2018 Day 680: Trump Jr.'s Senate Judiciary Committee testimony conflicts with Michael Cohen's version of events; the Trump Organization wanted to give Putin a $50 million penthouse in the proposed Trump Tower Moscow; Ivanka and Trump Jr. are both under increased scrutiny for their roles in the proposed Moscow project; oh, and the U.S., Canada, and Mexico signed a new North American trade pact. Nov 30, 2018
2020 Day 1411: Hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients in the United States reached an all-time high; Moderna applied for FDA emergency authorization of its coronavirus vaccine; Biden's senior White House communications team will be composed entirely of women; Arizona certified its election results; two recounts in Wisconsin – requested by the Trump campaign – were completed and confirmed that Biden won the state; a federal appeals court unanimously rejected the Trump campaign's emergency appeal to challenge Pennsylvania's election results; and Trump said he'll leave the White House if the Electoral College affirms Biden’s win next month. Nov 30, 2020
2022 Day 680: House Democrats elected Hakeem Jeffries to lead their caucus; the House voted to force a labor contract between rail workers and rail companies; Jerome Powell indicated that the Federal Reserve could begin to slow its interest rate increases, but will probably keep borrowing costs higher for longer than previously expected; the age of first-time homebuyers in the U.S. is getting older as prices rise, mortgage rates increase, and inventory decreases; NASA canceled a planned satellite to monitor greenhouse gas emissions in Earth's atmosphere because the project got too costly; and lawmakers plan to add $45 billion to the defense budget. Nov 30, 2022
2023 Day 1045: The United Nations World Meteorological Organization declared 2023 the warmest year ever recorded; the annual United Nations climate summit convened with the goal of finding agreement on whether to phase out fossil fuels – the primary driver of global warming – or to scale up carbon capture technology to reduce emissions; nations at COP28 agreed to an unprecedented fund aimed at helping poor and vulnerable nations deal with the climate emergency; the EPA proposed requiring water utilities nationwide to replace all of their lead pipes within 10 years; the Senate Judiciary Committee authorized subpoenas for conservative billionaire Harlan Crow and judicial activist Leonard Leo about their close personal and financial relationships with some Supreme Court justices; and an appeals court reinstated Trump's gag order prohibiting him from attacking court staff in his ongoing $250 million civil fraud trial in New York. Nov 30, 2023