Monday, November 9, 2026Week of November 2–8, 2026Vol. 1 · No. 4

Democrats Take Back Congress

Democrats win the House and the Senate, the Supreme Court turns away a bid to set aside California ballots, and Wall Street rides a roller coaster. Here is your week, in porch-sized bites.

By , founder and editor
· About a 10-minute read

The week in brief

  • Democrats win the House and the Senate. For the next two years, anything President Trump wants from Congress, from spending to nominees, has to get through Democratic majorities in both chambers.
  • Supreme Court won’t sideline 20,000 California ballots. Questions about who gets counted were a running theme of this election, and the country’s highest court declined to step in at the last minute.
  • Stephen Miller becomes White House chief of staff. The chief of staff runs the White House day to day, and this pick signals Trump plans to double down rather than change course with a Democratic Congress.
  • A deadly strike in Ukraine, and new peace talks ahead. This week’s talks are the first real try at peace in months, and Monday’s strike shows what is at stake while they wait.
  • Congo’s Ebola outbreak passes 10,000 cases. Without a vaccine for this strain, health workers are fighting it with the old tools of testing, isolation and tracing, and this outbreak is already far bigger than any before it from this strain.
  • Godzilla stomps to No. 1. Subtitles used to be box-office poison in America. A giant lizard just proved again that a good story travels.

The Lead

Election

Democrats win the House and the Senate

Why it mattersFor the next two years, anything President Trump wants from Congress, from spending to nominees, has to get through Democratic majorities in both chambers.

Tuesday’s midterms handed Democrats both houses of Congress. CBS News projected the House for them at 10:29 p.m. Eastern on election night, and by Sunday night AP’s count stood at 254 Democratic seats to 162 Republican, with 19 races still uncalled and 218 needed for a majority. The Senate went too. Republicans held 53 seats going in; Democrats and the two independents who vote with them now hold 54, with Alaska and Mississippi still too close to call. Democrats flipped seats in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio, Maine and Kansas, where Al Jazeera notes it is the party’s first Senate win since 1932.

The wave reached the statehouses as well. Democrats picked up governor’s offices in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas, where Gina Hinojosa unseated Gov. Greg Abbott. Early estimates from the University of Florida Election Lab, as relayed by Political Wire, put turnout near 49% of eligible voters, second only to 2018 among midterms since 1914. Money was on voters’ minds: in CBS exit polls, 89% called the cost of living a major factor, and President Trump’s approval stood at 38%.

Reactions split along familiar lines. Trump noted he “wasn’t on the Ballot” and said Democrats “did a good job.” Vice President JD Vance was blunter, writing that “the reason we lost is the war” with Iran. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries declared “America is back,” while Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans would not be deterred by one election. A few races are still being counted: Mississippi counts absentee ballots that arrive by Tuesday, Alaska’s ranked-choice tally begins November 18, and two Louisiana House seats go to runoffs on December 12. The new Congress takes over in January.

Sources: CBS News, Al Jazeera, California Today (AP results), KUTV, Political Wire

The Big Five

What else happened

Supreme Court won’t sideline 20,000 California ballots

Courts · Monday

Hours before polls opened, the Supreme Court turned down the Trump administration’s emergency request to make California set aside the ballots of about 20,000 voters the administration had flagged as likely noncitizens. The brief, unsigned order gave no reasons, and no justice publicly dissented. Lower courts had already said no: US District Judge David O. Carter warned that separating the ballots would “wreak havoc,” and an appeals court panel agreed 2-1. In a separate hearing that same day, a Justice Department lawyer acknowledged the administration’s list had a high error rate. California has about 23 million registered voters, and more than 6 million ballots had already come in. The order doesn’t settle the underlying legal fight, but it let the count go ahead.

Why it mattersQuestions about who gets counted were a running theme of this election, and the country’s highest court declined to step in at the last minute.

Sources: OPB (AP), FOX 11 Los Angeles, Irish Examiner

Stephen Miller becomes White House chief of staff

Politics · Friday

Three days after the election, President Trump announced that Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff and the main architect of his hard-line immigration policies, would replace Susie Wiles as chief of staff starting Monday. Wiles, the first woman to hold the job and Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, moves over to his political operation. “He gets it,” Trump said of Miller, adding that he has been with him since the beginning. Wiles said her commitment to the president’s mission would not change. Democratic leaders blasted the choice, and NPR notes that voter data suggest the immigration crackdown Miller helped design boosted Democrats this fall.

Why it mattersThe chief of staff runs the White House day to day, and this pick signals Trump plans to double down rather than change course with a Democratic Congress.

Sources: WUNC (NPR), Boston.com, Deseret News

A deadly strike in Ukraine, and new peace talks ahead

World · Monday

Russian bombs hit a former school in the village of Komyshuvakha, in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, on Monday. The building was being used to hand out aid and shelter people, and a second strike hit it as well. Reuters put the death toll at 26 that day; by Thursday, Ukraine’s emergency service counted at least 53, among them rescue workers and police officers. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it “a vile terrorist strike.” The same day, US envoy Steve Witkoff announced US-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, the first since February, with Witkoff and Jared Kushner leading the American side. The attacks didn’t stop: overnight into Friday, Russia launched 227 drones, knocking out power in parts of Ukraine.

Why it mattersThis week’s talks are the first real try at peace in months, and Monday’s strike shows what is at stake while they wait.

Sources: Honolulu Star-Advertiser (Reuters), Al-Monitor (Reuters), Institute for the Study of War

Congo’s Ebola outbreak passes 10,000 cases

Health · Tuesday

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has passed 10,000 confirmed cases, according to a European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control update on Tuesday: 10,532 cases and 5,126 deaths as of November 1, spread across eight provinces. Ituri province has been hit hardest. This outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no licensed vaccine or treatment, and earlier outbreaks of that strain never topped 60 cases. It has spread beyond Congo, with cases in Kenya and an imported case in Nigeria, and the ECDC says the real outbreak is likely larger than reported. The CDC says the risk to Americans remains low.

Why it mattersWithout a vaccine for this strain, health workers are fighting it with the old tools of testing, isolation and tracing, and this outbreak is already far bigger than any before it from this strain.

Sources: ECDC, UK Health Security Agency, Nature World News

Godzilla stomps to No. 1

Movies · Weekend

“Godzilla Minus Zero,” the Japanese sequel to “Godzilla Minus One,” took the top spot at the US box office this weekend with about $31 million from 3,254 theaters, by industry estimates. That is nearly triple the $11.4 million its predecessor opened with in 2023. TheWrap counts it as only the fourth non-English film ever to finish No. 1 in the US, after “The Passion of the Christ,” “Hero” and “Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle.” Opening-night audiences gave it an A CinemaScore. Final numbers come out Monday.

Why it mattersSubtitles used to be box-office poison in America. A giant lizard just proved again that a good story travels.

Sources: TheWrap, The Numbers

Follow the Money

Where the money is moving

Stocks cheer the election, then an AI sell-off

Markets · Week

Wall Street had a wild week. On Wednesday, the day after the election, the Dow jumped 1,569.40 points, or 3%, to 53,356.12, its best day since April 2025, as results matched what traders expected. Then came Thursday: worries about how much companies are spending on AI data centers, and talk that the new Congress could slow their construction, sent the S&P 500 down 4.4% and the Nasdaq down 5.5% in a single day. Chipmakers took the worst of it, with Nvidia down 9.3% and AMD down 17.3%. Friday steadied, but the S&P 500 still finished the week down 2.7% at 7,376.86, the Nasdaq lost 3.4% and the Dow slipped 0.9%. The S&P is still up 7.8% for the year. (General information, not financial advice.)

Why it mattersMost 401(k)s lean heavily on big tech stocks, so a swing like Thursday’s shows up in a lot of retirement balances.

Sources: ABC30 (ABC News), Boston.com (AP), La Nación (wire table)

Hiring bounces back in October

Jobs · Friday

Employers added 165,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department reported Friday, well above September’s pace. The earlier months looked better on a second count, too: August was revised up to 186,000 and September to 60,000, adding 84,000 jobs that weren’t in the first reports. The unemployment rate was 4.1%, little changed. Average hourly pay rose 14 cents to $38.00, up 3.1% from a year ago. A strong job market matters to the Federal Reserve, which held rates at 3.75% to 4% on October 28 even as two of its officials voted for a hike, saying inflation remains elevated.

Why it mattersMore hiring is good news for paychecks, but a hot job market can push the Fed toward higher rates, which makes borrowing pricier.

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federal Reserve

Gas and mortgage rates ease a little

Household · Thursday

Two big household costs moved the right way this week, if only a bit. AAA’s national average for regular gas was $4.10 on Thursday, down 12 cents from $4.23 a week earlier and $4.37 a month ago, though still far above $3.08 a year ago; ABC notes gas is up $1.14 since the Iran war began in February. Oil was jumpy: US crude fell $7.97 on Wednesday to $88.12 a barrel, and Brent bounced 3.9% on Thursday. Mortgages eased too. Freddie Mac’s average 30-year rate fell to 7.18% from 7.24%, its third straight weekly drop, though it was 6.22% a year ago. (General information, not financial advice.)

Why it mattersA dime off a gallon and a little off a mortgage rate are small, but they’re the first real relief on these bills in weeks.

Sources: AAA, WCAX (AP), ABC30 (ABC News)

Two Sides

Did the Iran war cost Republicans the midterms?

The questionIt was the warIt was more than the war
The main causeVice President Vance says plainly that the war is why Republicans lost.Trump points to not being on the ballot and to candidates who fought him.
The evidenceVance cites a survey of 2024 Trump voters who planned to vote Democratic.In CBS exit polls, 89% of voters called the cost of living a major factor.
Gas pricesTrump calls Vance’s view largely true, since the war drove up gas prices.GOP strategist James Davis says unclear messaging and energy costs mattered more.
The lessonVance tells the war’s defenders to argue it was worth the cost.Trump says he would do it again: Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.

Sources: KUTV, Al Jazeera, CBS News

Porch Talk

Questions for the dinner table

  1. Is every race decided?

    Not yet. Mississippi counts absentee ballots that arrive by Tuesday, Alaska starts its ranked-choice count on November 18, and two Louisiana House seats go to runoffs on December 12.

  2. When do Democrats actually take charge?

    When the new Congress is sworn in, in January. Until then, the current Republican majorities stay in place for the rest of this year’s session.

  3. Will this change what I pay for things?

    Not overnight. Congress doesn’t set gas or grocery prices, though exit polls show cost of living was voters’ top worry, and both parties now have to answer for it together. (General information, not financial advice.)

Say It Over Coffee

Three quick ones

  • Trainer Ciaron Maher’s horses finished first, second and third in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup, a first in the race’s 166 years.

    The Nightly

  • NASA’s 3,200-pound Swift telescope fell back to Earth over Indonesia on Wednesday after nearly 22 years in orbit. No one was hurt.

    ABC7 (CNN)

  • Benchmark marketplace health plans for 2027 cost 13% more on average, and open enrollment started November 1.

    KFF

Worth the Walk

Longer reads, at the source

Pull up a chair. See you next Monday.