The Nvidia scandal continues
The scandal involving Jensen Huang and his Chinese spy mistress is bleeding into the government. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick finds himself in a sticky situation due to his extensive ties to the company. Democrats say that Lutnick had previous knowledge of Huang’s affair and didn’t say anything to avoid jeopardizing his and his family’s investments in the corporation. Democrats are calling for Lutnick to be investigated. They also claim that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had similar knowledge of the incident and refused to act until the story became public. While Lutnick may very well be guilty of this, it’s clear that Democrats smell blood in the water and would like to use this as ammunition to remove one or multiple major cabinet members from office, especially if they can get some dirt on Rubio. Meanwhile, Huang has agreed to testify before Congress.

Tomb of the Unknowns guard awarded
Specialist Thomas Iglesias was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal on Thursday by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth for reprimanding Hegseth’s group at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day. Hegseth posted photos of himself with the soldier and the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, the Old Guard, who were invited to the Pentagon for the ceremony. Hegseth added to his post, “We love soldiers. We love standards. Well done, Specialist.” Iglesias was on duty at the tomb when Hegseth and other administration officials were posing for photos. Someone laughed, and Iglesias shouted, as he would for anyone else, “All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times.” One member of the regiment said that guards have to remind visitors to maintain decorum at the tomb two or three times a day.

Senate majority leader race
With their big midterm win, Senate Democrats will elect a majority leader in early December, with current Minority Leader Chuck Schumer the most likely choice despite objections from some Democrats. At least he’ll have some competition, as Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced his bid for leadership on Thursday. While admitting he was the underdog, Van Hollen argued, “I think the American people want to see a little bit more democracy in the Senate Democratic Caucus.” Schumer, for his part, welcomed the competition while claiming, “I have the votes to continue serving as Democratic Leader.” Both Schumer and Van Hollen have long records serving on Capitol Hill. The biggest difference between them appears to be their stance on Israel: Schumer, a Jewish New Yorker, supports continuing U.S. aid to Israel, whereas Van Hollen opposes it.

El-Sayed’s pitch for Medicare for All
Michigan Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed appeared on CNN to pitch the socialist Medicare for All program. El-Sayed said he would name it “Trumpcare-for-All” if that meant Trump would sign it. “Donald, if you’re watching, we can put your name on it,” El-Sayed teased. “I know you like to put your name on stuff. You can finally meet the unmet promise in America to guarantee everybody healthcare. So, it’s on the table.” He later doubled down on the proposition in a social media post and said he was “absolutely serious” about the naming compromise. He claims the healthcare program would replace private health insurance with a government-funded system without premiums or deductibles — effectively a revival of Bernie Sanders’s Medicare proposal that would expand government control over healthcare and shift the cost to taxpayers.

ICE reports most deportations ever in a year
According to data released on Thursday by the Department of Homeland Security, ICE has made the most arrests and deportations in its history during fiscal year 2026. The new record of 491,000 arrests and 483,000 deportations has beaten 2025’s record of 442,640 arrests. The 2026 arrest numbers surpass the combined total from three years under Joe Biden, and the deportation total for only one year matches the 486,000 deportations from 2022–2024 under Biden. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin highlighted that September 2026 was “the best September in ICE’s history in terms of arrests.” In an interview on Monday, Mullin said the department is open to considering immigration reform, specifically regarding DACA recipients, but that it would ultimately be left to Congress. ICE officers have been instructed to aim for about 19,000 arrests per week, a goal that was set before the midterms.

Dems target RFK Jr. over anti-vax stance
No Trump administration official, and perhaps especially those who were once Democrats, will be safe from lawfare once the Democrat majority takes office in January. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is already in leftists’ crosshairs for his vaccine skepticism, and it appears they’re building a case against him. In the new year, Senate Democrats will investigate whether RFK’s claim that his 2019 trip to Samoa was unrelated to vaccines is true. Senators Ron Wyden and Angela Alsobrooks, who are leading the charge, wrote to Children’s Health Defense — which Wyden cofounded — that Kennedy’s claim about his trip to Samoa appears false. Wyden will chair the Finance Committee, and Alsobrooks will likely chair the Senate Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee; both committees oversee the Department of Health and Human Services.

Army cooks are now called “tactical feeding specialists”
In one of the most comical U.S. Army moves ever, War Secretary Pete Hegseth renamed a position with a common civilian name and gave it a convoluted military one. Whereas the MOS designating the cooks was once called culinary specialists, Hegseth has renamed them “tactical feeding specialists.” This is meant to denote them not only as people who can make food but as soldiers and logistics personnel as well. Obviously, their tasking will be different once they set up shop in the field, but generally, most people in the Army food specialty are on base doing exclusively culinary activities. Most are seeing this as a “pointless but harmless” type of change, and that’s exactly what it is. The tactical feeding specialist is a real-life example of humor about the military writing itself.

White House warns Congress against investigating them
After the Democrats take over Congress, they will have greater subpoena power. Indeed, they have already promised to investigate the Trump family for corruption, pardons, and family business dealings. The White House and the DOJ said they would rebuff the probes and warned about legal consequences. Rep. Robert Garcia summarized the Democrat perspective on the election: “It was about affordability, and it was about rooting out government corruption. Well, we have a mandate to take on corruption, and certainly the corruption of the Trump family.” A U.S. attorney accused Sen. Richard Blumenthal of intimidating donors to Trump’s ballroom. Blumenthal in turn accused the DOJ of weaponizing its authority to obstruct congressional oversight and conceal Trump’s wrongdoings.

The GOP flipped one House district from blue to red
While there are still a number of House seat races that have yet to be called, only one congressional district that was not redistricted nationwide has flipped from blue to red. That seat is Maine’s 2nd District, which Republican Paul LePage won, defeating Democrat state auditor Matt Dunlap. The race was for an open seat held by Democrat Rep. Jared Golden, who is retiring from Congress over having “grown tired of the increasing incivility and plain nastiness that are now common from some elements of our American community.” LePage previously served as Maine’s governor from 2010 to 2018. Following his victory, LePage vowed, “If it is good for Maine, I will work hard to make it happen. If it is bad for Maine, I will oppose it.”

Kansas governor race called for Democrat after more than a week
The final blue wave results are finally coming in, with Democrat state Sen. Cindy Holscher defeating Republican state Senate President Ty Masterson to become the next governor of Kansas. Holscher’s victory marks the Democrats’ third consecutive Kansas gubernatorial win after term-limited Laura Kelly won in 2018 and was reelected in 2022. Holscher represents the Democrat Party’s insane mainline on gender issues, famously stating in 2023 that she did not know if Jesus was transgender, gay, or straight. Kansas will have to endure four more years of Democrat insanity.

Headlines

  • UN renews Iran’s committee seat amid war with U.S., sparking backlash (Fox News)
  • Omar wants to serve on Foreign Affairs Committee despite active federal investigation against her (Not the Bee)
  • Thune open to passing party-line $350 billion military bill before Democrats take power (Washington Examiner)
  • U.S. seizes $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency stolen from Binance (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.