by Steve Benen | Nov 9, 2026 | Congress, Maddowblog, White House
Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia, who is expected to soon lead the House Oversight Committee, has made no effort to hide his ambitious investigative agenda in the upcoming Congress. On the contrary, the Californian spent much of last week encouraging leading Trump administration officials, including new White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, to “lawyer up.”
Attorney General Todd Blanche apparently heard about Garcia’s comments, and he was not pleased.
“Well, I’ll tell you what, Stephen Miller has a lawyer,” he said on Fox News during a Friday night appearance. “It’s me.” Blanche, who ostensibly leads the Justice Department, echoed the point two days later in another Fox News appearance, questioning whether the United States “can survive” the congressional oversight efforts that haven’t happened yet.
The attorney general added, “If you work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It’s me, and we will defend you. We will work hard.”
The same morning, CNN’s Dana Bash also interviewed Blanche and asked whether he believes it’s his job to represent officials facing congressional investigations. “Wait, do I see it as my job?” he replied. “The Constitution sees it as my job.”
The attorney general quickly added that he would also intend to defend Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the event of his impeachment.
None of this made any sense. The Constitution, which Blanche has sworn to protect and defend, does not reference the office of the attorney general, so the idea that it requires him to defend administration officials facing congressional investigations is foolish. What’s more, every executive branch official who has ever been impeached has relied on defense attorneys, not federal prosecutors.
Blanche, in other words, sounded very
by Steve Benen | Nov 7, 2026 | Maddowblog
Today’s edition of quick hits.
* That he chose not to speak to the Ukrainian representative who was already in the White House says a great deal: “President Trump said he met with a senior Russian official in Washington on Thursday and promised a Ukraine peace deal that ‘might involve all of Europe,’ a sign that the president remains involved in talks to end the war even after his party was trounced in the midterm elections.”
* Arch on ice, for now: “A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration late Thursday from beginning construction on President Donald Trump’s 250-foot arch, which a planning commission had approved hours earlier after a contentious online meeting.”
* All eyes on Mississippi: “An unlikely battle in Mississippi’s Senate race remained tight on Friday, after the latest tranche of votes reported showed Scott Colom, a Democratic prosecutor, leading Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Republican incumbent, by just over 2,000 votes. Mr. Colom netted an additional 100 votes over Ms. Hyde Smith from a report at 3:59 p.m. Eastern from Pike County, bringing his statewide lead to 2,129 votes, according to The Associated Press.”
* Elections continue to have consequences in Texas: “Mayor John Whitmire of Houston said he was directing city police officers on Friday to limit their cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement during traffic stops, bucking a policy imposed on Texas’s largest city by Gov. Greg Abbott. Under an executive order from the mayor, Houston police officers will no longer alert ICE agents when they encounter an unauthorized migrant during routine traffic stops or in connection with other low-level infractions.”
* I wonder why an administration would pay
by Steve Benen | Nov 6, 2026 | Congress, elections, Maddowblog
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* The National Republican Congressional Committee exists to help elect as many House GOP candidates as possible, and leading the NRCC is not an easy task. Not only does the chair have to oversee recruiting and training, but he or she also has to direct resources and monitor polling, all while doing the job of a full-time member of Congress.
In this year’s midterm elections, it was Republican Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina who took on the challenge, knowing that previous NRCC chairs who did well used the gig as a springboard to bigger and better things.
The trouble is, Hudson, while focusing on several dozen key races nationwide, ended up facing a tougher-than-expected challenge in his own conservative district.
On Thursday, The Associated Press called the race: In an outcome that proved surprisingly emblematic of the entire election cycle, the sitting chair of the NRCC narrowly lost his own re-election bid in a district that Donald Trump won by 16 points in 2024.
* On a related note, North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District proved to be the most expensive U.S. House race in American history, but the Republican spending was for naught: The incumbent Democrat, Rep. Don Davis, prevailed. This is the same district GOP officials in the state redrew specifically to defeat Davis in a failed gerrymandering scheme.
* The state of Indiana apparently has a new political party called the Lincoln Party. As NBC News reported, “The party’s first candidate, former two-term Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, won more than 3% of the vote in the Indiana secretary of state’s race Tuesday, according
by Steve Benen | Nov 6, 2026 | Congress, elections, Maddowblog, Science
A few days before Election Day, The New York Times published a deeply disheartening report on the extent to which Donald Trump is “dismantling America’s scientific research machine,” adding that the president and his team are imposing regressive policies that are “jeopardizing the nation’s advantages in defense, medicine and technology.”
The report was remarkable but not altogether surprising. Indeed, among the most consequential disasters of Trump’s second term is the relentless war the Republican administration has waged on science and research, starting early last year.
It was therefore heartening to see empiricism strike back in the midterm elections. The New York Times also reported:
[Democratic Rep.-elect Daniel Biss of Illinois] is one of several scientists and physicians who was elected to Congress on Tuesday. Like him, most are Democrats and most were elected to the House. They plan, they say, to use their knowledge to combat what they see as the anti-science policies promoted by the Trump administration.
The incoming scientists represent “a real repudiation of what has been two terrible years for science and public health,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, a group that recruits Democratic doctors and scientists to run for office.
Along with Biss, a mathematician at the University of Chicago, the incoming contingent includes Democratic Rep.-elect Jasmine Clark of Georgia, who will soon become Congress’ only microbiologist.
What’s more, the number of Democrats with medical training who won key contests in the midterms is also striking, and the list includes Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan (a former public health director), Sen.-elect Annie Andrews of South Carolina (a pediatrician) and Gov.-elect Amy Acton of Ohio (a doctor who served as the
by Steve Benen | Nov 6, 2026 | Economy, Maddowblog, White House
Expectations heading into this week showed projections of about 59,000 new jobs being created in the United States in October. As it turns out, according to the new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the totals far exceeded those expectations.
All told, the economy added 165,000 jobs in October, and the overall unemployment rate inched lower, falling from 4.2% to 4.1%. Adding to the good news, job totals from August and September were also revised up by a combined 84,000 jobs.
The news wasn’t entirely encouraging — the BLS report showed more subdued wage growth, which is a problem for consumers trying to keep pace with rising inflation — but overall, this is one of the more promising monthly job reports of the year.
As for the larger context, 10 months into 2026, the U.S. economy has created 861,000 jobs so far this year — a monthly average of roughly 86,000 — which is a deeply underwhelming total that plainly contradicts the White House’s routinely happy talk about current conditions.
All told, the U.S. economy has added 977,000 jobs over Trump’s 22-month second term. Over the previous 22 months, the economy added nearly 3.25 million jobs. To date, the White House hasn’t even tried to explain why the domestic job market worsened after the Republican president took office.
To contextualize the data, I put together this chart to show month-to-month totals since the 2020 election. The blue columns point to Joe Biden’s presidency, while the red columns point to Trump’s.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
The post Job market showed signs of life in October, in an otherwise disappointing year appeared first on MS
by Steve Benen | Nov 6, 2026 | Maddowblog
Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A bold move in Sacramento: “California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday he is commuting all death sentences in the state, sparing roughly a quarter of the nation’s entire death row population in a move he acknowledged ‘may surface excruciating memories for victims’ families.’ The decision shifts ‘all Californian death sentences to life without the possibility of parole,’ and applies to 548 people, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.”
* It’s probably not a good day to check on your 401(k): “Stocks had their worst day in nearly two years as investors’ concerns about weaknesses in the A.I. industry re-emerged after Democratic midterm victories raised the prospect of tighter regulation. The S&P 500 fell 4.3 percent on Thursday, marking the most severe drop for the index since April 2025, when President Trump unveiled sweeping global tariffs.”
* SCOTUS news: “It’s looking more and more like President Donald Trump will be stuck with only having appointed the three Supreme Court justices at whom he has lashed out for not siding with him in every single case. Despite Democrats winning Senate control this week, Justice Samuel Alito has reportedly discussed his intention not to retire immediately and give Trump a chance to have the outgoing GOP-controlled Senate confirm his successor in the lame-duck period.”
* Document retention matters: “A top House Democrat is warning members of the Trump administration not to hide or destroy documents as the party plans to investigate top officials in the next Congress. Virginia Rep. Bobby Scott, who is primed to lead the House Education and Workforce Committee next year, sent letters to the heads of
