Weekly Update 11/09/2026 Capitol Advocacy Partners
Appropriations:
Stopgap likely ahead of Dec. 11 funding deadline: Federal grantees should plan for another short-term extension rather than full-year spending bills. The House has passed three of the 12 annual appropriations bills, and Senate appropriators remain stuck on setting spending levels. Senior congressional aides expect appropriations leaders to push another stopgap to buy time for a larger deal, while Democrats may prefer to wait until January, when they will control both chambers. Two fights …
President and Administration:
Stephen Miller becomes White House chief of staff: The President’s longtime immigration adviser becomes White House chief of staff today, replacing Susie Wiles, who will move to the President’s political operation. Miller, from Orange County, worked for then Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) before joining the President’s 2016 campaign as a senior aide, and he has advised the President for nearly a decade, most recently as deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser. In the first term, he helped develop the travel ban on several Muslim-majority countries, backed the 2018 zero tolerance policy that separated…
New chief of staff signals no letup in immigration enforcement: President Trump said on "60 Minutes" that his deportation policy was "too tough" on immigrants with jobs and that he could work with Democrats on legal status for undocumented workers. But U.S. officials say ICE has received no instructions to scale back, and officers have been told to aim for about 19,000 arrests a week, up from a prior target of 2,000 a day. The Department of Homeland Security said Nov. 8 that ICE…
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduces impeachment articles against Hegseth: In impeachment articles filed today (11/9), Rep. Massie cited concerns over Secretary Hegseth’s leadership at the Pentagon and handling of the Iran war. Hegseth dismissed the effort, saying he was “not worried” and announcing a Pentagon press conference to address the controversy. Massie previously attempted impeachment in September, but House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) prevented a vote by ending legislative business…
Key takeaways from the President’s “60 Minutes” interview: In an interview that aired Sunday, the President said his deportation policy had been “too tough” on immigrants who hold jobs or pay taxes and that he is open to a deal with Democrats that could include legal status for undocumented workers, adding that some people in his administration “would like everybody taken out”. Trump blamed “bad messaging, maybe by me” for Republicans’ midterm losses and played down the Iran war’s effect…
Head of Justice Department civil rights division resigns: Harmeet Dhillon, who led the division, resigned last week and said she had decided weeks ago but was asked to wait until after the election. Under Dhillon, the division brought discrimination cases against universities and sued 30 states and Washington, D.C., for voter registration lists, with judges dismissing 27 of those suits. The division also declined to open a use-of-force investigation into the ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in…
FEMA stops publishing pending disaster aid requests: FEMA removed a list of pending disaster requests from its daily operations briefing, which goes to FEMA staff, state emergency management agencies, and nonprofits, after publishing it since at least 2012. The agency called the change an update to focus on monitoring incidents and supporting declared disasters. Michael Coen, a former FEMA chief of staff, called the briefing "the definitive tracker" for state requests. Analysts had used the list…
Administration weighs overhaul of Park Service and Fish and Wildlife: Interior Department staff are considering a "realignment" of the two agencies, including "pending duty station changes" at the Park Service, according to internal documents, though the documents do not say whether offices would close or employees would be laid off, and the Interior Department did not comment. A Fish and Wildlife Service report released last week recommends cutting headquarters and regional staff and moving positions…
Congress:
Republicans have one last shot to pass their agenda after midterm elections: Congress is returning to Washington for a five-week lame-duck session following Democrats’ victories in the midterm elections, with Republicans seeking to advance President Trump’s agenda before Democrats assume control on January 3. GOP priorities include confirming judicial and administration nominees, passing the annual defense authorization bill, overhauling federal permitting requirements and potentially approving additional…
Democrats plan early votes on Medicaid and marketplace subsidies: It is possible to see early action in the new Congress on undoing Medicaid cuts and restoring the enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies that expired at the end of 2025, and helped push marketplace premiums up about 15 percent for 2027. Democratic aides say the party will move on both when Congress convenes, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), expected to be the next speaker, added that Democrats will also target cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance…
Education committee leaders eye reversing Education Department transfers: The next chairs of the education committees could try to undo the administration's moves of Title I, career and technical education, special education, and civil rights enforcement out of the Education Department. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is poised to lead the Senate Health, Education, Labor…
Education:
Supreme Court appears inclined to side with Catholic preschools in Colorado case: At arguments last week, conservative justices questioned whether any same sex couples had been turned away from the Denver area preschools, which refuse children of same sex parents and are excluded from Colorado's universal pre-K program. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson…
Fewer colleges get federal campus child care grants: The Education Department awarded only 40 Child Care Access Means Parents in School grants this fall, after announcing plans for 148, because it paid…
Justice Department sues Penn State over in-state tuition for undocumented students: The administration is widening its challenges to in-state tuition for undocumented students, which California also offers. The Justice Department sued Penn State last week, arguing federal law bars tuition benefits for undocumented students…
California:
Supreme Court lets California count disputed ballots: County election offices could count the roughly 20,000 ballots the Justice Department wanted set aside after the Supreme Court denied the administration's emergency request Nov. 2, hours before Election Day. The brief, unsigned order gave no rationale and had no noted dissents. The administration…
Voters extend school tax and reject limits on local taxes and clinic spending: California voters made permanent the income tax on high earners first passed in 2012, which raises $5 billion to $15 billion a year, up to 15 percent of school revenue, and had been set to expire in 2031; Proposition 3 passed with 59 percent and keeps a 12.3 percent rate…
Tech companies sue to block California's teen social media law: A law aimed at youth mental health now faces a court test. Meta, Google, and TikTok sued last week in federal court to block AB 1709, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in September to restrict features like infinite scrolling and autoplay for users under 16. The companies argue the law…
Newsom moves to commute all 548 California death sentences: Prosecutors, probation departments, and victim advocates across California face a major change to the state's criminal justice system. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced last week that he has started commuting the sentences of all 548 people on California's death row to life without the possibility of parole, calling the death penalty system "a failure" in a letter to Californians. About 70 percent of those prisoners…