Democrats Favored to Take House as DOJ Moves to Challenge Alaska Senate Race — Before Votes Are Counted

Here are the news stories that deserve your attention for the week October 18, 2026:

The midterm elections end in under nine days. By the time the new Congress is sworn in, we’ll have made it almost halfway through President Trump’s second term. Even if Democrats simply take back the House — which they seem very well positioned to do — it will give them the opportunity to hold Trump and the key players accountable for their actions, and allow us to peek into what has really been going on for the last two years. Here’s where things stand right now:

THE HOUSE

“Republicans’ path to keeping control of the House has all but evaporated,” Erin Covey of the Cook Political Report writes this week.

“The outstanding question is how large Democrats’ majority will be in 2027; in the best-case scenario, their party could enter the new Congress with more seats than they had after successfully flipping control of the House in 2006 and 2018.”

Cook estimates Democrats will win at least 220 seats and Republicans 198, with 17 toss-ups.

THE SENATE

Democrats are expected to gain between two and six seats, Jessica Taylor of the Cook Political Report writes this week. They need at least four to take control of the Senate. This week, Republicans lost momentum in South Carolina and Mississippi but made gains in Minnesota.

“Ultimately, with two weeks to go until Election Day, the battle for control of the Senate still hangs in the balance, but Democrats have the wind at their back,” Taylor writes.

In ALASKA (TOSS-UP), the Trump administration filed a lawsuit preemptively challenging the results of the Senate race. It claims a man running as Dan J. Sullivan Jr. is on the ballot to confuse voters into picking him instead of the Republican incumbent, Sen. Dan S. Sullivan. Mary Peltola is the Democrat running against both.

The administration “asked a federal judge to bar the state from certifying the race’s results should the senator lose by a margin less than the number of votes that his same-named challenger receives. In that scenario, the department said, the court should investigate whether that result was tainted by voter confusion. The move marked a remarkable bid by President Donald Trump’s administration to potentially intervene in the outcome of a race that could determine control of the Senate — before the election has occurred,” The Washington Post reports.

Trump told reporters the lawsuit was his idea: “I’m the one that said do it.”

Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN on Sunday that Trump doesn’t think it’s “fair” to have two Sullivans on the ballot.

The state’s ballot will say “INCUMBENT” next to Sen. Sullivan’s name, so it shouldn’t be too hard.

Democrats have filed a motion asking a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, calling it “an unprecedented pre-emptive strike on democratic elections.”

Law professor Derek Muller calls the filing “one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen.” He adds:

“In short, like many Department letters over the last few years, it is designed to win the press release rather than the litigation. This one simply takes the form of a complaint.”

Election law expert and former George W. Bush lawyer Ben Ginsberg said:

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

In MICHIGAN, Former President Barack Obama campaigned for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who is locked in a toss-up race for the state’s open Senate seat. If he wins, he would become the country’s first Muslim senator.

“You remember — roll back the tape: ‘We’re gonna drain the swamp,’” Obama told the crowd. “The only thing they drained is the reflecting pool on the National Mall because some no-bid contract got it all messed up,” NBC News reports.

Last weekend, a voter who identified himself as Tommy asked El-Sayed whether he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. Not because El-Sayed has anything to do with them — just because El-Sayed is Muslim – and it's a racist, anti-Muslim playbook Republicans have been happy to use with him.

“Sure. Yeah, absolutely. Why are you asking the question?” El-Sayed said.

“Because I have not heard you disavow them yet,” Tommy said.

“I haven’t heard you disavow them yet,” El-Sayed replied.

The exchange goes on; you can watch it here if you haven’t already. Journalist Charles Blow schools us here, and Ayman Mohyeldin does it here. Both are worth a watch.

GOVERNORSHIPS: There are 36 races for governor, and three are toss-ups: Georgia (open seat), Nevada (Republican incumbent) and Wisconsin (open seat). Three traditionally red states — Alaska, Iowa and Ohio — are leaning Democrat, per Cook. Kansas — whose Democratic governor is term-limited — is leaning Republican.

In OHIO (LEAN DEM), the governor’s race took a nasty turn. Vivek Ramaswamy (R), who is running against Amy Acton (D), ran an ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother, who calls her daughter a liar. What Ramaswamy failed to mention: Acton was removed from her mother’s care at 12 — and hasn’t seen her since — after her stepfather was indicted for raping her. The ad was shared on social media without disclosing that Ramaswamy was behind it. He later admitted it, then doubled down with help from Trump and Vance, who defended the ad said he wasn’t really concerned whether the it was “appropriate or not” and that Republicans should “stop whining” and “go win the race.”

The Cook Political Report moved the race from “Toss-up” to “Lean Democrat” this week in light of the ad. Jessica Taylor writes that:

"...the campaign’s decision this week to air a deeply personal attack ad against opponent Amy Acton confirmed that the race is slipping away from him — and perhaps creating some collateral damage for fellow Republicans on the way… This is not the kind of TV ad you run if you’re winning — or even if you’re confident you can. Recent polls were trending in Acton’s direction even before the bombshell ad became a national news story.”

Trump won Ohio by sizable margins in 2020 and 2024.

Zeteo reports that Ramaswamy is being shunned by fellow Republicans. He was removed from a Republican bus tour, and local businesses are telling the GOP they won’t host events if Ramaswamy is there. “It’s that damn ad,” one source told the outlet. (And I would argue, no: it’s his character.)

Obama, who also campaigned for Democrats in Ohio this weekend, criticized Ramaswamy’s decision to run the Acton ad, calling him “thirsty.” He added that a person like that “just wants to get attention no matter what, willing to do anything. And in recent days we’ve seen there is no line he won’t cross.”

Obama focused most of his time on Trump, criticizing policies that have made it hard to afford everything from gas to groceries.

“The current president chose to make a series of bad decisions. Most importantly, he decided to start an unnecessary war that nobody asked for, nobody voted for,” Obama said.

He also got cute:

“Does anybody really think this guy in the White House right now is spending all that time thinking about these issues? I mean, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he seems very focused on home renovations. He should be on HGTV... He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.”

RELATED:

• In NEW HAMPSHIRE, student IDs will not count as valid voter ID after a Supreme Court ruling, NBC News reports.
• A small group of national security and defense experts has been advising state and federal lawmakers and election officials in tight races on how to handle potential interference from the Trump administration, The Washington Post reports. 🎁
• House Democrats say their first impeachment target won’t be Trump — it will be Hegseth. They plan to move “as soon as they can, with a vote likely next month while Republicans are still in charge and another attempt next year—when Democrats hope they will control the chamber,” The Wall Street Journal reports. 🎁

“Democrats argue Hegseth has already committed impeachable offenses, and a House majority would give them the votes and subpoena power to dig further. In January, the party can start investigations, release findings and weigh which action—including calling for resignation or impeachment—is the right course. If they do move ahead with impeachment, it would be almost certain to pass if Democrats control the House… Impeachment requires a simple majority in the House, where Republicans currently have a 219-214 advantage, including an independent who caucuses with them. If all House Democrats back the effort, (Rep. Thomas) Massie (R) would need at least two more Republicans to join him. None so far have said they would vote to impeach, and Massie indicated he is counting on some lawmakers who lose their re-election bids to switch sides.”

• A federal judge restricted DHS field operations in nine states that were ostensibly hunting for noncitizen voters. The judge ruled that the federal government was using “flawed” data and that its efforts likely violated the Voting Rights Act, which bars voter intimidation, CapRadio reports.
• Early voting, which includes mail-in and early in-person voting, is up this cycle compared with 2022, during Biden’s presidency. The Hill reports that more than 23 million votes have been cast so far, compared with 15 million at this point in 2022.
• Democrats have spent $182 million on ads focused on the Trump administration’s corruption — more than the last four election cycles combined. And it seems to be paying off. “Government corruption has climbed the list of voter concerns in recent weeks. While the economy has long been the top issue for most Americans, a Fox News poll published last week found a remarkable shift: voters ranked government corruption as their top concern—above inflation and gasoline prices,” the WSJ reports.
• AIPAC announced it would stop endorsing and donating to candidates — but it’s not what you think. The Guardian reports: “Aipac, which only launched its political action committee and started endorsing candidates three cycles ago, is hardly getting out of US elections. It pledged to maintain the work of its deep-pocketed Super Pac, United Democracy Project, and to continue to funnel millions of dollars to prop up pro-Israel candidates through individual donors and Aipac members. The shift in strategy was a sign it was adapting to a changing political landscape, not that it was giving up its efforts to shape it.”
• President Trump voted early and in person in Florida over the weekend, CBS reports.

Last week, Reuters reported that someone inside the White House ordered Elon Musk to throttle Ukraine’s access to the satellite networks his company owns, hindering Ukraine’s ability to launch offensive and defensive drones and communicate on the battlefield. The Telegraph reported that it was Musk’s idea, but that he got Trump’s approval.

This week, we didn't get much clarity. Instead, we got confusing answers from different administration officials (in my opinion, on purpose) which makes the entire thing more alarming.

Let's backtrack first.

• The Satellites. Ukraine uses two satellite services owned by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. Starlink is the commercial version — you can buy a subscription just like you do for cable or your cellphone. Starshield is the military-grade network: encrypted, faster, and what you need to operate drones. Starshield is under the control of the US government, according to Musk.

• These satellites are how Ukraine communicates on the battlefield and controls drones that intercept Russian attack drones and strike Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory.
• On Oct. 14, both Starlink and Starshield were throttled. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said (TW: sensitive image at this link) that, as a result, Ukraine was unable to prevent Russian attacks including one that killed six people, including children.
• It hit Americans, too. Nine senators — including Republicans Thom Tillis, Susan Collins, John Cornyn and Lisa Murkowski — wrote to the Pentagon’s inspector general that during the slowdown, “U.S. diplomatic, military, and security personnel were unable to reach designated bunkers during Russian air raids.”
• What's New This Week. Trump claimed — and continues to claim — that he doesn’t know who ordered the restrictions and that it wasn’t him.
  • This week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk ordered the slowdown and had been discussing the issue with Trump in the days before. The paper couldn’t confirm that Trump ordered it.
  • Vice President JD Vance made it sound like a private customer matter between Ukraine and Musk’s company. That’s not true – and he should and would know that. Both Starlink and Starshield were affected. Starshield, as Musk has confirmed, is under the US government's authority. It is not a private company matter.
  • Secretary of State and national security adviser Marco Rubio did something similar, at one point claiming to confused reporters that Ukraine doesn’t even use Starshield, which is not true – and he, too, should and would know that.
  • On Friday, the Journal reported that Trump called Musk and asked him to restore Ukraine’s connection. Asked how the whole thing came about, Trump said: “I don’t want to comment on it. You know, whether I called or whether somebody else called, doesn’t make any difference. I guess the bottom line, he put it back.” He doesn’t comment? SINCE WHEN? And if a phone call is all it took to restore access, why did Trump wait more than a week to do it?
  • Later Friday, Ukraine said the connection had been mostly restored.
  • On Saturday, Musk claimed Ukraine had used the commercial Starlink service for offensive strikes that killed people, violating the company’s terms of service. He then told “the virtue-signaling evil warmongers who push for endless slaughter” to “burn in hell.” That doesn’t address Starshield — which is under US government control and can be used for offensive actions — and was also affected. I'm not entirely sure what Musk means, but I think he's using some DARVO tactics to cover his own hide here.
  • Serhii Sternenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s military, said Musk’s allegations were false: “All drone missions that required satellite communication could only be carried out using Starshield… Ukraine did not violate the terms of use.”
• A Pattern. In 2022, Musk ordered Starlink switched off in parts of Ukraine as its forces were retaking territory from Russia, leaving Ukrainian troops without communications, Reuters reported.
• My theory, as of now: Trump approved it, and Vance and Rubio — left to cover for him — exploited the press’s and public's confusion over the differences between Starlink and Starshield to feed everyone a bunch of non-answers.
• House and Senate Democrats want answers. Sen. Adam Schiff told NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should testify before Congress, as should “anyone who has knowledge of what happened.”
• So what is this really about? Well, looks like Trump wants to help Russia for some reason. (In a podcast with Kara Swisher, Hillary Clinton said this week that she thinks "Putin has something on Trump.") What Russia really needs help with right now is oil. Ukraine has been attacking Russian oil refineries to cut off the money Russia makes from oil and gas, which funds their war machine. It’s been working.
  • The Washington Post reports: "The result is the worst fuel crisis in the country since the Soviet Union’s collapse. Major gas companies have limited the amount of fuel customers can buy, and the price of gasoline and diesel have both risen about 20 percent since the beginning of the year, contributing to nationwide inflation."
  • Rosneft, Russia’s largest state-run oil company, has refineries shut down or running below capacity, and its profits are falling while its debt rises, according to Bloomberg. "Rosneft officials have expressed concern that even a few more months of the war in Ukraine could leave lasting damage across the business, according to people familiar with the matter."
  • Like the good friend that he is, earlier this month, Trump threatened Ukraine, telling them to stop attacking Russian oil refineries or the US would cut off intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Ukraine didn't stop. So, Trump lifted US sanctions on Russia that were making it harder for Russia to sell oil on the broader global market and repair its damaged refineries. Trump claimed he did it because Russia supplies a lot of the world's oil and Ukraine’s attacks were driving up prices globally. But those prices are up because of Trump's illegal and unnecessary war on Iran. Before launching it, Trump failed to predict what experts largely said would happen: Iran would shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes. Seems like Trump was using this as an excuse to lift sanctions to help Russia.
• After Ukraine's lost its satellite connection, Russia used the opportunity to launch one of the worst attacks of the war, Zelenskyy said.
• Meanwhile, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian civilians. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported 328 civilians killed and more than 2,000 wounded in September, an 85% increase from September 2025.
• What does Musk get out of this? A lot, as long as Trump and Republicans are in power. So far, he's spent about $366 million to help Republicans keep control of Congress, Reuters reports.
  • Government contracts are a big part of what keeps Musk's empire running. And what does Musk need for contracts to exist? Global conflict. Modern warfare requires technology — the kind Musk’s companies sell to the governments at taxpayer expense. Despite promising “no new wars,” Trump has gotten the US into a huge war with Iran and is keeping the Russia-Ukraine war from coming to a swift end.
  • If Democrats win the House, they get subpoena power. And they probably won't be starting stupid forever wars like Trump. And, with a majority, Democrats could also dig into Musk's contracts and perhaps lots of other things...
• Questions. If Musk did this, why does one man have the power to interfere with US foreign policy? As The Wall Street Journal put it: “With a seeming flick of a switch, Musk has the power to alter the course of a deadly conflict.” If Trump ordered it, why? Is he on Russia’s side or Ukraine’s? Was he trying to fix rising gas prices — a problem he helped create — by aligning himself with Russia? Or does he feel he owes Russia something?
• Bottom line. Is the president acting in the best interest of the American people, or his own? Helping Vladimir Putin’s Russia does nothing for Americans. It leaves America and our NATO allies more vulnerable. If Trump approved the restrictions, we need to know why. If he didn’t, we need to know who did, under what authority, and why the administration’s response has been so confusing. Congress should continue to demand answers — and the American public deserves them.

RELATED:

• Not helping the situation. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “humanitarian” after Russia released American Stephen Hubbard who has been held there since 2022. “The praise, heard around the world, wasn’t a departure for the U.S. special envoy, as President Trump has sought to foster warmer relations with Putin in an effort to defuse the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv and develop economic ties with Russia,” The Wall Street Journal writes.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed on Friday in Hebron, in the West Bank, which Israel illegally occupies under a system of apartheid.

The Israeli military claimed two Palestinian gunmen — who were also shot and killed — were responsible. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is up for re-election on Tuesday, claimed the two men were part of a Hamas cell plotting a “major attack.”

The Washington Post reports that in a statement, “Hamas called the attack ‘a natural and legitimate response to the ongoing crimes and brutal assaults against our people, our land and our holy sites in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, and to the continuing aggression against our people in Gaza.’”

Netanyahu then ordered the West Bank “closed”: Israeli forces tightened their grip on Palestinians and shut down checkpoints so Palestinians couldn’t move about.

Reuters: “Across the West Bank, Israel has blocked the entrances to most Palestinian cities and towns, severely curtailing Palestinians' freedom of movement. Yousef Mur, a resident of the Palestinian town of Yatta, said the closures meant he was unable to reach Jerusalem with his daughter for her cancer treatment.”

The Israeli government also began evicting Palestinians who lived near the shooting site from their homes and tearing the homes down — collective punishment (more on that below). As of Saturday, an estimated 2,500 Palestinians had been forced out of their homes, some of which the Israeli military has taken over and turned into military posts, Al Jazeera reports. At least 47 Palestinians have been detained.

Hebron is a key hub that sustains the Palestinian economy. Per Al Jazeera, it “accounts for about 40 percent of Palestinian industrial output and 30 percent of exports, but economic activity has been badly affected by recent Israeli restrictions and assaults. Hebron has the highest concentration of military obstacles in the West Bank with about 40 percent of the 89 main checkpoints in the occupied territory concentrated in the city’s most highly restricted zones.”

Collective punishment is a war crime under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which the US and Israel are party to:

“No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.

“Pillage is prohibited.

“Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.”

In GAZA, Israel’s genocide of Palestinians continues one year into a ceasefire that Israel and Hamas agreed to. This weekend, Israeli strikes killed at least eight Palestinians, including three security guards in an attack on the Islamic University of Gaza while classes were in session. Israeli strikes have destroyed 95% of the enclave’s higher education institutions, Al Jazeera reports.

The death toll in Gaza has passed 75,544 since October 2023.

RELATED:

• Israeli forces detained Brad Lander — who is Jewish and running for a New York House seat — along with about 80 volunteers, including rabbis, who were helping Palestinians harvest their olives. “The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know,” Lander wrote in a post on X.
  • The Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that the volunteers failed to obtain the necessary permits, which Lander said was not true: “No coordination was required, and we were never told that it was. We were not in a restricted security area. We did not pass any checkpoints.”
• The UN’s World Food Program — which serves an estimated 2 million people across Gaza and the West Bank — says it has to cut food assistance by one-third in Gaza and by half in the West Bank because of funding shortages. The US and other Western countries have significantly cut funding recently to the program, which says it has a shortfall of about $386 million over the next six months.
• Israeli elections are scheduled for Tuesday, October 27. Trump endorsed Netanyahu. Vance refused. Right now, Netanyahu is trailing his opponents.

Stories that are new and on the bubble, appear to be escalating quickly with major developments and decision making points in the very near term.

War on Iran

It seems increasingly likely that the US and/or Israel will attack Iran in the days around the midterm elections — or that’s what they want Iran and everyone else to think.

The federal government is pulling personnel from the Middle East, The New York Times reports, citing intelligence that Iran is planning attacks against Americans. In a letter to Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton writes that “through various channels, we have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel. The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against U.S. citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries.”

The State Department has elevated travel advisories for 13 countries to either “Reconsider Travel” or “Do Not Travel.” They include Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The US government also pulled personnel out of the region in the days leading up to the US-Israel strikes on Iran that began the war on February 28.

This comes just days after Hegseth — who’s all for renewed strikes on Iran — made an unannounced trip to Israel to meet with Netanyahu. A spokesperson for Netanyahu said the two discussed “threats in the region.” Hegseth also visited troops in the region.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has renewed his push for all-out war on Iran. “As Israelis prepare to head to the polls, Netanyahu has grown increasingly hawkish in his comments about Iran, including warning that Israel could strike Iran without U.S. support,” The Washington Post reports.

RELATED:

• Security policy expert Stephen Semler reports that the US has fired more interceptors to defend Israel than Israel has during the war on Iran — a war Israel convinced Trump to start.

Stories that could escalate into something bigger or more problematic or are waiting for major decisions that could decide its trajectory in the short-term.

• State Department staffers up for promotions were asked who they voted for for president in 2016, 2020 and 2024 — the three elections in which Trump was on the ballot, The Washington Sun reports. “Top officials in the State Department made clear that only candidates who voted for President Donald Trump would be eligible for the mid-to-upper level foreign service roles. They also told candidates that their campaign donation history would be examined and any donation to Democrats would be disqualifying.” Federal law bars personnel decisions based on political affiliation. Senate Democrats say they’re investigating the allegations.
• Two ex-FBI intelligence officials have been charged with making false statements to Congress about the Hunter Biden laptop case from almost six years ago, and the case is conveniently being pursued less than two weeks before the midterm elections. Attorneys for the agents say the charges are baseless.
• Trump is considering mass pardons for certain types of junior staffers, The Washington Sun reports, citing two sources familiar with the discussions. “A pardon for all junior administration personnel is viewed as unlikely, one source said, but the president could issue blanket pardons for all employees involved in particular policy areas, such as deportations, war or trade. Trump has previously said he would be interested in pardoning some administration officials, but the discussions happening now would apply to a far greater number of White House staff than has been previously reported.”
• Jared Kushner had access to bank accounts holding more than $2 billion deposited by UAE and Saudi royals, Vanity Fair reports. Dutch intelligence discovered the accounts after a Russian asset pointed them to screenshots Russian intelligence had taken from Kushner’s phone. Kushner, surprisingly cash-strapped at the time, was looking for “shortcuts” to diplomacy, one source says, while UAE and Saudi royals sought influence with, and access to, a key government player and Trump’s son-in-law. The VF article is drawn from a book by Matthew Cook, “Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East.”
  • “Any efforts he made to shape US policy that came from a foreign government that had provided him with money would make him an agent of a foreign power. US law requires citizens who lobby on behalf of a foreign power to declare themselves and the country they are working on behalf of to the Justice Department," Cook writes.
• Trump and Vance launched a new DOJ program, funded with $25 million in taxpayer dollars, that will pay $10,000 to $30,000 for tips exposing “government fraud.” The first recipient? Right-wing influencer Nick Shirley, who claimed there was rampant fraud in Minnesota daycare centers run by Somalis. WSJ
  • “This administration has zero tolerance for individuals who steal from Americans,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement. Oh….
  • “I will be the arbitrator of all of these decisions,” Trump said. “In other words, I’ll determine whether or not the person is deserving and I’ll determine — and I will be very generous, believe me.”
• DHS is testing a military-grade heat ray that can shoot an invisible beam that delivers an intense burning sensation on human skin up to half a mile away for use near the US-Mexico border, CNN reports. “Military officials have said the resulting ‘tingling effect’ lasts between 10 and 15 minutes but also generates ‘an instinctive and irresistible urge to run from the effect.’”
• Senate Democrats want the guest list for Trump’s November 22 gala dinner for the top buyers of his crypto coin, most of whom are overseas. In a letter to Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles, they write: “This dinner and scoring mechanism appear carefully constructed to increase investment in $TRUMP, allowing the President to abuse the power of his office to personally enrich himself, as he has throughout this term. President Trump’s continued monetization of his name and likeness once again raises serious ethical concerns, necessitating this request for a robust inquiry into the President’s financial entanglements and personal profiteering while costs for the American people continue to climb.” They’re asking for a response by October 30…
• The DOJ is investigating Corey Lewandowski, former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s top aide, for allegedly trying to profit from his government job by asking Middle Eastern officials to pay him for favors on the side, The Wall Street Journal reports. Noem and Lewandowski were fired in March. “The review is the first publicly known instance of President Trump’s second-term Justice Department scrutinizing someone close to the president.”
• Noem was reportedly fired in part for spending millions in government funds on an ad campaign that made her look cool, and for buying a fleet of fancy Boeing planes she claimed were for deportation flights. “Noem bought seven planes and none of them has made more than five flights since April,” Bloomberg reports.
• A judge has ordered Trump to sit for a deposition in his lawsuit against the BBC before December 11, Jeremy Barr of The Guardian reports.
• Trump can’t win real prizes, so candidates desperate for his help are giving him completely made-up ones to stroke the president’s ego. Joe Mitchell — the Republican running against Democrat Lindsay James in a competitive House race in Iowa — gave Trump the “Man of the Century Award.” MS NOW

Stories that seem to be resolved, at the moment, decisions that appear final.

• Trump now says he probably won't pursue renaming the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans after himself after asking Google’s CEO Sunday Pichai about it. Trump says Pichai told him: “No, no, no. This time I’m not doing it. Oceans are different, sir. They cover a lot of countries. Please don’t ask us to do that.”

Have suggestions, feedback, questions? Email me at huma@fromthefifth.com