by Jordan Rubin | Nov 7, 2026 | Deadline: Legal Blog
Welcome back, Deadline: Legal newsletter readers. As far as stories of the week go, it’s hard to beat Tuesday night’s blue tsunami in the midterm elections.
But I want to highlight a remarkable development that came the night before, when the Supreme Court smacked down a voter suppression effort from the Trump administration. Although the news from the court was understandably overtaken by the following night’s electoral rout, this was no ordinary move from the justices.
Indeed, the court order sent a message that the justices did not take seriously at all what the federal government wanted them to do.
It wanted them to issue an order to set aside some 20,000 ballots from California voters whom the government claimed it had “identified as likely noncitizens.” Lower courts had rebuffed the request while questioning both its legality and accuracy. The administration turned to the high court for relief.
Due to the legally and factually dubious nature of the request, the application filed by the administration on Monday looked like a weak one. Plus, the justices have been blocking some of the more extreme GOP bids this election season. The application seemed destined for denial.
But the appellate panel that ruled against the administration was divided, with a Trump-appointed judge arguing in dissent that the Justice Department was only seeking “modest” relief that “would not cancel any vote but would allow time to verify the eligibility of suspected noncitizens.”
That didn’t mean the administration would win at the Supreme Court. But the division in the lower court signaled that perhaps two or three sympathetic justices might dissent from a government loss; maybe that would include Justices Clarence
by David Rohde | Nov 7, 2026 | Iran, News, White House
The historic Republican losses in the midterm elections have left President Donald Trump with even fewer options for ending the war with Iran quickly, experts say.
Trump has said he would consider resuming strikes against Iran after the midterms. But U.S. airstrikes are unlikely to make the Iranian regime capitulate, and the country’s leaders are likely to stand by expansive demands they have made in negotiations.
“Iran has been very unwilling to have any reasonable discussions about peace,” said Leslie Shedd, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council and a former senior aide to Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.
Trump could launch U.S. airstrikes against Iran but the government there has already absorbed thousands of such strikes.
In the unlikely scenario that Trump takes the extraordinary step of dropping a tactical nuclear weapon on a nuclear storage site beneath Pickaxe Mountain, it would not eliminate Iran’s nuclear program, which is deeply buried and also spans the country, experts said. The first attack since Nagasaki with a nuclear weapon of any size would create long-lasting radioactive fallout and threaten to destabilize existing weapons agreements among nuclear powers.
With Democrats winning more seats in Congress and Republicans showing increasing skepticism in the Iran war, lawmakers returning to Washington next week could insist on a war powers resolution or cut funding.
Other options for Trump — a U.S. bombing campaign, a reduction in U.S. forces in the region and a unilateral declaration of victory — will not change the strategic reality.
Iran has shown that the U.S. cannot stop it from intermittently shutting down the Strait of Hormuz and driving up global energy prices.
“Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said
by Felicia Schwartz | Nov 7, 2026 | Congress, elections, News, White House
It didn’t take long for Pete Hegseth to start praising his boss’s new right-hand man.
Stephen Miller’s appointment as chief of staff could be a lifeline to the embattled defense secretary, who has mounted an aggressive public campaign to save his job.
Hegseth was quick to congratulate Miller on Friday, posting a photo of himself alongside the new White House chief of staff with the caption: “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic.”
Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic. pic.twitter.com/7gymf93Yee— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) November 6, 2026
He shared two other posts, offering “Huge CONGRATS” and asserting “Patriots in control.”
His posts initially made no mention of Susie Wiles, whom President Donald Trump had announced about an hour earlier he would be replacing with Miller. Hegseth posted again later, calling Wiles “a wonderful person” and thanking her for her “leadership, steady hand, and great service to the country and POTUS.”
The defense secretary’s social media posts were the latest example of concerted efforts to defend himself against a bipartisan impeachment push and rumblings that the president was looking to blame him for the election walloping his party suffered.
Hegseth’s aides coined the phrase “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic” in a social media blitz they began on Thursday as questions began to swirl about his future.
Wiles had soured on Hegseth in recent months as his management of the Iran war and the Pentagon — including a string of firings of top military officers — came under increasing scrutiny, according to an administration official familiar with the White House dynamics.
A senior administration official, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal staffing changes, said Miller and Hegseth “have been extremely close since the beginning
by The Associated Press | Nov 7, 2026 | News
ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — Ousted Paraguayan President Santiago Peña was placed under house arrest Friday on suspicion of breach of trust, shortly after the Senate removed him from office over the collapse of a major bank tied to his government.
All 44 senators present voted to remove Peña for misconduct in office, making him the second Paraguayan president ousted by impeachment since the country returned to democracy in 1989. The verdict came three days after regulators took over Ueno Bank, locking nearly half of Paraguay’s more than 6 million people out of their savings and bank cards and setting off the country’s worst political crisis in more than a decade.
Prosecutors ordered that Peña be held at his home until he appears before their economic crimes unit Saturday.
“We have confirmed that he is present and has himself available to the authorities for all legal proceedings,” said Silvia González, one of the prosecutors leading the case. Breach of trust carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, or up to 10 in serious cases.
Arrest of former central bank chief also ordered
The order also calls for the arrest of Carlos Carvallo, who ran the finance company that became Ueno until Peña named him central bank chief in 2023. It was not immediately clear whether Carvallo had been taken into custody.
Lawmakers accused Peña of using his political influence to steer hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds into Ueno while regulators overlooked risky insider lending. Peña has denied wrongdoing.
Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in as president Friday to serve out the term, which ends in August 2028. Alliana, who also is
by Ebony Davis | Nov 7, 2026 | Civil Rights, immigration, News
Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced Friday that police will no longer notify federal immigration authorities about administrative immigration warrants during routine encounters unless a person is arrested for a crime punishable by jail time.
The shift, announced days after Democrats swept key statewide races in Texas, marks a significant change in how Houston police cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Whitmire, a Democrat, signed an executive order changing the Houston Police Department’s procedures for contacting ICE, saying the move would ease fears in immigrant communities while maintaining public safety.
“I have directed the chief and HPD through an executive order that we will change our policy in regarding contact with ICE,” Whitmire said at a news conference Friday. “I do this to begin a healing process, reduce fear and anxiety across our community.”
Under the order, officers will no longer notify ICE about administrative immigration warrants during routine stops that do not result in an arrest. Police will still contact ICE if someone arrested for a new crime punishable by jail time also has such a warrant.
Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz said officers have already received updated instructions.
“If our police officers pull someone over for a minor traffic infraction and they write a citation, that person receives the citation and goes about their day,” Diaz said. “HPD will no longer contact ICE if they have an administrative warrant and they are not arrested.”
The announcement follows Democratic victories in Texas, including Gina Hinojosa’s defeat of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, James Talarico’s U.S. Senate win and state Sen. Nathan Johnson’s election as attorney general. Democrats also captured the lieutenant governor’s office with Vikki Goodwin and
