Following a historic blue wave of midterm election wins, Democrats are gathering in Denver for a What's Next conference to promote the policy objectives they think voters want.
The sweeping Democratic gains in Congress are teeing up an onslaught of expected investigations into the Justice Department, which has been unchecked by Republicans as it pursued investigations into Trump's enemies, fired waves of career employees and defended the administration in ways that judges across the country repeatedly deemed legally dubious.
President Donald Trump, wants his vice president to talk less about the Iran war and more about corruption and crime in Democratic-controlled cities and states. JD Vance's blunt post-election analysis blaming the war and its economic reverberations for the sweeping Republican losses was getting attention.
Here's the Latest:
Protesters shout down Hakeem Jeffries at Democratic conference in Denver
As Jeffries began to speak, a handful of activists stood up and began yelling at him, demanding action on a Green New Deal and an arms embargo against Israel.
The audience booed them and chanted “Hakeem!” as the activists slowly left the hall, yelling “You don’t even care about us!”
Jeffries is speaking at the “What’s Next” conference in Denver, where Democrats are discussing how to hold onto the power voters gave them last week.
As Jeffries and moderator Jessica Tarlov continued their conversation, Jeffries was repeatedly interrupted.
A woman in the audience shouted “Nobody trusts you!”
A few minutes later, as Jeffries laid out his vision of how to get to universal healthcare. One man stood up and yelled, “The American people demand impeachment!” He continued to shout profanities at Jeffries, and as he was led out, another man stood up and began yelling at the Democratic leader.
“I’m from Brooklyn, this is light work,” Jeffries said.
Investigation into Congressional medical office found lapsed inspections, poor oversight
The Pentagon watchdog says multiple Navy personnel assigned to the office that provides medical care to Congress and the Supreme Court requested “health and safety transfers” and a formal complaint was filed, reinforcing “the need to strengthen oversight.”
The inspector general’s report also says investigators weren’t able to confirm the Office of the Attending Physician’s pharmacy had undergone regular inspections. It says a lack of Pentagon oversight of the office’s clinical quality management and pharmacy operations increases risks to patients and Navy medical personnel.
The report follows the sudden departure of Dr. Brian Monahan, a Navy rear admiral and the office’s attending physician. The Navy is investigating but didn’t announce the departure.
The watchdog says Monahan, who held the post for 18 years, recused himself from the investigation.
“The recusal of the senior-most official in the OAP also significantly limited our ability to identify potential issues, deficiencies, and areas for improvement,” the report said.
Democrats target RFK Jr. while courting MAHA supporters
When Democrats take over Congress in January, one of their many oversight targets will be Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Some high-ranking lawmakers have suggested impeaching him for his overhaul of longstanding vaccine guidance and cuts to medical research. But those efforts could conflict with another growing priority for many lawmakers on the left: nurturing common ground to secure support from Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again followers.
It could prove a difficult balance, since many MAHA activists still view Kennedy as their closest ally.
“It’s an unenviable position for Democrats to be in,” said Matt Motta, a professor at Boston University School of Public Health.
Democrat senator opens probe of $495 million immigration detention center
Sen. Maggie Hassan, who expects to chair the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said the $495 million paid to buy an immigration detention facility in Minnesota was about six times more than the price offered to the state, which it declined to pay.
Hassan called on Secretary Markwayne Mullin to preserve all documents related to the purchase as the committee probes whether spending by the Department of Homeland Security was subject to “improper influence, corruption, or other violations of federal law.”
She sent a similar letter to CoreCivic, the private company that sold the facility. A company statement said the price reflected what it would cost to build the facility at today’s construction prices, minus depreciation, and was determined following an independent appraisal.
Who is Chris Van Hollen, Chuck Schumer’s challenger for majority leader?
The Democratic senator is a two term incumbent who previously represented Maryland in the House and in the legislature.
An attorney and legislator, Van Hollen was born in Karachi, Pakistan, amid his parents' diplomatic service there, and captured attention when he pushed back against the administration's immigration agenda.
He traveled some 2,000 miles to El Salvador to meet with the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, helping to establish hope and momentum for Abrego Garcia’s family in Maryland as well as the overall anti-Trump resistance.
Democratic political group launches new push to shape AI agenda before 2028
Tomorrow Together is investing $1.1 million to shape how to talk with voters about artificial intelligence, deepening its investment on an issue party leaders believe creates a stark contrast with Trump's opposition to regulating the powerful technology.
It's one of several Democratic groups that tried to counter the industry's huge campaign war chest during the midterms. It pushed for new limits on AI and data centers and spent $6.5 million on candidates calling for more regulation amid fresh warnings that the technology poses existential risks to humans.
“Getting this right is going to be critical to winning people’s votes,” said Maddie Kriger, the group’s chief program officer. “It’s also not out of the realm of possibility we will see more and worse AI incidents in the next year, and we want to be prepared to move to help people and take action if that does happen.”
ICE agents came to meatpacking country. Then voters went to the polls
Immigration raids in late September sparked outrage after federal agents caused fear and disruption in the Dodge City, Kansas, area, a hub for the U.S. meatpacking industry. Voters turned out to rebuke the crackdown, helping to elect a Democratic U.S. senator from Kansas for the first time in nearly a century.
Trump has sent mixed messages on immigration enforcement since Democrats won back control of Congress, suggesting his approach to deportations was too harsh for voters while also promoting hard-liner Stephen Miller as his chief of staff. Both parties will be recalibrating their approach ahead of the next presidential campaign.
In this traditionally Republican corner of Kansas, the raids ignited a maelstrom of rage and turned many who had been apathetic into determined voters.
Bessent airs frustrations with Commerce delays over Nvidia chips export enforcements
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he's frustrated with the Commerce Department's delay in controlling the export of advanced Nvidia chips to China.
Bessent said on CNBC Friday that the Treasury, State and Defense departments as well as the U.S. Trade Representative were in favor of adding Nvidia partner Megaspeed to an export control list for months, but that the Commerce Department was in charge of the matter.
“I am frustrated when President Trump made it very clear China should not receive any Nvidia chips above H100s,” Bessent said.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned Thursday after acknowledging an affair with former Megaspeed executive Alice Huang, who U.S. intelligence reportedly suspects to be a Chinese spy.
The GOP-led Senate Banking Committee sent letters Thursday seeking testimony from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Jensen Huang about the department's role and the national security implications of Nvidia chip sales to China.
What Schumer’s supporters are saying
Ohio Sen.-elect Sherrod Brown said Senate Majority Leader is a difficult job, experience is necessary and Schumer has proven himself with legislative successes when they held the Senate under President Joe Biden.
“Why would you fire the manager when you just won the World Series?” posted Maine Sen. Angus King. “Chuck Schumer is one of the principal architects of the most successful election in modern history, and I see no reason to change the leadership that helped make that success possible.”
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., posted Thursday evening that Schumer was key in “securing a historic majority. I will be supporting him as our Democratic leader.”
What Van Hollen’s supporters are saying
While most Democratic senators have either said they are supporting Schumer or are undecided, Van Hollen has at least two backers: Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan, who won a competitive election in his state last week, and progressive standard-bearer Bernie Sanders.
El-Sayed posted on X Thursday night that their majority will need “bold leadership.”
“I called on Sen. @ChrisVanHollen to lead our caucus as a candidate back in April because he leads with courage and experience,” El-Sayed wrote. “We need both right now. Which is why I’m proud to stand with him in his bid to lead our Senate majority.”
Sen. Sanders posted Thursday night that the American people “want a Democratic Party that will stand up to powerful special interests, take on the billionaire class and fight for working families. That is why I am supporting Senator Chris Van Hollen to lead Senate Democrats.”
Van Hollen’s run exposes a rift in the party
Divisions over Schumer have simmered over the last two years, since he sided with Republicans on a spending vote in 2025.
Even as Schumer has redeemed himself within his caucus since then — leading them through a government shutdown last year and orchestrating huge wins in the election — many in the Democratic base are agitating for generational change.
Van Hollen, 67, is not that much younger than Schumer, 75, but he’s positioned himself as a new face and said he’s considering a run for president.
Schumer is preparing a plan for the Democrats first 100 days in power
Schumer has been working with Democratic senators one-on-one to form an agenda for 2027 that includes healthcare and tariff legislation and efforts to stop the Iran war.
In a statement after Van Hollen’s announcement, Schumer said he welcomes any discussion about the future of the caucus.
“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished together — 55 seats and counting is an amazing result — and I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader,” Schumer said. “I look forward to leading our new Democratic majority and delivering for the American people.”
Van Hollen to challenge Schumer for Senate Democratic leader
"The American people called for change," Van Hollen said as he announced his challenge of Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
“It’s now on us to meet this moment, and to do that we need new leadership,” Van Hollen said. “This is not about any one person — it’s about answering the call of the American people. That is why I’m running for Senate Majority Leader.”
The question of whether to reelect Schumer has already divided the caucus and many senators have declined to say publicly how they will vote. In private deliberations about what message to take from the election, many are torn — Schumer recruited many of the party's winning candidates and raised money for them, but progressive groups are pushing for his removal.
Some Republicans gingerly push back on Trump rhetoric
Few echoed Trump's argument in a social media post this week that there were problems with the election. In conceding her closely fought Senate contest in Mississippi, Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith said she would "respect the decision" of voters.
And several Republicans, including Sens. Joni Ernst of Iowa, Tim Scott of South Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas and Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, posted pictures of incoming Democrats in a nod toward postelection unity.
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky meanwhile pushed back against White House warnings that oversight could amount to "blatant criminality."
"Regardless of who is in the White House, there's always going to be a strong desire for the Oversight Committee to be a check and balance on the executive branch," said Comer, who oversaw extensive investigations of Democratic President Joe Biden as House Oversight chairman.
Hegseth vote was a test of Republican independence from Trump
It's perhaps their biggest question going forward. Trump's policies on trade and the war in Iran contributed to voter discontent with the GOP, and now that he's in the last two years of his second term, the election defeats challenge the durability of his Make America Great Again movement.
But House Republicans showed no rush to distance themselves from the president as even his critics helped block an effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Only Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who led the push alongside Democrats, broke ranks.
“What I found out tonight is they still haven’t broken from the spell of Donald Trump,” Massie said after the vote. “He still controls this conference.”
Senate Republicans showed less desire for combat
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., unsuccessfully sought to delay his party's leadership elections in the Senate, arguing for a different approach.
“You cut rural healthcare spending, when you abandon pro-lifers, when you abandon the poor, when you abandon the needy, when you abandon working people, you’re gonna get your butt kicked,” Hawley said. “And you’re gonna deserve it.”
Hawley and a small group of conservatives huddled for hours in the Old Senate Chamber arguing for a consideration of alternatives to John Thune of South Dakota. But no one came forward.
“It’s a bad job,” Hawley acknowledged before Republicans ultimately backed Thune without so much as a voice vote.
“We’re going to let our leader be the leader,” said Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, who will lead party efforts to regain seats in 2028.
House Republicans opted for a bare-knuckled leader
Republicans are weighing how to proceed, balancing calls for moderation against an impulse for hard-line positions that might reenergize the party’s base. Each chamber took different tracks, previewing divisions that may lie ahead.
In the House, the Republicans who will remain in Washington next year largely represent staunchly conservative districts where Trump remains popular. Their decision to elect Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan as their next leader reflected a fighting stance.
Jordan is a co-founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, currently chairs the Judiciary Committee and has previously chaired the Oversight Committee. From those positions, he’s waged heated fights against Democrats and become a top Trump ally.
"The way that Jim fights says a lot about where this conference is," said Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla.
GOP lawmaker’s lament: ‘We have failed’
There was widespread frustration that Republicans who were awarded full control of the White House and Congress just two years earlier had lost touch with voters.
"We collectively failed," said Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., who is trailing her Democratic challenger in a district Republicans carried by more than 18 percentage points in 2024. "The American people let us know we have failed in this governing experience for this Congress."
The anger is sharp in part because of the rosy predictions from top Republicans ahead of the election. House Speaker Mike Johnson had insisted the polls were wrong and Republicans would retain their majority. Back on Capitol Hill this week, Johnson blamed voters, saying they made the "wrong choice."
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who is also trailing a Democratic rival, said people kept telling her she couldn't lose. But she knew otherwise.
“I couldn’t get anybody to listen to me,” she said. “People just didn’t think it could happen, but we knew it could.”
Republicans dazed by election defeats grapple with what went wrong
The chair of the House GOP's campaign arm wanted a triumphant return to Capitol Hill this week after steering Republicans to another majority. Instead, the North Carolina Republican is facing the reality that he and dozens of colleagues will soon clear out their offices.
“It was really people coming out to send a message,” Rep. Richard Hudson told The Associated Press. “They, rightly so, felt gas was too high, things were too expensive.”
“The mistake Republicans made,” he added, “is we didn’t convey to them that we cared about that and cared about them.”
Trump praises Democrat Scott Colom for courting MAGA voters at his Mississippi rally
Trump on Thursday heaped praise on Mississippi's Sen.-elect Scott Colom for courting some of his hardcore MAGA supporters in the final days of the midterm election campaign, a rare example of the Republican president showing admiration for a Democrat.
When the president traveled to Corinth, Mississippi, last month to campaign for incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, Trump denigrated Colom as a "Marxist radical," a "fake" and a "shameless phony who pretends to be a moderate."
But on Thursday, during an appearance on Stephen A. Smith’s “Straight Shooter” podcast, Trump acknowledged that Colom demonstrated chutzpah by showing up at the Trump rally to mingle with some of the Republican president’s staunchest “Make America Great Again” supporters.
“I heard it the other day, where I had a rally there, and we had lines that went 10 miles long, and he campaigned on that line, telling everybody on the line what a good job he did,” Trump said of Colom, a 43-year-old local prosecutor who capitalized on the electorate’s discontent with the economy in his successful underdog campaign. “I give him a lot of credit for that.”
Democrats flock to Denver for a post-midterms introspection-turned-celebration
Fresh off the best electoral performance in half a century, Democratic officials and strategists converged on Denver Thursday to plot a further course for the party and revel in their gains.
The two-day What’s Next conference, hosted by a new group called Majority Democrats, was put on politicos’ calendars months ago as another stepping stone as the party charted its way out of its post-2024 political wilderness.
Now Democrats will have to figure out what to do with majorities in both chambers of Congress and control of at least 12 new state legislative chambers.
“The fever has broken. The fog has lifted,” said Mitch Landrieu, the former Democratic mayor of New Orleans. “And now it falls upon us to rebuild the foundation of this great nation and to fulfill the promise of America.”
Barely a week after voters repudiated Trump and his Republican Party, Texas Sen.-elect James Talarico said Democrats must work with him. Voters are hungry for results and can't wait two years for Trump to leave office, he said, urging Democrats to avoid both intraparty fights and excessive caution.
Trump’s Justice Department faces a new era of scrutiny under a Democratic-led Congress
The Justice Department has functioned for nearly two years as an extension of the White House, unchecked by a Republican-controlled Congress as it pursued investigations into President Donald Trump's enemies, fired waves of career employees and defended administration stances that judges across the country repeatedly deemed legally dubious.
Now, sweeping Democratic gains in Congress have shifted the balance of power in Washington, teeing up an onslaught of expected investigations into those actions and others as well as scrutiny from the majority party that the current Justice Department had until now managed to skirt.
The department has, at least publicly, appeared unbowed by the altered landscape.
Attorney General Todd Blanche says the department will cooperate with Congress but has also insisted that “we will not back down” from the Republican president’s agenda. Meanwhile, a top aide told prosecutors on a call to prepare to be on “wartime” footing and a U.S. attorney publicly warned a top Democrat about planned congressional investigations.
Trump bluntly tells JD Vance to shift focus from Iran to targeting ‘corruption and crime’ at home
President Donald Trump on Thursday directed Vice President JD Vance to shift his focus away from the Iran war and instead devote himself to fighting what the president says is corruption and crime in Democratic-controlled cities and states.
Vance, who served as the lead negotiator for a short-lived truce in the eight-month-old war, has been blunt in blaming the war — and the economic reverberations it has caused — for Republicans' sweeping losses in last week's midterm elections in the United States.
But Trump brusquely told the vice president in a social media post Thursday to shift his energies away from the Iran war to what he argues is a more pressing — and perhaps more politically salient — issue after Republicans were trounced at the polls.
Trump earlier this week said he believed the war "militarily is effectively over," and appeared to double down on that message by pointedly directing Vance "to focus his complete and total attention" on his anti-fraud campaign.