The Associated Press called Mississippi's Senate race for Democrat Scott Colom late Wednesday after a week of ballot counting, ending Cindy Hyde-Smith's Senate career and handing the seat to a party that last won it in 1982. Colom, a 43-year-old local prosecutor, led by roughly 4,600 votes in a state Donald Trump carried by about 22 points in 2024. He becomes the first Black senator from Mississippi since Reconstruction and the first Black candidate elected statewide there in over 150 years. His win lifts the incoming Democratic Senate caucus to at least 55 seats, with Alaska still uncalled.
The House voted 211-204 on Tuesday to send articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the Judiciary Committee, ending the effort for this Congress. Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, filed the resolution with eight articles a day earlier and was the only Republican to oppose the referral. Eleven Democrats were absent. Hegseth called the move political theatre and said military operations would continue. President Trump called Massie a major loser. Democrats take the House majority in January, when the resolution could be revived with subpoena power behind it. His articles had focused on the secretary's conduct at the Pentagon during a nine-month war with Iran.
Republican Representative Thomas Massie moved on Monday to force a House vote on articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, arguing that the Pentagon chief violated the Constitution through his handling of the war with Iran. The vote must be held by Wednesday under House rules. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said he is a hard yes, while the Pentagon dismissed the effort as a phony investigation. The attempt is expected to fail in the Republican-led chamber, but it forces the party to take a public position on Hegseth weeks after sweeping midterm losses. The resolution is privileged, which means leaders cannot bury it in committee.
Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, introduced eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and forced a House vote within two days. The charges include waging war on Iran without congressional authorization, extrajudicial killings in strikes on suspected drug boats, the capture of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and an unlawful war in Yemen. Massie is retiring and argues that Democrats, who won both chambers last week, will run the process in January unless Republicans act now. Hegseth says the effort will fail and will hold a press conference on Tuesday. The filing forces a floor vote this week, putting every Republican on record about a war many have questioned in private.
President Donald Trump has named Stephen Miller, the architect of his hard-line immigration policy, as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles. Miller starts on Monday, days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections. The promotion puts a partisan fighter in the job that usually manages relations with Capitol Hill, and it lands while Mississippi counts a razor-thin Senate race that may go to a recount.
Federal funding runs out on December 11, and some Democrats want the year-end spending bill to bar money for the war with Iran instead of waiting until they control Congress in January. A letter from progressive lawmakers says the deadline is the first real chance to use the power of the purse, and the party's top House appropriator has not ruled out a fight. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has promised to end the war but is working to pass a funding measure, while moderates worry about a shutdown six weeks before the new majority is seated. Republicans are weighing a year-end reconciliation package that could fund the war without Democratic votes.
President Trump named Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff, to replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, days after Republicans lost both chambers of Congress. Wiles, 69, moves to the Trump Political Operation. Miller is the architect of the administration's immigration enforcement and deportation campaign. The promotion signals continuity rather than a turn toward the center, even as Democrats prepare oversight of immigration policy.
Two US Senate races remain uncalled two days after the midterm elections, with Democrats ahead narrowly in both Alaska and Mississippi. In Alaska, Mary Peltola leads Republican Senator Dan Sullivan by 637 votes with about 78% counted, and ranked-choice tabulation will not start before 18 November. In Mississippi, Scott Colom leads Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith by a handful of votes with roughly 15,000 provisional ballots still to verify. Democrats have already flipped seven Senate seats and at least 32 House seats. Party leaders say their first priorities are affordability and ending the war in Iran.
President Donald Trump told reporters that the eight-month war with Iran hurt Republicans in the midterm elections, an admission that followed a similar post from Vice President JD Vance, and said he would make the same decision again. He rejected reports that he was considering replacing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and threatened to veto legislation passed by the new Democratic majority. Democrats won both chambers, with NBC News projecting at least 258 House seats and a Senate majority of at least 54. Senator Chuck Schumer said the party would focus on the cost of living, ending the war and holding the administration to account.
Voters across the United States cast ballots on Tuesday in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress for the final two years of Donald Trump's presidency. Republicans entered the day holding the Senate 53-47 and the House 219-214, while the president's approval rating stood 22 points underwater in the latest NBC News poll, with inflation and living costs the top voter concerns. Democrats needed a net gain of three House seats and four Senate seats. Campaign spending was projected to approach $12bn, the most expensive midterm cycle on record. Courts were still handling disputes over mail ballots in California and Alaska as polls closed.