Mississippi 2026 live midterm results: Democrat Scott Colom flips Senate seat
Mississippi Sen.-elect Scott Colom (D-MS) places his hand on his chest as he takes the podium to deliver his victory speech at Tougaloo College on November 11, 2026 in Tougaloo, Mississippi. (Photo by Aron Smith/Jackson State University via Getty Images)
Democrat Scott Colom will upset Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi, The Associated Press projected Wednesday, flipping a Republican seat in a ruby-red state.
With 99% of the expected vote reported, Colom leads with 49.2%, and Hyde-Smith has 48.7% of the vote, with Colom leading by about 4,700 votes.
Mississippi does not have a recount process, the secretary of state’s office told ABC News, meaning candidates can’t request a recount and there is no mechanism to trigger one in a tight race. Mississippi’s deadline to certify its election results is Friday, Nov. 13.
Jay Clayton testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill May 8, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as director of national intelligence, is appearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for his nomination hearing on Wednesday.
The hearing could clear a path for lawmakers to replace the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Trump loyalist Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence and could pave the way for an extension of a lapsed surveillance authority.
Clayton’s hearing comes weeks after the president abruptly canceled his previously scheduled confirmation hearing. Lawmakers had urgently scheduled a nomination hearing for Clayton in an effort to block Pulte from temporarily taking on the role, but Trump derailed the effort.
Pulte has been serving as the acting director since June 19.
Trump derails confirmation process
Trump, last month in an early morning social media post, said the confirmation process for Clayton would not continue until his pick to replace Clayton as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, was confirmed.
“Regarding the approval of our Great Patriot, Jay Clayton, we are cancelling the Senate Hearing RE: DNI today, and will not be going forward until Jamie McDonald is approved to be U.S. Attorney,” Trump wrote. “In the meantime, Bill Pulte will remain as the Acting Director of National Intelligence.”
Pulte, who has no prior national security experience, is best known in the Trump administration for launching probes into several of the president’s perceived political enemies over allegations of mortgage fraud and possible misuse of authority.
Targets of the investigations include Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff and former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell.
All have denied wrongdoing.
Pulte drew bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill after he sought to accelerate his predecessor’s departure from the role. The former DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, announced her intention to resign from the role in May, citing a desire to step away from public service to support her husband following his cancer diagnosis. Gabbard ultimately left the role on June 18, days earlier than planned.
In his short tenure as the acting director of national intelligence, Pulte made good on threats to cut hundreds of jobs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence by mass firing employees in June.
It’s unclear how many jobs had been affected, but sources told ABC News last month that the National Counterterrorism Center was expected to be hit hard. Trump, for his part, had made clear he had instructed Pulte to slash jobs at the agency.
Pulte’s appointment also stalled efforts to renew Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows the federal government to collect communications of foreigners abroad without a warrant. The program’s legal authorization lapsed in June.
Scrutiny from skeptical lawmakers
It’s not clear how long the Intelligence Committee will take to consider Clayton’s nomination, but he could potentially be confirmed by the Senate by the end of next week if there is unanimous agreement to speed up his consideration.
Clayton may face questions from senators on the Trump administration’s decision to issue subpoenas on Friday to several journalists who work for The New York Times after the news outlet reported last week on security concerns involving Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One.
Clayton, as U.S. attorney in Manhattan, issued the subpoenas. In a statement on Saturday, a Justice Department spokeswoman said that “reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.”
Clayton, prior to his role as the U.S. attorney, was also the former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Apart from the national security cases he oversaw while serving as U.S. attorney, Clayton also lacks experience in intelligence-gathering and national security matters.
Clayton spent the bulk of his career as a corporate attorney, and prior to his appointment as U.S. attorney last year, lacked meaningful experience in criminal matters.
He has spent the last year overseeing one of the country’s highest profile federal prosecutor’s offices — focusing on drugs, gangs, immigration and fraud cases. Clayton also oversaw the unsealing of grand jury materials related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, prompting complaints from victims about the disclosure of their sensitive personal information.
Clayton was never confirmed by the Senate as U.S. attorney, though his nomination was approved by the federal judges in the district and was seen then by many as a steady hand to lead the high-profile office.
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky and Peter Charalambous contributed to this report.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) speaks during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on April 27, 2026, in Washington, DC. Republican senators gathered to introduce legislation to fund construction of a White House ballroom as a secure alternative event space following the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC Saturday night. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — National political leaders and prominent figures from around the globe are remembering South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham with a ceremony on Capitol Hill and a funeral service in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
President Donald Trump paid tribute to his close ally at Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday afternoon.
“Today, we gather in the deepest gratitude and profoundest sorrow to honor a beloved friend, a devoted brother, a respected statesman, a giant of the United States Senate and a true American original who left us much too soon,” Trump said. “And that can only be the one and only Lindsey Graham.”
The cathedral funeral is being attended by a number of world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Graham worked closely with both men as a staunch ally to both nations. Graham spent some of his final days in Ukraine and met with Zelenskyy just before he died.
Sean Hannity and Graham’s niece, Emillie Boggs Roberts, will also deliver remarks.
Graham first was recognized with a ceremony in the Capitol rotunda Tuesday morning. His casket, draped in an American flag, was escorted by Air Force personnel and received by members of his family, including his sister Sen. Darline Graham, on the Capitol steps.
A great number of senators, both Democrats and Republicans, were in attendance. Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Vice President JD Vance gave remarks, as did South Carolina Republican Rep. Sheri Briggs.
Thune remembered Graham for his work in national security and defense, his efforts on the Senate Judiciary Committee and for his commitment to pro-life issues.
Thune seemed to choke back tears toward the ends of his remarks as he said a final goodbye to Graham.
“To Lindsey, rest in peace, my friend. I look forward to the days when you make us all laugh again,” he said.
Vance said he will remember Graham as someone who would fight alongside you on issues you both care about while respectfully disagreeing on others, and shared a story of an “intense argument” they had over Ukraine, but that it didn’t stop Graham from supporting him on another issue.
“I choose to remember Lindsey Graham as a person who could fight with you on one issue, but fight for you on another issue,” the vice president said. “I remember Lindsey Graham as a man who loved people, and because he loved people, he was willing to reason with them, to respect them, and ultimately to persuade them.”
“It was impossible not to like him — that swashbuckling, infectious laugh, that attitude, that passion that so many others have talked about. Lindsey Graham was impossible not to like as a human being, and of course, as a United States senator,” Vance added in his speech.
Graham served more than two decades in the Senate, becoming one of the chamber’s most recognizable Republicans and one of Trump’s closest friends and advisers. He advised the president on foreign matters, including the recent war in Iran, and was a prominent fixture of the Senate’s powerful Judiciary Committee.
He died suddenly and unexpectedly on July 11 at the age of 71. Preliminary findings from the Medical Examiner of the District of Columbia said that the senator died due to “aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.”
Graham’s casket will return to South Carolina on Wednesday, where further memorial services are set for Columbia, the state’s capital, and Pickens County, where Graham grew up and part of the district he represented.
The U.S. Air Force will rename Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina for Graham, a White House official confirmed on Tuesday.
The base, which falls under the command of the United States Air Force’s 628th Air Base Wing, will be renamed to Joint Base Lindsey Graham, according to a memorandum from Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink dated July 27.
In the memo obtained by ABC News, Meink said that the renaming would honor “Graham’s decades of distinguished service to the United States Congress and the United States Air Force.” It was not immediately clear when the change would go into effect.
Federal Reserve Board Governor Lisa Cook participates in a board meeting at the Federal Reserve on March 19, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
In an extraordinary ramping-up of his ongoing efforts to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, President Donald Trump has ordered a committee to investigate mortgage fraud allegations against her, culminating in a closed-door, in-person hearing at the White House next month.
The move, laid out in a memo signed by the president and announced on Friday, creates a three-person “committee of inquiry” to hear the charges against Cook and allow her an opportunity to respond at the Nov. 5 hearing.
“Governor Cook shall appear at the hearing and be examined by the Committee, its representatives, and her legal counsel, if any,” Trump’s memo states.
No president prior to Trump had ever attempted to remove a Federal Reserve governor in the 112-year history of the central bank. The law allows for a governor’s removal “for cause,” but that term is not defined in the statute.
Trump’s memo directs the panel to provide him with “written findings of fact and conclusions of law,” along with a recommendation of “whether there is cause to remove Governor Cook.”
The committee will be composed of top Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Andrea Lucas and Keith Sonderling, the acting director of the Office of Government Ethics.
Trump’s memo sets the terms of the panel’s review and allows Cook to “present argument, written evidence, and written witness statements regarding the evidence and allegations.”
The announcement of the hearing comes more than three months after the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s initial attempt to fire Cook, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing for a divided court that a final decision on Cook’s dismissal could only be made after she “has had the opportunity to respond to the charges made against her.”
Cook sued Trump to block his ill-fated attempt to fire her last year over the mortgage fraud allegations, insisting she has committed no wrongdoing. Her attorneys claim Trump’s attempt to oust her was based on her refusal to lower rates.
Lawyers for Cook said in a statement that they have “grave doubts” that the hearing will prove to be legitimate and legal.
“But if it is anything close to objective, the conclusion will be that Governor Cook did not commit mortgage fraud, leaving no cause to remove her from the Federal Reserve Board,” Cook’s attorneys, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, said in their statement.
Cook’s lawyers says they’re evaluating whether the process laid out by Trump’s order “has a possibility of being a genuine one and not simply a box checking exercise.”
“Governor Cook welcomes the opportunity to present the facts so she can clear her name and demonstrate there is no legal basis to fire her,” the attorneys said.
Trump’s order says the hearing will be closed to the public but transcribed.
