🚨 BIG NEWS: On Wednesday evening, more than a week after midterm election day, the Mississippi Senate race was called for Democrat Scott Colom, defeating incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith. Mississippi has not elected a Democratic senator since the early 1980s and has not had a Black senator since Reconstruction. Dems now have 55 seats in the Senate, with Alaska yet to be called.
Good morning. Martin here, delighted to bring you the news you need to start your day, as the end of the first week of the GOP lame-duck Congress draws near.
In today’s ‘First Draft,’ we’ll consider a low-key but potentially telling development in the process of electing a Democratic House speaker – a quiet move by Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts that could presage progressive problems for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader who seems sure he’ll grasp the gavel.
We’ll also look at another display of gross arrogance by Pete Hegseth, the Trump toady defense secretary who followed escaping impeachment thanks to Democratic incompetence by managing to earn a loud rebuke from one of his own troops at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Is there no beginning to his talents? There’s Iran war news too. Let’s dive in.
‘If It Were up to Ayanna Pressley…’
Answering a petition with a petition might not seem like a major step on the road to great power, but Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s move on Wednesday may yet turn out to be more meaningful than it might now seem.
“If it were up to Ayanna Pressley,” the petition launched by the Massachusetts progressive began, “we’d use our Democratic majority to fight for: Saving health care. Not just reversing Republicans’ cuts – advancing Medicare for ALL. Passing national abortion protections. Not just restoring what was stripped away – expanding reproductive rights. Stopping data centers. Putting real guardrails and oversight in place over the AI industry. Abolishing ICE. Period.
“We need to show that an agenda like this has real, public support. Sign our petition to demonstrate how many people are calling for this.”
And there is real public support for Pressley to take a position leading the new Democratic House – for where the party goes to indeed be “up to” her. Not huge support yet, sure, but noticeable. On Wednesday night, the petition on Change.org that seemed to have prompted Pressley to launch her own had 30,000 signatures, and climbing. Its title: “Make Ayanna Pressley the Speaker of the House.”
“For many Americans,” the petition said, “Ayanna Pressley represents a beacon of hope and integrity in a tumultuous political landscape. She is someone we can trust, whose genuine commitment to justice and equality resonates deeply with millions of us across the country. This is not just about politics; it’s about believing in someone who champions the core values of fairness, transparency, and representative democracy that truly reflect the diverse voices of America.”
The message didn’t go there, but the implication was clear: Pressley, 52 and in Congress since 2019, a high-profile House progressive, can provide the kind of leadership that Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the minority leader and presumed speaker in waiting, very patently cannot.
So what happens next?