Three days after the midterms cost Republicans Congress, Trump hands the West Wing’s top job to his hardline immigration architect — starting Monday, days after voters told pollsters enforcement had gone too far.
Daily Caller: Trump taps top immigration adviser as new chief of staff | AP via KXL: Miller replaces Wiles after GOP’s midterm defeat
ELECTIONS & CONGRESS
RAMAN OUSTS BASS IN L.A. MAYOR’S RACE, FIRST INCUMBENT TOPPLED IN NEARLY 25 YEARS — Nithya Raman, 52% to 48%, becomes L.A.’s first South Asian mayor; Bass conceded Thursday morning, and the 45-year-old DSA councilwoman vows to take on housing, homelessness and police reform.
COLOM EXTENDS LEAD OVER HYDE-SMITH AS THOUSANDS OF BALLOTS STILL OUT — The Democrat leads by 1,138 late Wednesday, with some 3,600 mail-in absentees outstanding and up to 18,000 affidavit ballots to cure; Schumer has called Colom and is sending DSCC resources into the count.
DEMS POISED FOR 253 SEATS — AND MAYBE 260 — IN HISTORIC HOUSE HAUL — Democrats hold 253 seats with 27 uncalled and could reach 260, an ~85-seat majority not seen since the early 1990s; more than 40 incumbents have been unseated.
WHO LEADS CONGRESS NOW? JEFFRIES AND SCHUMER IN LINE AS LEADERSHIP RACES OPEN — Jeffries is expected to become speaker and Schumer majority leader, but Maine Sen.-elect Troy Jackson says he won’t back Schumer; on the GOP side, Jordan faces Scalise for minority leader as Johnson steps aside — and funding runs out Dec. 11.
HOLSCHER CLAIMS KANSAS GOVERNOR’S RACE — BUT IT’S TOO CLOSE TO CALL — Holscher declared victory Wednesday with a lead of just over 5,500 votes — under 1%, triggering a statutory close-race audit — while mail ballots postmarked by Election Day are still being counted; Masterson wants “another look.”
SULLIVAN CAMP SEES 328-VOTE PATH AS PELTOLA LEADS FIRST CHOICES — Peltola leads by 626 first-choice votes, 102,701–102,075, but the Sullivan campaign’s simulation has him ahead by 328 after ranked-choice votes are counted; tabulation is Nov. 18, certification Nov. 25.
BUSINESS & YOUR MONEY
CVS TO SPLIT IN TWO, SEPARATING PHARMACIES FROM AETNA INSURANCE — The $117 billion breakup, due in the first half of 2028, sent shares down 12.5% to $79.96 — nearly $15 billion in market value — even as Q3 earnings of $2.09 a share easily beat estimates.
DOORDASH TO BUY INSTACART FOR $17 BILLION — Instacart shareholders get $65 a share, a 26% premium; at least 75% cash, backed by a JPMorgan bridge loan; the deal faces U.S. antitrust review and isn’t expected to close before late 2027.
QUICK HITS
CONLEY TAKES NY-17 IN BIG WIN FOR DEMOCRATS
2026 ELECTION RESULTS STATE BY STATE: LEADERSHIP, BALLOT LAWS
HOLSCHER CLAIMS VICTORY BUT KANSAS GOVERNOR’S RACE TOO CLOSE TO CALL
250-SEAT HOUSE MAJORITY LOCKED IN FOR DEMOCRATS AS COUNT CONTINUES
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S ARCH AT THE 11TH HOUR — Judge Tanya Chutkan barred any construction for 14 days late Thursday, within an hour of the planning commission’s 8–4 approval after eight hours of testimony; the 250-foot arch at Memorial Circle would take 20 hours a day, two to three years to build — and the White House unveiled a website for it Friday morning anyway.
JUDGE BARS TRUMP DOJ FROM INTERFERING IN WASHINGTON’S BALLOT COUNT — Judge Jamal Whitehead’s 14-day order bars DOJ and DHS from demanding Washington set aside some 400 voters’ ballots or threatening election workers: “Voters who followed the rules should not lose their votes to a list that even its authors admit may include citizens.”
OCTOBER CPI LANDS TUESDAY — THE LAST INFLATION READ BEFORE THE FED’S DECEMBER CALL — Core inflation is nowcast at about 0.21–0.22% for October, and a December hike is priced near 75% after the hot jobs report — 165,000 jobs, unemployment down to 4.1%.
NEWSOM COMMUTES ALL 548 CALIFORNIA DEATH SENTENCES IN LARGEST CLEMENCY ACT IN U.S. HISTORY — The governor commuted every death sentence Thursday to life without parole — including Scott Peterson, Richard Allen Davis and Charles Ng — with nearly 400 cases still needing state Supreme Court approval; no one has been executed in California since 2006.
BUSINESS & YOUR MONEY
ARAMCO PROFIT JUMPS 34.5% AS WAR LIFTS OIL PRICES — Q3 net profit hit $36.25 billion on realized crude of $95.2 a barrel, up from $70.1 a year ago — even as output fell — and Riyadh raised its 2026 budget-deficit forecast to 245 billion riyals, 4.9% of GDP.
HOUSING TROUBLES MAY BE TOO FEW RESIDENTS, NOT TOO FEW HOMES — JPMorgan’s David Kelly says slower population growth — about 800,000 a year — means demand for only ~320,000 new units a year; rental vacancies have risen to 7.3% while the 30-year mortgage sits at 7.32% and starts head for their weakest year since 2019.
QUICK HITS
DECEMBER 2026 FED COMBO: RATE HIKE AND DISSENTS
TREASURY YIELDS AFTER OCTOBER JOBS: DECEMBER FED HIKE IN FOCUS
TRADING DESK BRIEF: WEEK OF NOVEMBER 9
U.S. EMPLOYERS ADD 165K JOBS IN STRONG OCTOBER, UNEMPLOYMENT DIPS
GEOPOLITICS
HORMUZ SHIPPING AT 7% OF NORMAL AS TANKERS QUEUE AND WAR-RISK PREMIUMS SOAR — Just six ships a day are transiting, 158 vessels queued, war-risk premiums up 300%; two tankers hit mines Thursday and Brent pushed toward $100 — while South Korea sent its Cheonghae naval unit and a U.S. carrier group heads for the area.
UKRAINE HITS RUSSIAN DEPOTS AND REFINERIES AS STRIKES DEEPEN — Kyiv’s forces hit two ammunition depots near Melitopol, a drone command post near Chasiv Yar and a fuel depot in Donetsk — and the Afipsky refinery in Krasnodar Krai was struck overnight.
TRUMP SAYS U.S. WILL STOP PAYING ISRAEL AFTER YEAR-END — Trump told Fox & Friends the U.S. will end about $4 billion a year in aid to Israel by the end of 2026, calling it a “bad talking point” used by left-wing Democrats — even though the current memorandum runs through September 2028.
HERZOG: END TO U.S. AID CAME AS A ‘COMPLETE SHOCK’ — Israel’s president said the suspension caught him off guard as he consults on forming a government — 67 lawmakers back Eisenkot to lead it, against 46 for Netanyahu — while the IDF reported finding 340-plus Hezbollah weapons in southern Lebanon.
RUSSIA STRUGGLING TO EXPORT DIESEL UNDER U.S. DEAL, ASSESSMENT FINDS — Tankers are being diverted with no confirmed buyers as Ukraine’s refinery campaign cuts Russia’s diesel supply; a smoke plume rose over the Ryazan refinery — and Melania Trump hosted Ukrainian and Russian officials on an Oleshky ceasefire.
BUSINESS & YOUR MONEY
OIL NEARS $100 AS IRAN ESCALATION MEETS DIPLOMACY — Brent rose 1.67% to $99.90 and WTI 1.43% to $91.69, with one analyst putting the odds of renewed fighting at 80% even as Iran floated a nuclear proposal through Qatar.
QUICK HITS
HERZOG ALARMED AS TRUMP ANNOUNCES END TO U.S. MILITARY AID FOR ISRAEL
BRENT RECLAIMS $100, WTI NEARS $92 — BOTH HEAD FOR 12% WEEKLY DECLINE
HERZOG CALLS TRUMP’S AID PLAN ‘BOLT FROM THE BLUE’
OIL REBOUNDS NEARLY 4% AS TRUMP’S IRAN WAR KEEPS CANADIAN ENERGY PRICES UNDER PRESSURE
SPORTS
FAU 60, UTSA 29: MESSER’S 4 TDS SNAP ROADRUNNERS’ 5-GAME WIN STREAK — Easton Messer scored four touchdowns — three receiving, one passing — as Florida Atlantic rolled Thursday night; UTSA falls to 7–2, FAU improves to 6–3.
IT ISN’T CATHOLICS VS. CONVICTS — BUT MIAMI–NOTRE DAME HAS AWAKENED THE ECHOES — No. 1 Miami (8–0) visits No. 11 Notre Dame on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. — the first time the Hurricanes have been ranked No. 1 since 2002 — but star Malachi Toney is out with an ankle injury.
KLAY’S OT WINNER, KNICKS’ 84-POINT HALF: THOMPSON’S 30 LEADS HEAT PAST CLIPPERS — Thompson buried the game-winner with one second left in overtime for a 117–116 win, and the Knicks set a franchise record with an 84-point half in a 135–105 rout of the Bulls.
WEMBANYAMA’S HISTORIC NIGHT: 52 POINTS, 24 REBOUNDS, 8 BLOCKS — The Spurs star posted career highs across the board in a 112–111 win over Dallas — the first 50-20-5 game since Bob McAdoo in 1974 — including three blocks in a single 13-second possession.
TRAVEL
6 FESTIVALS WORTH LISTING FOR IN THE USA, CANADA AND MEXICO — San Diego Food+Wine’s Grand Tasting on Saturday, the Kona Coffee Festival, Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair, León’s 200-balloon festival and more fill the next two weekends.
TEXAS GETAWAYS FOR NOVEMBER: GUNTER HOTEL, COWGIRL MUSEUM, CANYON RANCH — Fort Worth’s National Cowgirl Museum reopens Saturday after a $19 million expansion, San Antonio marks 90 years since Robert Johnson recorded in Room 414, and Canyon Ranch Austin is open on 600 acres.
NOVEMBER NAMED MOST UNDERRATED MONTH FOR A UK BREAK — Only 5% of holidays are taken in November — but the Peak District, Cotswolds, New Forest, Somerset and the Lake District are at their quietest, with Christmas markets opening next weekend.
MUSIC, MARKETS AND FESTIVALS: WHERE TO GO THIS WEEKEND — Ten events run Friday through Sunday, from Liefde by die Dam’s 10th anniversary at Meerendal to the Tembisa Kota Festival and Soweto Fashion Week.
FOOD
THE PERFECT TURKEY: MAPLE-BRINED BREAST, ROASTED TO 155 — Chef Beth Fisher’s maple-brined roast turkey breast — kosher salt, maple syrup, orange peel, peppercorns, four to six hours — finished with rosemary-apple garnish and smoked turkey gravy.
CREAMED COLLARDS FOR THANKSGIVING — Nashville chef Jason LaIacona’s take on the holiday staple — bacon, brown sugar, cider vinegar and heavy cream — from a New England transplant who found his way to the Southern table.
WEEK 10: MAKE IT AHEAD BY INA GARTEN — The cookbook club tackles Pastitsio — Greek baked pasta between baked ziti and lasagna — plus what Ina calls the “greatest hack to hosting Thanksgiving”: make-ahead turkey gravy with onions and sage.
THE BEST THANKSGIVING SIDE DISH? A COOKING BATTLE OVER CORN — Three writers and guest judge Isaac Toups settle it — cranberry-chestnut fried nasaump cakes in duck fat against cornbread stuffing with poblano and chives.
AI IS ACCELERATING HACKS FASTER THAN DEFENSES CAN KEEP UP — Reported software flaws nearly tripled to about 37,000 in the third quarter, and executives tell Reuters the attacks are arriving weekly now, not months apart — hacked supermarket fridges, a record $6.3 billion Binance theft, and a PHP flaw that took sites offline from Tokyo to Helsinki. The AI growth engine is now also the attack engine, and the defense bill — McKinsey puts the cyber market at $346 billion by 2029 — lands on every business and household.
MILLER’S ELEVATION PUTS THE IMMIGRATION ARCHITECT IN CHARGE OF THE WEST WING — The man who designed the administration’s hardline enforcement — and whom voters just told pollsters went too far, six in ten saying so — now runs the White House itself, starting Monday. The immigration thread’s central question sharpens: with Democrats holding both chambers and oversight hearings coming, does the enforcement machine accelerate, or does it become the first thing investigated?
THE HOUSING SHORTAGE MAY BE A DEMAND STORY NOW — JPMorgan’s David Kelly argues the U.S. isn’t short of homes so much as short of people to fill them — population growth of ~800,000 a year creates demand for only ~320,000 new units, while rental vacancies have climbed to 7.3%. Against the thread’s baseline of 22.7 million cost-burdened renters, the question flips: if the shortage is really a demand slowdown, do prices finally break — or do 7.32% mortgages keep the market frozen anyway?
THE DEBT JUST HIT ANOTHER RECORD: $40.56 TRILLION — The Treasury’s total public debt outstanding rose $5.89 billion in a single day to $40,556,120,784,983 as of Thursday. Divided government was supposed to mean restraint — instead the new Congress inherits a borrowing bill that grows even on quiet days, and the spending promises that powered the blue wave now have to be paid for out of it.
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