Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

With Stephen Miller at the helm, Trump charts a course for conflict

President Donald Trump's decision to elevate loyalist Stephen Miller to run his White House indicates that he plans to ramp up ​confrontation in his final two years in office and block outside political and economic pressures, Trump administration officials and other Republicans say. Voters delivered a historic rebuke to ​Republicans in Tuesday's midterm election, but with Miller as White House chief of staff, the Trump administration is expected ‌to continue ​its aggressive immigration crackdown, amplify cultural conflicts and give no ground to a Democratic-controlled Congress, say officials and experts who spoke to Reuters. They say wavering Republicans will face increased pressure to stay in line, while businesses may have a harder time making their case to the White House.

Democratic wins in state AG races give Trump a new headache

Democrats flipped attorney general offices in five Republican-leaning states in the midterm elections, dealing a significant blow to the conservative legal movement and erecting a new line of resistance against President Donald ‌Trump's agenda. The victories in Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa and Kansas threaten to disrupt conservative legal strategy. Incoming Democratic attorneys general could halt cooperation with federal immigration operations, fortify abortion access and file multistate challenges against the Trump administration's environmental and gun policies.

Factbox-Democratic attorney general wins could reshape US lawsuits on abortion, immigration and more

Republicans lost state attorney general races to Democrats in key states in the November 3 midterm elections, with potential consequences for lawsuits related to abortion, transgender rights and other issues that the outgoing Republicans championed. Democrats will take over state attorney general offices in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Texas.

Houston mayor curtails police cooperation with ICE, saying 'elections matter'

Days after elections that swept Democrats to statewide leadership in Texas, Houston's mayor ordered his city's police department on Friday to curtail ‌its cooperation with federal immigration officers, contrary to Republican-backed state law. Mayor John Whitmire said he was taking the action, after consulting with the state's newly elected governor, lieutenant governor and comptroller, to "reduce fear and anxiety" across the most populous city in Texas and because "elections matter."

US anti-trans ballot wins pose challenge for Democrats ahead of 2028

Voters in four ‌US states approved ballot measures to restrict transgender rights in Tuesday's midterm elections, sending a warning to Democrats on an issue that has divided the party and is likely to remain a political challenge heading into the 2028 presidential race. The measures succeeded even as Democrats swept to victory nationwide and retook control of Congress, suggesting voters who backed Democratic candidates were still receptive to some Republican arguments on transgender issues.

After midterm rout, Vance tries to build his own 2028 brand

Late in his blitz to salvage Republicans' midterm fortunes, Vice President JD Vance shifted strategy. He talked less about President Donald Trump and more about the issues that define his own political identity. Vance argued the case for Republicans, who lost control of Congress in Tuesday’s vote, almost exclusively through the lens of his policy portfolio, according to a Reuters review of half a dozen speeches since the Republican convention in September.

Democrats plan probes of ⁠Musk, Miller, corporate America after ​midterm rout

Tech megabillionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's newly appointed White House chief of staff, ⁠Stephen Miller, and some large companies will likely be targets of congressional probes when Democrats take control of Congress in January, senior lawmakers said on Sunday. In television appearances, US Representative Robert Garcia of California and US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, set to lead the House Oversight and Senate Banking committees, vowed aggressive oversight after their party's sweeping midterm election victory.

Trump says he wants UFC chief Dana White for White House press secretary

US President Donald ⁠Trump on Saturday said he had asked mixed martial arts promoter Dana White to serve as White House press secretary and called on him to bring some fighters along as assistants "even though some are not from our country." White, chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a "violent Fighter and Warrior," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

Trump says 'only kidding' about naming UFC CEO as White House press secretary

President Donald ​Trump on Sunday said he was "only kidding" when he suggested UFC CEO Dana White could become his next White House press secretary, after a social media post a day earlier stirred speculation about recruiting his feisty ally and signaled a combative approach to dealing with Democrats as they prepare to take control of Congress. Trump said ⁠White, a prominent supporter, "loves the idea" of taking the job but insisted he had not been serious about the prospect, describing the suggestion as "just a little fun."

Exclusive-Rubio warns top staff against conflicts of interest as Republicans look to 2028

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has moved to tighten control over the State Department, telling senior officials that staff must stay in their lanes and avoid actions that present conflicts of interest, four people familiar with the matter said. Rubio's message, ⁠delivered ​in a meeting last week before the Republican Party's electoral losses on Tuesday, comes as its leading figures attempt to put distance between themselves and an increasingly unpopular Trump administration.

Employers, watchmen at California ports extend contract talks

The Los Angeles and Long Beach seaports employer group and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 26 extended their bargaining deadline through November 20, averting a potential strike by about 2% of workers at the busiest US container port complex. The Pacific Maritime Association said on Friday that additional talks were scheduled with the union representing about 250 maritime watchmen at the ports.

How Democrats won their blowout midterm victory

Four years after helping Democrats win both US Senate seats in Georgia, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ⁠went looking for a candidate who could expand the party's map. He found one in an unlikely place: Mississippi.

Trump vows new US air show will be biggest in the world

US President Donald Trump and NASA on Friday touted plans for a new space and aeronautics industry conference in the United States intended to surpass major air shows ⁠in other countries. The event, called CapeWeek and slated to be held at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will ⁠start in two years, Trump said in a speech. CapeWeek's inception was billed as an alternative to similar gatherings abroad, and comes after the White House in September urged space companies to avoid attending a high-profile global space summit that month in Paris organized by French President Emmanuel Macron.

'Trump has cost us': After midterm losses, MAGA asks if it's over

As Republicans faced a nationwide drubbing in Tuesday’s midterm elections, supporters streamed out of a Dallas ballroom where they’d hoped to toast a win for US Senate candidate Ken Paxton, a favorite ‌of President Donald Trump. In the hotel bar, Michael Little, a 59-year-old ‌businessman and three-time Trump voter, stared at the president’s image on a television screen. “People are pissed off at Trump. Trump has cost us,” he said, capturing a sentiment rippling through the ​president’s Make America Great Again movement after the Republican Party’s worst electoral defeat in decades.