Democrat Scott Colom’s lead over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in the uncalled Mississippi Senate race grew to 3,041 votes on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press, as officials work to finalize the results. Outstanding ballots were due by Tuesday, Nov. 10; they are no longer being accepted. County clerks have until Nov. 13 to certify the election. And Colom’s lead has widened almost every day since Election Day, when it stood at just 65 votes.Even though 98% of the vote is in, the AP has yet to call the race because the gap between Colom and Hyde-Smith remains narrow — just 0.32% of all ballots cast. Outstanding ballot results from Hinds County — the most populous county in Mississippi, and a Democratic stronghold — are expected to be released Wednesday. Colom has continually expressed confidence that his campaign will prevail, flooding the airwaves and attending at least eight events over the last few days. “It’s very clear the direction of this,” he told reporters on Friday. “[Cindy Hyde-Smith] needs to answer questions. What is her path to victory? She doesn’t have one.”In contrast, Hyde-Smith had “not been seen publicly since she left her election night watch party just outside of Jackson,” according to CNN. She returned to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday and told CBS that she was “feeling very optimistic.” Along with Alaska — which also remains too close to call — the outcome in Mississippi will determine whether Democrats can expand their new Senate majority beyond its current size (54 seats) by flipping even more red states than they already have.But Alaska was supposed to be a toss-up. Mississippi — one of the reddest states in the country — wasn’t really on the national radar. President Trump won the state by 23 percentage points in 2024 — his third straight win there. Looking ahead to the 2026 Senate race, analysts said it was a “likely Republican” hold. Barely anyone bothered to poll it. Yet, here we are, with Colom edging Hyde-Smith as lawyers, operatives and legal observers descend on Mississippi to watch officials count every last ballot. How did the Mississippi Senate race get so close — and what happens next? Who is Scott Colom?Colom, 43, was born in Columbus, Miss., to two lawyers who also participated in politics. In 1987, his father, Wilbur, ran for state treasurer as a Republican; his mother, Dorothy, served as the first Black Chancery Court judge in their home district. Colom earned his JD from the University of Wisconsin in 2009 and went on to serve as the first Black justice court judge in Lowndes County, Miss., before becoming the first Black city prosecutor in Columbus. In 2015, Colom defeated a nearly 30-year incumbent to become the first Black district attorney elected in a majority-white voting district in Mississippi history. He has since prosecuted a number of high-profile murder and sexual assault cases. Colom gives an update about his Senate race on Nov. 4, 2026 in Jackson, Miss.Rogelio V. Solis/Getty ImagesIn 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Colom to serve as federal judge for the Northern District of Mississippi. Leading Magnolia State Republicans — including Sen. Roger Wicker and former Govs. Phil Bryant and Haley Barbour — backed Colom’s nomination. “I have known two generations of the Colom family for over 20 years and believe Scott Colom possesses the discernment to be a fair and exemplary judge,” Bryant told the New York Times.But Hyde-Smith blocked Colom’s nomination in the Senate, citing support his 2015 campaign received from a political action committee funded by George Soros and claiming that he favored allowing transgender athletes to compete in girls’ and women’s sports. The White House characterized Hyde-Smith’s concerns as “spurious.” In a letter to Hyde-Smith urging her to reconsider, Colom confirmed that he had signed a letter with other prosecutors condemning efforts to criminalize gender-affirming care for transgender people, but insisted that their joint statement “did not comment on legislation specifically related to participation in athletics.” Colom also said he had not known about Soros’s contributions to the Mississippi Safety and Justice PAC “until I read about them in my hometown paper.”Colom’s unsuccessful nomination was returned to Biden on Jan. 3, 2024. In September 2025, Colom announced his U.S. Senate candidacy. How Colom caught upHyde-Smith, 67, is a former lobbyist and state legislator who was serving as Mississippi’s agriculture and commerce commissioner when she was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2018 following the resignation of Republican Sen. Thad Cochran. She won a 2018 special election and a 2020 full-term election, and she has served in the Senate ever since. There were signs before Election Day that Hyde-Smith might be vulnerable to “voter apathy,” as one Mississippi State University political science professor recently put it. Sen. Wicker won reelection in 2024 by 25 points; Hyde-Smith’s margin of victory in 2020 was less than half that. And while the only polls made public this cycle showed Hyde-Smith ahead, her leads were stuck in the single digits — no survey put her support above 50%. One April Democratic poll showed Hyde-Smith trailing a hypothetical “someone else” 33% to 53%. Hyde-Smith speaks at a campaign event in Corinth, Miss., on Oct. 26, 2026.Madison Thorn/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesRegardless, Hyde-Smith seemed content to coast to reelection, barely bothering to appear on the campaign trail. But Colom didn’t have that luxury — and when he cut a viral campaign ad about beef prices in mid-October, the tide started to turn. Asked earlier this year about soaring costs, including the price of beef, Hyde-Smith told local TV station WLOX that “all commodities go through peaks and valleys,” but “you have so many proteins to choose from.”In the final weeks of the campaign, Colom seized on Hyde-Smith’s remark about “proteins” to mock her with a spot featuring incredulous Mississippians grilling burgers, dining out and shopping for groceries — and saying they’d rather “pick another senator instead” (along with other, more colorful language). The video has since racked up nearly 14 million views on Colom’s X account.When the ad took off, national Democrats sprang into action. The Senate Majority PAC poured $2.2 million into the race; Senate Democrats’ campaign arm contributed another $500,000. Former President Barack Obama filmed an endorsement ad. Former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Raphael Warnock of Georgia rushed to Mississippi to rally with Colom. In response, Republicans were forced to play defense, sending Trump to Mississippi in the final days of the campaign (along with cash infusions of their own).She done lost her damn mind. pic.twitter.com/wHPt4PSAob— Scott Colom (@scott_colom) October 13, 2026 In the end, it wasn’t enough to give Hyde-Smith a decisive victory on Election Day. When Trump came to Mississippi, Colom went to his event to talk to rally-goers about health care, grocery bills and gas prices. “I got the best message ever for Republican voters in Mississippi,” he told CNN afterward. “I’m going to get you what you were promised in 2024. You were promised lower grocery prices on Day One. That’s what I will fight for. You were promised no more endless wars. That’s what I will fight for. You were promised the full and transparent release of the Epstein files. That’s what I will fight for.” According to preliminary New York Times estimates, Colom performed 19 points better among white Mississippi voters than Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. He won new voters — that is, those who didn’t vote in 2024 — by 25 points.  What happens nextThe contest between Colom and Hyde-Smith hasn’t been called yet because officials are still tallying two remaining batches of ballots.The first batch contains mail-in absentee ballots, which had to arrive by Tuesday, Nov. 10. The other batch contains affidavit ballots, which were generally cast by people who did not present an acceptable photo ID at the polls or who had been marked as inactive on voter rolls. Voters also had until 5 p.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 10, to validate their affidavit ballots with an acceptable ID. County clerks in Mississippi now have until Friday, Nov. 13, to certify the election.The Colom campaign has said that roughly 15,000 affidavit ballots were cast this year. Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said late last week that there were as many as 20,000 outstanding ballots of all kinds; on Monday, he said more than 15,000 affidavit ballots had been processed and roughly 2,500 mail ballots were still expected to come in.Colom’s team believes his lead will expand once all the outstanding ballots are counted. (It has already grown by nearly 3,000 votes since Election Day.) Ahead of Mississippi’s March primaries, incorrect Experian information mistakenly led to the inactivation of legitimate voters — and inactivations have more than doubled in some jurisdictions since then. Discrepancies caused confusion and long lines at polling places on Election Day, forcing affected voters to cast affidavit ballots. The post-election process of validating, or “curing,” affidavit ballots has proven cumbersome as well. “We are going to make sure every single vote has been counted, and I am confident we will ultimately flip this seat,” Colom wrote on X on last week. The next day he added that “my campaign, alongside the [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee] and Elias Law Group, Lisa Ross, and our great team of local attorneys, are leading the effort to ensure every eligible voter is heard.” Hyde-Smith also expressed confidence on Election Night. “We still don’t have all the votes in, so we’re not calling all of it tonight, but we’re in a very good lead and I assure you, I will continue to be your U.S. Senator,” she told supporters at the time. Last week, Mississippi Republican Party chairman Mike Hurst said he was “enthusiastic about these outstanding ballots because a number of these, a significant number of these, we believe, are in and remain in Republican-leaning districts, precincts and counties throughout the state.”Mississippi is the only state in the country without a recount law. But if the margin is still razor-close, Colom or Hyde-Smith could challenge certain ballots in court. That would likely happen after certification on Nov. 13.Lawyers for Hyde-Smith and her campaign have formally written to Mississippi state officials to demand “the immediate separation, secure custody, and preservation of all affidavit ballots,” according to the New York Times — a signal that they may pursue litigation if those ballots put Colom over the top.Hurst added last week that lawyers aligned with Hyde-Smith “will be ready, if necessary, to avail ourselves of every legal option at our disposal, if there is evidence that the law has been violated.”For now, Hyde-Smith told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday that “votes should be counted, and that’s all we’re concentrating on today.”She added: “We’re just looking for the conclusion of our race.”This article originally appeared on Yahoo News at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/article/mississippi-senate-latest-scott-coloms-lead-over-cindy-hyde-smith-tops-3000-votes-as-deadline-looms-150352218.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has issued a warning to Democrats over their planned probes into the Trump administration, going as far as claiming that such investigations — a standard oversight function of Congress — may amount to “blatant criminality.” White House counsel Will Scharf issued the warning in a letter dated Monday to Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. Garcia most likely would chair the powerful panel in the new Democratic-controlled Congress that is seated in January. Garcia warned Trump officials to “lawyer up” after his party’s stunning victories in last week’s midterm elections. In response, Scharf wrote in Monday’s letter that “threats to executive branch officials designed to deter them from public service, or process designed merely to abuse or instill fear in the recipient may cross the line into blatant criminality.” The letter’s existence was first reported by Punchbowl News. Garcia said in response to the letter that “it appears Donald Trump has something to hide” and stressed that Congress’s investigative powers do not need the “permission of the White House.” “Congress has wide latitude to conduct investigations and oversight, an authority inherent in the power to legislate,” Garcia said. “The American people voted overwhelmingly for us to pass laws to root out corruption and abuse.” Democrats are preparing a vast oversight agenda to look at how Trump and his family have become wealthier since he returned to office. The Republican president and his White House have long denied any wrongdoing. Garcia also wants to look at the administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations. Other targets include Trump’s White House ballroom and other construction projects, as well as the Trump family’s role in mineral deals and Trump’s crypto dealings with special envoy Steve Witkoff. Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a CNN interview that aired Sunday that “there could be” a crime to investigate if rhetoric from Democrats turned threatening. He appeared to strike a more conciliatory tone during an appearance in Missouri this week, saying “Congress has oversight authority. It always has, it always will. The Department of Justice, the federal government, works with Congress to address questions they have — whether it’s through subpoenas or letters — so we’re not going to stop working with Congress.” “Nothing I’ve said this weekend, or in the past, should suggest otherwise,” he added. ___ Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed.This article originally appeared on Associated Press at https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/white-house-confronts-democrats-over-145321014.html

Washington — After seeing success in reshaping the federal judiciary in his first term and the initial two years of his second administration, President Trump and Republicans’ campaign to shift the courts to the right could be coming to an end with Democrats poised to take control of the Senate next year.During his first term in office, Mr. Trump successfully put more than 230 judges on the federal bench, including three justices on the Supreme Court, remaking the judicial branch for decades. So far during his second term, the Senate has confirmed 57 of the president’s judicial picks. In total, Trump nominees make up about one-third of active federal judges.But Democrats are now poised to control at least 54 Senate seats, and as many as 56 depending on the outcome of races in Mississippi and Alaska, making it unlikely that Mr. Trump will fill many more vacancies on the U.S. district and appeals courts.”No one, or nearly no one, is going to get confirmed, so what he does in terms of nominating people, we’ll see,” Ed Whelan, a distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and former law clerk to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, told CBS News.There are currently 28 vacancies on the federal courts and another 15 seats that will open up in the coming weeks and months. So far, the president has formally sent to the Senate 16 nominees for those existing and future vacancies, though it’s possible he submits more names for consideration before the current Congress finishes its work. Mr. Trump announced on Truth Social earlier Tuesday three more nominees to district courts in Texas and South Carolina.The GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee is moving quickly to advance those picks before control of the upper chamber changes hands. It voted to advance four of the president’s district court candidates and held confirmation hearings for four other judicial nominees Tuesday.The panel is expected to hold more confirmation hearings next week, a break from committee practice of holding those proceedings every other week, according to a source familiar with the panel’s workings.Republicans are violating “numerous longstanding standards in a desperate attempt to confirm more than 30 qualified loyalists to lifetime appointments before Democrats take the majority,” Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday.Durbin raised concerns about two of Mr. Trump’s latest picks to serve as federal judges in Texas: James Sullivan, who lost his bid for reelection to the Texas Supreme Court last week, and T. Elliot Gaiser, the head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel whose only tie to Texas is a one-year clerkship for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.The Judiciary panel received information from Sullivan after he lost his campaign for Texas Supreme Court justice last week and from Gaiser on Nov. 8, before the president announced his intent to nominate each man, according to the source. Both are slated to appear before senators for confirmation hearings next week.”There are many things we still can do, and I hope we’ll use them. And one of them is not to expedite nominees who have not been carefully vetted,” Durbin said. “I hope we don’t accept that as a standard in this committee.”But Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican who chairs the Judiciary Committee, pushed back on Durbin’s claim that he is departing from its typical practices. He argued that there are no committee rules about how quickly it can move to hold confirmation hearings or when those proceedings are held, and said chairs have discretion to set the panel’s schedule.”Historically, this committee has shortened timelines when circumstances warrant it,” he said.In anticipation of Democratic control of the upper chamber, Republicans are expected to make judicial nominees a focus of the lame-duck period.”The priority is going to be getting the judges across the finish line,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday.But seats on the federal bench that remain open come the end of the current Congress are likely to remain unfilled for at least the next two years.”For the past two years, we’ve seen Trump seeking to stack our courts — district courts, circuit courts — with loyalists to him and not to the Constitution, and I think he’s going to try to continue to do that,” Rachel Rossi, president of the Alliance for Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group, said. “In this moment, when Trump has clearly created this litmus test that there must be loyalty to him and not the Constitution, it’s hard to see how Democrats can support nominees going forward.”It is not unprecedented in the Senate for the party in control to stymie the nominations of a president in the opposing party. During the final two years of former President Barack Obama’s administration, when Republicans held the Senate majority, just 20 of his nominees to the district and appeals courts were confirmed. Obama’s final judicial confirmation came six months before the end of his second term. Among the candidates that did not get a vote from the GOP-led Senate was Merrick Garland, who was nominated to replace Scalia on the Supreme Court following his death in February 2016.”What we’ve seen is the federal courts being stacked with extremists and loyalists, and now Democrats have the power to stop the reshaping of our courts in a very dangerous direction,” Rossi said. “I think there’s increasing visibility on what judges mean and what these lifetime seats mean, and the hope is that Democrats use their power and stand against any further reshaping of our judiciary.”Of the 43 current and future vacancies, Mr. Trump has not yet announced candidates for more than half of those seats. Many of those are in states that will be represented by either two Democratic senators or one Republican and one Democratic senator next year.Democrats could work with the White House to find consensus on candidates to serve on the district courts in their states, but it’s unclear whether there is an appetite from either side to do so.”Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Trump administration have gutted the committee’s oversight and confirmation authority,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who is expected to lead the panel next year, said in a statement. “There needs to be accountability for years of Republican bad behavior, and a hard reset on the nominations process next Congress.”Democrats’ rout of Republicans in last week’s midterm elections also makes it unlikely a Supreme Court justice appointed by a GOP president steps down in the final two years of Mr. Trump’s term, given that a successor would likely not clear the Senate. The president made a significant impact on the nation’s highest court, appointing three of the nine justices. Among those was Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who filled Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat following her death in September 2020, during Mr. Trump’s first term.Justices Clarence Thomas, 78, and Samuel Alito, 76, are the two oldest members of the high court, but Alito told The Wall Street Journal in August, “I’m here for another term.” Alito also told CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford last month that while he considered retirement earlier this year, he feels he can still make a contribution to the Supreme Court.With neither justice expected to step down during the lame-duck session, it could be several years before there is both a GOP president and Senate in place to confirm their potential successors on the Supreme Court, raising concerns among conservatives that a Democratic president and Senate could fill the seats of the influential conservative justices.”Trump has managed to put in jeopardy his biggest achievement,” Whelan said.This article originally appeared on CBS News at https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-judicial-confirmations-democrats-senate/

NEED TO KNOWJoe Biden gets candid about his stage 4 prostate cancer as he releases his new memoir, Promise Me, AmericaThe former president reflects on life, withdrawing from the 2024 race and the legacy he hopes to leave Dr. Jill Biden describes the daily realities of caring for her husband with support from their familyTwo days after the Democrats swept the midterm elections, former President Joe Biden has that signature twinkle in his blue eyes.“Look at the people we got elected: first women governors, first Black governors,” he tells PEOPLE with a quiet rasp.At 83, and living with stage 4 prostate cancer — for which he completed radiation and is undergoing hormone therapy — Biden is slower than when he suddenly withdrew from the presidential race in 2024 following a disastrous debate against Donald Trump and amid concerns about his health. Still, his perennial optimism remains.“I’m not saying I’ll live forever,” says the one-term president, seated in the dining room of his Wilmington, Del., lake house, “but the point is that I have all my faculties, I have access to all the things I had before and I feel good.”Former President Joe Biden in his study at home in Wilmington, Del., on Nov. 5.Credit: Victoria WillHe’s fighting the disease “like hell,” Biden writes in his presidential memoir, Promise Me, America, out Nov. 17. Through it all, his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, 75, has been by his side. Being a family caregiver — like 63 million Americans — is “emotionally, physically hard,” the former first lady says after returning home from volunteering at a women’s prison, where she teaches literature part-time.Although she has help looking after her husband and says family is a constant at the house, “My days are making sure he eats right. Does he exercise? Is he taking the right medicine? Did I talk to the doctor?”Reality came into focus when she read a magazine at a nail salon and imagined traveling to the destinations on the glossy pages. “All of a sudden it struck me, like, ‘Wait a minute, this isn’t our life now,’ ” she says. “We’re on a new journey.”With no questions off the table, President Biden addresses his life and health now, his presidency and the legacy he hopes to leave behind.In May 2025, 118 days after you left office, you announced that you had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer that had spread to your bones. You write that you’re fighting it with the “help of an incredible medical team and an even better family.” What does that fight look like?It looks very positive. There’s a lot of people who’ve been diagnosed with cancer, particularly the kind of cancer I have, who live long lives, who live for another 10, 20 years. And so far, the two tests that have been done show that the cancer is not metastasized beyond what it already was … There are eight different pills I take a day.Former President Joe Biden at home in Wilmington, Del., on Nov. 5, 2026Credit: Victoria WillNext June will mark your 50th wedding anniversary. What has cancer taught you about yourmarriage that you didn’t know before?Nothing. I knew from the beginning what she was. Jill is, first of all, bright as hell. Secondly, I think she’s the most beautiful woman in the world, which every husband probably thinks, but I believe it. And we have a real partnership.Joe Biden and wife Jill Biden pose for a photo together with their cat in May 2025.Credit: Joe Biden/XHow has your family, including your grandchildren and your great-grandchild, supported you?They’re always here. “Can we come up, Pop? Pop, can we do this?” I do more with my grandchildren than I do with anybody else, and that’s for real. I’m interested and they’re interested in serious things as well … They’re involved in a lot of things having to do with public service. They participate in a number of issues that relate to the well-being of the country. They’re the loves of my life.The Biden family celebrated Easter 2026 in Santa Ynez, CaliforniaAs the second Catholic to become president, you’ve been candid about how your faith has guided you through hard times. Do you still see signs of those you’ve lost?I do. I see signs of their love in their progeny. I see signs of their love of things that I find out that they have done that I didn’t know they had done before … My son Hunter, he and his brother Beau were born a year and a day apart. They’re each other’s best friends in the world. When Beau died, it was a blow to Hunter in a way that was almost beyond repair … Now he’s deeply involved in public policy things. He’s deeply involved in making the case, but he’s straight as an arrow in terms of his alcoholism. My dad used to have an expression: “Joey, family’s the beginning, the middle and the end.” And that’s how it is. You write, “People say I was deluding myself that I could do the job [of president] at my age. My answer to that is: I was doing the job.” Why do you think they felt that way?It’s natural. If tomorrow you’re going to say that the head of your [company] is going to be hired on as an 80-year-old person, you go, “What the hell’s going on?” But the value I think I brought was I knew so many of the leaders, I knew their inclinations, I knew what was going on, and many of them came to me. I thought it was value added, not subtracted.Standard medical guidelines don’t recommend routine prostate cancer screenings for men over 70. You write, “I was treated no differently from any other 82-year-old man in America. Maybe I should have been.” What do you say to Americans who believe that a screening should have been part of your annual physical?Look, White House doctors are doing what the whole entire medical profession is doing … I had some discomfort, and Jill thought, Why isn’t that test done for men who are in their 70s? And there wasn’t any particular [sign] except recurring pain.When he wasn’t downing a black-and-white milkshake, former President Joe Biden chatted with diners at the Charcoal Pit in Wilmington, Del., his favorite diner since high school, on Nov. 5.Credit: Victoria WillYou describe a “cynical twist” on your cancer news: that some folks said you hid your cancer as president. Why do you think they reacted that way?A lot of people do that. They hide bad news from the public if they’re elected officials. I didn’t do that. We let the public know when I found out, when I knew what was going on. I think it’s important for a national leader, as president, to let people know they go through some of the very same things that a lot of American people are going through … I wasn’t hiding it at all.Many have spoken about the toll of the Presidency. How might your undiagnosed cancer have exacerbated that? First of all, I never felt the toll. I read [others] like Harry Truman talk about [how] it’s the most difficult job in the world. I didn’t find it that way. And so I, quite frankly, found that it didn’t in any way interfere with my job. Former President Joe Biden in his study at home in Wilmington, Del., on Nov. 5Credit: Victoria WillWhat do you miss the most about the job?The staff, the people in the White House. They’re good people, from the people making sure there’s a sheet on the bed to the people who are taking care of all the visitors that come through. They all have a sense of honor, what they’re doing in the White House. It’s the People’s House.What’s your reaction to the Trump ballroom and the East Wing being destroyed?Almost as disturbing as the gold bars on the walls of the White House and the Oval Office. I mean, what the hell are we talking about? I find it disturbing … I’ve viewed the president’s judgment in tearing down the East Wing and a number of other things as nothing more than to try to create monuments to himself: “I built that.” I find it beneath the country.After Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in 2024, he and Melania returned to the White House on Jan. 20, 2025.Credit: Jim WATSON/AFP/GettyIt’s been two years and four months since that debate moment on the stage with Trump. What is your perspective on it now?Look, I don’t know anybody who hasn’t made a mistake in a debate. To me, it was not very consequential. First of all, I thought there’d be another debate, which there wasn’t. But notwithstanding the fact that there wasn’t another debate, it didn’t disturb me because it wasn’t consequential.Former President Joe Biden chatted with staff at the Charcoal Pit, his favorite diner since high school, in Wilmington, Del., on Nov. 5.Credit: Victoria WillIn hindsight, looking at the 2024 election, is there anything you would’ve done differently?What I can’t say, because there’s no evidence of it — if I had known that I was feeling lousy because I had cancer, I would have resigned. I would’ve not gone forward, because I don’t think an 80-year-old man with cancer should be running for [president]. But that wasn’t the case … I believe that on an objective basis, I was the best-equipped person to do the job. Hunter has been speaking out on podcasts and social media. What do you make of that?Hunter is one of the brightest men I know. He has more moral and physical courage than most people I know, and I’m really proud of him. He’s making the case as to how we should proceed as a country.He’s said of the pardon you gave him: “Was it good for our Constitution? Was it good for the American people? Was it good for my father’s legacy? No on all accounts.” What’s your perspective?I disagree … I watched the modus operandi of Trump. He goes after people without any basis, whether they’re viewed as an enemy. I knew what he would do. If I hadn’t pardoned — not just some of my family members, anyone who’s dealt with me—he would go back and try to do harm to them, as I’ve observed.Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.In your book, for the first time, you share the letter that Trump left you in the Oval Office after you beat him in the 2020 election. Your takeaway: “It was almost as if there were two Donald Trumps.” What do you mean?That could have been written by President Kennedy to me or by President Johnson or by George Bush. I mean, it was gracious, it was generous, and it was totally inconsistent with the kind of president he’d been.Joe Biden’s new book, “Promise Me, America,” out Nov. 17You write, “Promise me, America, that we will be the nation we know in our hearts we can be and should be.” What does that nation mean to you at 83, after more than 50 years of public service?It means to continue to hold those truths to be self-evident, that we’re all created equal. I got involved in politics because of the Civil Rights movement. It means to be engaged in trying to help make the country a better place than it has been, to give people the benefit of the doubt … When I say, “Promise me, America,” I mean, America, you know the promises we made. Let’s keep them. Joe Biden was sworn in on his family Bible when he became president on Jan. 20, 2021.Credit: Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times/GettyHow do you want the American people to remember you?I tell you, it’s the greatest honor any man or woman could be given anywhere to be the President of the United States of America. And I hope I kept the promise of America … I didn’t say I didn’t make mistakes—but I meant what I said, and I did what I said I was going to do.PEOPLE VIPs can read our full conversation with Joe Biden in this week’s issue, available right now in the app.Read the original article on PeopleThis article originally appeared on People at https://people.com/joe-biden-new-interview-video-exclusive-12247044

House Republicans on Tuesday tapped Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to lead their diminished conference in the next Congress, betting that a conservative spitfire — and onetime leadership nemesis — can restore the fight to a party battered by the midterms and scrambling for a path back to power. In brief comments right out of the gate, Jordan set the tenor of the coming clash, vowing to fight the ascendant Democrats on the size and scope of federal power — an issue that’s taken on fresh significance with the arrival of a new crop of democratic socialist members. “When Democrats offer more government, we’ll offer more freedom,” Jordan told reporters in the Capitol shortly after his victory at a press conference where new leaders declined to take questions. “And we will bring that fight in committee, on the floor and on the stump every single day.” He has a steep climb ahead.  Jordan’s task is not only to bring together the warring factions of a restive party demoralized by their election rout and sniping over who’s to blame but also to craft a message that will resonate with alienated voters ahead of the 2028 elections — all while defending President Trump from the myriad investigations the Democrats are promising into the president’s family, allies and administration.  It was the size of the election losses, some Republicans said, that tipped the scales toward Jordan over Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the outgoing majority leader whose many years in the leadership ranks became a liability, rather than an asset, after the midterm landslide.  “He represents change,” said Rep. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.). “He also has a very detailed plan on how we get out of the minority. He has excellent communication skills. He’s viewed as a fighter, which he is, and I think the conference was ready for a different direction.” “If the election would have been closer last week,” he added, “I think the results could have been different today.” For Jordan, the ascension represents an extraordinary arc for a right-wing renegade who built a brand in the Capitol for taking on party leaders, not joining their ranks.  The Ohio Republican is a co-founder of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, a bloc of iconoclastic conservatives who have routinely butted heads with GOP leadership over government spending and, at times, blocked Republican legislation in an effort to yank the party further to the right. He is also chair of the House Judiciary Committee, a role he’s used to launch investigations into Democrats and other Trump political opponents. “Jim Jordan is a fighter. I think he doesn’t mind saying the hard things, but he’s level-headed, and he’s going to be able to work with a lot of different personalities to stay focused on the mission and get the job done,” Rep. Sheri Biggs (R-S.C.) said. If Tuesday’s leadership elections were a referendum on the midterm results, however, they also didn’t supply the “clean slate” some GOP lawmakers were hoping for.  Rep. Tom Emmer (Minn.), the Republican whip, fended off a challenge from Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) to keep his post. And Rep. Lisa McClain (Mich.), the GOP conference chair, will also remain in place after beating back challenges from Republican Reps. Greg Steube (Fla.) and Erin Houchin (Ind.).  “This Republican leadership team will expose the Democrats’ lies and show the American people their true colors as the radical communists that they are,” Emmer said after his win. Trump stayed out of the leadership races — an unusual move for a president who has exerted his influence in past contests. Many Republicans are blaming Trump’s policies — particularly the Iran war, global tariffs and a deportation surge — for dragging down GOP candidates in the midterms. Some even suggested they chose Jordan because he expressed a willingness to break from the president on certain issues.  Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) said he asked Jordan what the Republican conference was going to do “now that we have to deal with a president who we’re not sure … how he’s going to go forward.” “I thought he gave a very good answer, which was instead of waiting to see what the president’s going to say, we lead. We lead with a message based on what we want to say, and that’s what I’ve always tried to do myself. I mean, each individual has to know their individual district as well as possible,” McCormick said.   “We’re independent thinkers, right? … I want to not worry about what the president says. I want to have my own opinion, and … what’s funny is the president usually comes around to what I believe anyway. And if he doesn’t, that’s OK because we’re not a cult. If everybody in the church agrees with everything the minister says, you’re in a cult. We are not a cult. It’s very high time to realize that. And it goes back to the Reagan rule, right? It’s OK if you disagree with me on a certain percentage. We can still be on the same team,” he added. The leadership transition, from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to Jordan, could not offer a more stark contrast in styles and personas. Johnson is a constitutional lawyer, prim and bespectacled, who often quotes Bible verses and borrowed church terminology in pledging to be a “servant leader.” Jordan is a former champion wrestler, still fit and muscular, who’s known for eschewing a blazer around the Capitol and jousting routinely with Democrats from his perch atop the Judiciary Committee.  The House Freedom Caucus repeatedly tried to tap Jordan to run against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), which he resisted. But after McCarthy was ousted, it spurred a contentious 2023 battle for the Speakership between Scalise and Jordan. Scalise initially won the Republican nomination for Speaker then, defeating Jordan in a secret-ballot vote. But, he later withdrew from the race when it became clear he would not win enough support to secure the gavel. Jordan was later chosen as the nominee for Speaker, but he repeatedly fell short of the votes needed to clinch the post. “It’s almost like this is the right time for him,” Rep. Tom Cole (Okla.), a member of the House Republican Steering Committee and the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters after the vote. “I think we need, you know, a combat guy, so to speak. But he’s as good at political combat as anybody I’ve ever seen. So I think he’ll do an excellent job for us.” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) also said she sees Jordan as a unifier despite his staunch conservatism. “Jim Jordan is somebody who’s a fighter, somebody who’s thoughtful when he speaks,” she said. “He’s eloquent. He doesn’t miss a beat. He’s out there talking about the issues, talking about what people are thinking. I think he’ll do a good job. Look, I’m one of the more centrist members. … He brings everybody together.” “I think the reason I had supported him for Speaker two years ago, I thought he was the one who could bring everybody together because he had relationships with more moderate members, with the Freedom Caucus folks, and everybody in between,” she added. “So I think you know he handles himself in a way that he can get the job done.” Congressional Democrats were quick to criticize the pick as another instance of the GOP conference committing itself to a far-right pick after an election that they view as a resounding rejection of Trump. “Stephen Miller and Jim Jordan,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) wrote on social media, noting the promotion of Trump’s White House adviser to chief of staff. “Republicans learned absolutely nothing from what happened a week ago, and are responding by elevating their most extreme voices to positions of power.” But GOP members defended the choice. “I think you look at our conference, we’re a significantly more conservative conference than what we were coming into this,” Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) said, referencing the number of moderate members who lost their reelection bids. “And I think if you look at that, you’re going to see us push our conservative values.” Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, asserted voters still wanted Trump’s agenda and said he also saw Jordan as a figure who could fight any eventual impeachment effort that Democrats might bring against Trump. “He’s a conservative. He’s also a smart strategist. He’s definitely a good communicator, and especially where we’re headed with the Dems, who seem obsessed with impeachment and, you know, shenanigans, he’s had to lead the defense on that before,” Cloud said.  “So I think we’ll be well prepared headed into the future.” Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.This article originally appeared on The Hill at https://thehill.com/the-120/6212145-jim-jordan-house-gop-future-midterms/