by Steve Benen | Nov 11, 2026 | Congress, Crime & Courts, Maddowblog, White House
There are all sorts of reasons Democrats are thrilled to take back control of the Senate, but near the top of the list is the power over the confirmation process: From executive branch roles to judicial nominations, a Senate majority makes all the difference.
This isn’t lost on Donald Trump. “Very important for the U.S. Senate to confirm all of our pending 161 Nominations, including 25 Federal Judges,” the president wrote to his social media platform earlier this week. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The message did not go unnoticed on Capitol Hill. The Washington Sun reported:
President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans started a rush Tuesday to confirm as many judicial nominees as possible before they lose their majority in January, including the announcement of three new nominees.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance four judicial nominees to the Senate floor, teed up more committee votes on six other pending bench picks and held a confirmation hearing for another four.
The fact that this is happening is notable in its own right, though it’s also worth emphasizing how it’s happening: As HuffPost reported, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the outgoing chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, “ditched a number of the panel’s standard practices” this week. From the report:
In the committee’s first hearing since the GOP’s drubbing in the midterm elections, Grassley signaled plans to hold nomination hearings this week and next week, violating the panel’s bipartisan practice of holding such hearings no closer than two weeks apart.
The Iowa Republican added two judicial nominees to next week’s hearing whose questionnaires were returned to the panel just 10 and 14
by Steve Benen | Nov 11, 2026 | Congress, Maddowblog, White House
Ordinarily, the House Natural Resources Committee is a relatively obscure congressional panel that tackles work far from the kind of high-profile political disputes that generate national headlines. But during Donald Trump’s presidency, the committee’s importance has grown in unexpected ways.
The reason is simple: The House Natural Resources Committee has oversight authority over the Interior Department, the Cabinet agency the White House has relied on to advance many of Trump’s vanity projects, including the ballroom, the Reflecting Pool overhaul and plans for a “triumphal” arch.
If the incoming Democratic majority is going to get answers on the administration’s efforts related to any of these projects, the information is going to come through this often-overlooked committee.
With this in mind, it was striking to see a CNN report this week on whistleblowers who have alleged that Interior Department officials have already begun destroying internal documents in anticipation of Democratic oversight.
An Interior Department spokesperson called the whistleblower claims “100% false,” though Democratic Rep. Jared Huffman of California, who’s expected to chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, is clearly taking the matter seriously. The Washington Sun reported:
[Huffman] sent letters to 36 federal agencies and private companies on Monday, ordering them to preserve documents, communications and other records tied to the committee’s investigations of the Trump administration.
“For the past two years, the Trump Administration has repeatedly obstructed congressional investigations by failing to provide the House Committee on Natural Resources with information necessary to fulfill its oversight responsibilities,” Huffman’s letters state.
Time will tell what becomes of the Democratic lawmaker’s pushback, and what we learn from the apparent whistleblowers, but it’s worth emphasizing that the Interior
by Steve Benen | Nov 11, 2026 | Maddowblog, White House
One of the more unusual political stories to emerge in the run-up to Election Day reached the public a few weeks ago, when we learned about a $50 million contract for one of Donald Trump’s former defense attorneys. Now, that contract is no more.
The New York Times reported:
Alina Habba Mildon, one of President Trump’s former lawyers, was fired last week by the family company that gave her a $50 million contract weeks before Mr. Trump granted a pardon to the family’s patriarch.
In a letter dated Nov. 4, the company, Concord Partners, terminated Mrs. Mildon citing a “failure to perform duties,” according to a person close to the family and documents obtained by The New York Times. The person said Mrs. Mildon’s priorities appeared to shift away from Concord after she started dating Turhan Mildon, a 25-year-old Turkish investor, earlier this year.
The controversy began in earnest earlier this year, when Trump pardoned Julio Herrera Velutini. Unfortunately for the White House, it quickly became clear that Velutini had not only hired a former member of the president’s legal defense team, but also that the pardon came on the heels of generous campaign contributions Velutini’s daughter made to Trump’s super PAC.
It’s worth emphasizing that Velutini didn’t exactly need a presidential pardon: He was facing felony bribery and other charges in the United States, but his Trump-aligned defense attorney helped negotiate an unusually lenient plea deal in August 2025. Velutini ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor campaign finance violation.
But that wasn’t quite enough. Velutini still hoped to wipe the slate clean altogether.
To that end, the Times reported a few weeks ago that the
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 Ebony Davis | Nov 11, 2026 | culture, News, White House
Members of the Kennedy family filed a motion to join a federal lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s proposed Independence Arch near Arlington National Cemetery.
In a 27-page filing Tuesday, nine children and grandchildren of Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy asked to intervene in litigation challenging the administration’s plans to construct the massive arch at Memorial Circle near the cemetery in Washington.
“President Donald J. Trump is attempting to unlawfully erect a massive arch that will permanently cast shadows over and damage historically significant sightlines to the existing gravesites and memorials established in the Kennedy family’s honor at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as to the memorials of hundreds of thousands of fallen American heroes,” the filing said.
The proposed monument would stand at least 250 feet tall, more than twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial. The Kennedy relatives argue that the arch would disrupt a historic sightline designed to symbolize national reunification after the Civil War.
The family has a “particular interest in protecting the Kennedy Gravesites” as a memorial to its legacy, their attorneys wrote.
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has already blocked construction of the arch through at least next week while the legal challenges proceed.
The filing comes days after the National Capital Planning Commission approved the administration’s plans for the arch on Nov. 5.
The project already faces multiple lawsuits, including one filed in February by private plaintiffs. The District of Columbia and Virginia also filed separate lawsuits Oct. 31, which a federal judge consolidated that same day.
The Kennedy relatives argue that the monument threatens the burial sites of their parents and grandparents, including former President John F. Kennedy, Robert
by Jake Traylor | Nov 11, 2026 | News, White House
The White House Cabinet secretary, a high-ranking official who serves as a liaison between the president and the cabinet, is expected to soon depart the administration according to two current and one former White House official all familiar with the internal discussions.
Meghan Bauer’s exit comes as Trump implements staff changes he has said could be coming following the Republican party’s major losses in last week’s midterms.
Two additional sources familiar with the personnel changes, also granted anonymity to share sensitive details, tell MS NOW that Bauer will transition out of the White House around the turn of the year, staying on for a couple remaining months to help with the leadership transition.
According to two current White House officials Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with Bauer over the past few months and the president has held discussions with senior staffers this week about her removal.
The cabinet secretary heads the Office of Cabinet Affairs, working closely with the chief of staff coordinating between the president and the heads of each cabinet.
On Friday the president announced Susie Wiles would be replaced by Stephen Miller as chief of staff. Asked about his decision to replace Wiles and if he was unhappy with his team because of the midterm results Trump told reporters, “It’s just time, Sometimes you change. The election wasn’t my election. I wasn’t on the ballot. If I was on the ballot, you saw the rallies. They were the biggest, most powerful rallies in the history of the midterm elections.”
According to two sources familiar with Bauer’s departure, the responsibilities of her role could be consolidated under Miller and others in the West Wing.
In
