Politics
Democrat Scott Colom Wins Mississippi Senate Seat in Upset Over Hyde-Smith
The win gives Democrats an eighth Senate flip of the cycle and makes Colom the first Black senator from the state since Reconstruction.
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119 stories from Planck Standard. Latest: November 12, 2026.
PoliticsCongress Returns With Four Leadership Fights and a Dec. 11 Shutdown Deadline
The lame-duck session opens with House Republicans picking new leaders after their midterm losses, a stalled spending package, and Massie's push to force an impeachment vote on Hegseth.
PoliticsMississippi's Senate Race Hangs on Provisional Ballots That No One Can Count
About 2,000 votes separate Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Scott Colom, and the state has no recount provision and no central tally of outstanding ballots.
PoliticsDemocrats Win Senate Control, Holding at Least 54 Seats After Upsets in Texas and Kansas
CBS News projects the party will hold the upper chamber in January. Schumer vows "legislative razor wire" against Trump while Mississippi and Alaska remain undecided.
WatchTop NewsRoy Cooper Flips North Carolina's Senate Seat for Democrats, CBS News Projects
The former two-term governor beat Trump-backed Michael Whatley for the open seat of retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, the first Democratic Senate win in the state since 2008.
PoliticsJon Ossoff Wins Reelection in Georgia, Beating Trump-Endorsed Rep. Mike Collins
The 39-year-old Democrat was the only Senate Democrat defending a seat in a state Trump carried in 2024, and the race was called early in the evening.
PoliticsSen. Ashley Moody Beats Democratic Socialist Angie Nixon to Hold Florida Seat
The appointed Republican will serve out the rest of Marco Rubio's term, while three Florida Democrats survived GOP-friendly redistricting.
WatchPoliticsPolls Open With 59 Million Ballots Already Cast, Democrats Favored for the House
The Senate is anyone's guess as Democrats need four flips in a map built on Republican turf, and counting in the closest races could take days or weeks.
WatchPoliticsRecord $11 Billion in Midterm Ads, Few of Them Labeled as AI, Floods the Final Weekend
CBS News polling points to a Democratic House majority of 229 seats, while the Senate map has widened to red states like Kansas and Texas.
PoliticsSen. Chris Murphy Hospitalized After Stroke, Aides Say He Is 'Awake and Alert'
The Connecticut Democrat felt numbness in his arm at his son's hockey game and was transferred to Johns Hopkins; his office says he is responding well to treatment.
WatchPoliticsHaley Stevens Endorses Republican Mike Rogers Two Days Before Michigan's Senate Vote
The Democratic congresswoman broke with her party's nominee, Abdul El-Sayed, after weeks of public feuding over Israel. Chuck Schumer called it a 'despicable betrayal.'
PoliticsFederal Judge Throws Out Trump's Bid to Block Alaska Senate Certification
Judge Sharon Gleason ruled the Justice Department cannot bring the suit and said the relief it sought would likely violate Alaskans' right to a secret ballot. DOJ says it will appeal.
PoliticsRising Costs and No Farm Bill Split Kansas Farmers in Tight Senate Race
One family says it cost $737,375 more to run its farm this year than last. Republican Sen. Roger Marshall now faces Democrat Adam Hamilton in a race few expected to be close.
PoliticsSocial Security Becomes a Midterm Issue as Trust Fund Is Set to Run Dry by Late 2032
The trustees' latest report projects a benefit cut of more than 20% after depletion, and candidates from Michigan to Maine are being pressed on how to fix it.
PoliticsMichigan Senate Race Turns to El-Sayed's Faith and Family as Poll Shows Him Up 7
Republicans are scrutinizing the Democrat's mother, father-in-law and college activism. His campaign calls it a bad-faith attack as a CBS Detroit poll has him ahead of Mike Rogers.
PoliticsSenate Hopefuls Raise Cash Nationally With Ads That Differ From Their Home Pitches
An NPR analysis of four key races found candidates spent more than $15 million on fundraising ads, three-quarters of them aimed at a national audience.
PoliticsThune Fights to Keep a 53-Seat Senate Majority With Trump Tension and an Iran War Weighing on the Map
A week before the midterms, the majority leader campaigns across eight states while a top forecaster rates the GOP's odds of holding the chamber 'at best 50-50.'
PoliticsFour Independents Run for Senate in Trump Country. Democrats Are Betting They Win
With no Democrat on the ballot in Nebraska and a bitter fight in Montana, the party is hoping independents can help it deny Republicans a Senate majority.
PoliticsFlanagan and Tafoya Trade Fraud and Trump Attacks in Their Only Minnesota Senate Debate
The two candidates fighting for a seat Democrats have held since 2009 each tried to tie the other to an unpopular figure in Friday's lone debate, and one forecaster now rates the race Lean Democratic.
WatchPoliticsVance Calls El-Sayed a 'Weasel' as Michigan Senate Race Turns Ugly
Michigan Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed fired back at a crowd of 1,300 in the Upper Peninsula, saying the vice president should take his Buckeye and shove it, as Republicans press unproven claims about his faith.
PoliticsPappas Says New Hampshire Senate Race Is 'Tough,' Ties Sununu to Trump With 23 Days to Go
The Democratic congressman told 'Face the Nation' he's taking nothing for granted in a race that could decide Senate control. CBS News rates the seat as leaning Democratic.
PoliticsObama Revives 'Hope' in New DNC Ads After Raising More Than $13 Million for Democrats
The former president has endorsed Ossoff, Shapiro and a slate of governors, and plans to campaign with Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed on Oct. 24.
PoliticsSenate Blocks a Congressional Stock Trading Ban and a Data Center Bill Before Recess
Democrats voted down both Republican-led measures, calling one a 'permission slip for corruption' because it included voter ID rules, five weeks before the midterm elections.
PoliticsSenate Passes College Sports Overhaul 77-22, Sending NCAA Bill to an Uncertain House
The Protect College Sports Act would write athlete pay, one free transfer and five years of eligibility into federal law. Critics led by Sen. Cory Booker say it strips athletes of their right to sue.
PoliticsFetterman Says Democrats Could Win the Senate but Won't Commit to His Own Party's Future
Speaking in Austin, the Pennsylvania senator insisted 'I am not a Republican' while telling people to wait until after the midterms to 'see what I do.'
PoliticsTrump's FDA Pick Tells Senators Vaccines Are Safe but Won't Say She'd Defy Him
Dr. Heidi Overton called the MMR vaccine and the abortion pill mifepristone safe and effective under FDA review, but dodged questions about IUDs and whether she would stand up to the president.
PoliticsSenate Rejects Iran War Powers Limits 49-50 as Tillis Joins Three Other Republicans
The vote was likely Congress's last chance to weigh in on the six-month war before the midterms. Fetterman was again the only Democrat to vote no.
PoliticsJon Kyl, the Arizona Republican Who Spent 15 Years Behind the Scenes on the Biggest Tribal Water Settlement in History and Then Walked Brett Kavanaugh Through the Senate, Has Died at 84
He served 26 years in Congress, four months more filling John McCain's seat, and withdrew from public life last December after a dementia diagnosis. 'Probably a lot of my better achievements were in preventing bad things from happening.'
PoliticsThe Senate Voted 74-24 to Advance a Bill Giving the NCAA an Antitrust Exemption, Capping Athlete Pay at 22% of Revenue and Limiting Players to One Free Transfer
Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell's Protect College Sports Act cleared the filibuster easily on Tuesday. Chris Murphy said it 'protects a system of exploitation,' the NAACP opposes it, and the House has failed repeatedly to pass its own version.
PoliticsThe Senate Killed the Crypto Bill 49-50
The Clarity Act needed 60 votes to advance. Thune said Republicans had granted more than 100 Democratic requests; Warren said the ethics language was 'a tiny little fig leaf' that would let Trump make 'his next $1.4 billion in crypto profits.'
PoliticsMitch McConnell Rolled Into the Senate in a Wheelchair Monday and Cast His First Vote in 95 Days
The 84-year-old Kentucky Republican, who retires in January, told reporters it was 'time to get back to work' on the farm bill. His return restores a 12-11 GOP edge on the Agriculture Committee.
PoliticsFetterman Told Staff a Trip to Three Police Funerals Was 'a Nonstarter.' The Texts Are Now Public
Messages between the Pennsylvania senator and his aides, first published by The Wall Street Journal, show him pushing back on constituent meetings, hospital visits and hearings. Two House Democrats from his own state called him lazy.
PoliticsTrump Endorsed Lindsey Graham's Sister. She Still Has to Beat Ralph Norman in a Runoff on August 25
Ten Republicans ran in Tuesday's special primary for the Senate seat left vacant when Graham died in July. Nobody cleared 50%, so the appointed senator now faces a two-week sprint against a sitting congressman.
PoliticsThe Senate Confirmed Todd Blanche 50-49 at 4:31 A.M., Then Left Town for Five Weeks
Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski were the only Republicans to vote no. Trump's former criminal defense lawyer now permanently runs the department that once prosecuted him.
PoliticsThe Senate Passed Lindsey Graham's Russia Sanctions Bill 86-11. He Died in July
The act lets the president impose tariffs of up to 100% on the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. The House is on recess and will not vote before September.
PoliticsTrump Won't Say Whether He Backs Thune for Another Term: 'It's Unfortunate That He Doesn't Have the Votes'
In a Punchbowl News interview that aired Friday, the president declined to endorse the Senate majority leader's reelection as GOP leader, and returned to his demand that Republicans kill the filibuster.
PoliticsA Third Straight Poll Shows a Democrat Leading Ken Paxton in Texas — and He's Winning Black Voters 79-12
Texas Southern University's survey puts James Talarico ahead 47% to 45%. The pollster's explanation: Paxton is holding only 85% of Republicans while independents break for the Democrat by 40 points.
PoliticsThe Senate Voted 90-6 to Fund the Government Into December. The House Already Passed Something Else
Senators cleared a bipartisan stopgap through Dec. 11 before leaving for a five-week recess, but the House passed its own partisan version — and one grant-rule provision could cost Republican votes.
PoliticsThe Senate Farm Bill Died 10-11 in Committee Over a Fight About Which States Miscount Food Stamps
Republicans wanted a one-year delay before states start paying part of the SNAP bill. Democrats wanted two. Two Republican senators were absent, and the current farm law expires September 30.
PoliticsRand Paul's Committee Voted 8-5 to Hold Fauci in Contempt — Then Skipped the Senate Floor and Went Straight to the Justice Department
The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee acted after Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment at a hearing on COVID-19 origins. Rather than seek a floor vote he would likely lose, Paul referred the resolution directly to DOJ.
PoliticsThe Senate Votes Friday on the Sanctions Bill Named for Lindsey Graham
H.R. 5334 would let the president tariff the biggest buyers of Russian oil, blacklist Moscow's shadow fleet and extend Iran sanctions. Rand Paul gets one amendment vote first.
WatchPoliticsRand Paul's Committee Votes Thursday Morning on Holding Fauci in Contempt of Congress
The Senate Homeland Security Committee meets at 8:30 a.m. to decide whether Anthony Fauci broke the law by invoking the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times under subpoena. Paul says he will refer the matter straight to the Justice Department.
PoliticsTodd Blanche Cleared the Judiciary Committee 12-10. Susan Collins Says She Will Vote No on the Floor
Trump's former personal lawyer won over Republican holdouts John Cornyn and Thom Tillis only after formally killing a $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' payout fund. With Collins opposed and Mitch McConnell absent, the math on the Senate floor is now razor-thin.
PoliticsA Republican and a Democrat Got a Bill Out of Committee to Stop the Education Department From Giving Its Own Work Away
S. 5046 cleared the Senate HELP Committee 13-9 over the objection of its own chairman. It would void the interagency agreements moving special education, civil rights and student aid work to four other departments.
PoliticsCornyn and Tillis Drop Their Blockade of Todd Blanche After the DOJ Formally Kills the $1.8 Billion Fund
The Justice Department issued an order Sunday rescinding the "anti-weaponization" fund and put a second concession in writing. Both Republican holdouts say that satisfies them, clearing Blanche for a committee vote Tuesday.
PoliticsSenate Blocks Iran War Powers Resolution 49-50 in the 13th Vote Since the Fighting Began
Kirsten Gillibrand's measure to force a withdrawal of U.S. forces failed by a single vote, with three Republicans crossing over and one Democrat voting no. The Pentagon now counts 18 American service members killed and more than 600 wounded.
PoliticsSenate Panel Scraps Blanche Vote, and Trump Says He'd Pull the Nomination Until Cornyn and Tillis 'Are Out of Office'
Two Republicans want written guarantees that a $1.8 billion fund born of Trump's IRS settlement is dead and that his family's audit immunity is narrow. The Judiciary Committee postponed Thursday's vote rather than lose it.
PoliticsTrump Eulogizes Lindsey Graham at the National Cathedral: 'He Died Doing the Work He Was Born to Do'
Netanyahu and Zelenskyy sat in the same pews as Vance, Pence and Justice Kavanaugh for the South Carolina senator's funeral, 17 days after his sudden death at 71.
PoliticsLindsey Graham's Sister Will Seek His Old Senate Seat, With Trump's Full Endorsement
Darline Graham Nordone, appointed to the South Carolina seat this month, says she will run in the August 11 special Republican primary.
- Politics
Senate Confirms Trump's Personal Lawyer Matthew Schwartz to a Powerful Appeals Court
The 50-45 party-line vote installs the Sullivan & Cromwell partner on the Second Circuit for life, filling the seat vacated by Judge Debra Ann Livingston.
WatchPoliticsSenate Blocks $1 Trillion Defense Bill in Rare Rebuke of Trump Over His Iran War
Democrats refused to advance the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, 50-46, casting the vote as a referendum on a war now in its fifth month that the White House has struggled to explain.
PoliticsTrump's Intelligence Pick Jay Clayton Faces the Senate After the Pulte Fiasco, Pressed on Biden's 2020 Win
The former SEC chairman went before senators to become director of national intelligence, replacing acting chief Bill Pulte, and only indirectly acknowledged Joe Biden's 2020 victory.
PoliticsMcConnell Breaks Weeks of Silence, Says a Fall and Pneumonia Put Him in the Hospital
The 84-year-old Kentucky senator ended a month of speculation about his health, revealing he was briefly knocked unconscious in a fall at his Washington home and later developed pneumonia.
WatchTop NewsSen. Lindsey Graham Dies at 71 From Aortic Dissection, Hours After Returning From Ukraine
The five-term South Carolina Republican and close Trump ally died Saturday night after what his office called a 'brief and sudden illness'; the D.C. medical examiner's preliminary findings point to a torn aorta.
PoliticsGraham Platner Quits Maine Senate Race, Handing Democrats a Scramble to Take On Collins
After a 2021 sexual-assault allegation collapsed his support and Chuck Schumer pulled national money, Platner filed withdrawal papers days before the deadline. Maine Democrats now have until July 27 to pick a replacement.
PoliticsGraham Platner Quits Maine Senate Race After Assault Allegation, Handing Democrats a Scramble
The Democratic nominee suspended his campaign after a woman accused him of a 2021 assault, an accusation he flatly denies. Maine Democrats now have until July 27 to pick a replacement to challenge Susan Collins.
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PoliticsMcConnell Hospitalized for Three Weeks and No One Will Say Why as a Cardiac-Arrest Call Emerges
The 84-year-old Kentucky senator has not been seen in public since June 14, when paramedics were sent to his home for an 'unconscious person' and a dispatcher logged a cardiac arrest. His office insists only that he 'continues to improve.'
PoliticsMcMorrow's Exit Turns Michigan's Senate Primary Into a Centrist-vs-Progressive Brawl
With state Sen. Mallory McMorrow out of the race, Michigan's Aug. 4 Democratic primary narrows to a high-stakes showdown between Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive Abdul El-Sayed.
WorldSara Duterte's Historic Impeachment Trial Opens as a Key Ally Is Hauled Off in Handcuffs
The Philippine vice president became the first in the country's history to stand trial in the Senate, facing charges of corruption and death threats against President Marcos.
PoliticsDemocrats Turn on Graham Platner as an Assault Allegation Rocks the Maine Senate Race
Prominent Democrats including Elizabeth Warren pulled their endorsements after a sexual assault claim, throwing the party's best shot at Susan Collins into chaos.
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