a new team – and with it two new drivers. The organization announced this yesterday that it has approved the joining of GM and Cadillac as a new team, starting in 2026. The long-awaited decision comes after a years-long saga marked by drama and bitter tensions between F1 and Andretti Global, led by former world champion Mario Andretti.
Sahil Kapura senior political reporter and F1 enthusiast from NBC News, spoke exclusively with Mario Andretti about his ambitions for the new team. He explains what the sports and car manufacturer GM have to gain:
🏎️ You broke news about the drama surrounding F1’s opposition to team Andretti. What has changed to allow for this new team? It’s hard to pinpoint one thing. This evolved from a controversial decision, through a tense battle, to a high-stakes political saga, with the Justice Department launching an investigation. It was a nearly year-long standoff in which Andretti’s allies on Capitol Hill accused F1 of “cartel-like” behavior to protect the largely European teams from American competition. There was real bad blood.
Ultimately, two things helped break the impasse: Andretti Global’s operations were acquired by investor Dan Towriss, effectively sidelining Mario’s son Michael Andretti from this project. (Mario told me everyone is happy, and Michael tweeted positively about the news.) And GM stepped up its commitment to the project.
🏎️ How important is it for F1 to have a new team on the grid? It’s huge, for several reasons. Firstly, the admission of a renowned American car manufacturer opens new doors to the fast-growing American market, which is F1’s commercial priority. The brand equity for GM is substantial — it’s no mystery why Michigan lawmakers got involved — so this could be mutually beneficial.
Moreover, the Americans do not have much to advocate for on the home front. The Haas team is technically US owned, but is not that well known or successful. It uses an Italian engine and conducts much of its operations in Europe. The only full-time American driver in nearly two decades, Logan Sargeant, was fired earlier this year.
But Cadillac-Andretti could change that. Mario told me he wants an American driver in at least one of the team’s two seats. That brings me to another important point: an eleventh team means that the grid goes from 20 to 22 drivers. That’s great news for talented newcomers to F1, who have struggled to break into the sport despite their talents.
🏎️ What advantages does this new team have with Andretti in their corner? Andretti Global knows how to build fast racing cars! The organization has built six Indy 500 winners, won four IndyCar championships and scored a Formula E championship. Of course, Formula 1 is the Mount Everest of racing, so we’ll see how they do in this sport. The one thing Mario, America’s last former F1 champion, hasn’t done is build an F1 team. He has been preparing for this moment for a long time.
Read more about Sahil’s exclusive interview with Mario Andretti.
Read all about it
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A senior Russian commander in charge of the troops fighting in eastern Ukraine was relieved of his duties after allegedly making false claims about battlefield successes.
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Susan Louise Lorincz, a 60-year-old white woman from Florida who fatally shot her black neighbor through a closed door, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the “completely unnecessary” gunfire.
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As Cuba suffers nationwide power outages, Americans with family on the island and tourists have taken up the task to provide much needed supplies to residents.
Personnel choice: The work continues amid the devastation in Lebanon’s ancient groves
Mayada El Sayed sits in the shade of an olive tree.
The rhythm of the harvest must continue for farmers in Lebanon’s centuries-old olive groves, despite the interruptions of bombs falling from all sides.
NBC News spoke with farmers and workers who see their lives and livelihoods threatened by Israel’s ongoing conflict with Hezbollah, who shed new light on another consequence of the conflict that is consuming the region.
— Annie Heuvel, platforms editor
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
