In the Senate, Democrats have secured 54 seats to Republicans’ 44, with two races still outstanding [Alaska and Mississippi]. They have so far flipped seven Republican-held seats.

In the House, Democrats have picked up 25 Republican-held seats, so far winning 240 seats to Republicans’ 147, with 51 races yet to be called. (These numbers are from AP as of 7:10 p.m. ET on Nov. 4)

Midterm elections typically favor the party out of power. …The results [of this year’s midterms] give Democrats control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s presidency, handing them significant power to obstruct his legislative agenda and investigate his administration.

The House: How Losses Compare With History

Before the midterm elections, Republicans held 218 seats in the House, while Democrats held 214.

The Cook Political Report had projected Democrats would gain between 12 and 25 House seats, potentially giving them as many as 240 in total. Democrats have already flipped 25 Republican-held seats, reaching the upper end of that projection.

Since 1946, the party controlling the White House has lost House seats in 18 of 20 midterms, with an average loss of about 26 seats.

The largest House midterm loss for a president’s party in the modern era came in 2010, when Democrats under Barack Obama lost 63 seats, falling from 257.

The defeat came amid opposition to the Affordable Care Act, sluggish economic recovery from the Great Recession and the rise of the conservative Tea Party movement. …

Beyond Obama’s historic loss of 2010, several other presidents have suffered heavy midterm defeats.

Two presidents in the postwar era have lost 50 or more seats: Harry Truman’s Democrats lost 56 in 1946, while Bill Clinton’s Democrats lost 54 in 1994. …

Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Republicans lost 48 seats in 1958, Gerald Ford’s Republicans lost 48 in 1974, while Lyndon B. Johnson’s Democrats lost 47 in 1966.

During Trump’s first term in 2018, Republicans lost 41 House seats.

Seat losses below 40, but above the postwar average of around 26, can be considered a notable but relatively typical midterm defeat.

The Senate: How Losses Compare With History

Going into the midterms, Republicans held 53 Senate seats, while Democrats held 45 plus two independents who caucus with them.

Senate losses for the president’s party are typically much smaller than in the House. In the postwar era*, the party controlling the White House has lost Senate seats in 13 of the 20 midterm elections, with an average loss of around four seats. [*Postwar era started in 1945 at the end of WW2].

Democrats have flipped seven Republican-held seats so far this year, and lost none… Five of the seats they flipped were in states Trump won by double-digit margins in 2024.

Large Senate seat losses are not without precedent. Eisenhower’s Republicans lost 13 Senate seats in 1958, while Truman’s Democrats lost 12 in 1946. Clinton’s Democrats lost eight in 1994 [as did Reagan’s Republicans in 1986], and Obama’s Democrats lost nine in 2014.

The contrast with Trump’s first midterm is particularly notable, as Republicans lost 41 House seats in 2018 but gained two in the Senate.

However, Senate midterms are not directly comparable because only around a third of the chamber is up for election every two years, with senators serving staggered six-year terms.

In 2026, Republicans had 22 Senate seats up for election, including two special elections, compared with 13 for Democrats. This meant Republicans had a larger number of seats to defend.

Published at Newsweek on Nov. 4. Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, was making its way to the Middle East – joining two other carrier task forces in the region, the USS George Washington and the USS George W. Bush.

President Trump told Kansas City radio station KCMO Friday that the war is “going to get wrapped up soon” – without specifying how. …

If war does erupt after the midterms, four military hard-liners ruling Iran could soon find targets on their backs — and explosives in their pockets.

Former Mossad* Deputy Head of Global Operations Oded Ailam told The Post that a dramatic, “Operation Grim Beeper”-style attack to wipe out the junta’s leadership remains fully on the table. (*Israel’s Mossad is similar to the U.S.’ CIA)

“This is the bread and butter of Israeli strategy, is surprise twists and turns, unexpected moves and I’m absolutely certain that Israel has cards in the sleeve that will be used,” Ailam told The Post.

On Sept. 17-18, 2024, Israel detonated thousands of explosive-rigged pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah terrorists across Lebanon and Syria in a covert operation that killed dozens, injured thousands and severely weakened the terror group.

Iran’s political leadership, comprised of President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf, along with newly-installed Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei are mere figureheads, and the country is actually ruled by a military quadrumvirate, according to Ailam.

“The president and foreign minister can’t make decisions. [The military junta] hides behind Mojtaba, but he’s not in charge; he’s a complete puppet,” Ailam said.

The four leaders are:

• Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Ahmad Vahidi,
  
• Basij forces commander Hossein Taeb
• Iranian Army Chief of Staff Ali Abdollahi, and
• Secretary of Supreme National Security Mohsen Rezaei.

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-Chief Ahmad Vahidi  (Photo: AP/Vahid Salemi)

Hossein Taeb now leads the Basij forces which lead the slaughter of tens of thousands of Iranian protesters in January. (TASNIM NEWS/AFP via Getty Images)

Ali Abdollahi, Iran’s military chief

Mohsen Rezaei is part of the military junta currently ruling Iran. (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

While the four leaders are expecting to be targeted should strikes resume and are likely taking intense precautions to protect themselves from US-Israeli airstrikes, the Jewish State has been plotting surprise attacks against Iran for years, Ailam said.

“Israel will use its imagination, its intelligence and the ability of the Israelis to surprise and turn the table in ways you can not anticipate,” he said.

Vahidi, Rezaei and Taeb are all responsible for the brutal massacre that saw as many as 75,000 Iranian protesters slaughtered during uprisings in January.

The conventional Iranian Army was not involved in attacks against Iranians, sources said.

The four leaders have long thwarted the political leadership’s attempts to strike a deal with the US, believing that closing the Strait of Hormuz gave Iran the upper hand and that Trump would soon buckle under pressure, Ailam said.

“In February, Iranians breached their own agreement. Araghchi was caught by surprise — he didn’t understand the logic in breaching the agreement they reached,” Ailam said.

The IRGC reportedly rankled the Iranian foreign minister in February when they announced that they were re-closing the Strait of Hormuz after Araghchi announced it was reopening as part of a deal with the US.

Even among the military junta, cracks are emerging as economic sanctions and a military blockade imposed by the US continue to wreak economic havoc on the regime.

“They’re not on the same page themselves, we see a lot of friction within the regime, different approaches, agreeing then reneging,” Ailam said.

Vice President Vance recently sent a letter to Rezaei in an attempt to restart negotiations between the US and Iran, but the regime has yet to respond.

Retired US General Jack Keane said that US and Israeli strikes should target leadership, along with destroying the nuclear enterprise, domestic energy infrastructure and ballistic missile and drone facilities.

“The intelligence we have now as a result of six months of collection during the on-again, off-again ceasefire is significant,” Keane said.

If Israel is able to deliver on a strategic surprise that wipes out Iran’s remaining leadership, the psychological effect it could have on the regime could be even more devastating than a ground invasion, Ailam said.

“The effect is enormous, especially on the psychology of the enemy. Imagine after the attack there’s a conversation somewhere in a bunker with the top echelons of Iran and everybody’s looking to the left and to the right and thinking the guy next to him is a spy,” Ailam said.   …..

Published at NY Post on Oct. 31. Excerpts reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.

The effort, dubbed “Operation Ghostbusters,” aims to crack down on an international fraud scam that has funneled stolen federal student aid dollars into offshore accounts since at least 2021.

At an Oct. 29 news conference, Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald described the scheme, detailing how suspects steal Americans’ identities before applying to universities, receiving federal student aid and running off with the money.

McDonald said perpetrators are increasingly using artificial intelligence to create so-called “ghost students,” filling out college applications and even completing coursework. Some fraudsters go as far as creating “the appearance of a fake student in an online classroom to trick schools into believing a real person is present,” he said.

“These are not isolated errors. This is organized fraud at scale,” McDonald said, adding that taxpayer losses could potentially reach “several hundred million dollars.”

In California alone, one-third of community college applications submitted in 2024 were reportedly flagged as fraudulent, McDonald said. Heith Janke, assistant director of the FBI’s criminal division, said the agency has so far identified more than $32 million in losses, with millions more suspected, in similar student aid schemes.

“This stops now,” Janke said in a statement. “The FBI, working hand-in-hand with our partners at the Department of Education and Department of Justice will follow all evidence, track every dollar, and pursue each criminal who seeks to exploit our nation’s systems.”

The government’s expansive investigation involves 26 FBI field offices and more than 20 U.S. attorney’s offices, according to the DOJ. There are at least 40 open cases related to the scam.

McDonald said the operation, which began in April, has so far led to charges against five people and the seizure of more than $750,000 in crypto currency tied to networks in Kenya. The defendants have been indicted in multiple states, including Nebraska and New Jersey.

McDonald said the first round of charges is “just the beginning.”

“If you steal American identities, if you steal taxpayer dollars, if you exploit programs meant to help students build their future, we are resolved to find you and prosecute you,” he said.

Christopher Cann is a national correspondent for USA TODAY.

Published at USA Today on Oct. 29.Reprinted here for educational purposes only. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission.

SEE “BACKGROUND” BELOW  THE QUESTIONS FOR DETAILS OF THE OPERATION.

(Watch the above video.  Questions are provided at the bottom of the page.)

In California, poll workers are generally prohibited from asking voters for ID. The ad above, by Californians for Voter ID, argues that not requiring ID makes fraud or impersonation easier.

Proposition 39 is a ballot initiative on the November ballot that would add a constitutional amendment to the California constitution. If passed, it would:

• Require government-issued ID for in-person voting.
• Require mail ballots to include the last four digits of a designated government ID number (matching registration); non-matching ballots would be invalidated.
• Require officials to make best efforts to verify citizenship of registered voters and publicly report results.
• Require the state to issue free voter ID cards upon request.

Read more at Californians for Voter ID, YES on 39.

• Supporters call it common-sense election security that increases trust.  (Supporters include California’s Republican Party and groups like Californians for Voter ID, backed by some Republican figures and major donors)
• Opponents argue it adds costly barriers that could disenfranchise eligible voters, especially lower-income or marginalized ones, and is unnecessary given rare proven fraud and existing signature checks.⁠  (opponents include California’s Democratic Party and groups including the ACLU, California Teachers’ Union, Planned Parenthood, and League of Women Voters)

NOTE: The image of Sweeney is an AI-generated version of her. The ad is explicitly described as a parody by the campaign that made it (Californians for Voter ID, Yes on 39).
The campaign’s post on X promoting the ad states: “This ad is a parody, but the problem is not.”

The U.S. Postal Service said mail was taken from the loading dock of the post office on Sullivan Avenue in Daly City on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 16. Daly City is located just south of San Francisco.

The incident comes as voters had begun mailing their ballots ahead of the November election.

Daly City resident Mark Nobriga said the theft was particularly concerning with the election approaching.

“I think it’s terrible. I mean, people are relying on the post office to deliver all of the mail, but it’s, I think it’s crucial right now with the election coming up that the mail gets out for us,” Nobriga said.

Renae Ashton, a San Francisco resident and voter, expressed similar concerns.

“I think that’s potentially a problem, because it just means that our voice isn’t being heard,” Ashton said.

San Mateo County election officials said the theft should not deter residents from voting by mail.

“Unfortunately, mail theft does occur. From our perspective, voting by mail is very safe, and it is very convenient. And we hope that people will exercise their right to vote not only by mail, but you can also vote at a vote center,” San Mateo County Assistant Chief Elections Officer Jim Irizarry said.

San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa said one of the first things he plans to do when he takes office as the county’s chief elections officer in January is try to determine how to prevent similar incidents in the future.

“What we need to do is to make sure that people understand that there are consequences for taking mail, and there are consequences for taking ballots,” Canepa said.

Officials are encouraging voters to monitor the status of their mail-in ballot through the California Secretary of State’s ballot tracking service, “Where’s My Ballot.” The service provides notifications to voters when their ballot is mailed, received and processed by the county elections division.

Voters who are concerned that their ballots may have been affected by the theft may request a replacement ballot online or in person at any vote center in the county.

Online requests for a replacement ballot must be submitted by Oct. 27 to allow sufficient time for mailing.

“The Registration & Elections Division maintains established ballot security procedures to ensure that only one ballot per voter is counted,” the county said.

“Each Vote by Mail ballot is associated with an individual voter, and ballot processing safeguards prevent duplicate ballots from being counted for the same voter.”

No public information has been released about the exact method of the thieves (whether people grabbed bins by hand, used a vehicle, how long it took, etc.), whether the mail was unattended, what security was in place at the dock at the time, whether there is surveillance footage, or any description of suspects.

The official county statement and the news coverage (ABC7, KRON4, San Mateo Daily Journal, NBC Bay Area, SF Chronicle, etc.) all stop at the same basic facts: mail was stolen from the loading dock, it reportedly included ballots, the number is unknown, and the Postal Inspection Service is investigating. No further operational details have been made public.

Postal inspectors typically withhold specifics like camera footage, security protocols, or the precise circumstances while an investigation is open. As of the latest reporting, nothing more has been released on how or why the mail was accessible.

Compiled from ABC News 7, Mercury News, NY Post, and Grok.