Monday, Nov. 18

á           Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that Israeli settlements in the West Bank do not violate international law, reversing four decades of precedent. Since 1978 the United States viewed the settlements as an illegitimate attempt to funnel Israeli citizens into Palestinian land.

Tuesday, Nov. 19

á           Impeachment investigators held a joint hearing with Jennifer Williams, a national security aide to Vice President Mike Pence, and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a Ukraine expert on the National Security Council. Both told firsthand accounts of President Donald TrumpÕs July 25 phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump requested information on his political rivals in exchange for nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine.

á           The impeachment investigation continued with Kurt Volker, TrumpÕs former special envoy to Ukraine, and Tim Morrison, a former National Security Council official. Both said the phone call was not in line with national security goals. Volker said he did not know of an information-for-aid deal between the U.S. and Ukraine. Morrison blamed questionable national security leadership on ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who testified before investigators the following day.

á           Congress passed by a veto-proof majority the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which seeks to protect antigovernment protestors from police violence by imposing sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials who commit human rights abuses in the territory.

Wednesday, Nov. 20

á           Sondland testified before the House Intelligence Committee. He said he worked with TrumpÕs personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani in Ukraine to pressure the foreign power to open investigations into TrumpÕs political rivals on TrumpÕs orders. He also challenged the idea of Òrogue diplomacyÓ in Ukraine by saying Òeverybody was in the loop,Ó including Pompeo and Pence.

á           Laura K. Cooper, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, testified that Ukraine potentially knew about withheld military aid a month prior to the July 25 phone call.

á           House Democrats elected Representative Carolyn Maloney as chair of the Oversight and Reform Committee. She replaced Elijah Cummings, who died last month.

á           Federal Judge Tanya S. Chutkan prevented the executions of four federal prisoners by issuing an injunction saying the inmates still had legal challenges to pursue regarding the use of lethal injection. This effort blocks the Trump administrationÕs attempted reinstatement of the federal death penalty announced by Attorney General William Barr in July.

Thursday, Nov. 21

á           Former White House national security advisor Fiona Hill testified before the impeachment inquiry. She rebuked the conspiracy theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 U.S. election, claiming it was popularized by Russia in an effort to fracture politics and diplomacy in the U.S. ÒThese fictions are harmful even if they are deployed for purely domestic political purposes,Ó Hill said.

á           Congress approved a stopgap spending bill hours before funding was set to lapse, pushing back the potential for another government shutdown until Dec. 20. The federal budget process has been waylaid by division over TrumpÕs border wall, in particular the issue of how to replace money the president has reallocated to its construction.

á           TrumpÕs nominee to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Barry Lee Myers requested to be withdrawn from consideration after remaining unconfirmed by the Senate for over two years, citing the impracticalities of serving after having just undergone surgery and chemotherapy.

Friday, Nov. 22

á           U.S. troops resumed large-scale counterterrorism missions against ISIS in northern Syria, about two months after 1,000 U.S. troops withdrew from the country on TrumpÕs abrupt order.

á           The State Department released emails and documents implicating Pompeo in the pressure campaign in Ukraine orchestrated by Giuliani.

Saturday, Nov. 23

á           Navy secretary Richard V. Spencer and Rear Adm. Collin Green threatened to resign or be fired if plans to expel Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher, who was acquitted of committing war crimes but demoted after being charged with posing in photos with the corpse of a teenage captive, from the Navy SEALs are halted by Trump, which he formally ordered on Nov. 25.

Sunday, Nov. 24

á           Secretary of Defense Mark Esper demanded SpencerÕs resignation after criticizing Trump for halting GallagherÕs planned demotion. Spencer left his position, writing in his resignation letter, ÒI no longer share the same understanding with the commander in chief who appointed me, in regards to the key principle of good order and discipline. I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took.Ó