Congress inserted a provision into the National Defense Authorization Act withholding 25 percent of Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's travel budget until the Pentagon turns over unedited videos of strikes against suspected drug boats, according to a Politico report published between 7:16 PM and 7:45 PM UTC on December 8. The measure uses the marquee defense bill to compel the Pentagon's compliance, as detailed by Politico reporters Connor O'Brien, Leo Shane and Joe Gould in an article shared via X in the past 29 minutes. The provision comes amid ongoing NDAA debates, following U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's earlier announcement on December 8 that she will vote against the bill over its inclusion of foreign aid funding. In Georgia developments during the same window, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia announced the arrest of Democratic State Rep. Sharon Henderson of Newton County after a federal grand jury charged her with theft of government funds and making false statements, according to an X post by Rahul Bali. Separately, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger filed a lawsuit challenging a 2021 state law that allows unlimited campaign cash for certain candidates, seeking to extend the privilege to all competitors and level the field against his GOP rival for governor, per a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shared on X by Greg Bluestein.
