#BREAKING Ex-Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski, who became a central figure in a corruption probe that roiled Chicago and was due to report to prison in January, has died, his attorney says. From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/2...

CALL TIME ☎️☎️☎️☎️

The best part is the GA law won’t allow a R governor to pardon anyone until after they have served their sentence, due to past corruption. abcnews.go.com/Politics/geo...

New: On The Gateway Pundit's podcast yesterday, Stewart Rhodes announced he's relaunching the Oath Keepers He also urged Trump to “call us up as a militia" & "order us all to come together in our counties under his command." www.mediamatters.org/oath-keepers...

Nothing to see here, just Alex Jones riding Russell Brand around the studio. 🥴

There it is; the reason behind the cave The Airline Lobbyist PAC’S www.opensecrets.org/orgs/america...

At the same time the Trump administration is firing FBI agents and DOJ prosecutors who investigated the J6 insurrection, they are pardoning those directly involved in trying to overturn the election and organizing January 6th, and prosecuting the President's perceived political enemies.

The Supreme Court did grant review of one case today, Watson v. Republican National Committee, and it's a big one over state laws allowing the counting of ballots cast by Election Day but received after Election Day. Here's the docket: www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docke... And question presented:

BREAKING: A whistleblower tells House Judiciary Democrats that convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell is in the process of seeking a commutation of her 20-year prison sentence from Donald Trump. tinyurl.com/582addcc

JUST IN: With air traffic control system that was straining before the shutdown, Trump urges any controllers who sicked out to quit, perhaps ahead of the upcoming holidays

Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones appears to be headed for another political showdown against current Sen. Tommy Tuberville, this time for the governor’s office. 🔗: https://www.al.com/politics/2025/11/alabama-democrat-hints-at-2026-rematch-with-tommy-tuberville-stay-tuned.html 

Let the record show that President Donald Trump issued mass preemptive pardons to those involved in his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election five years to the day since the Four Seasons Landscaping debacle in Philadelphia.

CORRECTION The 5th Circuit ruled just the opposite, no ballots should be counted after Election Day.

From SNAP to tariffs to passports to the fate of Obergefell to the deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois to the Justice Department's "war" on the lower federal courts, there are ... just a few things going on. Today's "One First" tries to catch folks up on the most important developments:

Maybe this is a signal to future election criminals that they’ll be pardoned, too?

NEW: I tried to explain why there are so many victims of spyware, despite the fact that its makers have been telling us for years that the tech is only intended to be used in limited cases. There are several reasons, including how the spyware systems are designed, and how powerful they are.

Goldman also describes how Kash dressed as a slob for a meeting in 👀 London. cc: @dieworkwear.bsky.social

In an Adam Goldman story on how Kash Patel failed to deliver on a promise to MI5 to sustain a UK post key to 5 Eyes sharing... www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/w...

This, from @americalabs.org (one of the smartest people abt leg procedure), counters what a lot of people are claiming about this cave. But the follow-on adds to what I noted abt setting up opportunities in January.

I argue this a bit differently. Bc cave happened between the time people got new rates and time they'll go into effect, it makes it quite clear to the people on ACA who were actually fucked w/the Big Ugly in the summer that Republicans are the ones causing the pain. Same is true of timing of vote

BREAKING: #SCOTUS denies review of former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis bid to overturn same-sex marriage right found in Obergefell, one decade ago. No noted dissent or opinions. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...

And the truly craziest thing abt this cave is that someone seeing the invasion of Chicago firsthand, Dick Durbin, doesn't understand this.

I feel like this needs to be said, bc some big accounts are missing it. The people feeling the pain of shutdown: Govt workers furloughed or working for free (Lots in VA) Flights (note fight over private v. commercial @katieporteroc.bsky.social won) 40M losing SNAP v 20M on ACA subsidies

Note, there are some subtleties in this pardon list. It DOESN'T include Steve Bannon, who got added to Trump's claimed conspiracy in the last filings.

Folks: The pardons are almost certainly focused on GA (they include a number of people implicated ONLY in GA), where the state will soon decide whether to appoint someone to take over the case. They should be meaningless, but Cleta Mitchell (a key ringleader in GA and still) wanted them anyway.

This comes after @katieporteroc.bsky.social called Sean Duffy out for NOT doing this.

After @katieporteroc.bsky.social called out Sean Duffy for letting private flights fly while canceling commercial flights, WSJ reports some private flights will be canceled for as long as shutdown lasts (which could be a week, even if the House approves this deal). www.wsj.com/business/air...

Sunday: Trump applauds the resignation of Beeb execs bc Panorama truthfully said that Trump encouraged rioters. Monday: Trump pardons over 50 of his co-conspirators and enablers in attempting to steal the 2020 election.

Lots of opportunities for Republicans to somehow fumble this and reclaim all blame for the shutdown. Last night was a vote to invoke cloture on a motion to proceed to consideration of a CR that still expires on November 21st, by its terms. Lots of work and lots of votes between that and reopening.

An early Monday morning order from Justice Jackson in the SNAP case—ordering DOJ to file any further briefs responding to last night's First Circuit ruling by 4:00 this afternoon, and allowing the plaintiffs to respond by 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. For how we got here: www.stevevladeck.com/p/191-taking...

JUST IN: Justice Jackson set deadlines today and tomorrow for further filings at #SCOTUS on SNAP stay. Doc: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26... Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

I don’t care if Schumer voted no. If he’s unable to wrangle the caucus, he’s not an effective leader. I’ll continue to push for the caucus to elect a new one.

THEY VOTED 60/40

Same.

YAYYYYYY‼️‼️‼️

“I get that ending the shutdown means SNAP is back on and that's good, but that'd be true under any CR or Ag bill, save one that specifically altered SNAP in an anomaly.”

I've looked at all the details of this deal to end the shutdown reached by a small group of Senate Democrats. I've talked to a number of friends on the Hill to see if there's anything I'm missing. Sadly, I am not. This is a shit deal. It's a betrayal. It's cowardice.

Never forget who sold us out: Hassan King Cortez-Masto Shaheen Kaine Fetterman Durbin Rosen

No health care, no deal.

Just a reminder.

VOTE 59-40 Cornyn, the lone outstanding vote, was traveling back to Washington and has landed at Dulles

The arrogance of a Senator who is not even running again to take the lead in undermining the Caucus and the voters.

Trump stokes anti-vaccine junk to rally his MAGA cult...and then protects himself by getting vaccinated.

Tick Tock Hurry up

So the vote is 56-40. Cornyn hasn't voted, maybe looking over his shoulder at Paxton. (The deal torches House GOP appropriations on 3 bills.) Rick Scott, Mike Lee & Ron Johnson are holding out in the back of the chamber. Hardline Rs aren't likely to save Democrats from themselves, but it's amusing.

This is really good to see: Miki Sherrill just put out a statement sharply criticizing the Senate Dems' pending cave in the government shutdown, ripping it as "malpractice" and a betrayal of the people who are "counting on us to fight for them." Sherrill knows what drove her victory. Wake up, Dems.

Prescient

NEW: It appears Senate Dems have enough votes for cloture with Jacky Rosen flipping to a yes vote. Rand Paul voted no. Kaine, Rosen, Fetterman, Shaheen, Hassen, King, Durbin, Cortez-Masto are the dems yes votes.

They put him in the BOOOOO proof box 🤣😂🤣😂

The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person. The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person. People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives. And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.