Breaker, breaker. The Trump rat ship has developed a sudden interest in maritime safety. Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson told Fox News on Saturday that former White House adviser Calley Means had described corruption inside the Trump administration. Means alleged that people close to the president catered to special interests and blocked parts of the health agenda he backed. Johnson framed it as a wider problem of corporate influence across administrations. The man has found the leak, pal. Naturally, he’d like to discuss the entire history of plumbing. Maegan Vazquez’s Washington Post report · Axios on Means’s allegations

Over in the House, Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie says he plans to force a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth when Congress returns, unless Hegseth resigns. Massie first introduced articles in September. His case includes the allegation that Hegseth defied Congress by continuing the U.S. war in Iran. Trump told ABC News he intended to keep Hegseth. The captain says the crew is fine. One of the crew is asking for a recorded vote. Axios on the planned vote · ABC News on Trump’s response

The midterms cost Republicans both chambers, and now two members of their own party are making very different kinds of trouble for the administration. I’d offer them a ride in the Buick, but there’s only one seat left and the roast beef is in it. AP’s congressional race calls

Watch Kimmel first, pal. If you spent the last few days doing something useful, like replacing a bad coax connector, Jimmy will get you caught up on the clown at the White House: the rambling, the promises, and the Olympic-grade ability to change the subject. I recommend coffee and a roast beef three-way. The sandwich, at least, comes with everything it promised.

Both chambers. Check the meter twice.

The Associated Press called the Senate for Democrats on election night and the House early Wednesday. By Thursday, Roll Call counted 42 House seats and seven Senate seats flipped to Democrats, citing AP. Those are pickups reported at that point in the count. Republicans spent the campaign asking voters to picture Trump on the ballot. For once, the customers followed the instructions. AP’s race-call timeline · Roll Call’s Thursday tally

The trouble with a safe seat

Democrats picked up Senate seats in Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. Adam Hamilton broke a 94-year Democratic drought in Kansas. Josh Turek won in Iowa, a state Trump carried by 13 points two years ago. Troy Jackson ended Susan Collins’s bid for a sixth term. And in Texas, James Talarico beat Ken Paxton while Gina Hinojosa defeated Greg Abbott to become the state’s first Latina governor-elect. I’ve got a Buick with a more reliable definition of “safe.” ABC’s AP-powered results · AP on the Texas sweep

Turns out people buy groceries

AP’s election coverage points to high prices and frustration with the Iran war. AP also found that every Texas county moved in a more Democratic direction compared with the 2024 presidential vote. Axios reported that preliminary estimates from Tufts University’s CIRCLE put Democratic House support among voters under 30 at 66 percent, against 31 percent for Republicans. Apparently a speech about how good the economy is sounds different when you’re standing at the register. AP’s election takeaways · AP on Latino voters · Axios on younger voters

Now somebody has to govern

AP still had Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi outstanding in its Thursday roundup. The incoming Democratic majorities will have the votes to run committees, investigate the administration and scrutinize Trump’s nominees on a Senate floor Republicans no longer control. AP also reports a debate among Democrats over what to do with their new majorities. Here’s an agenda from the Buick: get the damn bills down, make the people in charge answer questions, and tip the kid behind the counter. The kid didn’t set the price. AP’s outstanding races · AP on what comes next