
Republican Vince Fong will win California special election for McCarthy seat, CNN projects
CNN
California state Assemblyman Vince Fong will win the special election to succeed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the state’s 20th Congressional District, CNN projects.
California state Assemblyman Vince Fong will win the special election to succeed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the state’s 20th Congressional District, CNN projects. Fong’s victory in an all-GOP clash against Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux will help House Republicans buttress their razor-thin majority on Capitol Hill. McCarthy, after being deposed as speaker, announced in December that he would resign from his heavily Republican Central Valley seat. He endorsed Fong, a former staffer, as his successor. Fong will serve out the remainder of McCarthy’s term through January next year. The pair are set for another rematch in November, when they compete for a full two-year term. The first round of the special election took place in March with all candidates, regardless of party, running on the same ballot. Fong, who also had the support of former President Donald Trump, finished first in that race ahead of Boudreaux and Democrat Marisa Wood. But as he did not take a majority of the vote, the race moved to this month’s face-off between the top two finishers. The 20th District contest was the first of three House special elections taking place for vacant GOP seats over the next five weeks.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.









