Morning Wire - Senate GOP Leader Elected & Congressional FEMA Investigations | Afternoon Update | 11.13.24

Episode Date: November 13, 2024

Developing stories you need to know just in time for your drive home. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Birch Gold: Text "WIRE" to 989898 for your no-cost, no-obligation information kit. NetSuite: Make better business decisions with NetSuite https://www.NetSuite.com/MORNINGWIRE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Birch Gold Group. Birch Gold makes it easy and cost-free to convert your existing IRA or 401K. Just text the word Wire to 9-8-8-9-8-9-8-9-8 and get a free info kit on gold today. That's Wire to 9-8-98-9-8-t today. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, November 13th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update. Republicans in the Senate have chosen their new leader. John Thune of South Dakota will succeed Mitch McConnell and lead Senate Republicans for at least the next two years.

Thune, who has served as the Republican whip in the chamber since 2019, won by vote of 29 to 24 over Texas Senator John Cornyn. A late favorite in the race, Florida's Rick Scott was eliminated on the first ballot after receiving just 13 votes to 15 for Cornyn and 23 for Thune. Here was Majority Leader-elect Thune in a press conference after the vote. We have a mandate from the American people, a mandate not only to clean up the mess left by the Biden-Harris-Schumer agenda, but also to deliver on President Trump's priorities. And I want to thank my colleagues who placed their faith in me to serve as leader. And to those who were supporting another candidate, I promise to be a leader who serves the entire Republican conference. We'll have an ambitious agenda and will take each and every Republican working together to be successful.

Trump has also announced his choice for Secretary of Defense, Army National Guard vet and Fox News host Pete Hegsef, known for his outspoken criticism of the military's embrace of woke ideology. In a book he authored Heg Seth criticized the military's shift under the Obama and Biden administrations, citing changes focused on gender, diversity, and extremity. rather than military readiness. He's vowed to restore merit-based values in the armed forces, if confirmed. Here's what Hegeseth told Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro on a recent Sunday special. Every aspect of it is, how good are you at your job and how quickly can you execute? And that's what it's supposed to be.

And if you're a general officer inside the military, you raise your right hand to defend the Constitution. That's what you're defending. You're not going to let anything inside the ranks of your forces to tear that down. We have a whole warrior general class that has done just that. The man suspected of leaking classified documents detailing Israel's preparations for a possible attack on Iran has been arrested. CIA official William Rahman was apprehended by the FBI in Cambodia today and then brought to Guam where he faced charges. According to a court filing, Rahman was indicted in federal court last week on two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. This episode is brought to you by NetSuite.

Download the CFO's guide to AI and machine learning at netsuite.com slash morningwire. The guide is free to you at net suite. com slash morning wire. Again, that's net suite.com slash morning wire. Two House committees are set to question FEMA director Deanne Chriswell next week over allegations that relief workers in Florida were instructed to avoid homes advertising Trump. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo has the details. The House Subcommittee on Economic Development has,

has now expanded its investigation into FEMA after the now-fired supervisor Marnie Washington told workers to skip homes with Trump flags or signs following recent hurricanes. Washington claimed in an interview earlier this week that this was not an isolated incident, but part of FEMA's broader policy to avoid politically hostile homes. Chris Well is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee and investigations at both the federal and state levels are ongoing. The homes of Kansas City Chiefs stars Travis Kelsey and Patrick Mahomes were both targeted in burglaries last month. According to reports, Mahomes' luxury mansion in Belton, Missouri was broken into on October 6th,

with Kelsey's Lee Wood estate hit the following day. Authorities say $20,000 in cash was stolen from Kelsey's property, though it's unclear if anything was taken from Mahomes' house. The FBI is now investigating, suggesting the instance may be part of a larger crime spree. across state lines. And Disney World's new water ride is making a much bigger than anticipated splash. Park visitors say they're getting too soaked

on Tiana's Bayou Adventure. The attraction replaced Splash Mountain, which was shut down over claims that it was racist and is inspired by the princess and the frog. Guests say the ride leaves them drenched with some even claiming that water collects in the cars soaking riders from

head to toe. Disneyland's version, which is set to open this week, is reportedly even wetter. Those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth reporting on the biggest stories of the day,

tune into our full episode of Morning Wire every morning.