Catch up on Trump picks: Last night, the president-elect announced Kari Lake, a former Fox news anchor and Senate candidate, to lead Voice of America.
This morning, President Joe Biden commuted the sentences of 1,500 people and pardoned 39 people—the largest single-day act of clemency in history.
Dozens of sightings of unmanned drones across New Jersey have local residents concerned, and lawmakers baffled. These aren’t pranks or crackpot reports, either—sightings have been reported by police and the Coast Guard.
Here’s what we know so far.
The Sightings
The drones were first reported on Nov. 13 in Morris and Hunterdon counties; sightings have spread to more than a dozen areas, including Monmouth, Ocean, and Camden counties.
Witnesses say the drones are large, around the size of an SUV, and they often travel in groups.
Gov. Phil Murphy told reporters on Dec. 9 that their technology appears to be “very sophisticated.”
“The minute you get eyes on them, they go dark,” he said.
Rep. Chris Smith (D-N.J.) said on the floor of Congress that an Ocean County Sheriff relayed to him that “One of his officers saw 50 drones come out of the ocean.“
A commanding officer from the Coast Guard also told Smith that a squadron of “between 12 and 30 of these drones” followed one of their ships.
Drones are Not Foreign: Pentagon
Rep. Jeff van Drew (R-N.J.) told Fox News on Dec. 11 that he learned from “very high sources, very qualified sources, very responsible sources” that the drones were being launched from an Iranian “mothership” in the Atlantic.
The vessel pulled up along the East Coast a month ago, carrying drones purchased as part of an arms deal with China, he said.
“There is not any truth to that,” Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh replied, when asked about Van Drew’s statement.
“There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there is no so-called mothership launching drones toward the United States,” she said.
Call For ‘Limited State of Emergency’
New Jersey state senator Jon Bramnick (R-21) has released a statement asking for a limited state of emergency, and urging officials to ban public drones until an explanation is released.
Bramnick considers the drones a security threat, and said the Garden State needs to be a “no-drone-fly-zone.”
“We need to know. These are multiple drones coming in, in a flock, and then leaving. You know, that’s not somebody who has a hobby” of flying drones, he said in an interview with NTD.
“These aren’t drones that were purchased at a Radio Shack … in the Middle East, we have drones that are dropping bombs. So I don’t find that a drone is safe because it’s a drone.”
Lawmakers Demanding Answers
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) posted a letter he wrote on X, addressed to Sec. of Transportation Pete Buttiegieg, FBI Director Chris Wray, and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Booker said he recognized “the need to maintain operational security of ongoing investigations,” but urged the officials to release any available information, in order to avoid spreading “rumors, fear, and misinformation.”
Gov. Murphy told reporters, “We don’t see any concern for public safety,“ but added that it was frustrating that drones’ origins are still unknown.
“I’m hoping we’ll get answers sooner than later,” the governor said. He encouraged residents to report any sightings.
Government Says it Knows Nothing
The FBI is currently coordinating with local authorities to get to the bottom of the matter. Gov. Murphy posted on X that he held a briefing with Mayorkas and officials from DHS and the New Jersey State Police.
Speaking with NTD, State Rep. Bramnick said no answers had been forthcoming from any agency. He said he’d also met with state police and officials from the DHS on Dec. 11, but it yielded no clear results,
“The State Police are frustrated—they don’t have a clue, and they’re honest about it,” Bramnick said.
“Now, the thing with Homeland Security, they guard our country, but they don’t have the technology, so they didn’t have any answers…Only the Department of Defense has the technology to monitor these drones.”
“Department of Defense needs to be in here immediately,” he said.
He also doesn’t believe the drones are part of some super-classified government program.
“If they’ve got a secret program, they’re surely not keeping it secret. You know, why don’t you fly it over the desert?”
—Stacy Robinson
GABBARD SEEKS SENATE SUPPORT
Tulsi Gabbard is on Capitol Hill this week as she seeks to gain the support of the Senate GOP conference for her nomination by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as director of national intelligence—though support for the nominee remains uncertain.
The veteran and former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii has faced questions from some Senate Republicans over her 2017 visit to Syria, where she met with then-Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In the wake of Assad’s apparent abdication following the fall of Damascus, the Syrian capital, senators’ questions about this visit, which Gabbard has repeatedly called a “fact-finding mission,” have intensified.
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he had “lots of questions” about Gabbard’s visit, and said she'd face thorough questioning during her confirmation hearings.
“We want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was. As a member of Congress, we want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she’s made and get them into full context,” Lankford said.
As these questions have arisen, Gabbard has made multiple visits to the Capitol this week to seek to court skeptical senators.
On Dec. 9, she met with Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), and Lankford.
The lawmakers expressed early approval of their meetings with the nominee, but didn’t make a solid commitment to backing her yet.
Following her meeting with Lankford, Gabbard addressed questions about her 2017 visit.
“I stand in full support and wholeheartedly agree with the statements that President Trump has made over these last few days in regards to the developments in Syria,” she told reporters.
In a post to X, Trump said, “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. ... DO NOT GET INVOLVED.”
Question marks also remain about a handful of other senators’ support for Gabbard.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine)—often considered the senators most likely to defect from their party on key issues and nominations—have largely refrained from commenting on Trump’s more contested nominees, including Gabbard.
So too has outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has often broken from his party on foreign policy as the Republican base has increasingly taken on a non-interventionist attitude toward foreign conflicts.
With so many votes still uncertain, Gabbard’s fate remains up in the air.
BOOKMARKS
FBI director Christopher Wray announced on Dec. 11 that he will resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s administration in January. President-elect Donald Trump, who earlier had nominated Kash Patel to replace Wray, posted to Truth Social, saying “We want our FBI back, and that will now happen.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on Tuesday that this upcoming Senate term, which begins in January, will probably be his last. Sanders noted that he is 83, and will be 89 when his term ends.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not awaiting the upcoming report from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, but is expected to immediately make drastic changes to the U.S. food landscape when he is confirmed as head of Health and Human Services. Kennedy repeatedly spoke out against highly processed food during his campaign for president, and has signalled he believes corporations hold undue influence on the American diet.
An attorney for Ryan Routh, suspect of the second failed attempt to assassinate Trump, said he is showing signs of mental illness, and is requesting time for an expert evaluation. Judge Aileen Cannon seems skeptical of the claim—and the insanity plea it implies—and is asking for specific incidents, and a concrete timeline of the expected delay.
The Department of Homeland Security has announced a new rule making it easier for noncitizens to renew their work permit. The new rule extends work permission by 540 days (instead of 180) if the applicants file their paperwork on time.
