“Support for the death penalty in the U.S. has dropped to a more than 50-year low following a botched execution in Tennessee,” Semafor reports.
“Forty-nine percent of American adults approve of the death penalty for convicted murderers, according to Gallup, the first time the figure has dropped below 50% since 1971.”
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth plans to hold a news conference at the Pentagon on Tuesday morning to address a looming impeachment vote over his handling of the war against Iran and other military operations,” the New York Times reports.
“That he scheduled the event appears to be a measure of how much he feels the pressure to defend himself. Mr. Hegseth has not addressed reporters at the Pentagon since May, not even when a Navy commander was killed in a helicopter crash in the Arabian Sea on July 1 or when two U.S. soldiers were killed in an Iranian missile attack on a base in Jordan on July 17.”
Mediaite: Trump urges Republicans to fight Hegseth impeachment push: “Stand up for Pete.”
“To get into an exclusive dinner with President Donald Trump later this month, investors would have to spend roughly $700 buying his meme coin. Last year, the cost of admission for a similar event was roughly $59,000,” the Washington Sun reports.
“Crypto products tied to the president have cratered in value in the days following the midterm elections, as the president’s declining political power translated into declining uptake in the financial products branded with his name. Democrats, who are about to gain subpoena power in the House and Senate, have also pledged to investigate Trump’s crypto ventures, further contributing to the red.”
“At some point this afternoon, the careers of House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) will be permanently altered,” Punchbowl News reports.
“One of them – they were both first elected during George W. Bush’s presidency – will be House minority leader, charged with helping the party emerge from the smallest minority since the 1990s. The other won’t have any leadership role in the House Republican Conference.”
“Leadership races are usually filled with mudslinging and backstabbing, but this one is being conducted remarkably above board. The most negative comment from Scalise’s camp is that Jordan is too focused on investigations and has no plan for legislating. Jordan’s allies counter that it would be crazy to promote the No. 2 House GOP leader to the top slot after Republicans got obliterated last week.”
“Jordan’s allies privately claim he has more than 100 yes votes locked up, well over the threshold to win. Scalise’s team scoffs at that. Meaning one of them will walk out of the room today very surprised.”
“The U.S. evacuated American aircraft from a Royal Air Force base in England on Monday in the wake of a threat from Iran,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The precise nature of the threat to RAF Mildenhall—whether imminent or more general—remains under discussion among U.S. officials.”
“Republican leaders are fighting to keep their power on Capitol Hill today after stunning midterm losses last week,” Politico reports.
“The House and Senate GOP are poised to hold separate elections today to decide who will serve as the top Republicans in the next Congress. The winners are expected to immediately start charting a course back to governing relevance after Democrats gained the largest majorities won by any party in decades and voters delivered a firm rebuke of President Donald Trump.”
“Calley Means quickly rose from wellness entrepreneur to senior Trump health adviser — and now he’s attacking the White House and suggesting top aides undermined the president’s health agenda,” Axios reports.
“His scorched-earth campaign — which continued Monday in comments to Axios — marks a stunning turn for a figure who was the administration’s most vocal advocate of the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ agenda.”
The Guardian: Former RFK Jr adviser accuses Trump officials of prioritizing special interest groups over voters.
“Current and former House Democrats, flush with victory following their landslide midterm wins, are already looking at potential opportunities to run for Senate in 2028,” Axios reports.
“Democrats’ 2026 romp — with wins in Texas, South Carolina, Kansas and possibly even Mississippi — has some party members reevaluating what were once considered impossible targets.”
“Truth Social attracted only 11.8 million visits in October, compared to 19.5 million visits in October 2025,” The Righting reports.
“California voters rejected a proposed billionaire tax, ending a heated and expensive fight over what could have been the nation’s first modern tax on wealth,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The Associated Press called the race Monday as the ballot initiative, Proposition 40, was trailing after last week’s election. “
“The outcome is a significant blow to supporters who had hoped to create a template for taxing wealth that could extend far beyond California. It also leaves the state’s next governor, Democrat Xavier Becerra, with a major budget problem.”
“Fresh off what one senator called a ‘good old-fashioned shellacking,’ Republicans are now turning to a more painful phase of their post-election soul-searching: the airing of grievances,” Semafor reports.
“Several senators are unhappy about a rush to reelect the GOP’s Senate leadership team after voters repudiated the party’s reign in Washington. A small but vocal minority is pushing to delay leadership elections beyond Tuesday, giving more time for a potential challenger to emerge against Majority Leader John Thune and his team.”
“Rep. Haley Stevens may be a pariah to her party, but she showed up to work on Monday night anyway, albeit practically in hiding,” the Washington Sun reports.
“A week after blowing up her professional life with her shocking endorsement of Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, many wondered if Stevens would show her face in the Capitol again. Her colleagues have said she made a ‘terrible decision’ and conducted a ‘despicable betrayal. They even said there is ‘not a place’ for her in the Democratic caucus.”
“While she remained out of sight to reporters, it turns out Stevens spent Monday’s vote series in the Republican cloakroom just off of the House floor.”
“Exxon Mobil, the biggest U.S. oil company, said on Monday that it reached a preliminary deal with Venezuela that brings it a step closer to returning to the South American country,” the New York Times reports.
“Republicans are returning to work this week, facing the prospect of an especially lame lame-duck session after a bruising midterm election that set off a countdown clock on their control of Congress,” Axios reports.
“Democrats have little incentive to help Republicans advance their agenda before January, while departing GOP lawmakers could complicate matters further by skipping votes or defying party leaders.”
“As a result, most of the items on their to-do list could get kicked to the new Congress.”
“The Office of Congressional Conduct said Monday that Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) may have misused taxpayer money for luxury travel and ‘misreported or falsified campaign disbursements,’ urging further review by the House Ethics Committee,” the Washington Sun reports.
Politico: Gooden likely misused taxpayer dollars, spent extravagantly on travel, congressional watchdog says.
“Sen. Chris Van Hollen told reporters Monday evening that he’s in ‘listening mode’ about a potential bid for majority leader — and isn’t yet ruling out running against Chuck Schumer,” Politico reports.
Said Van Hollen: “What I’ve said from the very beginning is we shouldn’t have a coronation.”
The New Republic: Did Senate Democrats just find the first challenger to Chuck Schumer?
“Democrats flipped attorney general offices in five Republican-leaning states in the midterm elections, dealing a significant blow to the conservative legal movement and erecting a new line of resistance against President Donald Trump’s agenda,” Reuters reports.
“The victories in Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa and Kansas threaten to disrupt conservative legal strategy. Incoming Democratic attorneys general could halt cooperation with federal immigration operations, fortify abortion access and file multistate challenges against the Trump administration’s environmental and gun policies.”
Michael Scherer: “Stephen Miller spent his first weekend as White House chief of staff on the patio at Mar-a-Lago, huddling with President Trump and Natalie Harp, his executive assistant, about how to approach the next two years with the House and Senate under Democratic control. Katie Miller—the podcaster, political consultant, and wife of Stephen—spent the weekend in the Washington area, rearranging her own life.”
“But that was not all that was changing. For months, Stephen Miller has recused himself from matters of policy that involve Katie Miller’s other financial interests at the direction of the White House counsel.”
“That meant that Stephen did not work on issues involving the media company Paramount, where his wife had been seeking a podcast deal, or anything to do with space policy or artificial intelligence, because his wife, a longtime adviser to Elon Musk, also worked for SpaceX, the owner of the Grok artificial-intelligence assistant. All of that changed today.”
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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