Hello, friends! ☕️
First, thank you. To everyone who voted, helped someone get to the polls, or worked to turn people out, you showed up. To the poll workers and election officials who kept our elections running, often under threats no one should have to face: thank you for showing up for all of us.
To everyone who joined our live election coverage with Jim Acosta, Katie Couric, and Larry Sabato—it was wonderful sharing that historic night with you, Glenn Kirschner and Tara Setmayer! 🇺🇸
What an election! What a response: promote Stephen Miller.
Voters handed Democrats Congress. Trump handed Stephen Miller more power, naming him his next White House chief of staff.
I worked with Dr. Evil during Trump 1.0. He is the most dangerous, xenophobic person I’ve ever worked with. The architect of this administration’s extreme immigration agenda now gets an even bigger platform for his contempt for the rule of law.
Enjoy the victory. You earned it. Just don’t mistake a wounded administration for a retreating one.
No foam. No filter. Let’s go.
The election is over. My work tracking what comes next is just beginning. Saturday Covfefe stays free. Become a paid subscriber for my weekly Deep Dives, and help keep this independent work going.
1. The GOP’s Bad Night Went All the Way Down the Ballot
Congress grabbed the headlines. But the Republican losses didn’t stop at the Capitol steps.
Democrats’ gains reached far beyond Congress, flipping legislative chambers and reclaiming power over decisions that shape Americans’ daily lives. Pennsylvania and Wisconsin delivered Democratic governing trifectas: the governor’s office and both legislative chambers. Michigan and Minnesota restored theirs. And Texas flipped its House. This El Paso girl would like a moment.
State lawmakers wield enormous power over your daily life: your freedom to make decisions about reproductive health care, which books can stay in school libraries, how public schools are funded, minimum wages and worker protections, and how easy, or difficult, it is to vote. They also help draw the congressional maps that shape power in Washington.
Those races near the bottom of your ballot? They’re deciding a lot more than who gets an office in the state capitol.
Republicans spent years using state power to push their agenda. Now, across a much larger stretch of the country, Democrats get to show voters what they’ll do with it. While some results are still being finalized, the assignment for incoming majorities is already clear: Enjoy the confetti. Then deliver!
🏛️ The Statehouse Shake-Up (The Guardian)
2. You Won Congress, Now What?
Everyone’s asking what happens next. Robert Garcia, poised to lead House Oversight, offered Trumpworld a two-word preview: “LAWYER UP.”
Well. That’s more useful than another strongly worded letter.
When the new Congress takes office in January, Democrats plan to investigate Trump’s business dealings, push to reverse Medicaid cuts, restore health insurance subsidies, challenge his tariffs, and confront the war in Iran.
Investigators have another route to the receipts: the companies that spent two years courting Trump. Some are already hiring lawyers and quietly opening channels to Democrats. Their records could illuminate potential conflicts of interest and whether political contributions helped secure government favors. Executive privilege claims could trigger court fights, but these businesses have shareholders and reputations to protect.
They may be less enthusiastic about taking one for the team.
On impeachment, party leaders remain divided over pursuing Trump again. Some see a stronger bipartisan opening against Pete Hegseth. My read: Stephen Miller’s promotion could give Hegseth stronger protection inside the White House, even as congressional scrutiny intensifies.
Trump still holds the veto pen. Democrats will need to turn their new powers into meaningful accountability and tangible results.
Follow the money. Make them testify. And remember: people cannot pay their health insurance premiums with a viral hearing clip.
I’ll be digging into this in future Deep Dives.
🔎 The Democrats’ Next Moves (TIME)
3. Jared, About That “Volunteer” Gig
Jared Kushner has been conducting high-stakes diplomacy while his investment firm collects fees from foreign governments. The administration’s explanation? He’s a “volunteer.”
Quite the side hustle.
The incoming Democratic Congress could investigate the overlap between Kushner’s diplomatic assignments and his financial interests. His “just a volunteer” defense could come back to bite him. Insisting he operates outside government could weaken any attempt to claim protections reserved for the president’s closest official advisers. Getting him under oath could still require a court fight, but his own argument may give investigators an opening.
Furthermore, investigators wouldn’t have to stop with Jared. They could subpoena Affinity Partners and seek records from its banks, auditors, and business partners: who invested, what they paid, and whether fundraising overlapped with diplomatic work.
Kushner denies wrongdoing. Subpoenas can face lengthy court battles, but the questions deserve answers under oath.
Having worked in national security, I want to know whose interests someone represents when they walk into a negotiation on America’s behalf. When foreign governments are also financing that person’s business, “trust me, I married in” is insufficient.
💸 Following Jared’s Money (Popular Information)
4. Harmless Powder Real Threats
While Americans prepared to vote, someone was mailing threats across the country.
Federal investigators allege that Robin Patrick Martin, 67, of Oklahoma City, sent more than 700 letters to election officials, lawmakers, news organizations, and others before the midterms. Many contained white powder. Samples tested so far were yeast or flour; not every letter has been tested.
The FBI also linked him to emails claiming to come from an undercover agent and warning members of the Democratic Socialists of America that they could be arrested for voting. Investigators found no evidence connecting the organization to the mailings, which used its outdated return address.
Martin was arrested November 2 and faces federal hoax and threatening-communications charges.
An election worker opening that envelope cannot know whether it contains flour or something deadly. The powder may prove harmless. The fear and disruption are real. You evacuate, call specialists, and treat it as a potential biological threat. Election workers signed up to count ballots. Opening the mail should not require a hazmat response.
5. TX Gov. Greg Abbott Lost Houston Changed the Rules
The new governor hasn’t even taken office, but Houston is already moving.
Mayor John Whitmire directed police Friday to stop notifying ICE when they encounter someone without legal status during routine traffic stops or other low-level encounters that don’t lead to a jailable offense. He explicitly linked the change to Tuesday’s election.
Earlier this year, Greg Abbott threatened to pull $110 million in public-safety funding unless Houston backed away from limits on cooperation with immigration agents. The city complied. Then Abbott lost to Gina Hinojosa. Now Whitmire says Houston won’t wait until January to change direction.
The limits matter: this does not end all cooperation with ICE. Police will still notify immigration agents when someone is being taken to jail on new charges or other warrants. But a routine encounter that ends with a citation should no longer become an invitation for immigration enforcement.
Public safety depends on residents being willing to report crimes, speak to officers, and ask for help. Fear can undermine all three.
New leadership arrives in January. The shift in Texas has already begun. That’s what happens when voters show up and change who holds the power.
🚔 Houston Draws a Line on ICE (NYT)
💙 One Thing For Your Soul
In Houston, a son placed his “I Voted” sticker at the memorial for his father, Lorenzo Salgado. Hundreds followed. In Minneapolis, voters left theirs at memorials for Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Three lives taken during federal immigration enforcement. Three people their communities carried with them to the polls.
Those little stickers held something much bigger: We remember you. We stood up for you. We stood up for each other.
From Texas to Minnesota, and across the country, Americans showed up for neighbors who could no longer stand beside them. That is a country worth believing in, and fighting for.
I get tears in my eyes thinking about those little stickers, and all the love and grief behind them.
We showed up for each other. Let’s keep doing that.
With gratitude,
Olivia
A bunch of DOJ lawyers resigned. They know what’s coming.
It had me in tears as well when I heard about the stickers at the memorial sites. Accountability is coming.