by Steve Benen | Nov 11, 2026 | Congress, elections, Maddowblog
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* As Sen. John Fetterman’s support among Pennsylvania Democrats collapses to embarrassing depths, the question about whether he would face primary rivals became a foregone conclusion months ago. The better question is how many primary rivals the senator is likely to face.
Earlier this week, Ahmed Moor, a Philadelphia-based writer and entrepreneur, helped get the ball rolling, kicking off his 2028 Senate race, though he’s likely to have plenty of company. Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean acknowledged Tuesday that she’s considering a Senate run of her own, and Democratic Rep. Chris Deluzio said he’s giving the race “serious thought.”
* The Senate Republicans’ leadership for the next Congress was elected Tuesday in a closed-door meeting, and outgoing Senate Majority Leader John Thune was easily chosen to serve as the next Senate minority leader. He will be joined by Wyoming’s John Barrasso, who will be the Republicans’ minority whip; Arkansas’ Tom Cotton, who will serve as the GOP conference chair; West Virginia’s Shelley Moore Capito, who will serve as the Republicans’ policy committee chair; and Oklahoma’s James Lankford, who will be the GOP conference vice chair.
* As for the party’s campaign committees, the National Republican Senatorial Committee will be led by Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, while Rep. Brian Jack of Georgia will chair the National Republican Congressional Committee.
* The incoming Senate Democratic majority’s leadership appears increasingly murky: While it was widely assumed that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer would continue in his role, MS NOW reported that Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen has begun reaching out to his Democratic colleagues about a possible challenge.
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by S. Baum | Nov 11, 2026 | doj, Gender-Affirming Care, Justice Department, LGBTQ, News, trans youth
Brett Shumate has become the fourth Department of Justice official to join the post-election exodus from the agency following Republicans’ crushing midterm defeat — marking the end of the tenure of a man who helped grease the wheels of the anti-trans machine. “The rats are fleeing the sinking ship,” Alejandra Caraballo, a lawyer and trans rights scholar, posted on Bluesky…
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by Steve Benen | Nov 11, 2026 | Congress, Maddowblog, White House
Ordinarily, the House Natural Resources Committee is a relatively obscure congressional panel that tackles work far from the kind of high-profile political disputes that generate national headlines. But during Donald Trump’s presidency, the committee’s importance has grown in unexpected ways.
The reason is simple: The House Natural Resources Committee has oversight authority over the Interior Department, the Cabinet agency the White House has relied on to advance many of Trump’s vanity projects, including the ballroom, the Reflecting Pool overhaul and plans for a “triumphal” arch.
If the incoming Democratic majority is going to get answers on the administration’s efforts related to any of these projects, the information is going to come through this often-overlooked committee.
With this in mind, it was striking to see a CNN report this week on whistleblowers who have alleged that Interior Department officials have already begun destroying internal documents in anticipation of Democratic oversight.
An Interior Department spokesperson called the whistleblower claims “100% false,” though Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California, who’s expected to chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, is clearly taking the matter seriously. The Washington Sun reported:
[Huffman] sent letters to 36 federal agencies and private companies on Monday, ordering them to preserve documents, communications and other records tied to the committee’s investigations of the Trump administration.
“For the past two years, the Trump Administration has repeatedly obstructed congressional investigations by failing to provide the House Committee on Natural Resources with information necessary to fulfill its oversight responsibilities,” Huffman’s letters state.
Time will tell what becomes of the Democratic lawmaker’s pushback, and what we learn from the apparent whistleblowers, but it’s worth emphasizing that the Interior
by Alex Cuadros | Nov 11, 2026 | Bill Gates, Climate Crisis, Emissions, Global Warming, Landfills, Methane, News
In November 2015, world leaders descended on Paris to negotiate a historic agreement to limit global warming. But on the summit’s opening day, attention turned to a private citizen slouched awkwardly in a chair on stage: Bill Gates. Gates, with his characteristic flop of sandy hair, grinned impishly as President Barack Obama called him a “visionary” and a “driving force” behind a pair of…
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by Jesse Hagopian | Nov 11, 2026 | Book Bans, brazil, Coup, critical thinking, Critical thinking skills, Democracy, Dictatorship, documentary, education, illiteracy, Inequality, Interview, João Goulart, Land Rights, literacy, Organizing, Paulo Freire, pedagogy of the oppressed, reconstruction, Slavery, Voting Rights
In 1963, Brazilian educator Paulo Freire helped launch a revolutionary literacy campaign in the impoverished northeastern Brazilian town of Angicos, where hundreds of rural workers learned to read and write in just 40 hours of instruction. Freire’s approach was about much more than literacy. Rather than emphasizing memorization and repetition, he developed “Culture Circles” where participants…
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