by Mary Ziegler | Nov 7, 2026 | Civil Rights, elections, Opinion
The midterm was not just a triumph for Democrats broadly; it was specifically a good night for reproductive rights. Not only did Democrats flip the House and Senate, but 3 of the 4 ballot measures on the subject passed. Congressional Democrats can block judges sympathetic to the anti-abortion movement and dare President Donald Trump to veto new protections. Nevertheless, there are warning signs for abortion-rights supporters for the remainder of Trump’s time in the White House.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, social conservatives will use these results to try to reassert their influence over the Republican Party. The argument, in short, is that Republicans would have fared better had abortion been a more important issue in the campaign. The ballot measures that protected abortion access can be chalked up to the blue wave that swept so many Republicans out of Congress. And in Idaho, voters in the middle of a blue wave comfortably rejected a proposal enshrining abortion rights.
There is no question that abortion was not as visible an issue in this midterm election, especially compared with 2022 or 2024. It is possible to attribute this trend to voters losing interest in the issue, or simply prioritizing more pressing concerns, like the cost of living or corruption.
Trump and his team had used the election as an excuse to postpone action on abortion. But that excuse is gone, and the clock is winding down on this presidency.
Already, social conservatives are arguing that a lack of focus on abortion depressed GOP turnout. “With Republicans not bringing the issue to the forefront, it has been difficult to mobilize pro-life voters,” Kelsey Pritchard, communications director
by Charles F. Coleman Jr. | Nov 7, 2026 | Civil Rights, Opinion, Politics, White House
It will be hard to fix what Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon broke as the head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. A conservative culture warrior who as a private attorney represented Donald Trump during the House committee’s Jan. 6 investigation, she quickly delivered on the administration’s goals to roll back civil rights protections and reversed many the hard-fought gains of Kristen Clarke, her predecessor at the Civil Rights Division.
Donald Trump, Stephen Miller and Heritage Foundation figures like Russell Vought, Brendan Carr and Kevin Roberts all connected MAGA culture war with efforts to roll back civil rights, making the leader of the DOJ’s civil rights unit of paramount importance. Dhillon delivered what MAGA wanted.
It will be hard to fix what Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon broke as the head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
Though the departure of a civil rights chief who fixated on imaginary discrimination against white men might seem like a step in the right direction, we won’t know that until we know who Trump will replace her with.
But in the meantime, we can point out just how bad Dhillon was for civil rights. Take, for example, allegations of discriminatory policing. The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has historically investigated allegations of mistreatment of Black people and other marginalized groups by law enforcement officers. When police civil rights violations required federal intervention, the division led that effort and entered into consent decrees with law enforcement agencies to grant injunctive relief, often mandating additional training and accountability measures.
There were examples of such consent decrees in cities across the country before Trump became president in 2017,
by Joseph Zeballos-Roig | Nov 7, 2026 | Economy, Opinion, White House
President Donald Trump has long had a bone to pick with the Federal Reserve. Earlier this year, the Justice Department launched a criminal probe against then-Fed Chair Jerome Powell that was intended to force him out. Even after Powell was succeeded as chair by Kevin Warsh, the president has never let up in his quest to bludgeon the central bank into lowering interest rates.
“I’m a smart voice and should be listened to,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal late last year.
Warsh is about to enter the sixth month of his tenure helming the Fed. Both during and since his confirmation, he has faced scrutiny over his independence from the executive branch, but so far he has demonstrated he’s serious about fighting inflation. Now the Fed can count on new armor against Trump’s temper: A Democratic-controlled Senate.
GOP control of the Senate meant senators had to accede to Trump’s demands on nominees.
Though the inflation rate is well above the Fed’s 2% target, Trump has long argued the Fed should lower interest rates. As recently as September, after the Fed raised rates to a range of 3.75%-4.00%, the president said rates should be at 1% “or less.” With at least 54 seats after this week’s midterm elections, Senate Democrats are poised to deal a blow to the president’s goal.
Interest rates influence the cost of personal loans, auto loans and mortgages for American families. It also affects how much interest the U.S. government pays on its towering national debt. They are set by the Federal Open Market Committee — and of the FOMC’s 12 members, seven are also members of the Fed’s Board of
by Ja'han Jones | Nov 7, 2026 | Congress, elections, Opinion
The MAGA youth movement is on life support and placing its hopes on a couple of the survivors of the “blue wave” in this year’s midterm elections.
In their postelection grief sessions, leaders of the electorally hapless Turning Point USA and other MAGA influencers have cited Texas Rep. Brandon Gill and Rep.-elect Michael Alfonso of Wisconsin — who is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s son-in-law — as proof of their movement’s vitality.
For what feels like the umpteenth time, Turning Point-endorsed candidates took a bath this election cycle. The organization’s leaders have been trying to project an air of confidence and authority anyway, so they’re banking on Gill and Alfonso to carry their mantle forward in the next Congress and beyond.
Gill won re-election in Texas’ heavily gerrymandered 26th District, staving off the blue wave that washed over his state. He’s known for being the son-in-law of MAGA conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza, who helped launch his political career, and for spewing unabashed racism. President Donald Trump has even said Gill “could very well be the future” of the Republican Party.
And the 26-year-old Alfonso, another Trump-endorsed candidate, will enter the next Congress as the youngest member of the House. A political newcomer, he was endorsed by Turning Point and says he was largely inspired by Charlie Kirk to run for office. Alfonso’s campaign drew large donations from a bunch of transportation industry executives — some of whom don’t appear to have any ties to Wisconsin.
If we are to believe MAGA world’s narrative, these are the Republican Party’s newest young guns, the boyish faces of a movement that has been submerged by a blue wave. For
by Michael A. Cohen | Nov 6, 2026 | elections, Opinion
In the wake of Tuesday’s “blue tsunami,” media attention has focused on the places where Democrats won most unexpectedly — Texas, Kansas and South Carolina — with Mississippi and Alaska still to be determined. Indeed, the Democrats’ victory on Tuesday was so broad and so complete that we could spend time on any number of political battlegrounds where Republicans were routed.
But one state and one politician are not getting nearly enough attention: Pennsylvania and its governor, Josh Shapiro.
On Tuesday, in arguably the most important swing state in the country, Shapiro didn’t just coast to re-election, he led Democrats to one of the most impressive political victories in the country.
In the gubernatorial race, Shapiro won more than 60% of the vote, defeating his opponent, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, by 22 percentage points.
Play
Democratic strategist on Mississippi: ‘I don’t see’ how Hyde-Smith gets to winning number
November 5, 2026 / 07:13
By comparison, no other swing state Democratic gubernatorial candidate came within 9 points of Shapiro’s margin of victory. Shapiro even scored a bigger win than Democratic gubernatorial candidates in solid blue states like New York and Connecticut — and he did it in a state that just two years ago voted for President Donald Trump and saw a Republican senator knock off an incumbent Democrat.
The downballot story in Pennsylvania is even more impressive. Democrats flipped four House seats, two by double digits. For years, moderate Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick seemed to dodge raindrops by consistently winning re-election in a swing district. On Tuesday, he lost by roughly 5 points.
Even more important for Pennsylvania residents, Democrats flipped the state Senate, which will give the party
by Anthony L. Fisher | Nov 5, 2026 | Congress, culture, elections, Opinion, White House
The final tally of Republicans’ midterm electoral carnage wasn’t even close to being counted Tuesday when it became the proverbial Night of the Long MAGA Knives.
As Democrats took decisive control of the House and Senate, flipping numerous “safe” Republican seats along the way and even turning Texas — Texas!! — blue by winning every statewide office up for election, President Donald Trump’s heretofore powerful MAGA coalition took to the internet, and its “thought leaders” began lashing out at anyone they could blame for the historic electoral collapse. Often the targets were one another.
Chaya Raichik — the far-right operator of the Libs of TikTok X account — blamed Democrats, who she falsely claimed “imported millions of foreigners, handed them a bunch of free shit, and then registered them to vote,” adding, “If we ever want to win again we need deportations and denaturalizations ramped up on steroids or our country will forever be lost to the communists.”
Laura Loomer — the self-described “pro-white nationalism” influencer known for pushing false, racist conspiracy theories and for being Trump’s McCarthyite loyalty enforcer — spread the blame around too. She said it “would have been best to ban Tik Tok,” called out Christian nationalists (“Where was your God last night?”) and blamed the GOP’s humiliating defeat on America’s racial diversity (“America was always intended to be a majority White country. Not a cesspool for third world minorities”).
Surging fuel prices, exacerbated inflation, financial instability and apparent failure to achieve any of the administration’s oft-shifting goals for the war cannot be hidden from the American public.
“Pizzagate” propagandist Mike Cernovich blamed the post-Charlie Kirk leadership of Turning Point USA,
