1/ The White House authorized U.S. military troops deployed at the Mexican border to use lethal force and conduct law-enforcement operations. John Kelly’s “Cabinet order� expanded the authority of troops at the border to include “a show or use of force (including lethal force, where necessary), crowd control, temporary detention, and cursory search� in order to protect border agents. The order could conflict with the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits the military from acting as law enforcement on U.S. soil. (Military Times / Axios)

2/ The White House attacked “activist judges� for temporarily blocking Trump’s attempt to refuse asylum to migrants who cross the border illegally. Trump also blamed Monday’s ruling against his administration on an “Obama judge,� who wrote that Trump’s “rule barring asylum for immigrants who enter the country� outside a port of entry “irreconcilably conflicts� with federal immigration laws and “the expressed intent of Congress.� Chief Justice John Roberts pushed back on Trump’s characterization, saying the U.S. doesn’t have “Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,� adding that an “independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.� (NBC News / Washington Post / Associated Press)

3/ The House Intelligence Committee’s incoming Democratic majority is looking to hire money-laundering and forensic accounting experts for the purposes of examining unanswered financial questions about Trump and Russia. (Daily Beast)

4/ The bipartisan leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee demanded that Trump say whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Republican Sen. Bob Corker and Democrat Bob Menendez specifically asked whether the administration believed that bin Salman was involved in the murder. Under the Magnitsky Act, Trump can be required to determine whether a global leader was responsible for human rights violations. (Politico)

poll/ 15% of Americans say they are “looking forward� to talking about politics at Thanksgiving, 40% “hope to avoid� politics and 45% don’t really care. (CBS News)

A federal judge blocked a Mississippi state law that banned most abortions after 15 weeks, ruling that it “unequivocally� violated women’s constitutional rights. Judge Carlton Reeves wrote that “the fact that men, myself included, are determining how women may choose to manage their reproductive health is a sad irony not lost on the court.� (Reuters / CNN/