US defense secretary scraps South Korea trip after martial law attempt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin no longer plans to travel to South Korea, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, following South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s botched attempt this week to impose martial law.
One official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said planning had been underway for a trip in the near term but it was determined now was not the appropriate time.
Frigid, snowy storm blasts the Northern United States
(NYT) — Millions of people across the Midwest and Northeast as well as southern Ontario were under winter weather warnings as snow squalls moved through Thursday before arctic temperatures were forecast to blast through the region with blustery and potentially damaging wind gusts. After a week of bitterly cold temperatures and days of lake-effect snow, another shot of cold air was sweeping through the Northeast after sending temperatures in parts of the Midwest plunging into the teens, 10 to 20 degrees below normal. Wind gusts up to 80 mph were expected Thursday afternoon into the evening, bringing blizzard conditions to areas with lake-effect snow and making travel treacherous.
France’s Macron says he will appoint a new prime minister in the coming days
PARIS (Reuters) — French President Emmanuel Macron will appoint a new prime minister in the coming days whose top priority will be getting a 2025 budget adopted by parliament, he said on Thursday after the government was toppled by lawmakers.
Michel Barnier, a veteran conservative, became the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history when he resigned on Thursday after parliament voted him out over his fiscal plans, barely three months after he was appointed.
In a televised address to the nation, Macron said he would name a successor to Barnier “in the coming days.”
“The priority will be the budget,” Macron said.
A special law to roll over the 2024 budget and avoid any gap will be put forward by mid-December. Then the new government will prepare a full budget early next year, in particular to account for inflation, for a vote by parliament.
Macron, whose ill-fated decision to call a snap ballot in June delivered a much-divided parliament, denied he was responsible for the political crisis.
House Republicans block bid to release results of Gaetz ethics probe
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday blocked an effort to expedite the release of an ethics probe into former Representative Matt Gaetz, who dropped his bid to become Donald Trump’s attorney general.
The probe centered on allegations against Gaetz of sexual misconduct with a teenage girl and drug use. The Republican-majority chamber voted 206-198 against the measure introduced by a Democratic lawmaker.
Gaetz, 42, resigned from Congress in November hours after Trump tapped him as a potential attorney general. He has denied all wrongdoing.
The House Ethics Committee met earlier on Wednesday and made no decision about what to do with the findings of its investigation into Gaetz. His resignation from Congress raised questions about whether the committee should release its findings, given that it technically no longer has jurisdiction over him.
Democratic Representative Sean Casten, who introduced the measure calling for the full House to vote on whether to release the committee’s findings, cited at least four examples since 1987 of the ethics panel continuing its work and releasing investigative findings after a representative resigned from Congress.
The committee — made up of five Republicans and five Democrats — deadlocked along party lines last month when they voted on releasing the investigative findings.
Sources: Slim Jim maker Conagra exploring sale of Chef Boyardee
NEW YORK (Reuters) — Conagra Brands, the maker of Slim Jim beef jerky and Healthy Choice frozen meals, is looking to sell its popular canned pasta brand Chef Boyardee, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Chicago, Illinois-based packaged food company tapped investment bank Centerview Partners to gauge interest in the business, which could be valued at well over $500 million, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the discussions are confidential.
Potential buyers for Chef Boyardee, which was named after Italian-American chef Hector Boiardi, include other packaged food companies and private equity firms, the sources said.
White House aides discuss preemptive pardons for Trump targets, sources say
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — President Joe Biden’s top aides are discussing whether preemptive pardons to current and former public officials who may be targeted by the incoming Trump administration should be considered, but Biden has not yet made a decision on the topic, sources said.
White House officials are debating whether the president should dole out such pardons to people who have not committed crimes and about the message that would send, the sources said.
Biden is aware of the discussions but has not participated in the wider conversation, one senior White House official said. Any decision would ultimately be Biden’s to make.
The conversations have picked up steam after Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, on Sunday, after previously saying he would not issue such a pardon. Trump’s pick for FBI Director, Kash Patel, who has vowed retribution against critics of the president-elect, has also alarmed senior White House and administration officials.
Among those being considered are former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, an outspoken critic of Trump; Anthony Fauci, who helped coordinate Biden’s COVID-19 response; California’s Senator-elect Adam Schiff, who led the first impeachment effort against Trump; and retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the source said.
Top White House officials leading the process are White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients and White House counsel Ed Siskel, the sources said.
Judge tosses Boeing plea deal opposed by families of Max crash victims
(TNS) — A federal judge has rejected the plea deal struck between Boeing and the Justice Department, citing concerns about plans for oversight of an independent monitor and provisions related to diversity.
The deal rejected Thursday was meant to resolve a years-old criminal fraud charge against Boeing after two 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing pleaded guilty this year to defrauding safety regulators by failing to disclose information about a then-new software system on the Max planes. An error with that system — the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS — caused the two planes to nosedive and crash, killing a total of 346 people.
The plea deal would have required Boeing to pay a $244 million fine, agree to a three-year probation, and install an independent monitor appointed to oversee the company’s progress on safety and quality improvements.
On Thursday, a federal judge in Texas rejected the deal, sending Boeing and the Justice Department back to discussions.
Judge Reed O’Connor wrote in the Thursday ruling that the proposed deal did not have an appropriate plan for selecting and maintaining oversight of the independent monitor.