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 Akayla Gardner | Nov 11, 2026 | Congress, News, Politics
A new era of Black political power is coming to Washington.Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is on track to become the first Black speaker of the House. A record number of Black senators will take office in January. And the Congressional Black Caucus, which spent the past year bracing for losses, will instead begin the next Congress with more members than ever.
Black voters helped make it all happen, fueling Democratic gains deep into Republican territory in last week’s midterm elections. The results have set the stage for one of the most influential classes of the caucus since its founding in 1971.
Caucus members had expected to lose ground. A nationwide redistricting push, combined with a Supreme Court ruling that made racial gerrymandering nearly impossible to challenge, put several of their seats at risk. Instead, the total number of Black lawmakers will only be one shy of the current record of 68 if Scott Colom wins his Senate race in Mississippi, and fall just two people short of it if he loses. And because Democrats, who made significant gains last week, have dominated the caucus’s ranks in recent years, its incoming chairman says the group will be the largest in its history.
For Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., who is running unopposed to lead the caucus, the milestone evokes “a powerful emotion of fairness.”
“So many people had given up hope” under “the ugliness and the hate-filled actions of the Trump administration,” Carter said, pointing to cuts to federal healthcare programs, food assistance and student loans. “Tuesday’s election brought back hope that there is an opportunity to restore the rule of law.”
President Donald Trump’s record-low approval
by Jeff McCausland | Nov 9, 2026 | Opinion, Politics, White House
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
by Nicholas Mitchell | Nov 8, 2026 | elections, Opinion, Politics
To win his U.S. Senate race in Texas last week, Democrat James Talarico, who’s white, had to mend some fences with Black voters after he defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who’s Black, in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. There were already hard feelings between Black voters and Democrats left over from 2024. Some prominent party members had blamed Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump on “wokeness,” which Black voters rightly read as code for “Black issues.” Also, because Black women have so reliably voted for Democrats, many of them in Texas were offended at the seemingly reflexive claim by some Democrats at the start of the primary between Crockett and Talarico that he was the more electable one.
The lingering bitterness from Black voters forced him to engage in what can be described as a racial reconciliation-oriented campaign strategy.
Talarico had won the majority of white Democrats and Latinos in winning the nomination, but the lingering bitterness from Black voters forced him to engage in what can be described as a racial reconciliation-oriented campaign strategy to make up with Black voters without losing the support among of the groups he carried to win the nomination. His victory over Republican Ken Paxton to become the first Democrat to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Texas in 36 years, proves his strategy succeeded.
Democrat Abdul El-Sayed didn’t defeat a Black candidate on his way to winning his party’s nomination for U.S. Senate in Michigan, but he did have to appeal to Black voters who felt that Harris lost Michigan because Arab and Muslim voters punished Harris for President Joe Biden’s Gaza policy.
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 Anthony Coley | Nov 4, 2026 | elections, Opinion, Politics
Florida entered Election Day with two streaks on a collision course: Republicans had won seven straight races for governor. No Black Republican had ever been elected governor anywhere in America. Only one streak would survive.
We now know the answer.
MS NOW projects U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds has won Florida’s governorship, defying political gravity and breaking a new barrier for a Black Republican candidate. Two other Black Republicans were running for governor Tuesday: Lisa Demuth in Minnesota and John James in Michigan.
Florida entered Election Day with two streaks on a collision course. Only one streak would survive.
Here at MS NOW in September, I wondered if Florida’s Republican advantage would be enough to carry Donalds and pointed out the national political environment hostile to his party and that he was trying to break through a barrier no Black Republican ever had.
Donalds ran as a conservative successor to Ron DeSantis, promising lower property taxes and insurance costs, expanded school choice, less red tape and tougher immigration and crime enforcement. He has also leaned into culture-war fights and portrayed Jolly as offering a blue-state model for Florida.
Jolly focused relentlessly on affordability, led by a state-backed catastrophe fund to lower property insurance costs. He also supported more public-school funding, tighter rules on vouchers, Medicaid expansion, abortion rights, gun reforms, climate resilience and a moratorium on hyperscale data centers. He ran against culture wars and ethics scandals while presenting himself as a former Republican offering a more inclusive alternative.
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Trump-backed Byron Donalds, Democrat David Jolly win FL governor primaries
August 18, 2026 / 13:13
In August’s Republican primary, Donalds’ support was notably weaker in rural northern Florida, a region that
