SCOTUS gives OK to border wall
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a lower court’s block against the Trump administration’s border wall construction in the Big Bend region of Texas. District Judge Kathleen Cardone had imposed the preliminary injunction halting construction, saying plaintiffs were likely to prevail in their argument that Congress must weigh in on decisions of major economic and political significance. The high court, however, disagreed, assessing that the Trump administration is “exceedingly likely to prevail on its argument” and that Cardone was outside her jurisdiction to rule in the case. DHS argues that the Big Bend region “is an area of high illegal entry,” requiring the building of the border wall. This is a big win for the Trump administration in securing America’s border.

Migrant caravan heads for border
Unsurprisingly, following the Democrats’ big midterm wins, a caravan of migrants has formed in Central America with the goal of traveling to and crossing into the U.S. Due to the Democrats’ rhetoric objecting to immigration enforcement, migrants see their victory as an invitation to once again seek to illegally cross the U.S. border in droves. Hoping to dissuade potential migrants from taking this action, the American embassy in El Salvador posted the following message in Spanish: “U.S. immigration laws remain in effect. The midterm election results do not represent changes to current immigration policies.” A number of the migrants have made the journey to the U.S. previously, including a Honduran man who was deported several months ago. “After I was deported in September,” he said, “I tried to enter again twice, but they sent me back from Mexico.”

Robinson trial set for 2028
Fourteen months after the brutal public assassination of Charlie Kirk, the trial date for Tyler Robinson, the alleged assassin, has been set for June 21, 2028. Robinson’s lawyers asked to delay the trial until at least 2029, while the Kirk family’s lawyers said they would be ready for trial by October 2027. Americans who watched Charlie’s assassination in real time may be surprised to find that the wheels of justice for such a cut-and-dried case turn on the pace of years rather than months. Robinson’s taxpayer-funded lawyers have already billed $1.6 million and will likely rack up millions more as they stretch the time until judgment is rendered. If Robinson is found guilty, he may face execution by firing squad in Utah.

Vote finally comes in, California rejects Prop 40
Most Californians vote by mail, so after nearly a week, the Associated Press finally called Proposition 40 on Monday evening with 83% of the vote counted. The billionaire wealth tax ballot measure failed to pass, with 53.8% voting against it and 47.2% in favor. It would have been the first-ever tax on general wealth (as opposed to income), imposing a 5% tax on any California resident with over $1 billion in taxable assets. Though Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned for the measure, others like Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed it, favoring a nationwide tax instead. Several billionaires donated millions to defeat Prop 40 and threatened to leave California if it passed, which would have hurt the state’s economy.

Jeffries’s speakership bid could unite Democrats
Democrats will control at least 259 House seats starting in January. Reaching 260 seats would give them the largest majority for any party since 1993. Though progressives continue to call for someone other than Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to become House speaker, his bid could unite the majority of Democrats. At a news conference on Monday, Jeffries said he would “work hard to talk to every single member.” Jeffries boasts strong backing around the caucus, with support from the Congressional Black Caucus and the New Democrat Coalition. Even the progressives and DSA members might consider him.

Is Schumer’s leadership role in jeopardy?
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is celebrating his party’s massive win in the midterms, but that celebration could be short-lived as a growing contingent of Democrats opposes retaining him as Senate leader. While Schumer only needs a simple majority to retain his spot, many Democrats are surveying the landscape for other options. Many of the incoming senators, such as Adam Hamilton and Troy Jackson, have said they wouldn’t back Schumer, favoring younger blood to take the mantle. The progressive wing of the party seems to be propping up Chris Van Hollen. Schumer doesn’t believe it will be a competition, but it will be interesting to see whether the progressives decide to challenge him.

Senate approves bipartisan infrastructure bill
The Senate voted 73–25 Monday to advance the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, which aims to make it easier to grow the energy sector. It will make it harder for those who oppose projects for environmental reasons to sue, and for states and the EPA to block fossil fuel and mining ventures. South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds was the only Republican who voted no. Some Democrats got on board not only because it will save consumers $60–$80 each month but because it will increase the nation’s wind capacity by 25%, solar capacity by 28%, and battery storage capacity by 70%. President Donald Trump said he supports the legislation but will not approve wind turbines, which the bill seeks to bolster, because they are a “major loser.” He added that “the bill hasn’t been fully negotiated.”

Prefiled bills show the true intentions of Texas Democrats
If you ever thought that just because Texas was previously a deep-red state, Texas Democrats would be relatively centrist, you would be wrong. November 9 was the first day that Texas legislators and legislators-elect could prefile bills to be introduced at the beginning of the next state congressional session. To no one’s surprise, the bills advance gun control, transing the kids, and putting everyone on welfare. One bill especially contains a long list of repealed laws that would restore abortion, transgender surgeries, and Medicaid spending to their greatest extent. Furthermore, the NRA reported 35 anti-gun bills, ICE may not have a place with Texas law enforcement, and the government will attempt to give a new meaning to Texas-sized spending. Hopefully the state Senate and Supreme Court can hold out against all of this.

Hegseth directs military academies to focus on warfighting
In his speech Monday at the Naval War College, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth contended that coursework at military colleges has become too broad and theoretical and instead should focus on operational readiness, strategy, and tactical exams. Rather than 80-page theoretical written theses, he wants “war gaming and high-stress decision-enforcing scenarios as the centerpiece of senior officer evaluation.” Hegseth is also eliminating lifetime tenure and emeritus status for civilian faculty in favor of three-year, performance-based contracts that will evaluate teachers on their effectiveness and national security research. He said our military colleges need to study our recent military failures, like the Afghanistan withdrawal, rather than sweeping them under the rug by excising them as “politically sensitive topics.” The Senior Service College task force has visited campuses over the last 18 months to determine what needs to change.

Anthropic seeking $1.3 trillion valuation
Anthropic will launch a lower-than-expected initial public offering this week after AI lost big in the midterm elections. The AI giant behind Claude is expected to start trading on Tuesday, with 825 million shares opening in the $70–$78 range. That’s below last week’s expected IPO valuation of $1.5 trillion. At $74 a share, Anthropic, which will trade on the Nasdaq as “ANT,” will raise $61 billion. Optimistically, it could raise as much as $80 billion, outperforming SpaceX’s $75 billion raised in its $ 1.77 trillion IPO earlier this year. Anthropic’s “run rate” estimate of annual revenue sat around $81 billion at the end of October.

Headlines

  • U.S.-mediated talks on ending Russia-Ukraine war begin in Abu Dhabi (NY Post)
  • FBI probing Nvidia CEO’s relationship with alleged Chinese spy (Washington Times)
  • Jennifer Welch loses an estimated $8M after Charlie Kirk joke sent sponsors fleeing (Daily Mail)
  • Consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, more than expected (CNBC)

The Executive News Summary is compiled daily by Jordan Candler, Thomas Gallatin, Sterling Henry, Jacob Geoffrey, Hudson Baldwin, and Sophie Starkova. For the archive, click here.