During a creative and journalistic writing training program I joined in Gaza City to nurture the skills of emerging writers, one seat remained empty, session after session. It belonged to Sarah, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, and who never managed to escape the brunt of Israeli violence long enough to attend a single session. Sarah currently lives with her family in a…
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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* And so it begins: “Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., filed a resolution Monday to impeach Pete Hegseth, a maneuver that will force the House Republican leadership to vote on whether to oust President Donald Trump’s embattled defense secretary after his party’s resounding losses in the midterm elections.”
* From late Friday: “President Donald Trump said the U.S. military on Friday carried out new limited strikes on Iran, targeting an Iranian air defense system. Iranian state media reported the sound of two explosions in the Suza area of Qeshm Island, which is in the crucial waterway for oil shipments.”
* Saturday’s mass shooting in Krakow, Poland: “World leaders paid tribute to victims, and Poland declared two national days of mourning after the shooter, motivated by far-right ideologies, killed six people in Kraków in what the country’s defense minister characterized as a ‘terror attack.’”
* The ongoing war: “Russia entered the fifth year of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine with a clear objective: Seize the cities in the eastern Donetsk region that remained under Kyiv’s control. But 2026 hasn’t gone according to plan for Moscow. Through the end of October, its forces have gained just 46 square miles of territory in Ukraine, compared with 1,874 square miles in 2025, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington. And for the past two months, Russian forces have lost more land than they gained, ISW says.”
* It is possible for countries to hold former leaders legally accountable: “Ousted Paraguayan President Santiago Peña was placed under house arrest Friday on suspicion of breach of trust, shortly after the
The next Congress will include about 100 new lawmakers in the House of Representatives, the largest freshman wave in decades. That also includes six newly elected members of the Democratic Socialists of America, bringing the total number of DSA members in Congress to eight. One of the incoming DSA congressmembers will be California’s Angela Gonzales-Torres, who worked two other jobs while…
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President Donald Trump issued a Truth Social post on Monday morning casting doubts on the “honesty” of the 2026 midterm elections, less than one week after initially stating he would accept the results. “Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest?” Trump wrote in his latest missive about the midterms. He went on to reprise grievances from past elections…
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I had lunch with Donald Rumsfeld 20 years ago today, the day after he announced his resignation as President George W. Bush’s defense secretary. Amid widespread fatigue and deep opposition to the Iraq War, the Republican Party had just lost 31 seats in the House and six seats in the Senate. Some Republicans privately complained that Bush should have fired Rumsfeld the day before the midterm election instead of characterizing his resignation as a “mutual decision” after the fact.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth finds himself in a remarkably similar position after fatigue and opposition to the war with Iran and the higher prices it caused led to a Republican Party defeat that was even more devastating than 2006. The question isn’t just whether President Donald Trump will ask him to resign, it’s also whether the House of Representatives will vote for his impeachment. Whether Hegseth steps aside or fights will tell us much about how Trump plans to deal with a Democratic congressional majority in January.
Whether Hegseth steps aside or fights will tell us much about how Trump plans to deal with a Democratic congressional majority in January.
Rep. Tom Massie, R-Ky., introduced eight articles of impeachment on Monday. These center on the unauthorized war with Iran, violations of the War Powers Resolution and allegations of military and conduct abuse, including boat strikes in the Caribbean (an alleged war crime) and blocking the promotion of 50 officers selected for general or admiral rank. Massie attempted to force an impeachment vote against Hegseth before the election, but it was blocked by Speaker Mike Johnson.
There are probably enough votes in the House to impeach