BOWSER TEES UP DC MAYOR BATTLE: Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced Tuesday she won’t seek reelection next year after three terms leading the nation's capital.
“It has been the honor of my life to be your mayor. But today, with a grateful heart, I am announcing that I will not seek a fourth term,” Bowser said in a video on the social platform X.
Her exit sets up a campaign for who will run the district’s government alongside the Trump administration, which has presented new challenges for the city after the president deployed the National Guard there earlier this year in response to what Trump characterized as out-of-control levels of crime, The Hill’s Brandon Conradis reports.
▪ The Washington Post: D.C. Mayor Bowser will not run for fourth term
As of now, the race to succeed Bowser is wide open. D.C. Council members Kenyan McDuffie (I) and Janeese Lewis George (D), a democratic socialist, have each said they are considering running. Axios last month floated Metro general manager Randy Clarke for the job.
Bowser declined to say in an interview with The Washington Post whether she would endorse a candidate.
Mayors in the District do not have term limits. Bowser was the first Black woman to ever be elected to three terms, and her time in office has run parallel to major events such as the District protests after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
UKRAINE AGREES TO ‘CORE TERMS’: Ukraine has reportedly agreed to a trimmed-down version of Trump’s 28-point peace proposal following meetings with U.S. and European officials over the weekend.
According to the Financial Times, the new 19-point plan has removed the stickiest issues between Russia and Ukraine, such as land concessions and security guarantees, which will be worked out by Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
▪ Financial Times: US and Ukraine draft new 19-point peace plan but defer biggest decisions
While the Trump administration is touting major progress in the peace talks, it’s unclear that either side has made any significant new concessions.
“The original 28-Point Peace Plan, which was drafted by the United States, has been fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides, and there are only a few remaining points of disagreement,” Trump said Tuesday afternoon on Truth Social.
He said special envoy Steve Witkoff would continue negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Army Secretary Dan Driscoll would engage with the Ukrainians. Trump later told reporters on Air Force One that Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner might travel to Moscow for negotiations next week.
“I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages,” Trump added.
Ukrainian officials indicated they expected a meeting between Trump and Zelensky to discuss the remaining issues, after reaching a “common understanding on the core terms of the agreement discussed in Geneva.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed skepticism on Tuesday about any deal that “erased … key understandings” between Trump and Putin at their summit in Alaska over the summer.
The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports that some Republican lawmakers have deep misgivings about Trump’s emerging peace deal.
FBI PROBING DEMS OVER VIDEO: The backlash against the six Democratic lawmakers who recently filmed a video telling military members they are not obligated to follow illegal orders intensified on Tuesday when it was revealed that the FBI has launched an investigation into the matter.
The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch reports that several lawmakers who appeared in the video noted they had been contacted by the bureau.
“Last night, the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division appeared to open an inquiry into me in response to a video he did not like,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a former CIA officer, wrote on X. “The President directing the FBI to target us is exactly why we made this video in the first place.”
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Maggie Goodlander (D-N.H.) were the other lawmakers who appeared in the video. The four House members said they were contacted by the FBI through the lower chamber’s sergeant at arms.
The investigation comes after the Pentagon said Monday that it has received “serious allegations of misconduct” against Kelly. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday ordered the Navy secretary to review the allegations by Dec. 10.
Trump previously called the group “traitors” and said the video amounted to “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” His posts on Truth Social prompted the White House to clarify that the president did not want to see the six lawmakers killed over the video’s release, but he nonetheless later said they should be “in jail right now.”
HEGSETH VS. SCOUTS: A reported memo from Hegseth proposes cutting ties with Scouting America — the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America — because he is upset with the group for promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
The memo, first reported by NPR and not yet submitted to Congress, accuses Scouting America of attacking boy-friendly spaces, for being “genderless” and for fostering “gender confusion.” The Hill’s Ellen Mitchell reports the Pentagon said in a statement that the department “will not comment on leaked documents that we cannot authenticate and that may be pre-decisional.”
Hegseth's proposal calls for the Department of Defense to cancel medical and logistical aid to the National Jamboree, an event where up to 20,000 Scouts gather at a remote site in West Virginia about every four years. It also aims to prohibit Scout troops from meeting at military installations in the U.S. and abroad. The U.S. military has provided support to the Scouts since 1937.
▪ New York Magazine: Pete Hegseth Has Found His Real Enemy: The Scouts
Scouting America said in a statement that it “is and has always been a nonpartisan organization” and that its values have not changed.
“The Scouting movement has had a strong relationship with our nation’s military going back more than a century,” the group said. “Over more than a century, we’ve worked constructively with every U.S. presidential administration – Republican and Democrat – focusing on our common goal of building future leaders grounded in integrity, responsibility, and community service.”
