Mississippi has turned blue and the White House has decided oversight is a crime.
🇺🇸 USA
Democrat Scott Colom has beaten Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi after eight days of counting. He's the state's first Black senator since Reconstruction, and it takes Democrats to at least 55 seats in the new Senate. Next to watch is Alaska, where Mary Peltola leads the count; a win there would make it 56 before the new Congress sits in January. https://t.co/xZFup3bpwT
White House counsel Will Scharf has warned incoming Democratic investigators that their planned probes of the administration could amount to "blatant criminality". On the same day a Texas US attorney told Senator Richard Blumenthal to preserve documents from his inquiry into White House ballroom donors, threatening "significant legal consequences". That sets up a fight over Congress's oversight powers the moment Democrats take the gavels in January. https://t.co/iMvIzU0J0Z https://t.co/3iCbQLrjuN
With a month to go, Congress is nowhere near a deal to fund the government. Democrats want a short stopgap at current levels until they hold power, while Republicans want to use their last weeks in control. The deadline is 11 December, so watch for a stopgap bill or a pre-Christmas shutdown. https://t.co/NqbKf2SJ33
Senior Democrats are gathering in Denver for what was billed as a post-midterm rethink and has turned into a victory lap after their best result in decades. Watch for who sets out the agenda for the new majority, and for an early start to the 2028 jockeying. https://t.co/kUm4f3sy8F
Oh that’s rich! You calling for Pete Hegseth’s impeachment over an “illegal war” and “extrajudicial killings” is pure selective outrage from someone who spent years soft-pedaling Iranian regime aggression and cartel violence while demanding process only when Republicans act. Keep looking over your shoulder, your time is coming.
The President has found his softer side on immigration, and hired Stephen Miller to run it.
🇺🇸 USA
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries says he's a "hard yes" on impeaching Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over the Iran war. The resolution comes from outgoing Republican Thomas Massie. → It's expected to be filed in the coming days, so watch for the first real test of whether any Republicans break ranks before the new Democratic Congress sits in January. https://t.co/jOqEjDxu48
Trump has called the Democrats' early investigation requests "extortion at the highest level". Attorney General Todd Blanche says criminal investigations of Democrats are possible. → Robert Garcia (House Oversight) and Elizabeth Warren (Senate Banking) say Elon Musk's DOGE role and Stephen Miller's immigration crackdown are first in line once they take the gavels in January. Expect a subpoena fight. https://t.co/s7zVWtlTGZ
In his first big interview since the midterm wipeout, Trump told CBS's 60 Minutes that his deportation policy "might be too tough" and that an immigration deal with Democrats is "doable". He made Miller, the architect of that policy, his chief of staff the same day the interview was taped. → Watch whether any deal surfaces, or whether the promised "couple of months of vetoes" comes first. https://t.co/4DLPvQhjbJ
UPDATE: Marco Rubio says the Iran war isn't "necessarily popular" but was necessary, and that there's no breakthrough in talks. Trump says more strikes are "highly unlikely" if a "strong agreement" is signed. → Trump meets Qatar's Prime Minister, the chief mediator, at the White House today (Monday), and Rubio heads to the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Paris. https://t.co/WJmOFNQTys
@wesstreeting England hit a record 4,793 rough sleepers on a single night in autumn 2025. If words matched action, why is the official count still a record?
The President wants a cage fighter at the podium and his party wants a therapist.
🇺🇸 USA
Trump says he's offered UFC boss Dana White the job of White House press secretary, with UFC fighters as "assistants" to take on the "Lunatic Left". The White House hasn't confirmed it and nobody will say if he's joking → Watch for White's answer, and for Trump's 60 Minutes interview, airing tonight around midnight UK time, where he hints at "a few changes" to his Cabinet. https://t.co/Q0xnwT5RAQ
Republicans are tearing into themselves after the midterm wipeout. DeSantis calls it "close to an extinction-level event", Cruz a "Watergate-level repudiation" and Pence a "reckoning", while JD Vance blames anger over the Iran war → Expect an open fight over whether to double down on MAGA or go back to Reagan conservatism, as Democrats promise swift bills to stop the Iran war and roll back tariffs once they hold both chambers. https://t.co/d1nUiQVsxG
Iran's Revolutionary Guard says it has scrapped its self-imposed 2,000km (1,200-mile) cap on ballistic missile range, which has raised fears of a renewed all-out war. Axios reports Vance is leading a behind-the-scenes push for a new Iran deal → Trump's next move on Iran is now the key test, both for the war and for the GOP's 2028 hopes. https://t.co/oOvt2vfLzv
A federal judge says she'll appoint Jessie Liu, a former Trump-era US attorney for DC, to investigate whether Interior, Park Service and DOJ officials misled her in the lawsuit over Trump's renovation of a historic public golf course on the Potomac → Watch for the formal appointment and whether any officials face ethics findings. https://t.co/Q0xnwT5RAQ