Vance’s Misleading Claims on Housing Prices and Illegal Immigration

Vice President JD Vance has exaggerated the increase in home prices during President Joe Biden’s tenure. He has misleadingly pointed to illegal immigration as the primary cause of the price rise.

In a Fox News interview on Nov. 13, Vance said that “the price of a new home literally doubled” under Biden. But home sales price measures show at most a 37% increase. Vance appears to be referring to an increase in the monthly cost of new homes, driven by rising mortgage rates.  

In that interview and in a Dec. 2 Cabinet meeting, Vance pointed to illegal immigration as a primary cause. “Why did homes get so unaffordable?” he said in the Cabinet meeting. “Because we had 20 million illegal aliens in this country taking homes that ought by right to go to American citizens,” he said, using an exaggerated figure.

While immigration overall does affect housing costs by increasing demand, economists say the primary drivers in recent years were low mortgage interest rates that sparked demand, a subsequent rise in interest rates, and a problem with low housing supply that dates back to the Great Recession from 2007 to 2009. Immigrants in the country illegally are also more likely to rent, not buy, experts say.

Jacob Vigdor, a University of Washington public policy and governance professor who has written about immigration and housing, told us that “there is a link, but I would not say that immigration, illegal or otherwise, has been a ‘driving factor’ in escalating housing costs.” He estimated an impact of less than 1% on the current median sales price.

Vaccine Panel, Voting to Change Hepatitis B Shot for Newborns, Shares Misleading Information

Upending decades-old guidance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee voted to no longer issue a blanket recommendation that all newborns receive a hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Throughout the meeting, many panelists made misleading claims about the vaccine.

Here, we address claims about the vaccine’s effectiveness and safety, as well as other countries’ vaccination policies.

The hepatitis B vaccine, typically given in a three-dose series, is highly effective at preventing disease and has a strong safety record. As the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia explains, there are no known serious side effects other than anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction that is very rare and can be treated.

A universal birth dose was first recommended in 1991, after risk-based approaches failed to reduce cases. Young children are the most likely to develop a chronic infection that can lead to liver cancer and other problems. In the decades since, rates of hepatitis B in children have fallen by 99%.

In an 8-to-3 vote on Dec. 5, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices decided to end that policy. If accepted by the CDC director, parents of babies born to mothers who test negative for the virus will now be advised to discuss vaccination with a doctor to decide “when or if” to give the vaccine. For those who opt to forgo a birth dose, the panel “suggested” waiting at least two months to vaccinate.

Pentagon Inspector General Report Not ‘Total Exoneration’ for Hegseth

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that he received “total exoneration” in an investigative report by the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General regarding a Signal group chat about a military attack in Yemen. But the report contradicts that assessment, concluding that Hegseth’s messages “created a risk to operational security that could have resulted in failed U.S. mission objectives and potential harm to U.S. pilots.”

The inspector general report, issued Dec. 2 and publicly released two days later, also faulted Hegseth for using a personal cell phone to relay sensitive DoD information and for not retaining Signal conversations as official records, as required by federal law and Pentagon policy.

The chat between top administration national security officials on Signal, a private encrypted messaging app, came to light because Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, was inadvertently added to the group chat by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, who was later removed from his job. In one of the messages, Hegseth appeared to provide a timeline for impending U.S. military strikes in Yemen on March 15.

Examining Trump’s Pardon of Former Honduran President Convicted of Trafficking Drugs to U.S.

President Donald Trump pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, on Dec. 1, claiming without evidence that his prosecution had been a “setup” by the Biden administration and that Hernández was targeted because he was president of a country where drug cartels operated.

“If somebody sells drugs in that country, that doesn’t mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life,” Trump said in explaining the pardon.

But Hernández had been found guilty by a jury after a three-week trial. He was sentenced by a U.S. District judge last year to 45 years in prison for using his position to help drug traffickers import more than 400 tons of cocaine into the United States, while accepting bribes to fuel his political career and protecting violent drug cartel leaders from prosecution in return.

Unpacking the FDA’s Black Friday Vaccine Memo

The head of the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccine division claimed in a leaked email that “at least 10 children” died from COVID-19 vaccination, using that to justify significant vaccine regulatory changes. Experts, however, say too little information was provided to verify the claim.

Studies and safety assessments in the U.S. and other countries have repeatedly shown that the COVID-19 vaccines are remarkably safe, including for children, and do not increase mortality risk. While serious side effects can occur, they are rare.

Dr. Vinay Prasad, the official who penned the memo, used the alleged deaths to announce a variety of ways in which the agency would be more stringent in approving future vaccines, which some experts say are unnecessary and impractical and could reduce access to shots.

In a perspective published Dec. 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine, a dozen former FDA commissioners assailed the memo, saying Prasad’s proposals would “impede the ability to update vaccines” and “suppress innovation and competition,” ultimately “disadvantag[ing]” the American people. They added that deaths reported to the CDC and FDA previously “had been carefully reviewed by FDA staff, who drew different conclusions.”

Q&A on Vetting of Accused National Guard Shooter

In the aftermath of the deadly ambush shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump and others in his administration immediately blamed Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, for failing to vet the Afghan national accused of the attack. Here, we’ll answer some questions about what we know so far about the suspect and the vetting process.

The suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is alleged to have driven across the country from his home in Washington state and then shooting West Virginia National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, an Army specialist, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24. Beckstrom died later from her injuries, and Wolfe remains in critical condition. They were serving as part of what Trump has called a crackdown on crime in the nation’s capital.

Despite Trump’s claims that Lakanwal and other Afghans were “unvetted” and “unchecked,” there are reports that Lakanwal was vetted several times, in Afghanistan and in the U.S., most recently as part of obtaining asylum status earlier this year. Trump officials say Lakanwal may have become radicalized while living in the U.S.

Details about the shooter’s history and possible motivations are still emerging.

Georgia Dominates No. 9 Alabama 28–7, Claims Second Straight SEC Championship and Playoff Return

No. 3 Bulldogs overwhelm No. 9 Crimson Tide with suffocating defense, clutch quarterback play, and major special teams momentum to secure back-to-back SEC titles and a Playoff berth.

ATLANTA | One of college football’s fiercest rivalries added a new chapter Saturday night — and this time it belonged entirely to the Bulldogs. In front of 77,247 fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, No. 3 Georgia (12–1) dominated long stretches of the game and overwhelmed No. 9 Alabama (10–3), powering to a 28–7 victory to capture the 2024 SEC Championship and avenge a heartbreaking September loss.

With the win, Georgia claimed its 16th SEC title, secured its second straight conference crown, and locked in a spot in the College Football Playoff for the fourth time in five years.