Midterms are usually a referendum on the party in power — and history is brutal.

Since World War II, the president’s party has managed to gain House seats in a midterm just twice: in 1998 and 2002. Those were unusual moments, powered by incumbents with high approval ratings.

President Trump warned that Iran will be “hit very hard” this weekend — including strikes on “areas and groups of people” not yet targeted — as the Israeli-American military campaign entered its second week with no clear offramp.

A few thoughts:

President Trump made it through more than a year of his second term without firing a single Cabinet secretary.

That streak ended yesterday when Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was shown the door.

It was another week where the breaking news headlines wouldn’t stop.

From campaign shakeups and war in the Middle East to the latest twists in the Trump administration’s power struggles, the political world kept moving at breakneck speed.

The latest episode of Trial Balloon is live.

The 2028 presidential race just got less clear for Republicans but perhaps a little more clear for Democrats.

Montana politics took a sudden turn just minutes before the candidate filing deadline.

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) abruptly withdrew his name from the ballot despite having already filed to seek a third term. Within minutes, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme (R) filed paperwork to run in his place.

For much of the last year, it looked like President Trump had already sketched out the next Republican ticket.

Vice President JD Vance at the top. Secretary of State Marco Rubio alongside him.

The Pentagon just told Silicon Valley to leave principles out of doing business with the government. 

In its standoff with Anthropic, the Defense Department proved it meant exactly what it said.

Iran’s long-promised retaliation arrived on Sunday.

Missiles and drones targeted Israel and several Persian Gulf states — including countries that host U.S. military bases — widening a conflict that now stretches across much of the Middle East.

Texas is about to kick off the 2026 midterm cycle.

Tuesday’s primaries aren’t just another date on the political calendar. They’re the first real stress test of the cycle — the first measurable read on enthusiasm, factional strength and whether either party is walking into November with wind at its back.

Democrats are pushing for a fast vote to rein in President Trump’s war powers on Iran — casting the move as a fight over the Constitution and the president’s relentless expansion of executive power.

They argue this episode bypasses Congress’s sole authority to declare war.

Just for members: The latest issue of Ballot Access News.

This issue highlights intensifying criticism of California’s top-two primary system, amid the real possibility that November’s ballot could list only two Republicans with no write-in option.

President Trump claims he has two reasons for launching military attacks on Iran.

But as with most things in Trumpworld, the stated rationale and the underlying incentives may not line up.

President Trump launched a military strike against Iran overnight — not from the Situation Room, but from his Mar-a-Lago resort — framing it as the kind of decisive action no American president has taken against Tehran in nearly 50 years.

Trump said the attack was meant to stop “this very wicked, radical dictatorship from threatening America.”

As Bill Clinton answers questions from lawmakers about Jeffrey Epstein today, it’s not just another chapter in a scandal that refuses to die.

It will be a precedent.