When Nancy Pelosi stepped down as Speaker I was asked to evaluate her time as leader, which was really exciting until the scope and scale of that task began to settle in. Put simply, she is among the greatest speakers in House history. www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

That the executive can't spend money, and thus do stuff, without the regular and periodic approval of a representative legislature isn't some incidental hiccup. It is the core premise of the power of the purse, the most bedrock foundation of Anglo-American constitutionalism from time immemorial.

Good morning! Day 4 of the Sandwich Guy’s trial. He is finally wearing a suit (the rest of the week’s evidence suggests he seems to prefer pullovers in cooler weather). The jury has a note for the judge.

Some good evidence that election night was about persuasion, not just turnout. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/u...

Trump's consolidation of authoritarian power is inseparable from the economic carnage he's unleashed. Tariffs, DOGE bloodbath, federal worker firings, killing of NY-NJ tunnel etc are *abuses of power* that *also* hurt the economy. Dems can say both these things. 4/ newrepublic.com/article/2027...

When your "I'm not antisemitic, it's just that ..." defense is "if we push back too hard on antisemitism I might have to eat dinner with some Jews and that would contradict my faith" ... You're not beating the rap guys

We’re hiring! Our new resume portal is live, and we’re looking for top talent in NYC to help build this administration and deliver on our affordability agenda. Could that be you? Apply using the link below. transition2025.com/apply

What

Australia has so much electricity from solar power that it is going to start offering free electricity to everyone for at least three hours during the day as the wholesale price of power goes negative electrek.co/2025/11/04/a...

Morning. ☕ ICYMI: Don't sleep on all the down-ballot victories that Democrats just pulled off. They're not as sexy as governor's races or the NYC mayor's race, but they matter -- and they were some of the most astounding wins of Tuesday night. www.huffpost.com/entry/democr...

Breaking News: Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the only female House speaker, said she would retire in 2027, ending a run as one of the most powerful women in U.S. politics. nyti.ms/3XkTV49

The Trump administration’s military strikes on alleged drug boats are “blatantly unlawful as a matter of U.S. domestic law—and a quickly spreading stain on whatever is left of the executive branch’s commitment to the rule of law.” Me on “extrajudicial killings” in the latest issue of “One First”:

Every single woman you know has had this happen to her. Even the goddamn president of Mexico.

I'm hard-pressed to think of a non-Jewish Democratic politician who has spoken to Jews with more respect and empathy than Mamdani. The fact that many Jewish establishment orgs are going after him while staying relatively mum on resurgent Nazism is a disaster, both for American Jews and in general.

I am to Mamdani’s right on various things, and I would never tell other Jews how to Jew, but: (a) I would absolutely have voted for him happily over Cuomo and Sliwa, (b) the slander that he is anti-Semitic is wholly unsupported by evidence, and …

it’s as if these people genuinely have no idea that large numbers of jewish new yorkers enthusiastically supported mamdani

What historians see when people claim AI is solving mysteries that have baffled historians for years.

The Senate will NOT be leaving at it its usual Thursday 2 p.m. time tomorrow. Vote at 5 p.m. on Kaine Venezuela res Democrats have caucus tomorrow, and GOP wants a signal on shutdown resolution after. Recess scheduled to start Friday -- but Senate could stay well into weekend/next week if needed

I, too, frequently engage in sandwich deliberation …

I would *absolutely* vote for the camels one and the goat meat one ...

I did not write the headline, but I have an op ed on Prop 50 over at the @sfchronicle.com. Shorter version: the nationalization and polarization of our politics is what got us here, and it's also the most likely way out. It will take national partisan Democratic hardball to enact anti-hardball.

The Sandwich Guy’s prosecutor seems unfamiliar with both baseball and the meaning of the verb “spike”

What's happening in TX-18 is more obscene than not seating Grijalva during pro formas. Turner died in March. Abbott delayed the special election until yesterday, and now it goes to a runoff early *next year.* Congress can and should require special elections to be held within 90 days of a vacancy.

The #1 lesson from yesterday’s blowout: Humanities majors killed on the job market 1) Mamdani- Africana Studies 2) Spanberger -French 3) Sherill - Global History

Just left the latest hearing in Jim Comey's criminal case. It did not go well for DOJ The magistrate judge scolded them for an "indict first, investigate second" posture and ordered them to turn over reams of material — including all grand jury info — to Comey's team Details TK

Along with everything else, Trump admitting the shutdown led to a bloodbath for Republicans should at an absolute minimum lead Dem Senators to shelve their apparent plan to prematurely cave. He's admitting he and the GOP are in a weak position, Dems. Exploit that!

trial getting stale

I agree with the bottom line, but I would say that it's least likely to get SCOTUS approval because the issue splits the GOP coalition and most of the GOP Justices are ideologically committed to lower taxes and freer trade.

WOW. 81% of women 18-29 voted for Mamdani, 80% for Sherril, and 78% for Spanberger. Gen Z women aren't playing around.

I hear at least 4 votes against the tariffs - Chief + 3 Democratic appointees. Barrett also sounded skeptical - and wasn't satisfied with the federal government lawyer's response. But that hasn't always been a great proxy for her votes....

More broadly, heavily-Latino counties moved far to the right in NJ last year, and back to the left this year:

real sense in which last night was fairly predictable. real question is why our pundits and the elites who listen to them couldn’t see it. (gift link)

*whispers* you can continue to read me, the pundit who insisted the other pundits were wrong about these conclusions

"Thank you for your attention to this matter" Democratic leaders ask Trump for meeting to end shutdown New letter ===>

ah yes just the message Thune and Johnson want being spread

Democrats managed to increase their majority in the Virginia House of Delegates — surging from 51 seats to at least 64.

Seven data-driven lessons from the 2025 elections www.gelliottmorris.com/p/seven-data...

The magnitude of the Democrats’ win yesterday shows the rhythms of US democracy are still very much alive. The race against authoritarianism is clearly not lost yet.

I've gotten this question a bunch. Of the races I was watching on my cheat sheet, here are the GOP wins: —Nassau County executive & DA —mayor of Columbia, SC —mayor of Binghamton, NY —mayor of Manchester, NH —prosecutor of Virginia Beach —a special election for NH state House note: all holds

This is insane. Is there *any* race that was expected to be at all close that the GOP won?

Among other things, if shutdown is the reason, then Dems have absolutely zero incentive to surrender anything to end it.

Not exactly what the GOP Congress wants to hear from Trump right now!

I just want you to know that Zohran is really scary so you should definitely leave now that he’s won. Right away. Especially if you’re currently renting a 2-bedroom in north Park Slope or the Upper West side off the 2/3 express. So scary!!! You better break that lease fast.

I know a lot of people are excited because Democrats are winning But tonight I'll sleep easier knowing that its much harder for these proto-autocrats to consolidate their authoritarian regime after extremely strong public signals of discontent.

The factional grifters will hate this, but the Mamdani-Spanberger-Sherrill axis actually suggests the outlines of a broad, emerging Dem coalition organized around both anti-Trump *and* affordability politics, not a party bitterly divided against itself.

Be wild if Sherrill winds up winning by even more than Spanberger

To understand what was at stake here: in VA, the AG gets to appoint university counsel. From Jim Ryan’s forced resignation to the (mercifully) reject “Compact” to the odious and bizarre “settlement,” UVA has been hamstrung by counsel chosen by the state’s GOP administration. That’s about to change.