Religious conservative activists took a heavy hit in last week's midterms, their steepest setback since gaining major influence under President Trump. With their goals closely tied to his, the losses suggest their grip on his party has loosened, and activists are scrambling to plan for 2028.
Terry Schilling, who leads the American Principles Project, says the administration delivered few wins beyond some executive orders. He argued the movement could have passed laws to protect children, contrasted that with the Iran war, and said there is no standout accomplishment to point to.
Stephen A. Smith says a 40-minute White House interview with President Trump left him convinced the president won't accept blame for the GOP's midterm losses.
When Smith pressed him, Trump said he was not on the ballot and suggested the Republican candidates were not good enough. Smith disagreed, saying voters were unhappy with how Trump has governed.
Smith also warned that Democrats face a challenge from their far-left flank, which he said makes the party look divided.
Jensen Huang has stepped down as Nvidia's CEO, effective immediately.
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that former Apple CEO Tim Cook should take over at Nvidia. The departure adds uncertainty to the future of the AI industry.
Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed warns that voters' backing for his party may be temporary unless Democrats act boldly in Congress. He wants new Senate leadership and would like Sen. Chris Van Hollen to challenge Chuck Schumer in December.
He wants to end the Iran war, pass Medicare for All and abolish ICE, and he's willing to work with Republicans to do it.
He has invited Trump to meet and even floated naming major healthcare legislation after the president. El-Sayed is the first Muslim ever elected to the U.S. Senate.
ICE says its arrests and removals in the year ending Sept. 30 set a new high for the agency. Homeland Security put deportations at 483,200, up 9% from the previous peak a year earlier.
The release skipped key details, like how many of those removed had criminal records. The total also trails the White House goal of one million deportations a year.
Democrats in Congress, who did well in the recent midterms, have promised close oversight of the agency.
Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio was picked by House Republicans to lead their minority starting in January, winning 106 to 73 in a closed-door vote. He says the party wants to pass as much of its agenda as it can while it still holds the majority, since Democrats will soon control both chambers.
Jordan expects Democrats to launch investigations into Trump's Cabinet, family, and business interests, and he predicted a third impeachment. He also pledged that Republicans will make sure members show up for key votes.
House Oversight Republicans released their final Epstein report Tuesday. It concludes that federal law enforcement and prosecutors repeatedly failed, and that Epstein's crimes after 2005 could have been prevented.
The 15-month probe blames a 2007 non-prosecution deal for much of that failure. Bill Gates, Leon Black and a former Obama White House counsel are among those named, though no documents implicate President Trump.
Committee Democrat Robert Garcia, who is set to lead the panel in January, called the report incomplete and promised public hearings.
The White House has warned Democrats that planned probes of the Trump administration could veer into criminal conduct. Its counsel raised the point in a letter to Rep. Robert Garcia, the likely next Oversight chair.
Garcia said the president appears to be concealing something and that Democrats won't be cowed. His panel plans to examine how Trump's family has grown wealthier since his return to office.
A U.S. attorney in Texas separately told Sen. Richard Blumenthal to preserve his records. Blumenthal, set to lead a Senate panel in January, said he would not be scared off.
Democrats have taken control of both chambers of Congress, and their first goals include ending the Iran war and stopping Trump's tariffs. Leaders from both parties tied voter anger over those policies to higher gas, diesel, and grocery prices.
Democrats lack the numbers to override a veto, so they may lean on the power of the purse instead. A Dec. 11 funding deadline could soon test how far they will go, and some on the party's left are already asking whether leaders would accept a funding lapse to end the war.
Two people tried to breach White House grounds Monday, and neither was armed, the Secret Service said. One was arrested after driving onto a curb at Lafayette Park.
Last week, a 26-year-old Venezuelan man was arrested near the White House with a stolen truck full of guns. He told agents voices urged him to kill President Trump, and he now faces charges including threatening the president.
A former Metropolitan Police officer now at the University of Virginia says threats against public officials have risen sharply.
Republicans are moving further right a week after voters rejected Trump and the GOP at the polls. House Republicans chose Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio as their next minority leader over the more moderate Steve Scalise. Trump also tapped Stephen Miller as chief of staff.
Jordan once chaired the House Judiciary Committee, where he led the failed effort to impeach Joe Biden. Miller, who oversaw the administration's immigration enforcement, will now be Trump's main contact with the Democratic Congress.
House Democrats want the Interior Department to preserve records on Trump's Washington construction projects, after whistleblowers said key paperwork has already been destroyed. Interior calls the claims false.
Rep. Jared Huffman, who takes over the House Natural Resources Committee in January, is sending preservation letters Tuesday to federal agencies and donor companies such as Lockheed Martin and John Deere.
The administration is rushing ahead with projects like a triumphal arch and an East Potomac golf course, and the committee is ready to issue subpoenas.
Trump has dropped the WeatherTech founder as his pick for the FTC. The founder will instead take a manufacturing-focused envoy post, and Christopher Mufarrige, who previously ran the agency's consumer protection arm, will be put forward to join the agency.
Trump wants more Republicans confirmed before Democrats take over the Senate. Separately, the Senate Commerce Committee is weighing a different nominee on Tuesday, this one for the FCC.
Robert De Niro mocked Elon Musk at a New York screening of Alex Gibney's documentary Musk on Sunday. He noted Musk spent about $300 million on Trump's 2024 win and nearly half a billion on Republicans in the midterms.
De Niro, who co-founded the Tribeca Festival, introduced the film to a roomful of Academy members and said democracy came out on top this round. He also flagged that Tesla will end Cybertruck production next summer.
Gibney thanked De Niro for his support of the resistance.
Democrats winning control of Congress in January will give lawmakers more sway over science funding, FEMA and the National Weather Service. The biggest early fight is likely to be over research money.
Lawmakers are likely to scrutinize FEMA far more closely, with hearings and pressure for answers. The president still makes the final call on FEMA recovery funds after a disaster, and Trump has denied requests from Democratic-led states.
The National Weather Service, which lost hundreds of staff in 2025, is now more likely to receive fresh funding.
Voters on Nov. 3 cited inflation and living costs as major reasons for ousting Republicans from Congress and rejecting the Trump administration's economic policies.
Markets are still digesting the midterm results, and there may be some good inflation news ahead.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has admitted to an affair with a woman US intelligence reportedly concluded was passing information to Beijing. He apologised to his wife and the company in an open letter, expressing remorse.
Donald Trump said Huang told him he was unaware the woman was an agent, and that he believed him. The FBI is looking into the matter, and Nvidia's board has launched an independent inquiry.
The board says it has no reason to think national security or company secrets were compromised. China has rejected the spying accusations.
Donald Trump's remarks in a recent 60 Minutes interview have angered some supporters after Republicans lost heavily in the Nov. 3 midterms. He is now open to working with Democrats on immigration.
He also said deporting undocumented immigrants with good jobs likely hurt Republicans, and that he would still have launched the Iran attack despite the backlash.
Some longtime allies accused him of betrayal. The White House said the word amnesty was never used, but a community note on X said his comments amounted to the same thing.
President Trump has questioned the results of the midterm elections, claiming in a social media post that voting machines were manipulated. He gave no evidence for the claim.
He had earlier accepted the heavy defeat suffered by Republicans.
Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie filed a resolution to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as soon as the House returned after the midterms. It centers on the Iran war and also cites military actions in Yemen and Venezuela. A House vote could come by midweek.
Massie accuses Hegseth of knowingly carrying out unlawful orders. Hegseth plans a rare press briefing Tuesday, his first in over 180 days.
Trump said the Iran conflict is largely over militarily and backed Hegseth, while calling Massie a loser.
Trump thinks Democrats are unlikely to launch a third impeachment push once they take back Congress in January. He made the remarks to Ross Douthat on 60 Minutes, his first interview since the midterms.
He also said he could reach a deal with the opposition, citing his first term. Both impeachments from that period ended in Senate acquittals.
On forgiveness, he was less open. He doubted he could forgive some rivals, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and ex-FBI Director James Comey, whom he called untrustworthy.
Trump says his social media offer of the White House press secretary job to UFC boss Dana White was just a joke. He made the offer Saturday, but on Sunday he told reporters on the tarmac that he had only been kidding, though he thinks White likes the idea.
White has reportedly turned the job down. Trump said White is still coming to the White House on Monday for other reasons and will meet him there.
The press secretary post has been empty since Karoline Leavitt left in August.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Sunday she is prepared to work with President Trump on a 10% limit for credit card interest, now that Democrats will control Congress. She says her bill is already prepared.
Trump first pushed the idea in January, when Republicans controlled Congress and several GOP leaders resisted it. Banking groups strongly oppose the plan, warning it would limit access to credit.
Federal Reserve data put the average rate on card accounts that were charged interest at 22.36% in the third quarter of 2026.
President Trump says new US strikes on Iran look very unlikely if Tehran makes progress on its nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz. The two sides have been negotiating privately through Qatar.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio says a breakthrough is not close yet. Iran is seeking relief for billions in frozen assets and compensation for the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Trump told 60 Minutes he does not dispute Vice President JD Vance's view that the war was partly why Republicans lost, but defends attacking Iran. He meets Qatar's prime minister Monday.
JD Vance and his circle are privately weighing a 2028 presidential run, and some allies doubt any Republican can win the White House in two years.
Democrats flipped seven GOP Senate seats this week, including Vance's old Ohio seat, and some major donors say they won't back him.
Vance has blamed the Iran war for the losses, while allies argue voters rejected the war rather than Trump. Vance has told associates he hasn't decided, and Trump has not endorsed a successor.
Richard Walters, a deputy White House chief of staff, is leaving the Trump administration. His exit follows Trump's decision to replace Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller.
Walters had held the role since May 2026 and previously led the inaugural committee for Trump and JD Vance. Miller said Walters will keep helping from outside, and his departure is the first major staff change before Miller takes over on Monday.
Miller's wife, Katie, is also ending new episodes of her podcast to focus on their four kids.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats have no plans to work with Stephen Miller once he replaces Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff.
In a Sunday TV interview, Jeffries called Miller the engine behind the mass deportation push and a poor pick. He said Democrats' larger House and Senate majorities will act as a check on him.
Miller is credited with some of the administration's toughest immigration policies, including a travel ban and family separations during Trump's first term. He is also reportedly a key figure in current efforts to end birthright citizenship.
Two days after Democrats defeated Republicans in the US midterms, the US Embassy in El Salvador reminded people online that existing immigration rules still apply.
Even so, migrant caravans from Honduras and El Salvador are heading toward the US, with some hoping Democrats gaining control of Congress will make entry easier.
Border encounters fell steeply after Trump took office in 2025, yet people are still setting out. A man at a Guatemalan crossing said illegal entry usually leads to deportation, whatever party is in power.
US Politics Daily@uspoliticsdaily
Indian Entrepreneur
Hollywood Express
