Happy Friday! Welcome to the daily briefing. Let’s end this week with news:
nicole farato Here’s the news you need to know on Friday. We discuss how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was burned to death in the Capitol, whether party drugs are actually getting stronger, and the best moments of Taylor Swift’s Elas tour docuseries.
Kristi Noem’s Grill. Kilmer Abrego Garcia returns home
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem faced questions Thursday related to the department’s immigration efforts.
Throughout the hearing, Democrats criticized Noem and the department’s immigration enforcement efforts, including the secretary’s decision to continue deportation flights to El Salvador despite a court order halting them earlier this year. At one point, Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-Rhode Island) asked the secretary how many veterans had been deported.
“Sir, we are not deporting American citizens or veterans,” Noem responded. Magaziner went on to introduce a U.S. Army veteran who has voluntarily left the country.
Noem left the hearing early to attend a FEMA Review Advisory Committee meeting (which was later canceled), but was met by protesters outside the hearing room.
Meanwhile, Kilmer Abrego-Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant at the center of a lawsuit focused on President Trump’s hard-line immigration policies, was released from an immigration detention facility on Thursday after U.S. District Judge Paula Kisinis in Maryland said the Trump administration had no legal basis to deport Abrego-Garcia and misled her during a hearing last month.
More news you need to know right now
- President Trump targets Indiana Republican Senate leader. The president criticized Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Roderick Bray, who was one of 21 Republican senators who voted to reject the redistricting bill in the Republican-controlled Senate.
- The latest incident involving a former University of Michigan coach. Sherone Moore is scheduled to be arraigned in court on Friday.
- Party drugs are becoming more and more powerful. Experts told USA TODAY that accurate data on how powerful ecstasy has become today is difficult to obtain. That’s because there’s a lot of variation from pill to pill. Still, he says, some studies suggest that the amount of MDMA, a synthetic psychoactive drug, in ecstasy has increased by about 50% over the past 15 years, so it’s definitely gotten more powerful overall.
Let’s take a look
Pitt, Kentucky sweeps NCAA volleyball bracket
The 2025 NCAA Volleyball Tournament has been reduced to 12 participating teams as a result of Thursday’s action. 2 of the top 4 seeds in the tournament — Kentucky and Pittsburgh — We advanced to the Elite Eight. Third-seeded Purdue and Creighton also advance. Creighton will play Kentucky on Saturday, while Pitt will play Purdue for a spot in the Final Four.
I want to talk to you about something.
The biggest and best moments of the ‘End of an Era’ documentary series
Taylor Swift’s six-part docuseries “The End of an Era” on Disney+ features many amazing, unfiltered moments. The first two episodes are available now, with two more coming every Friday until December 26th. Tune in to USA TODAY for the first highlights of Swift’s magical and mysterious Eras Tour.
before going
Have feedback about the daily briefing? Email Nicole at NFallert@usatoday.com.
