MISSISSIPPI DELTA: Democrat Scott Colom will flip Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith's (R) seat in a major upset victory that further pads the incoming Democratic majority in the Senate.
Decision Desk HQ projected the race for Colom after a week of votes continuing to be counted after Election Day. Mississippi law allowed provisional and absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day to be accepted through Tuesday, and officials continued processing and counting those ballots Wednesday.
Hyde-Smith conceded her defeat to Colom in a video posted on social media Wednesday evening.
“While this is not the outcome we worked for or hoped for, I respect the decision of Mississippi voters,” she said the video. “I want to congratulate Scott Colom and wish him well as he takes on the tremendous responsibility of representing our great state.”
Colom had tightened the gap behind Hyde-Smith on election night, and his lead only ticked up in the days that followed as more ballots were counted. He leads by about 4,500 votes, as of the latest tally.
Colom is the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Mississippi since 1982. He also made history as the first Black person to be elected to the Senate from Mississippi since Reconstruction.
▪ The Hill: Mary Peltola surpasses combined Dan Sullivan votes.
▪ The Hill: Jim Justice says GOP can ‘forget’ Senate majority in 2028.
INVESTIGATING THE INVESTIGATORS: The White House is signaling it intends to take an aggressive stance against efforts by the incoming Democratic-led Congress to investigate the Trump administration, warning that the way they wield their subpoena power “may cross the line into blatant criminality.”
In a letter to incoming House Oversight Chair Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), White House counsel Will Scharf said any subpoena “designed merely to abuse or instill fear in the recipient” could be criminal, adding that “issuing unlawful subpoenas with the intention of depriving citizens of their constitutional rights and privileges may warrant further investigation.”
“Compulsory process is a power Congress has for oversight functions, and only for oversight functions,” Scharf wrote in his letter to Garcia. “Abusive threats and public statements about the indiscriminate issuance of subpoenas, along with threats directed at prospective targets within the Administration make it abundantly clear that any forthcoming investigative processes will be deployed to harass and aggrandize, rather than to advance any legitimate legislative end.”
Democrats have discussed publicly their intention to investigate the Trump administration. Garcia, on the night of the election, issued a two-word statement, telling White House officials to “lawyer up.”
Garcia issued a defiant response yesterday, saying, "It appears Donald Trump has something to hide,” and asserting Congress’s authority to conduct oversight, which, he noted, “comes from Article I of the Constitution, not from the permission of the White House.”
“The American people voted overwhelmingly for us to pass laws to root out corruption and abuse... We are a co-equal branch of government and will not be deterred by baseless threats from a weaponized DOJ [Department of Justice] or from the President’s lawyers,” he wrote.
Punchbowl News was first to report on the letter yesterday, but Garcia’s spokesperson later noted that the Oversight Committee “has not received this letter yet.”
▪ The Hill: House Democrat responds to White House warning: ‘Come at me, bro.’
▪ The Hill: Democrats investigate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. donor over expensive gifts.
▪ The Hill: Alina Habba Mildon loses $50M contract after Trump criticism.
CONTINUED FALLOUT: House Democrats are fuming after 11 members of their caucus were absent when the House voted, 211-204, to refer Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s impeachment articles to committee, effectively killing the measure until next year.
The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Sudiksha Kochi report that the issue is far from over, as a growing chorus of Democrats are now calling on the party to prioritize his impeachment when they take the gavel in January. But some party leaders are pushing instead for a more deliberate approach to executive oversight.
"It’s totally unacceptable, and we need to raise it up back again as soon as possible and make sure everyone gets on it," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said.
▪ The Hill: The Memo: Misfire on Hegseth vote adds to Democratic tensions.
▪ The Hill: Hegseth survives the battle. Democrats aren’t done with the war.
'DIRTY TRICKS': House Democrats are up in arms after Republicans used a fast-track tactic to pass legislation intended to increase pay for disabled and injured veterans.
Democrats opposed the Take Care of America's Veterans Act because they said it would expand some veterans benefits at the cost of slashing others. Leadership was whipping its members to vote no.
But when the Republican lawmaker presiding over the House brought the bill up for consideration, no Democrat demanded a recorded vote, a curious rarity that allowed it to be passed instantly by voice vote.
Democrats alleged that Republicans pulled Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, away from the podium to discuss changes to the bill when the legislation was fast-tracked.
“On Veterans Day of all days, using dirty tricks to steal from Veterans is a disgrace," a Democratic leadership aide said.
▪ The Hill: Thomas Massie secures another vote on the Epstein files.
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