Progressives Cheer Van Hollen's Senate Leadership Bid – The Friday AM Quickie 11/13/26
Microsoft should've just left Outlook off after yesterday's outage. Make the people happy. I'm off, Whitney's back Monday. - Corey
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THE BIG NEWS
Van Hollen Makes It Official
Earlier this week we told you about the unlikely duo of leftist independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and centrist Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan calling for new leadership for their party in the Senate. The name floated most frequently as a replacement for Minority Leader Chuck Schumer when Democrats take control of the Senate in January is progressive Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland.
Yesterday, Van Hollen confirmed that he's challenging Schumer. "Yes, I am planning to run for the Senate Majority Leader," he told MS Now's Jen Psaki. "And let me tell you why. Because this is not about any one individual but it is about answering the call of the American people. We saw a huge outburst of democracy on Election Day – red states, blue states, purple states – and it wasn't only a rejection of Donald Trump and his corruption and his wars and his cruelty. It was also about a call for larger change to take on a broken economic system that's rigged in favor of the very wealthy against working people, and that's fueled by a corrupt political system."
"Am I the underdog? Yes," Van Hollen added. Supporters like incoming Michigan Sen. Abdul El-Sayed hailed his announcement.
Schumer projected confidence. "I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader," he said last night, as his supporters, including turncoat Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, rallied to the centrist's defense.
The New York Times reports that progressive groups like MoveOn, Indivisible, and the Working Families Party will ask donors "plan to threaten to back primary challenges against any Democratic senator running for re-election in 2028 who does not come out in support" of Van Hollen. As Common Dreams reports, the youth-led Sunrise Movement staged a sit-in at Schumer's office yesterday, where more than 50 activists were arrested.
"Young people voted for change on election night. Chuck Schumer can't give us that, but Chris Van Hollen might," the group said in a statement. "The truth is, the 'blue tsunami' could easily become the blue mirage in the wrong hands. And Schumer's hands are too full of billionaire money to hold young people's future."
MORE ELECTION STORIES TO WATCH
Nvidia Scandal: CEO Jensen Huang Resigns Under Pressure After Affair With Alleged Chinese Spy
- Trump Told Huang to Fight for His Job After Learning He Was Compromised At Huang's urging, "Trump allowed Nvidia to sell certain models of its chips to China under an unusual arrangement in which the federal government took 15 percent, and later 25 percent, of the revenue. Critics raised legal questions and warned that national security was being sold out." via the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Verge, and Politico.
- Regime Sets Up Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to Take the Fall In a letter to Lutnick yesterday, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Richard Neal "referred to millions of dollars in donations made by Huang to Trump's 'personal priorities such as the White House ballroom' and questioned 'whether and to what extent political considerations are improperly influencing policy decisions made by the administration.'" via Reuters, the Financial Times, and HuffPost.
- When Singapore Asked for Help Investigating Alleged Spy, US Declined Singaporean authorities "received limited information or assistance" from Trump's Justice Department and FBI "despite repeated requests" regarding Alice Huang and her company, Megaspeed International. via the Washington Post, the New York Times, and Reuters.
- Will This Scandal Prick the AI Bubble? "Or, as Aaron Klein, an expert in financial regulation at the Brookings Institution, put it: 'Can one CEO's sex life take down the economy?" via the NBC News, the New York Times, and the Financial Times.
Trump Nixes Iran Talks; Ukraine Deal Uncertain
It's not yet clear exactly when and how Donald Trump plans to resume strikes on Iran, but one thing is clear: he wants Vice Bootlicker JD Vance to stop freelancing on the issue. Trump posted online yesterday that he's asked Vance "to focus his complete and total attention" on persecuting Trump's Democratic enemies. "We don't need a deal with Iran," Trump said. "Those days have long since passed." Vance, who certainly plans to run for president, blamed Republicans' midterm election loss on the war.
Meanwhile, Trump's envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, arrived in Russia yesterday to seek Aspiring Tsar Vladimir Putin's blessing on including European countries in negotiations to end the war on Ukraine. It's unclear whether this will happen. But Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center tells the New York Times that the inclusion of Europe in talks could demonstrate to Putin "that his tactic of waiting out the Europeans for concessions is working."
QUICKEST QUICKIES
- Democrat Cindy Holscher Wins Kansas Governor's Race "Holscher made a state moratorium on building new data centers for artificial intelligence a cornerstone of her campaign." via the Associated Press, NBC News, and the Kansas City Star.
- Eight Killed, Including Two Children, in Brooklyn Apartment Building Collapse "If there is anyone, or any entity, operating in this city that bears responsibility for what happened, we will hold them fully accountable," Mayor Zohran Mamdani says. via the New York Times, the City and the AP.
- Washington, DC Shooting Leaves Two Dead, Four Wounded Doctor Matt Lambert shot and killed James Stuart, the manager at his mold-filled $1.1 million condominium, over which he'd been in a bitter legal dispute, before killing himself. via the AP, the Washington Post, and the Washington Sun.
- Gambling App Kalshi Fires Donald Trump, Jr. as 'Advisor' Over Investment in Its Competitor, Polymarket "Democrats have said they planned to investigate the Trump family's investments, including their business relationships with both prediction markets." via the Guardian and the New York Times.
SOME NUMBER
$2.35 million
That's how much, minimum, that AIPAC has poured into a passthrough PAC called Elect Democratic Women this year, according to Drop Site News. Of the 11 Democratic Reps. who missed psycho "Secretary of War" Pete Hegseth's impeachment vote this week, four – Reps. Julia Brownley of California, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, and Laura Gillen of New York – were attending an EDW event nearby in Washington, DC. "I am so sorry," Stansbury said later.
Meanwhile, Hegseth pinned a medal on Spc. Thomas Iglesias, the Arlington National Cemetary guard who admonished him and his entourage this week for a breach of decorum at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
ON THE SHOW TODAY
11/13: Emma will be hosting solo. Her guest will be Jamaal Bowman, former Rep. for New York's 16th Congressional District and author of the new memoir "Unpolished."
DON'T MISS MR CLIPS
Palantir CEO Goes 'Woke'
Manic – and maniacal – as ever.
Trump's Bizarre C-SPAN Phone Call
"Tee-hee!"
PARTING WORDS
"Tonight I met with senior members of the Democratic House who told me in no uncertain terms that the decision as to whether or not I support [House Minority Leader Hakeem] Jeffries [for House Speaker], regardless of his willingness to speak with me and meet in the interests of constituents on a couple of key issues – No. 1 , a Constitutional amendment to end Citizens United; and No. 2, ending US support for the war on Iran and the country, Israel, that led us into it – that that would basically mean both making my life a living hell for the next two years here in Washington as well as being sure to lose my election in two years."
-- Ohio Democratic Rep.-elect Don Leonard, in a video message posted to social media this week, discussing the behind-the-scenes pressure on caucus members to support Hakeem Jeffries for House Speaker instead of a more effective and progressive candidate. Leonard later said he was offered "friendly advice" at dinner with senior colleagues.
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