by Hayes Brown | Nov 12, 2026 | Opinion, White House
It’s normal for administrations to see some turnover after a midterm election, especially if the president’s party takes the kind of beating we saw last week. What’s unusual, though, is the number of high-ranking officials who’ve already left the Department of Justice since the midterms. With their departures, an already struggling department will find itself even further under the White House’s influence, even as it becomes more hard-pressed to meet President Donald Trump’s demands.
Over the past week, the heads of three of the department’s seven divisions that handle litigation have taken their leave. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Thursday that John Eisenberg, the head of the National Security Division, had stepped down. He leaves on the division’s plate a mandate to expand domestic terrorism investigations against leftists, harass journalists for the sources of leaks and efforts to use a secretive court to deport noncitizens accused of terrorism.
The upside is that the Justice Department will have even less legal firepower, even as Democrats in Congress staff up and look to recruit top legal talent.
The same day, Blanche also announced the resignation of Harmeet Dhillon as leader of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. According to MS NOW, Dhillon was frustrated at not getting promoted despite having successfully flipped the script on the division’s historic role protecting minority rights.
And Civil Division head Brett Shumate packed his bags Monday, abandoning an office charged with defending the government against a nonstop deluge of lawsuits challenging the administration’s policies.
As of now, Dhillon is the only top staffer of the three who’s already been replaced by a temp: Craig Trainor, previously the assistant secretary for fair
by Jacques Berlinerblau | Nov 12, 2026 | culture, Opinion
In a leaked clip from a recent Madison Square Garden performance, comedian Dave Chappelle mused, “Ever since that guy Charlie Kirk got murdered, and I shouldn’t say this publicly but … I feel better.”
The precise context of these remarks is as murky as the smuggled recording that was posted on the internet. But what couldn’t be more clear — and ironic — is the effect that Chappelle’s provocations had on right-wing activists.
The joke, if we can even call it that, was abhorrent considering Kirk was brutally publicly assassinated. Yet Chappelle makes many abhorrent jokes about many different people. MAGA’s response to this one in particular reminds us of two things: They have woefully misunderstood Chapelle’s true brand, and many of them behave as if the First Amendment contains a Charlie Kirk carve-out.
MAGA’s response to this one in particular reminds us that they behave as if the First Amendment contains a Charlie Kirk carve-out.
When it comes to vicious quips about the LGBTQ community, Black people, Jews, Asian Americans or people with disabilities — if you ask your average MAGA enthusiast, those are cast as thought-provoking, healthy and constitutionally protected forms of expressive liberty.
But any invidious reference to the assassinated Kirk is beyond the pale, dangerous and potentially punishable by jail time or the revocation of one’s visa.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, posted on X: “To see leftist podcasters, comedians, and commentators laugh about political assassination as though it’s entertainment and the destruction of a human life is a punchline, is beyond disgusting. … Political violence must never be something this country tolerates, excuses, or celebrates.”
Elon Musk, ever the arbiter of kindness, posted, “Dave
by Symone D. Sanders Townsend | Nov 12, 2026 | 2026 election, Congress, elections, Opinion
I tried to tell you all. In January, I said on “The Weeknight” that Scott Colom could be a convincing candidate for the U.S. Senate. In August, when our list of 12 Senate races to watch left Mississippi off, I told viewers to pay attention anyway. I believed he could win.
Wednesday night, it became official: Colom defeated Cindy Hyde-Smith, becoming the first Black senator elected by Mississippi voters and the first Democrat the state has sent to the Senate since 1982. The last Black senators chosen to represent Mississippi, Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce, were selected during Reconstruction, a time when all U.S. senators were picked by state legislators and not voters.
In 1962, Fannie Lou Hamer went to the courthouse in Indianola to try to register to vote. The plantation owner she worked for told her to withdraw her application. She refused and lost her job. Two years later, she went to the Democratic National Convention to challenge an all-white delegation that claimed to represent Mississippi. Hamer understood that representation depended on who had the power to choose and that building that power took work.
People keep asking me what I saw in this race.
People keep asking me what I saw in this race. I saw a candidate who knew how to compete in Mississippi, and years of nonpartisan organizing that helped build an electorate ready to hear him.
Start with Colom himself. He had already won election as district attorney in a majority-white district and been re-elected twice. In 2022, President Joe Biden nominated him for a federal judgeship. Mississippi’s senior Republican senator, Roger Wicker, supported the nomination. Sen. Cindy
by Hayes Brown | Nov 11, 2026 | Opinion
Despite the historic beating Republicans took during the midterms, and much to the dismay of some White House staff, President Donald Trump has kept his focus on what truly matters to him: overlaying the nation’s capital with his overly ornate aesthetic. To that end, Trump signed a proclamation Friday naming the Oval Office a national monument. With it, he seeks to forbid future presidents from following him as project-manager-in-chief.
President Barack Obama mocked Trump’s heavily gilded makeover of the Oval Office last month when he said it looks “like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” Even before that jab and the overwrought response from conservatives, Democrats had discussed undoing the changes Trump has made at the White House. The incoming Democratic majority may choose to halt some of Trump’s construction projects, including the giant ballroom rising where the East Wing once stood.
Trump’s executive order proclamation acknowledges that the White House and its grounds are already recognized as a National Historic Landmark but gives the Oval Office — and Cabinet Room — a special carveout. The National Park Service will now require “documentation, review, and consideration of alternatives before any action that would substantially alter or demolish the monument or its essential architectural elements.”
Trump seems not to have considered that the Democrats taking office soon will likely happily sign off on any efforts to undo to his gold-plated gussying.
As he signed the proclamation, Trump weirdly claimed he would require help from Congress to make it stick. “We’re going to be declaring it a national monument, and we’re going to send it over to Congress, have it ratified,” Trump told reporters. “If they
by Jeff McCausland | Nov 11, 2026 | Opinion, Politics, White House
On the 107th anniversary of the first Veterans Day, our nation is facing one of the most challenging national security environments in modern history. The day gives us an opportunity to reflect on how the 2.1 million Americans in uniform view their ongoing service to the nation.
Because the U.S. military reported a massive turnaround from pandemic-era lows and broadly met or exceeded its recruiting and retention goals for active-duty, National Guard and most reserve forces for fiscal 2026, the Trump administration argues that there’s a high level of satisfaction across the force. However, some of that success has been attributed to a cooling civilian job market; significant junior military pay increases, including historic 10% enlisted pay raises in recent years; expanded pre-enlistment academic and fitness preparation courses; and restructured recruiting commands. A recent poll, however, suggests many military personnel feel abandoned by politicians and society and have decided to leave the service as soon as possible.
Major overseas deployments and a high operational tempo (OPTEMPO) due to the war in Iran have increased the strain on service members and their families, with significant implications for future recruiting and retention.
Major overseas deployments and a high operational tempo (OPTEMPO) due to the war in Iran have increased the strain on service members and their families, with significant implications for future recruiting and retention. The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and destroyer USS Spruance were each deployed for more than 300 days. Spruance set a post-World War II record with 342 days underway. A brigade from the 82nd Airborne Division has spent eight months in the region, and its soldiers were recently told their
by Emma Freer | Nov 10, 2026 | Opinion
As a specialist in healthcare policy, I’ve gotten used to hearing from friends and colleagues when they or their parents become eligible for Medicare. That goes double this time of year, during open enrollment. The question I hear most frequently is simple: traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage?
I tell them, and I’m telling you, what I told my dad when he turned 65: Friends and relatives don’t let friends and relatives sign up for Medicare Advantage. Medicare Disadvantage, as we wonks think of it, is a bargain that just might kill you.
Private Medicare Advantage plans promise freebies, like fancy gym memberships and preloaded debit cards, which make you think you’re getting a deal. But these plans are more likely than traditional Medicare to delay or deny coverage when enrollees advance from routine maintenance to serious illness.
Even if you can keep your doctor today, private Medicare Advantage plans frequently kick doctors and hospitals out of their networks.
A quick tutorial: Traditional Medicare, or Parts A and B, covers medical care, and the federal government pays doctors and hospitals directly. Medicare Advantage, or Part C, is supposed to cover the same services, but it’s run by private insurers that the government pays to manage your care.
To lure you away from traditional Medicare, these insurers dangle lower premiums and extra benefits — not only the gym membership and debit cards but also prescription drug coverage and dental, vision and hearing care. As a result, their plans seem cost-effective — no need for supplemental plans that cover prescription drugs and other benefits — and appeal to cash-strapped seniors living on a fixed income. This strategy is
