By David Lawder and Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) – US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has recently moved from his Washington, DC residence to a US military base ‌after Iranian threats against his life, two people familiar with the matter said ‌on Tuesday. The New York Times first reported the move. A senior intelligence official in the Trump administration warned in a ​memo seen by Reuters late last month that Iranian plots against US personnel and American citizens had reached an advanced stage. Bessent has led the US sanctions and economic pressure campaign against Iran, dubbed Operation Economic Outcast, since August to try to push Tehran to end attacks on shipping and ‌reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The ⁠crucial waterway has been largely closed since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. The economic pressure campaign, which coincides with a US ⁠naval blockade of Iranian ports, has included sanctions on Middle Eastern bank branches and other financial services firms facilitating transactions with Iran. “The secretary will not be deterred by the Iranian regime’s threats and remains ​committed to ​executing Operation Economic Outcast and maintaining the blockade, ​which together are collapsing Iran’s economy,” a ‌US Treasury spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The Times reported the severity of the threats to Bessent was not immediately clear. A source familiar with the matter said security concerns surrounding Bessent increased when the Wall Street Journal published an aerial view of the Georgetown mansion that Bessent bought for $12.5 million shortly after his confirmation as Treasury secretary in January 2025. The photo allowed Bessent’s ‌home to be geolocated, and Bessent was relocated to a ​military base for his safety, the source said, adding: “The ​news media has an obligation to act ​responsibly amid growing threats against public officials.” Iran has previously denied plotting to ‌attack officials and people on US soil. The ​New York Times reported ​that US officials have noted that Iran’s ability to carry out large-scale attacks in the US and other territories overseas is limited. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on ​Lebanon during the war have ‌killed thousands and displaced millions. American and Israeli attacks have also killed top Iranian officials, ​including late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Reporting by David Lawder and Kanishka Singh in ​Washington; Editing by Michelle Nichols and Kate Mayberry) This article originally appeared on Reuters at https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/us-treasury-chief-bessent-moved-010010728.html

The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to effectively kill the articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — for now — by blocking their consideration on the House floor and sending them back to the Judiciary Committee, where GOP leaders can hold them up until the next Congress is seated in January 2027.Democrats — who voted unanimously against shelving the impeachment charges — will have a large House majority next year after winning at least 255 seats in last week’s midterm elections. They have already vowed to try to remove Hegseth from office when they take control of Congress.”In the majority, one of the first things we’re gonna do is run Pete Hegseth out of town,” Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader who is poised to become House speaker, said at a rally last month. Eleven Democrats missed Tuesday’s vote, which succeeded in blocking the charges by a 211 to 204 margin. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, reintroduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth on Monday, alleging that the embattled Pentagon chief had committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” and abused the power of his office by violating the War Powers Resolution, conducting military operations without congressional authorization and ordering unlawful military actions in several countries. On Tuesday, Massie was the only Republican who broke with his party and voted to keep the articles of impeachment alive.Before Tuesday’s vote, Hegseth struck a defiant tone in a Pentagon news briefing. He described the impeachment efforts as “a farce” and insisted that “none of these are high crimes or misdemeanors — they are partisan policy disagreements from people who want to politicize our military.”He added, “That’s what it is. Policy disagreements. Not high crimes. Not misdemeanors. Not treason. Not bribery. Not the kinds of offenses the founders intended when they wrote the impeachment clause.”While Hegseth did not mention Massie by name, he criticized the actions of a “disgruntled congressman” and said the “proper remedy” for a policy disagreement was legislation.”It’s a political spectacle,” Hegseth said. “A personal manifesto driven by ego and resentment. Time for one man’s final days in Congress to try to do damage to this president.” He added, “This is not patriotism. This is sabotage.”Related: Only 2 Cabinet officials have ever been impeached. Could Pete Hegseth be next?Hegseth also said the resolution suggested the U.S. would punish its own military for carrying out its job.”Let’s be clear about what this resolution actually does,” he said. “It tells our enemies — Iran, the cartels, every adversary watching — that the United States will actually punish its own warriors and its own civilian leadership.”President Trump celebrated Tuesday night’s House vote on Truth Social, where he said that Democrats’ attempt to impeach Hegseth “miserably FAILED!” Earlier in the day, Trump posted on Truth Social that Hegseth had earned an “‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS” for his defense against Massie, and described the defense secretary as “perhaps the most popular and successful military official in the Country,” adding, “Pete Hegseth should be praised, not Impeached.”Hegseth leaves a meeting of defense ministers in the Philippines on Oct. 28.Pool via Getty ImagesThe expected impeachment filing came as Congress returned to Washington, D.C., to begin a lame-duck session following the historic rout that the GOP suffered in last week’s midterm elections.Hegseth has been facing intense political backlash over the United States’ costly and unpopular war with Iran, which some top Republicans — including Trump — blame in part for the drubbing that cost them control of Congress.”Despite the absence of a declaration of war, specific statutory authorization, or a national emergency created by an attack upon the United States,” Massie said in a speech on the House floor, “Secretary Hegseth knowingly executed and implemented unlawful orders to initiate war against a foreign nation.”Massie said Hegseth “has demonstrated that he will remain a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office, and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law.”His actions thus “warrant impeachment and trial, removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States,” the Kentucky Republican said.Earlier, Trump told CNN at a White House press conference he would “stand by him,” saying that he believes Massie “has a lot of hatred in his heart.”Massie — who in May lost his bid for reelection to Ed Gallrein, a Trump-backed challenger, in the GOP primary — first introduced articles of impeachment against Hegseth in September. But House Speaker Mike Johnson later canceled the final scheduled voting day before the midterm recess, delaying a vote.It’s unclear whether Massie’s impeachment effort would have succeeded on the House floor under Republican control. Massie had previously told ABC News he was “confident” there would have been “enough GOP defectors for it to pass.” Trump has repeatedly insisted that he is not considering replacing his Pentagon chief, at least not yet.”No, I think he’s doing a very good job,” Trump told reporters last week.The president also said he was unaware of a report that Hegseth has been quietly angling to fill the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by Tennessee GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn, who was elected as the state’s next governor.”I think he’s doing a very good job, and I actually think he’d be very popular if he did that. But I haven’t heard that at all,” Trump said when asked if he would want the defense secretary to fill Blackburn’s seat. CBS News, however, reported last week that Trump “has been asking advisers” whether he should stay or go.Hegseth, a former Fox News host who has served as defense secretary since January 2025, has been Trump’s most visible cheerleader for the Iran war, which the U.S. and Israel initiated in February and which has led to surging oil prices.He has also been among the advisers urging Trump to restart the war. He and Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, have supported a return to major combat operations against Iran during recent briefings on military options, the Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 6, while Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff have pushed for diplomacy to end the conflict.The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4.Kevin Carter/Getty ImagesTrump acknowledged on Nov. 4 that the Iran war had partly contributed to the midterm election rout that handed Democrats control of Congress. Vance was unequivocal. “The real reason we lost is obvious to almost everyone,” Vance wrote in a lengthy post on X. “The reason we lost is the war.” The vice president did not call out Hegseth by name. But other Republicans did.Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, told CBS News that Hegseth faces “a reckoning.””He is one of the reasons why we don’t have the funding or guarantee for defense that we need,” Tillis said on election night. “I think after the election, we need to determine whether or not he’s the best person to bring those needs to Congress.”Tillis, who voted to confirm Hegseth last year, recently called on Trump to fire him.”I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country,” Tillis wrote in a scathing assessment of Hegseth on X in September. “He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defense and the health and well-being of our fighting force. I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it.”Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said on Nov. 6 that “there’s a lot of questions about Hegseth.””We have no idea what the strategy is moving forward in Iran,” Comer told NewsNation. “No one’s happy about Iran.”A fire burns at an oil depot in Tehran, Iran, on March 8 after U.S. and Israeli attacks.Hassan Ghaedi/Anadolu via Getty ImagesWhen Democrats take control of both the House and Senate next year, they will have the ability to call for hearings and launch investigations into virtually any aspect of the Trump administration — and Hegseth’s handling of the military is high on their list.Hegseth, for his part, has remained defiant.In a 5-and-a-half-minute video posted to X on Nov. 5, Hegseth defended the Iran war, touted changes he’s implemented as Pentagon chief (“We ended the weird and the woke”) and praised Trump’s leadership while dismissing Massie’s impeachment pursuit.”A disgruntled, defeated congressman along with all his Democrat allies has dropped sham impeachment articles against yours truly,” Hegseth said. “It didn’t work with President Trump and it won’t work with me.”This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/article/house-republicans-block-effort-to-impeach-hegseth-in-near-party-line-vote-231716935.html

Several members of the Kennedy family have sued President Donald Trump, aiming to stop the building of the triumphal arch he hopes to build near Washington, D.C., new court filings show.  The proposed 250-foot monument in the style of Paris’ Arc de Triomphe would be built on the Virginia side of the Potomac River between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery, where American veterans have been laid to rest since the Civil War. According to Kennedy family members behind the lawsuit, the 25-story arch would “cast a shadow” over memorials to their family members laid to rest in the historic burial site. “President Donald J. Trump is attempting to unlawfully erect a massive arch,” says the Kennedy family members’  lawsuit, “that will permanently cast shadows over and damage historically significant sightlines to the existing gravesites and memorials established in the Kennedy family’s honor at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as to the memorials of hundreds of thousands of fallen American heroes.” According to the lawsuit, the arch would block sightlines onto the John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame, a memorial to the former president who was assassinated in 1963. They contend it will also cast a shadow over the graves of prominent Kennedys buried in the cemetery. In addition to JFK, others buried there include Robert F. Kennedy, the former senator assassinated in 1968, and Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy, who died in 2009 after 43 years of serving in Congress. Among the nine Kennedys named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are RFK’s daughter Kerry Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, Jr. “Vanity should never stand in the way of valor,” Kerry Kennedy, president of the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center, said in a statement following the court filing in Washington, D.C. USA TODAY has reached out to the White House and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for comment. Trump has previously promoted the project as both a landmark and a military asset. Speaking on Nov. 2 during an event highlighting improvements to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, he said the arch could house drones and snipers. “It’s right smack in the middle of everything, so very important for our military. But from a beautification standpoint, it’ll be the most beautiful arch in the world,” Trump said. The court filing is the latest attempt to thwart the president’s attempt to build the arch. Opponents have previously argued that the arch would obstruct the view from the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington Cemetery, which was built on the confiscated land of former Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The clear view between the two sites is meant to represent the reunification of the country following the Civil War, according to court filings.  Plans to build Trump’s arch have been approved by a board led by people appointed by the president. But other hurdles remain. A federal judge on Nov. 5 temporarily blocked the project from going forward in response to a separate lawsuit brought by Washington and Virginia, arguing that the president needs approval from Congress in order to build. Trump’s plans to remake the nation’s capital, including the proposed arch, are not popular among Americans. In May, polls showed 52% of Americans were against the project, including 41% who strongly oppose it, while only 21% of people support the plan to build the towering arch. Democrats retaking Congress in the midterms argued in the run-up to the election that the president was too focused on construction projects in Washington and not focused enough on bringing down the cost of living for everyday Americans. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he is very focused on home renovation. He should be on HGTV,” former President Barack Obama quipped in one viral campaign moment. “Guy is building a ballroom that is bigger than the White House, paved over the Rose Garden – paved it over – put a helicopter pad on the side lawn.” This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Valor’ over ‘vanity’: JFK heirs sue Trump over plans to build archThis article originally appeared on USA TODAY at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/11/10/valor-over-vanity-jfk-heirs-sue-trump-over-plans-to-build-arch/92716131007/

Democrat Scott Colom’s lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in the uncalled Mississippi Senate race grew to 2,604 votes on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press, ahead of key deadlines this week to finalize the results. Outstanding ballots are due by Tuesday, Nov. 10. County clerks have until Nov. 13 to certify the election. And Colom’s lead has widened almost every day since Election Day, when it stood at just 65 votes.Even though 97% of the vote is in, the AP has yet to call the race because the gap between Colom and Hyde-Smith remains narrow — just 0.28% of all ballots cast. Colom has continually expressed confidence that his campaign will prevail, flooding the airwaves and attending at least eight events over the last few days. “It’s very clear the direction of this,” he told reporters on Friday. “[Cindy Hyde-Smith] needs to answer questions. What is her path to victory? She doesn’t have one.”In contrast, Hyde-Smith had “not been seen publicly since she left her election night watch party just outside of Jackson,” according to CNN. She returned to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday and told CBS that she was “feeling very optimistic.” Along with Alaska — which also remains too close to call — the outcome in Mississippi will determine whether Democrats can expand their new Senate majority beyond its current size (54 seats) by flipping even more red states than they already have.But Alaska was supposed to be a toss-up. Mississippi — one of the reddest states in the country — wasn’t really on the national radar. President Trump won the state by 23 percentage points in 2024 — his third straight win there. Looking ahead to the 2026 Senate race, analysts said it was a “likely Republican” hold. Barely anyone bothered to poll it. Yet, here we are, with Colom edging Hyde-Smith as lawyers, operatives and legal observers descend on Mississippi to watch officials count every last ballot. How did the Mississippi Senate race get so close — and what happens next? Who is Scott Colom?Colom, 43, was born in Columbus, Miss., to two lawyers who also participated in politics. In 1987, his father, Wilbur, ran for state treasurer as a Republican; his mother, Dorothy, served as the first Black Chancery Court judge in their home district. Colom earned his JD from the University of Wisconsin in 2009 and went on to serve as the first Black justice court judge in Lowndes County, Miss., before becoming the first Black city prosecutor in Columbus. In 2015, Colom defeated a nearly 30-year incumbent to become the first Black district attorney elected in a majority-white voting district in Mississippi history. He has since prosecuted a number of high-profile murder and sexual assault cases. Colom gives an update about his Senate race on Nov. 4, 2026 in Jackson, Miss.Rogelio V. Solis/Getty ImagesIn 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Colom to serve as federal judge for the Northern District of Mississippi. Leading Magnolia State Republicans — including Sen. Roger Wicker and former Govs. Phil Bryant and Haley Barbour — backed Colom’s nomination. “I have known two generations of the Colom family for over 20 years and believe Scott Colom possesses the discernment to be a fair and exemplary judge,” Bryant told the New York Times.But Hyde-Smith blocked Colom’s nomination in the Senate, citing support his 2015 campaign received from a political action committee funded by George Soros and claiming that he favored allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ and women’s sports. The White House characterized Hyde-Smith’s concerns as “spurious.” In a letter to Hyde-Smith urging her to reconsider, Colom confirmed that he had signed a letter with other prosecutors condemning efforts to criminalize gender-affirming care for transgender people, but insisted that their joint statement “did not comment on legislation specifically related to participation in athletics.” Colom also said he had not known about Soros’s contributions to the Mississippi Safety and Justice PAC “until I read about them in my hometown paper.”Colom’s unsuccessful nomination was returned to Biden on Jan. 3, 2024. In September 2025, Colom announced his U.S. Senate candidacy. How Colom caught upHyde-Smith, 67, is a former lobbyist and state legislator who was serving as Mississippi’s agriculture and commerce commissioner when she was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2018 following the resignation of Republican Sen. Thad Cochran. She won a 2018 special election and a 2020 full-term election, and she has served in the Senate ever since. There were signs before Election Day that Hyde-Smith might be vulnerable to “voter apathy,” as one Mississippi State University political science professor recently put it. Sen. Wicker won reelection in 2024 by 25 points; Hyde-Smith’s margin of victory in 2020 was less than half that. And while the only polls made public this cycle showed Hyde-Smith ahead, her leads were stuck in the single digits — no survey put her support above 50%. One April Democratic poll showed Hyde-Smith trailing a hypothetical “someone else” 33% to 53%. Hyde-Smith speaks at a campaign event in Corinth, Miss., on Oct. 26, 2026.Madison Thorn/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesRegardless, Hyde-Smith seemed content to coast to reelection, barely bothering to appear on the campaign trail. But Colom didn’t have that luxury — and when he cut a viral campaign ad about beef prices in mid-October, the tide started to turn. Asked earlier this year about soaring costs, including the price of beef, Hyde-Smith told local TV station WLOX that “all commodities go through peaks and valleys,” but “you have so many proteins to choose from.”In the final weeks of the campaign, Colom seized on Hyde-Smith’s remark about “proteins” to mock her with a spot featuring incredulous Mississippians grilling burgers, dining out and shopping for groceries — and saying they’d rather “pick another senator instead” (along with other, more colorful language). The video has since racked up nearly 14 million views on Colom’s X account.When the ad took off, national Democrats sprang into action. The Senate Majority PAC poured $2.2 million into the race; Senate Democrats’ campaign arm contributed another $500,000. Former President Barack Obama filmed an endorsement ad. Former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Raphael Warnock of Georgia rushed to Mississippi to rally with Colom. In response, Republicans were forced to play defense, sending Trump to Mississippi in the final days of the campaign (along with cash infusions of their own).She done lost her damn mind. pic.twitter.com/wHPt4PSAob— Scott Colom (@scott_colom) October 13, 2026 In the end, it wasn’t enough to give Hyde-Smith a decisive victory on Election Day. When Trump came to Mississippi, Colom went to his event to talk to rally-goers about health care, grocery bills and gas prices. “I got the best message ever for Republican voters in Mississippi,” he told CNN afterward. “I’m going to get you what you were promised in 2024. You were promised lower grocery prices on Day One. That’s what I will fight for. You were promised no more endless wars. That’s what I will fight for. You were promised the full and transparent release of the Epstein files. That’s what I will fight for.” According to preliminary New York Times estimates, Colom performed 19 points better among white Mississippi voters than Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. He won new voters — that is, those who didn’t vote in 2024 — by 25 points.  What happens nextThe contest between Colom and Hyde-Smith hasn’t been called yet because officials are still tallying two remaining batches of ballots.The first batch contains mail-in absentee ballots, which must be postmarked by Election Day and arrive by Tuesday, Nov. 10. The other batch contains affidavit ballots, which were generally cast by people who did not present an acceptable photo ID at the polls or who had been marked as inactive on voter rolls. Voters also have until 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 10, to validate their affidavit ballots with an acceptable ID. County clerks in Mississippi then have until Friday, Nov. 13, to certify the election.The Colom campaign has said that roughly 15,000 affidavit ballots were cast this year. Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said late last week that there were as many as 20,000 outstanding ballots of all kinds — including more than 3,000 mail-in ballots — and that about half them had been processed by midday Friday. Colom’s team believes his lead will expand once all the outstanding ballots are counted. (It has already grown by more than 2,500 votes since Election Day.) Ahead of Mississippi’s March primaries, incorrect Experian information mistakenly led to the inactivation of legitimate voters — and inactivations have more than doubled in some jurisdictions since then. Discrepancies caused confusion and long lines at polling places on Tuesday, forcing affected voters to cast affidavit ballots.”We are going to make sure every single vote has been counted, and I am confident we will ultimately flip this seat,” Colom wrote on X on Wednesday morning. He added on Thursday that “my campaign, alongside the [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee] and Elias Law Group, Lisa Ross, and our great team of local attorneys, are leading the effort to ensure every eligible voter is heard.” Hyde-Smith also expressed confidence on Election Night. “We still don’t have all the votes in, so we’re not calling all of it tonight, but we’re in a very good lead and I assure you, I will continue to be your U.S. Senator,” she told supporters at the time. On Thursday, Mississippi Republican Party chairman Mike Hurst said he was “enthusiastic about these outstanding ballots because a number of these, a significant number of these, we believe, are in and remain in Republican-leaning districts, precincts and counties throughout the state.”Mississippi is the only state in the country without a recount law. But if the margin is still razor-close next week, Colom or Hyde-Smith could challenge certain ballots in court. That would likely happen after certification on Nov. 13.Lawyers for Hyde-Smith and her campaign have formally written to Mississippi state officials to demand “the immediate separation, secure custody, and preservation of all affidavit ballots,” according to the New York Times — a signal that they may pursue litigation if those ballots put Colom over the top.Hurst added on Thursday that lawyers aligned with Hyde-Smith “will be ready, if necessary, to avail ourselves of every legal option at our disposal, if there is evidence that the law has been violated.”This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/article/mississippi-senate-latest-scott-coloms-lead-over-cindy-hyde-smith-tops-2500-votes-as-key-deadlines-loom-183943706.html

The NFL trade deadline had plenty of action. There were multiple teams who traded for a new starting quarterback. Stars at all three levels of the defense were dealt. There were well-known offensive linemen and receivers moved. Strangely, after weeks of chatter, the only position that didn’t see a trade was running back. But there were enough deals to keep everyone busy. Here are the five most impactful trades made since the start of this season: 1. DT Jeffery Simmons, BearsSimmons showed in his first game at Seattle how much he will impact the Bears this season. Chicago’s defense looked much different with Simmons in the middle, taking up attention from blockers and still making plays. He was a first-team All-Pro last season and could be on a similar path this season. Everyone saw Simmons’ dominance, yet the Bears were the team that acted on it. Chicago sent two first-round draft picks to Tennessee for Simmons, who is 29 years old, but the Bears and their fans won’t mind if he helps break a Super Bowl drought that dates back to the 1985 season. Given how good Chicago’s offense is and how the defense has improved already with Simmons in the middle, it’s realistic to think Chicago could find itself in the Super Bowl. “I think he’s just — I don’t know — you can feel his presence,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said after Simmons’ Week 8 Bears debut, according to the team’s site. “Especially me, I’m right behind him, so I can kind of just feel how they’re trying to block him. … They made our job a whole lot easier. But he definitely helps, for sure.” 2. DT Jordan Davis, JaguarsThe Eagles had a lot of potential trade chips, but Davis wasn’t discussed as one because he was just 26 years old and also one of the highest-paid defensive tackles in the NFL. But the Jaguars got aggressive, sending a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick to the Eagles for a player who immediately can replace (and potentially upgrade) from DaVon Hamilton, who was having a tremendous season before he tore his quadriceps and went to injured reserve. It was a very expensive trade, and probably an overpay, but Davis unquestionably makes the Jaguars stronger this season. The Jaguars also made moves for safety Jessie Bates III and another defensive tackle, Davon Godchaux, but the move for Davis is the big difference-maker for a team that has Super Bowl hopes. 3. QB Kirk Cousins, VikingsWe have to be careful to not overrate the impact of this move. The Vikings still have the fourth-best quarterback and fourth-best offense in their division. Cousins is 38 years old. And many of the same people who were clamoring for the Vikings to trade for Cousins were the same ones who, during Cousins’ previous six seasons in Minnesota, said he could never win anything. This is a rare move in the NFL as viable starting quarterbacks are hardly available in a trade. The Vikings didn’t pay too much, a third-round pick, and it’s the unique situation of a quarterback who has played with the coach and in the scheme before. He can step right in. The Vikings have a fantastic defense and now should have a competent offense. Wherever this reunion leads, it was smart for the Vikings to find out. 4. S Amani Hooker, BillsHooker is having a career year in his eighth season. He leads the NFL with five interceptions. His Pro Football Focus grade ranks fourth among safeties with at least 300 snaps. The Bills had a hole at the position after cutting C. J. Gardner-Johnson and did well to land Hooker. The Bills’ defense started slow this season and while it has played well for two weeks, that came against quarterbacks Joe Fagnano and Carson Wentz. Buffalo needed a defensive upgrade. The Bills are pretty good up front, and now they have a potential All-Pro safety this season for the back end. It was a sharp move that should improve the Bills, who are in a great spot to make the Super Bowl for the first time in the Josh Allen era. 5. QB J.J. McCarthy, GiantsWhen the Giants traded a fifth-round pick for McCarthy, it seemed like a low-cost gamble on a reclamation project. The Giants couldn’t have known they had found a starting quarterback for a team that is first in the NFC East. McCarthy had a blistering fourth quarter in relief of Jameis Winston against the Saints, throwing for 243 yards in less than a quarter. He got the starting job after that and the Giants have won both games since. It’s possible McCarthy reverts to the inconsistent form he had last season, which caused the Vikings to give up on the 10th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft after only 10 starts. But he has looked poised and gives the Giants a more stable option at quarterback than the hot-and-cold Winston. It seemed like the Giants’ season might have been done when Jaxson Dart suffered a knee injury in Week 2, but a smart and cheap trade for McCarthy could end up saving it. This article originally appeared on Yahoo Sports at https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/article/the-top-5-biggest-impact-deadline-trades-including-jaguars-and-bears-shooting-for-a-super-bowl-222036590.html