President Trump signed a bill Monday afternoon making animal cruelty a federal felony, ABC News reports.
The big picture: The Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act was passed by the Senate and House with bipartisan support. The law criminalizes specific acts of animal cruelty, including burning, crushing, drowning, suffocation or other activities that cause "serious bodily injury."
The Trump administration could begin sending some Central American immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to Honduras by January 2020, although the details of the agreement are still being worked out, BuzzFeed News' Hamed Aleaziz reports.
Why it matters: The asylum agreements with Central American nations signed since the summer by former acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan are beginning to take effect. They could force people fleeing their homes to seek asylum in neighboring nations where there are often weak asylum systems, severe poverty and high crime rates.
Billionaire Tom Steyer is a former hedge fund manager who's become known for his philanthropy and liberal activism. In 2017, he launched "Need to Impeach," spending $10 million on a national ad campaign urging Congress to impeach President Trump, according to Forbes. He has since resigned his position to pursue the Democratic nomination.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a letter to members of Congress Monday that his committee is currently preparing a report on its investigation into President Trump and Ukraine, which will be transmitted to the House Judiciary Committee shortly after Thanksgiving.
What's new: Schiff wrote that in response to an "unprecedented campaign of obstruction" by the Trump administration, the report will "catalog the instances of non-compliance with lawful subpoenas" for the Judiciary Committee to consider for a potential article of impeachment.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren attacked 2020 newcomer Michael Bloomberg's approach to the Democratic primary, suggesting he believes he can "buy" the nomination with "bags and bags of money," Bloomberg reports.
Driving the news: Bloomberg, who announced his candidacy on Sunday, is reportedly set to spend $100 million in digital ads in swing states attacking President Trump, per the New York Times. A source close to the billionaire and former New York mayor told Axios earlier this month that Bloomberg "will spend whatever it takes to defeat Donald Trump."
Congressional Republicans have come around to supporting paid family leave policies, but their ideas differ greatly from Democratic proposals, a New York Times analysis shows.
The big picture: Democrats back creating a federal fund for new parents that would be financed with a payroll tax increase, while Republicans have proposed plans that would allow new parents to dip into their future federal benefits.
The shortened Thanksgiving week promises far less public spectacle for the House impeachment inquiry, but it still could see several significant events.
Driving the news: A ruling is expected Monday on whether or not former White House counsel Don McGahn must testify under subpoena in the ongoing House impeachment inquiry.
The Trump administration had more first-year departures than any other president in at least 40 years — and the exits haven't stopped. Kevin McAleenan stepped down as acting Homeland Security secretary on Friday to move into the private sector.
Why it matters: The first-term revolving door of Trump's highest Cabinet officials is not normal.
Ignoring early states and refusing donations, Michael Bloomberg is trying an unorthodox route to the Democratic nomination that's based on skipping the usual slog and running a national campaign against President Trump from Day 1.
The big picture: Polling showsa daunting road, but Bloomberg insiders tell Axios the 77-year-old billionaire calculates that he has room to grow rapidly, since his backstory as a businessman, philanthropist and successful New York mayor isn't well known.
Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, is willing to testify that aides to Intelligence Committee ranking member Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) canceled a 2019 trip to Ukraine to avoid notifying committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), CNBC reported Sunday.
Driving the news: Nunes has threatened to sue CNN and The Daily Beast for reporting allegations that he met with former Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin to discuss investigating former Vice President Joe Biden. He called the reports "false" and suggested the outlets may have committed crimes in reporting the claims by Joseph Bondy, Parnas' attorney.
Former Facebook chief marketing officer Gary Briggs is joining Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg's campaign as digital director, he announced in a new job update post on the social media site Sunday.
The big picture: The former New York City mayor and billionaire officially entered the 2020 race on Sunday. On Friday, Bloomberg announced a $31 million TV ad campaign in several key primary states, per NBC News, which cited Advertising Analytics. "His campaign is expected to do the same on digital," notes Vox's Recode, which first reported Briggs' move.
"Briggs will oversee a digital program that will likely shatter records for the rate at which it spends money in presidential politics," Recode notes.
A confidential internal review found White House acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney asked budget office officials for an "after-the-fact justification" for withholding aid to Ukraine, the Washington Post first reported Sunday.
Why it matters: The issue of blocking almost $400 million in military aid to Ukraine is central to the impeachment inquiry, as House investigators examine allegations that President Trump ordered the move to press for Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. Trump denies any wrongdoing.
