Virginia’s governor-elect, Abigail Spanberger.

FRIDAY 11/7/25

Putin Bridge – The dictator’s sole European ally Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visits President Trump at the White House Friday seeking an exemption on US sanctions on Russian oil, arguing that cutting imports would “devastate” Hungary’s economy (per oilprice.com). 

When Footlong Subs Are Outlawed … Jury in the federal case against Sean Dunn for his throwing a footlong submarine sandwich at a US Border Patrol officer in Washington, D.C., took two hours to acquit him Thursday.

Dunn’s first 15-minute moment came August 10, when he protested President Trump’s National Guard takeover of Washington by throwing the sandwich at the officer.

A grand jury rejected US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s push for felony charges. Dunn was instead charged with a misdemeanor. The jury was unmoved by mustard on the officer’s uniform and onion that clung to his radio antenna. 

Dunn was fired from his job as a Justice Department paralegal after the clash in August. 

“I’m relieved and I’m looking forward to moving on with my life,” Dunn told reporters Thursday.

…only outlaws will have footlong subs.

Deeper meaning? … Combining their off-year election sweep Tuesday with Dunn’s Thursday acquittal, Democratic leaders may be feeling better about their prospects of fending off Trump’s attempt to take over big cities and their polling places in next year’s midterms.

•••

No Unemployment Today – Based on the BLS schedule, we should have an unemployment rate graph at the top of this column Friday morning. There is no October report, just as there was no September report last month, because federal government shut down. 

But payroll processing company ADP has its own report showing that after employment fell in September, it rose moderately in October, by 42,000 jobs. Labor market data firm Revelio, conversely, reports that the economy lost 9,000 jobs in October. (Hat tip to The New York Times).

While jobs growth has slowed considerably this year, the last unemployment figure we have, for August from September’s report, remained very low at 4.3%.

•••

There’s Always Amtrak – With more and more unpaid air traffic controllers calling in “sick” the Federal Aviation Administration is cutting air traffic, citing safety concerns, by 4% this weekend on the way to a 10% cut by next Friday, November 14, reports NPR’s Morning Edition. The cutbacks come to 40 major airports, including Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and Dallas, but with no cut in international flights. 

•••

Stefanik v. Hochul – Serious Trump ally Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), a member of the House Republican leadership announced her run for governor of New York Friday, Roll Call reports. Stefanik will likely face incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in next year’s election.

With a bit of Trumplike OverCapitalization, Stefanik’s statement announcing her candidacy says, “Our campaign will unify Republicans, Democrats, and Independents to Fire Kathy Hochul once and for all to Save New York.” –TL

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THURSDAY 11/6/25

SCOTUS Takes On Tariffs – And more broadly, presidential power. Consensus among Supreme Court experts and mainstream pundits is that the court’s swing conservatives including Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch appeared sufficiently skeptical that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) gives President Trump authority to impose tariffs ahead of Congress.

SCOTUS heard arguments Wednesday in Learning Resources Inc. v. Donald J. Trump, President et. al. and Donald J. Trump, President et. al. v. V.O.S. Solutions Inc. et. al. challenging Trump’s authority in setting tariffs, which underlies the 800-pound gorilla of the Unitary Executive Theory issue. In declaring economic “emergencies” the Trump administration is usurping Congress’ authority to collect taxes. 

One problem in using the IEEPA to give the president such broad powers would be to “create a one-way ratchet toward the gradual but continual accretion of power in the executive branch,” Gorsuch said, per SCOTUSblog.

How soon could the tariffs be rendered unlawful?

Likely before the end of the year, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin told Anderson Cooper 360’s eponymous host.

Attorney Neal Katyal, representing small businesses in the case conceded under questioning by Justice Barrett that refunding of tariff collections to companies and businesses affected, as would be required under a ruling against Trump, would be problematic.

•••

Pelosi to Retire – Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House, announced her retirement in a six-minute social media video Thursday, per USA Today.

“Dear San Francisco,” she said in the video. “With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative.”

She served as House speaker from 2007 to 2011 and again from 2019 to 2023, when she led two impeachments against President Trump from his first term. After 20 terms in the House of Representatives, Pelosi, 82, is one of the old guard Democrats that younger party members want to see be replaced by younger politicians. 

California state Rep. Scott Wiener already has announced his candidacy for her seat in 2026.

 –TL

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WEDNESDAY 11/5/25

Trumpism Rebuked – Biggest race of the evening was for New York City mayor, where Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani defeated former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, by 50.4% to 41.6%, with 7.1% going to Republican Curtis Sliwa.

All results are from The Associated Press.

In California, voters passed Proposition 50 to reapportion the state’s congressional map for five additional Democratic districts, to offset the Texas legislature’s mid-decade remapping designed to give Republicans five more congressional seats in that state.

You could cut the Democratic glee with a knife when Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger emerged as the first big win out of the gate just after polls closed in the state at 8 pm Eastern. 

Spanberger defeated Lt. Gov. Winsome Earl-Sears 57.5% to 42.3%.

There has been much ado in punditland about Virginia electing its first female governor, which would have happened no matter which major party candidate had won.

There is far more to be said about President Trump’s losses Tuesday night. He had endorsed Cuomo for NYC mayor an evening before, and had backed Earl-Sears in Virginia, though not with the same vigor as his backing for Republican New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jack Cantarelli, a vocal MAGA supporter who lost to Democrat Mikie Sherrill. The tally was 56.2% for Sherrill to 43.2% for Cantarelli. 

Those are considerable margins in favor of Democrats, just 11 months into Trump’s second term. While polls had predicted Spanberger’s win in Virginia, polls showed a much less-certain New Jersey race.

Now it’s up to Democratic Party leaders to figure out how to treat Mamdani’s NYC mayoral victory as a sign of things to come in 2026, rather than the troublesome shift to the far left that many moderate Democrats fear.

Meanwhile, after 36 days of attempting to blame Democrats in Congress for the government shutdown, Trump is now blaming the GOP’s heavy losses in the off-year midterms on that very same government shutdown, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Quote of the Election Coverage… On CNN, former Obama administration operative and ex-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel – potential candidate for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination -- said, “2024 was the year of the bathroom,” (referring to Republican anti-transgender rhetoric) “and 2025 is the year of the ballroom.” –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa