Good evening. I’m British Chris, and this is Raw America. Before we dive in, help us out by tapping the ❤️ and restacking this newsletter. That’s the single best way to make sure these important stories get seen by the most people.
This evening, Mississippi made history by electing Democrat Scott Colom to the US Senate, making him the state’s first Black US senator since Reconstruction. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his entourage were caught on video being loudly reprimanded by an Army sentinel for laughing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day. Democrats are now daring Donald Trump to veto bills that would implement widely popular policies in the next Congress. And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has officially moved left his home to move onto an unnamed military base, due to apparent threats from Iran.
One quick request before we dive in: Congress is about to swear in the largest Democratic majorities in decades. Raw America will be there, talking directly with representatives and senators about their plans to make life more affordable and rein in the Trump administration’s corruption. But in order to do that important work, we need your support right now.
We aren’t beholden to a billionaire owner, a corporate parent or a network. We answer to our readers. That’s it. Every dollar of your subscription goes directly toward our team of reporters in Washington, along with our editors and video producers who work hard every day to bring you hard-hitting independent journalism you won’t get from David Ellison’s CBS or Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post. Will you subscribe today to make sure this work keeps going?
In case you missed it, click here to watch Raw America’s exclusive interview today with Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel, who revealed how Democrats swept in a state that Trump won twice in the last 10 years.
Democrat Scott Colom Projected to Win Mississippi Senate Race
Mississippi made history in the 2026 election. CNN is projecting that Democrat Scott Colom has officially defeated incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, making him the state’s first Democratic U.S. senator in more than four decades, and the first Black person elected to any statewide office in Mississippi since the Reconstruction era.
After the Civil War,Mississippi sent Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce to the U.S. Senate, who were officially the first Black U.S. senators in American history. That was before white supremacist so-called “Redeemers” seized power and spent the next century going out of their way to stop Black Mississippians from not only holding office, but being able to vote altogether. The last Democrat to hold a Senate seat in Mississippi was John Stennis, who was an avowed segregationist. Colom’s victory happened in a state only dropped the Confederate battle flag from its official state flag just six years ago.
Hyde-Smith was defeated after a quiet eight years in the Senate where she was a rubber stamp for Trump’s agenda, and a relatively invisible campaign in which she rarely made public appearances. When the president flew into Corinth, Mississippi to headline a rally for Hyde-Smith in the final week of the election, she took the microphone for just a few seconds to deliver a one-sentence speech: “Is this not the best president in our lifetime?” She then walked away and handed the microphone back to Trump. Colom was actually at that same rally, shaking hands and taking selfies with voters waiting in line.
Senator Hyde-Smith has said very little since election night. In a Capitol Hill hallway yesterday, she told reporters her campaign was “still counting votes and there’s a few thousand out,” adding: “we feel confident.” However, she didn’t explain her path to victory given that most outstanding ballots were in Democratic-leaning areas.
This race ultimately began in 2022, when then-President Joe Biden nominated Colom to be a U.S. District Judge on the recommendation of Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who chaired the Homeland Security Committee at the time. Colom’s appointment had the backing of Roger Wicker, the senior U.S. senator from Mississippi, but Hyde-Smith refused to return her “blue slip.” That’s the process by which home-state senators voice their approval of a judicial nominee or a nominee for a U.S. attorney. On election night, Hyde-Smith prematurely claimed victory, bragging to supporters: “I blocked Scott Colom from being a federal judge, and you blocked him from being a US senator.”
That comment aged like milk. The Colom campaign said the election night returns were right in line with their own models, and the mood inside his campaign headquarters has been more exuberance and disbelief than anything else. Brandon Pressley — Mississippi’s former Democratic gubernatorial candidate — told CNN that Colom’s victory “changes the political dynamics in Mississippi for the next 50-75 years,” and predicted even more Democrats would eventually run for local office in the Magnolia State and win their races.
Colom insisted he never doubted he would prevail, and he’s even taken a few public shots at election forecasters like the Cook Political Report for writing off his race. Colom’s pollster, Margie Omero, argued the senator-elect’s doubters “just didn’t have all the facts.” And longtime Democratic strategist James Carville told CNN before the race was called that he was “too emotional to think about” it, saying the outcome was “remarkable.”
Tell election officials: Reject Trump’s lies and certify the midterms!
Hegseth’s Team Loudly Reprimanded for Laughing During Solemn Veterans’ Day Ceremony
Veterans Day is meant to be the one day when Washington sets aside their egos to honor those who honorably served their country. Apparently somebody forgot to tell Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his entourage.
During a Wednesday visit to Arlington National Cemetery, CNN footage showed an Army sentinel addressing Hegseth’s group and shouting at them to maintain “an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times” while they were visiting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That’s the same instruction every school group visiting the tomb also hears.
Retired Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton, who is a military analyst for CNN, called it a disturbing sight to witness the head of the Pentagon treating the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with anything other than reverence. “It’s certainly inappropriate,” Leighton said, adding that he wondered “who thought it was a good idea to take pictures in that particular location at that particular time.”
Former CNN Pentagon reporter Barbara Starr wondered whether the defense secretary would “not be aware that silence and respect are the way to go at Arlington National Cemetery every day, but especially on Veterans Day.” And commentator Joanne Carducci wrote on social media that the clip shows how “this entire rotted regime sees our troops.” Another social media user observed that “showing respect is more than just wearing an American flag jacket lining and pocket square.”
Democrats Dare Trump to Veto Popular Policies in Next Congress
Now that Democrats won both chambers of Congress, they’re looking to make use of budget reconciliation process, which is the same tool Republicans used twice in the current meeting of Congress. It allows a party to bypass the 60-vote filibuster threshold for legislation strictly pertaining to budgetary issues.
The goal would be to put popular policies on Trump’s desk, after he promised to be “Mr. Veto” if Democrats took back Congress. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said it’s likely his party will use the budget reconciliation process to put together a bill that’s “attractive to [Trump] to sign or hurt him and his colleagues badly if he vetoes it.”
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is calling on the new majority to pass a $20 minimum wage, Medicare for All and a wealth tax on billionaires in the first 100 days of the new majority. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon (who Raw America interviewed in August) wants to expand Medicare. Democrats are also aiming to reverse last year’s Republican-sponsored budget cuts, which slashed an estimated $886.8 billion from Medicaid and $187 billion from food assistance for low-income Americans over the next decade.
There’s precedent for taking this approach. In 2015, Republicans forced Barack Obama to veto legislation eliminating parts of the Affordable Care Act. Neera Tanden of the Center for American Progress recalled that when George W. Bush vetoed Democratic-sponsored bills, every Democratic presidential candidate was able to tell voters ahead of the 2008 election that they were “just one president away from helping you.”
Some in Washington are more cautious. Democratic Senators Brian Schatz of Hawaii said it’s “too early to talk about” reconciliation and Zach Moller of the center-right group Third Way said Democrats will have to decide “if the juice is worth the squeeze.”
Trump Cabinet Secretary Leaves Private Home to Move to Military Base
Finally, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has moved out of his private home and onto a military base. The New York Times reports that Iran-linked threats against top administration officials have grown more advanced, and Bessent has led a punishing sanctions campaign against Iran during the monthslong war, including Operation Economic Fury and Operation Economic Outcast.
He’s in growing company. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and now-White House chief of staff Stephen Miller all moved to military housing last year. A Treasury spokesperson told the Times that Bessent “will not be deterred by the Iranian regime’s threats.”
Iran says it won’t return to high-level talks until sanctions are lifted. Trump told CNN that a return to all-out war is “highly unlikely,” but there haven’t been direct talks since summer, and limited strikes resumed shortly before Election Day after a ceasefire announced Oct. 8.
James Madison warned that of all the enemies of public liberty, war is perhaps the most to be dreaded. When cabinet secretaries are living behind military gates, it’s worth asking where this war is actually taking the country.
Stories like these are almost impossible to find, and that’s not by accident. MAGA billionaire media moguls like David Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Rupert Murdoch and Patrick Soon-Shiong only want you to know so much. But because we’re fully independent of billionaire and corporate money, we can cover the stories the billionaires want buried.
I’m British Chris, with Raw America. Thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting independent journalism. Before you go, please tap the ❤️ and hit restack so we can get these stories in front of the people who need them most.
