In today’s edition … The latest on Hegseth’s possible impeachment … Mississippi and Alaska’s Senate races still hang in the balance … but first …
Has Trump learned his lesson on immigration?
Donald Trump was reflective in his “60 Minutes” interview this past weekend, especially on immigration, telling CBS’s Ross Douthat that the immigration policy he pushed during his first two years could have been “too tough” and likely hurt him in the midterms.
“I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out, but I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs that … [had] one violation,” Trump said. “That was that they came into the country illegally.”
It was a genuine, reflective political takeaway from a president who just suffered arguably the worst political loss of his career.
But mere hours after the interview was taped, news broke that Trump was elevating Stephen Miller, the person behind Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown — and someone with a history of incendiary comments on immigration — to be his new chief of staff.
Those two moves are entirely discordant.
Miller told the New York Times in 2023 that Trump would “implement the most spectacular migration crackdown,” and has regularly pushed for a zero-tolerance policy on illegal entry. And during Trump’s first term, Miller said, “The message is that no one is exempt from immigration law.”
His new role would seem to run directly counter to the argument Trump made to “60 Minutes.”
Trump was asked about this disconnect yesterday, telling reporters at the White House that he does not want changes to the deportation policy.
“There won’t be amnesty. … My policy hasn’t changed,” the president said, arguing his administration is focused on deporting “the worst of the worst,” despite his own admission on “60 Minutes,” and despite evidence to the contrary.
Miller’s elevation has not been well received, with Rep. Marlin Stutzman, an Indiana Republican who has been vocal about the need for new leaders post-midterms, calling it a “mistake.”
“If your team takes a beating as badly as we took this last week, you have to fire people,” Stutzman said. “You don’t promote those who are, who were in charge of what was supposed to be delivered.”
My colleague Lauren Kaori Gurley reported in an interesting piece on how “industries that rely heavily on immigrant labor decried President Donald Trump’s promotion of his chief architect of deportations on Friday, just days after millions of Americans signaled anger about such policies.” Lauren had a particularly great detail about how one industry association president thought Miller was fired, not promoted, when someone texted him to ask if he had heard the news about the controversial aide.
It’s undeniable that immigration crackdowns hurt Trump and Republicans in the midterms.
Exit polls showed that 43 percent of Republicans said they “somewhat disapprove” of how ICE has handled immigration enforcement. A Fox News poll heading into Election Day found 53 percent of registered voters said Trump’s immigration crackdown had gone too far. And a Reuters/Ipsos poll in September found only 39 percent of voters approve of Trump’s immigration actions.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), the likely House Speaker when Democrats take control, said Miller is not a viable partner.
“Stephen Miller is a stone-cold racist,” Jeffries said. “His track record speaks for itself, and I’ve got zero interest in working with that kind of individual.”
“This is a sign of Trump’s contempt for the voters,” wrote Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who is said to be in an “active listening mode” on challenging Sen. Chuck Schumer as the body’s next majority leader. “In the aftermath of an election that was a repudiation of Trump’s corruption, wars, cruelty, and indifference to the economic pain of Americans, it’s another kick in the teeth to the American people.”
The question at the heart of all of this is whether Trump has learned any lessons from his midterm losses. This decision has led many in Washington to believe he has not.
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From across the newsroom
- ‘No business having a gun’: Some ICE recruits had a record of red flags, from Ted Hesson, Joyce Soyhun Lee, Razzan Nakhlawi, Maria Sacchetti and Aaron Schaffer.
- Hegseth impeachment effort begins in House, focused on Iran war, from Noah Robertson, Natalie Allison and Tara Copp.
- Nvidia CEO’s affair with an alleged Chinese spy could be a problem for the economy, from Ian Duncan, Nitasha Tiku and Cat Zakrzewski.
- Supreme Court allows major part of Trump’s border security project in Texas, from Justin Jouvenal, Jake Spring and Julian Mark.
- Statue mocking Trump’s bone spurs appears on Mall before Veterans Day, from Liam Scott.
- Russell Brand sentenced to over 10 years for rape and sexual assault, from Taz Ali.
What I’m watching
Democrat Scott Colom’s lead over Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s yet-to-be-called Senate race grew to 2,574 votes in yesterday’s unofficial tally from the Associated Press.
Today is the deadline in the state for two kinds of ballots: first, for counting provisional ballots, required if there are any questions about a voter’s status at their polling place; and second, for receiving absentee ballots by mail, as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.
Counties then have until Friday to certify their results.
My colleague Gregory S. Schneider has a great look at where this race stands and how the vote trend has been in Colom’s favor, especially with the highest number of outstanding votes coming from Hinds County, a blue area around Jackson.
Important to remember: Mississippi doesn’t have an automatic recount law, meaning the losing candidate will have to file a lawsuit if they want to contest the outcome, likely after the counties certify on Friday.
The other undecided Senate race is in Alaska, where Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) said over the weekend that the race is “very close” and a “big batch” of votes will come in on Friday.
“If nobody reaches 50 percent, that’s when they go through the ranking process,” Dunleavy told 77 WABC, referring to Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system.
The current count has Democrat Mary Peltola ahead of Republican incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Trump is predictably arguing that Sullivan is “leading substantially,” despite the vote total. He went on to claim that the race is “over.”
All of this comes as newly elected senators arrived in Washington on Monday, posing for photos with their colleagues, and showing off their new swag.
In your local paper
Maine Morning Star: Could the midterms help retire the electoral college? It’s a possibility — with plenty of legal uncertainty.
Spokesman Review (Spokane, Washington): I am a sucker for bipartisan friendships, and the one between conservative Robert George and socialist Cornel West is admittedly lovely. “What sustains the friendship?” George asked at an event. “Well, the brother’s so lovable, I mean, how can you not love him?”
St. George News: All five national parks in Utah — which are some of the best in the country — now offer all-terrain wheelchairs, and I have to argue this should be standard for all national parks.
From you
I asked who the Republican nominee should be in 2028, and you offered a variety of names.
Cliff Miller suggested John Kasich, the former governor of Ohio and he of eating photo fame.
Bill Stevens suggested Sen. Susan Collins, who just lost her reelection campaign in Maine.
And Phil Morris suggested John Cornyn, the Texas senator who is leaving office next year after losing the state’s Republican primary.
The question stemmed from my colleague Nancy Cook’s story on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis kicking the tires on a 2028 run.
“I have a bias favoring Governors. But for term limits, DeSantis may be Florida’s Governor-for-Life. I don’t think he would have won for President in 2026, and that won’t change enough by 2028. I think a more centrist Republican governor could win, and I prefer divided government,” wrote John Perryman.
Candace Lankford wrote, “As a Democrat, I would love for DeSantis to be the 2028 Republican presidential candidate. His record of book banning, trivializing the history of slavery, and other extremist right-wing bizarro ideas may play well with his MAGA Florida base but not with the majority of American voters, of all colors and stripes.”
And Paul Gutermann recalled DeSantis wearing white boots during recovery from Hurricane Ian in 2022.
“Truthfully, I cannot wait for the campaign ads featuring DeSantis in his white rain boots. It is the gift that never stops giving,” Gutermann wrote.
Send a reply
Only two Cabinet secretaries have ever been impeached — the most recent being Joe Biden’s homeland security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, in 2024. The Senate dismissed the charges. But the saga is newly relevant, amid a push to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Where do you stand? Should he be impeached? And why or why not? Let me and your fellow Early Brief readers know at [email protected].
Thanks for reading. You can follow me on X at @merica.
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