Today in One Sentence. Democrats won full control of at least five state governments and flipped the Texas House as part of their midterm sweep; Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer vowed to prevent Trump from putting “a right-winger” on the Supreme Court; the White House warned conservative groups it was “monitoring statements, press releases, and media engagements” from their organizations; Rep. Thomas Massie pledged to force a House vote next week to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Massie said he expects to get the 218 signatures needed to force a House vote on a second Epstein files transparency bill; the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division resigned; Trump urged a New York appeals court to overturn his 34 felony convictions for falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election; the Justice Department asked a federal judge to vacate Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack; the Justice Department reportedly sent grand jury subpoenas for testimony in its criminal investigation into who leaked the Supreme Court’s draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022; and Trump signed a proclamation making the Oval Office and Cabinet Room a national monument.

1/ Democrats won full control of at least five state governments and flipped the Texas House as part of their midterm sweep. Democrats won the governor’s office and both legislative chambers in Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, while in Texas, the party took the House for the first time since 2002. Democrats could also gain full control of Arizona, where the legislative race is still undecided. Democrats also won their first majority of governorships since 2010 after winning in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Texas. Republicans, meanwhile, lost their legislative supermajorities in several states, which will limit their ability to override Democratic governors’ vetoes. It’s the biggest single-election shift in state government power since 2010. (New York Times / NBC News / Washington Post / Associated Press / The Guardian / CNN / Axios)

2/ Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer vowed to prevent Trump from putting “a right-winger” on the Supreme Court and warned that Democrats would block his lower-court and Cabinet nominees. The midterm results increase pressure on conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, 78, and Samuel Alito, 76, to retire before Democrats take control on Jan. 3. Alito, however, said he doesn’t plan to retire immediately, while Thomas has previously ruled out stepping down. Senate Republicans blocked Barack Obama’s nominee in 2016, arguing that the vacancy should be filled after the election, but they later confirmed Trump’s nominee Amy Coney Barrett weeks before the 2020 election. (New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Washington Post / Associated Press)

3/ The White House warned conservative groups it was “monitoring statements, press releases, and media engagements” from their organizations. The memo reportedly went to more than 3,000 groups after Republicans lost the House and Senate. Ted Cruz called the losses a “Watergate-level repudiation” and that Trump’s “tariffs have made everything too expensive” while “the Iran war has dragged on too long.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the midterms “a rebuke of the president and the Congress.” The White House, however, denied that the memo was a threat. (Wall Street Journal / Reuters / Associated Press)

4/ Rep. Thomas Massie pledged to force a House vote next week to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Massie accused Hegseth of waging the Iran war without congressional authorization and warned that he would drop the effort only if Hegseth resigned, saying his “impeachment resolution is a much gentler version of what’s coming when Dem’s control Congress.” Hegseth, however, dismissed the threat, calling Massie a “disgruntled, defeated congressman” and the impeachment articles “sham” that “Didn’t work against President Trump, and it won’t work with me.” Trump, meanwhile, publicly defended Hegseth, claiming that he’s done a “fantastic job,” while privately asking advisers whether Hegseth should keep his job. Trump reportedly hasn’t decided to replace Hegseth, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been floated as a possible successor. (Bloomberg / CNN / CBS News / Wall Street Journal / ABC News / USA Today / Washington Post / Axios / Reuters / The Hill)

5/ Rep. Thomas Massie said he expects to get the 218 signatures needed to force a House vote on a second Epstein files transparency bill, allowing state attorneys general, local prosecutors, and Epstein victims to sue the Justice Department over unlawfully withheld or redacted records. The bill would also require the Attorney General to provide certain unredacted documents to victims upon request. While Trump signed the original Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025, Massie has accused the Justice Department of withholding more than 3 million files and improperly redacting others. Meanwhile, Democrats are preparing to investigate the administration’s handling of the Epstein files when they take control of Congress in January. (Axios / The Hill / New Republic)

6/ The head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division resigned. Harmeet Dhillon was the first senior DOJ official to depart since Democrats won the House and Senate. Dhillon, however, claimed she had resigned three weeks earlier and delayed the announcement at White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’s request. During her tenure, Dhillon redirected the Civil Rights Division away from its longstanding work fighting discrimination and police misconduct to pursuing Trump’s priorities on diversity programs, transgender rights, gun ownership, and alleged voter fraud. More than 75% of the division’s staff left. (Bloomberg / New York Times / NPR / Axios / CNN / NBC News)

7/ Trump urged a New York appeals court to overturn his 34 felony convictions for falsifying business records related to a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Trump’s lawyers argued that the state used federal campaign finance law to turn misdemeanor business records charges into felonies. They also argued that the trial judge had violated the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling by allowing Trump’s tweets. (CBS News / CNN)

8/ The Justice Department asked a federal judge to vacate Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress conviction for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Bannon served four months in prison after his 2022 conviction. (NBC News)

9/ The Justice Department reportedly sent grand jury subpoenas for testimony in its criminal investigation into who leaked the Supreme Court’s draft decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. Prosecutors want information from people who worked at the court when its draft decision leaked. It’s unclear, however, what law prosecutors believe was broken or whether investigators have a suspect. The court’s own investigation failed to identify the leaker. No law specifically prohibits the release of the court’s internal records. (New York Times)

10/ Trump signed a proclamation making the Oval Office and Cabinet Room a national monument. He claimed it would prevent anyone from changing rooms that he’s filled with portraits and gold accents. Proclamations, however, can be reversed by future presidents, just like Trump has done with national monuments. (Associated Press)