US transportation secretary Sean Duffy due to brief public soon, White House says
We are standing by for the start of a briefing, the first of the day, from the US transport secretary, Sean Duffy, on the crisis that halted all departures from US airports for hours on Friday.
Once the briefing begins, we will bring you updates.
Hawaii suspends flights 'due to debris from SpaceX launch'
Less than an hour after announcing that flights to Hawaii from the US west coast would resume, following the nationwide ground stop ordered by the FAA, Hawaii’s department of transportation posted on social media: “All west coast flights have been halted due to debris from SpaceX launch.”
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Outages in communication, radio frequencies and radar began in Chicago – report
The FAA’s Washington DC command center was notified around 3.30pm local time on Friday that multiple air centers around the country had lost communication, radio frequencies and radar, Jon Ostrower, the editor-in-chief of the aviation news site the Air Current, reports.
“The outages began with the Chicago air traffic route control center, with Boston, Washington, New York and Minneapolis verifying they had problems as well in rapid succession,” he added.
A few minutes ago, Ostrower reported on social media that a single source, but one he considers “highly reliable”, tells him that Chicago’s O’Hare, the world’s busiest airport, is closing one of its eight runways, Runway 22R, “to park planes”.
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With Trump mute on social media amid crisis, Democrats call for answers
Donald Trump remained uncharacteristically quiet about the crisis at US airports on Friday, posting about other matters but making no mention of what his administration is doing to fix the problem that has thrown travel into chaos.
Democrats have filled the vacuum, demanding answers.
Congresswoman Nellie Pou, a New Jersey Democrat who serves on the House aviation subcommittee said in a statement:
I do not want to speculate the cause of this crisis right now but this is a massive, almost unprecedented disaster impacting tens of millions of Americans. We are nearing the holidays. The Trump administration must be prompt and forthright in providing answers. More generally, I would note this constitutes yet another crisis in the American skies under the Trump administration. Just this week, the GOP majority cancelled a hearing next week with the head of the FAA. Something must change. The American people are owed transparency, and the incoming Congress must seek a full accounting of how air traffic modernization is being implemented and what remains to be done to keep our airspace safe.”
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Some international flights depart for Europe from New York City, Boston and Philadelphia
Some international flights have been able to depart from New York City’s John F Kennedy international airport, Boston’s Logan airport and Philadelphia’s international airport, according to airlines and data from Flightradar24.
Among the flights now in the air are a Delta flight from New York City to Rome, which departed at 6.23pm ET, an SAS flight to Copenhagen that took off a few minutes ago, as well as an Air France flight to Paris and a Virgin Atlantic flight to London.
A British Airways flight from Philadelphia to London departed three minutes early, at 6.32pm local time.
Flights have also departed for Europe from Newark international airport in New Jersey, and Washington’s Dulles international.
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Pacific-bound flights now cleared to depart from SFO, airport says
There are signs that the nationwide halt to departing flights has eased, at least for some international destinations.
San Francisco international airport confirmed in a statement in the last 30 minutes that “Pacific-bound flights are now cleared to depart from SFO, including destinations in Hawaii and Asia”.
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National Weather Service debunks false report that its radar is down
The US National Weather Service has been forced to dispel misinformation spreading online, and from some news services, that its radar system went down on Friday.
“In case you heard otherwise, there is no radar outage and https://radar.weather.gov is fully operational!” the service said in a social media post. “Outdated content from isolated webpages stating otherwise has been circulating, but NWS radars are operating normally.”
FAA outage appears to be affecting radio frequencies air-traffic controllers use – report
The “temporary telecommunications outage” that caused the US Federal Aviation Administration to ground all departing flights on Friday just before 4pm ET appears to be a disruption of radio frequencies used by air-traffic controllers to communicate with pilots, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Here is what unnamed sources told the Journal:
The outage appears to be affecting a telecommunications network overseen by L3Harris Technologies, according to people briefed on the matter. The network handles crucial radio frequencies that air-traffic controllers use to communicate with pilots, the people said. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the outage also affected the radar feeds that controllers use to keep aircraft safely separated in the skies.
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'What the hell is going on?' House Democrats ask as Trump administration struggles to explain paralysis of nation's air system
Moments after Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, stumbled through a media briefing at the White House on Friday, in which he made it clear that the Trump administration did not yet know what had caused the telecommunications outage that paralyzed the nation’s airports, congressional Democrats demanded to know: “What the hell is going on?”
In a statement on social media in response to Mullin’s briefing, Democrats on the House homeland security committee argued that “Trump and his cabinet are completely out of their depth. Their incompetence, secrecy, and recklessness are putting Americans in danger – and they can’t even clearly explain to the American people what’s happening.”
Meanwhile, the Republican-led Senate commerce committee, chaired by Ted Cruz, sought to cast the blame more widely, noting that no new air route traffic control centers have “been built since LBJ was in office”.
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American travelers trying to book last-minute trains on Amtrak have reportedly experienced error messages on the rail service’s website and app, and difficulty reaching representatives on the phone. “We’re currently experiencing higher-than-normal call volumes due to ongoing airline issues,” Amtrak said in a statement on social media.
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AI company says its new traffic management tool is not to blame for nationwide outage
ASI, a Boston-based frontier AI company that was awarded an $875m software and AI contract in June by the Federal Aviation Administration wants everyone to know that its new air traffic management tool, known as Smart, which was deployed in September, is not to blame for the nationwide outage on Friday.
“The current ground stop is not based on or a result of the Smart system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC,” the company said in a statement posted on social media.
In September, Sean Duffy, the former Fox News host leading the US Department of Transportation, starred in a social media video promoting the deployment of the Strategic Management of Airspace, Routing, and Trajectories, or Smart, system.
“We’re here to move at the speed of Trump,” Duffy said in the video. “We’re leading the world in new technology.”
The FAA said in a statement on Tuesday that the new Smart system was activated at all 22 air route traffic control centers in the US “to reduce delays, reduce fuel consumption and improve the travel experience for the flying public”
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What we know, and don't know, about total shutdown of departures from all US airports
The US Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the nationwide halt to departures, and delays to landings, at all US airports that began at about 4pm ET on Friday was caused by “a temporary telecommunications outage”.
“Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis,” the FAA added.
Here is what we know about the rare nationwide “ground stop” issued by the FAA.
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There is, as of now, no sign that the “telecommunications outage” that led to the sudden halt to all departures at US airports has been fixed.
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It remains unclear what caused the outage, but, according to Markwayne Mullin, the former Oklahoma senator now leading the Department of Homeland Security, “there is no indication … that this was a nefarious attack”.
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There have been 10,343 flight delays within, into or out of the US so far, according to the website FlightAware, and 1,479 cancellations.
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This is just the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the 11 September 2001 attacks. The previous one came in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours.
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Planes have been able to land despite communications outage
Nearly 7,000 flights across the United States were delayed or canceled on Friday, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. Planes already in the air have been allowed to land, Reuters reports, but those on the ground could not take off.
The disruption is the latest and most dramatic sign of strain on a US air traffic control system beset by equipment and communications failures, controller shortages and ageing infrastructure.
The FAA’s ground stop order, halting departures from all US airports, runs through at least 11pm ET Friday.
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US homeland security secretary Mullin says 'no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack'
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on the nationwide ground stop at all US airports, the US homeland security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, said: “Just to make sure we understand, there is no indication, and we had no reason to believe as of right now, that this was a threat to the United States. This was a telecommunication outage throughout FAA.”
The secretary added that there was no evidence “yet that this was a nefarious attack; it is just a telecommunication outage, as of right now”.
Asked whether it might have been caused by AI or a cyber-attack, Mullin incorrectly said that the last nationwide groundstop was “on 9/11” and sought to reassure the families of travelers that this outage was not part of a terrorist attack. “There is no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they’re flying,” he said.
“As we investigate what caused this, you always got to assume that as many cyber-attacks that take place, that you make that assumption – so, but as of right now, that’s not known.”
After restoring communications so all airborne flights can land, Mullin said, “we’re going to continue to work to find out what the root of the cause is”.
“We’re not ruling out anything at this point,” Mullin added.
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As we wait for clarity on what caused the nationwide groundstop of air travel to and from all US airports, you could do worse than read this weekend’s New York Times Magazine cover story from James Fallows, a veteran journalist and pilot about whether the US air travel system “is eroding margins of safety”.
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Reports are steadily coming in from airports around the US, where passengers are confronting the sudden halt to all air traffic due to an as-yet-unexplained communications failure.
The Guardian’s own Tom Johnson, our head of audience development, sends along this dispatch from Ronald Reagan Washington national airport, known as DCA.
Hundreds of passengers wait for news in a packed terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington national airport. Gate agents, along with most travelers in the terminal, refreshed their phones looking for updates, and attempted to change their flights. Nearly every seat is filled, with some people sitting on the floor and using their luggage as makeshift desks for their laptops.
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The exact cause of the nationwide air traffic control crisis in the US is not yet known, but, as our colleague Marina Dunbar reported, last week the Federal Aviation Administration announced that the first digital air traffic control towers in the US were officially operational, bringing new technology first to smaller airports in Florida and Alaska as the Trump administration presses ahead with updating the country’s aviation infrastructure.
The digital towers use advanced camera systems and digital displays to give air traffic controllers a continuous, 360-degree view of airport operations, including runways, taxiways and surrounding airspace, according to the agency.
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The nationwide paralysis of the US air traffic control system, causing thousands of scheduled flights to be grounded and thousands more to be unable to land, has prompted a wave of anecdotal reports from passengers at airports.
This is just the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the 11 September 2001, attacks. The previous one came in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours, Reuters reports.
Last year, Congress approved $12.5bn to fix the FAA’s ageing communications system, and on Friday the FAA and White House asked Congress for another $30.1bn to address other issues.
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According to the tracking website Flightradar24, there are currently “3,100 airborne aircraft bound for US airports amid nationwide ground stop”.
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FAA advises all airborne flights to circle instead of landing during communications outage
In addition to the grounding of all flights at US airports due to a communications issue affecting air traffic control, the US Federal Aviation Administration advised all airborne flights to circle along predetermined routes instead of landing, due to “equipment outages”.
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US transportation secretary Sean Duffy confirms 'nationwide ground stop' for all US airports due to air traffic control 'communications issue'
The US transportation secretary, former Fox News host Sean Duffy, has confirmed that all flights are grounded at US airports “following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers”, in a statement posted on social media.
“FAA technicians are investigating the issue,” Duffy added. “We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”
Duffy’s post on the social media platform X appeared beneath one he pinned in late September, which includes a video of himself touting the introduction of a “new air traffic management tool that saves YOU time, cuts back DELAYS, and makes your flying experience BETTER”.
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FAA issues national ground stop due to 'extraordinary circumstance and reasons for safety'
The US Federal Aviation Administration on Friday issued a national ground stop “due to extraordinary circumstance and reasons for safety” after the agency earlier reported serious air traffic control communications issues, Reuters reports.
Shortly before the nationwide announcement, the FAA first halted traffic in Chicago due to air traffic control communications issues. An agency notice posted on its website said: “All departing traffic should remain groundstopped until further notice.” The FAA said international flights will be managed on a case-by-case basis.
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Bobby Pulido won his third Latin Grammy award on Thursday night and announced his retirement from the music industry. It happened just days after the star Tejano singer – and Democrat – flipped a Republican-held congressional district in the November midterm elections.
He won the award in the category for best Tejano album before saying in Spanish during his acceptance speech: “I’m retiring from music, and I leave with so much gratitude.
“I love you so much, and we’ll see each other soon, because there’s a need to represent – and to get to work and use the voice for something else. Thank you.”
Among those to congratulate Pulido for his Latin Grammy victory was top US House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries.
“Felicidades,” or congratulations, Jeffries wrote in a social media post reminding users that Pulido had “crushed” Republican incumbent Monica De La Cruz nine days earlier. “And what a month for Congressman-Elect Pulido.”
One of Pulido’s campaign strategies was to perform at dozens of quinceañeras – girls’ 15th birthday parties in Mexico and along its border with the US – that are somewhat similar to American sweet 16s.
Early in the race, De La Cruz had derided Pulido’s artistry, saying their electoral contest between them wasn’t “about who you want performing at your niece’s quinceañera. It’s about who you trust with your family’s future.”
But Pulido turned the dig into support, countering that he would “be honored to stop by and celebrate” at quinceañeras planned by families in his and De La Cruz’s district.
His first and still biggest hit song was Desvelado, meaning “sleep-deprived”, which had been played more than 646m times on Spotify as of Friday.
Pulido’s 1995 album of that name went platinum. His Para Que Baile Mi Pueblo – “so that my people dance” – and the first volume of Una Tuya y Una Mía (“one of yours and one of mine”) won best Tejano album at the 2022 and 2025 Latin Grammy awards.
He won a third Latin Grammy award in that category during Thursday’s ceremony at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas with Una Tuya y Una Mía Vol 2.
Two days before his triumph, Pulido told the celebrity news and politics website TMZ that he would not bring the Grammy to Capitol Hill if he won it.
“This is a place for work,” Pulido said to the outlet. “It’s a much bigger responsibility to be a public servant than it is to be a singer, for sure, no doubt
“Your decisions really affect people, and as a singer you can influence people in a different way, but it’s not the same.”
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Here's a recap of the day so far
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Senator Chris Van Hollen, who is challenging Chuck Schumer to lead upper chamber Democrats in the new Congress, said today that he will “no longer” pursue a 2028 presidential bid. “I believe the size and scale of these majorities provides an opportunity for the United States Senate to answer the call with the American people,” he said at the What’s Next post-election conference in Denver.
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The battle to lead Democrats when they take the majority has seen several incumbent and incoming senators voice their opposition to Schumer’s bid. Peggy Flanagan, the senator-elect from Minnesota, said today she would back Van Hollen. Meanwhile, Senators Elissa Slotkin, from Michigan, and Julianna Stratton, the senator-elect from Illinois, both said they would not vote for Schumer, but stopped short of confirming their support for Van Hollen.
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Zohran Mamdani, the New York mayor, struck a deal with Donald Trump to secure a 90-day delay on new rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), so that bodegas and corner stores nationwide have time to comply. The extension, Mamdani said, starts today as a result of conversations he had with Donald Trump and Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary.
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Democrat Eileen Laubacher has won the US House election for for Colorado’s fourth congressional district, unseating the Republican incumbent, Lauren Boebert, a Maga firebrand and fierce ally of Donald Trump. Laubacher flipped the reliably red district that Trump carried by 18 points in 2024, and is now the first Democrat to win the seat since 2009.
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US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, is facing growing pressure over his apparent lack of action over the Nvidia spying scandal as other Trump administration officials publicly raise questions over his decisions. Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, blamed Lutnick’s commerce department for the fact the US had not imposed export restrictions on certain Nvidia chips to the Chinese-linked data company, Megaspeed. Bessent has “for months” been in favor of putting Megaspeed on the US trade blacklist – but Lutnick’s commerce department “has the pen”, Bessent told CNBC. “You will have to ask them about their internal process,” he added in an interview with the network on Friday. Lutnick is now scheduled to testify before Congress next month, just days after the Jensen Huang, the ousted Nvidia chief, answers lawmakers’ questions on Capitol Hill. More here
Juliana Stratton, the incoming Democratic senator from Illinois, said on Friday that she will not support Chuck Schumer for Senate majority leader, a promise she had repeatedly made during her campaign.
But she didn’t explicitly say whether she would support Senator Chris Van Hollen yet, either.
“I’m listening to everyone,” she told the Guardian. “I want to see how this plays out and what vision people have for how we’re going to deliver and how we’re going to move forward as a party.”
She added:
My priority in so many ways is that we have new energy, that we have new voices and new perspectives and that, as I’ve always said, we need fighters and not folders. And I want to make sure that we have people who understand that we need to meet this moment. We need to meet the mandate that we’ve been given by the voters this election cycle.”
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When asked today what issues rise to the level of Zohran Mamdani taking them up with Donald Trump directly, the New York mayor said that he has an “ongoing conversation” with the president about “anything that affects our city” – acknowledging Trump’s roots as a born and raised New Yorker.
“For all of the policy disagreements the two of us have, we do have a shared love of this city,” Mamdani told reporters today. “That does not mean that every request is met, that does not mean every attempt is successful. What it does mean, however, is that there is always more chance than there was the day before that a working New Yorker’s life and their needs being addressed as a result of what we talk about and what we can do.”
Mamdani laughed when asked about just how often he speaks to Trump, saying that he would keep any answers about the “cadence” of their discussions private. “What I will say is that the conversation remains ongoing,” the mayor said.
Democrat Laubacher flips Colorado US House seat, unseating Maga firebrand Lauren Boebert
Democrat Eileen Laubacher has won the US House election for for Colorado’s fourth congressional district, unseating the Republican incumbent, Lauren Boebert, a Maga firebrand and fierce ally of Donald Trump.
Laubacher flipped the reliably red district that Trump carried by 18 points in 2024, and is now the first Democrat to win the seat since 2009.
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Per my earlier reporting, Zohran Mamdani officially announced the 90-day reprieve he secured for Snap-accepting bodegas and convenience stores nationwide to have time to implement new agriculture department rules.
The extension, Mamdani said, starts today as a result of conversations he had with Donald Trump and Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary.
The new guidelines threw the lives of “more than a million New Yorkers” and “tens of milllions more across America” into “chaos”, the mayor said at a press conference on Friday.
“People already reckoning with a shortage of affordable places to buy what they need for their home, soaring costs at the register, and food deserts across the five boroughs, now feared that the few places they could shop would no longer be able to accept their benefits,” Mamdani said.
Given the tight timeframe to adjust their stock and meet the new requirements, small retailers ran the risk of going out business if they couldn’t accept Snap benefits, the mayor added. “For so many of our fellow Americans, whether they shop at a general store in Michigan or a convenience store in Missouri, would have struggled to use their benefits and feed those they love.”
On 2028 run Slotkin says she is 'looking at it seriously', won't vote for Schumer in leadership contest
Speaking to reporters in Denver today, Elissa Slotkin, a Democratic senator from Michigan, said she was looking at a 2028 presidential run “seriously” but has not “made any decisions”.
“I think what I’ve consistently felt, and I still really feel, is I want to be a part of the next generation of leaders going forward that does things differently and understands who they serve,” she said today. “Whether it’s me or somebody else. I just want to be a part of that next generation.”
While Slotkin did not yet say that she would back Chris Van Hollen’s bid for Senate majority leader in the next Congress, she noted that she has had productive conversations with the Maryland Democrat and was happy another lawmaker was in the race. Slotkin did, however, confirm that she would not be supporting Chuck Schumer.
“We need a new generation of leadership that thinks differently about how to exercise oversight and power, and you know, I didn’t support Nancy Pelosi for speaker of the House,” Slotkin added. “I’ve been on record on these things long before most of my peers, and more importantly than that, inside the Democratic caucus, I’ve been pushing and agitating … the desire to have a strategic plan for Democrats is a central theme for me.”
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Incoming Democratic senator from Minnesota backs Van Hollen in leadership battle
Peggy Flanagan, the senator-elect from Minnesota, said today that Chris Van Hollen is her choice for Senate majority leader.
“Minnesotans are demanding change. Democrats need to deliver. That starts with new voices in our leadership,” she wrote on X. “I believe @ChrisVanHollen is the leader and fighter we need to bring about real change, so no American is left behind.”
Flanagan said on Thursday, before Van Hollen had announced his candidacy, that she thinks it’s time for Schumer to leave the leadership role.
“I really appreciate Chuck Schumer’s years of leadership. I like Chuck Schumer,” she told the Guardian. “I simply think it’s time for new voices. And I think that is the message that was sent in this last election. I heard clearly from folks across the state that they are ready for new Senate leadership as well.”
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Van Hollen says he won't pursue 2028 presidential bid
Senator Chris Van Hollen, who is challenging Chuck Schumer to lead upper chamber Democrats in the new Congress, said today that he will “no longer” pursue a 2028 presidential bid.
“I believe the size and scale of these majorities provides an opportunity for the United States Senate to answer the call with the American people,” he said at the What’s Next post-election conference in Denver, where dozens of Democratic lawmakers, strategists and political insiders have gathered to discuss the party’s future after the monumental wins in the midterms.
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Mamdani secures deal with Trump to delay new Snap rules for bodegas and corner stores around the country
Zohran Mamdani, the New York mayor, has struck a deal with Donald Trump to secure a 90-day delay on new rules for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), so that bodegas and corner stores across the country have time to comply, according to a source familiar.
The US agriculture department implemented the new guidelines, which retailers had to meet by 4 November, and require stores to stock at least seven varieties within each staple food category: dairy, grains, protein, and fruits or vegetables.
Retailers would also have to ensure that they offer perishable items (that require refrigeration after being opened) in three of the staple food categories.
Several advocates were concerned that the new rules would mean those relying on Snap would be unable to afford groceries at their only accessible store. According to the Food Action Research Center, bodegas, convenience stores and small grocery stores comprise roughly 70% of Snap retailers.
According to the source, the reprieve came about through Mamdani’s direct negotiations with the president. The New York mayor also sent a letter to Brooke Rollins, the agriculture secretary, earlier this month to request an extension. More than 100 bodega owners have reached out to Mamdani’s office with concerns about the new rule. According to the New York department of city planning, there are more than 10,000 bodegas and corner stores across the five boroughs.
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As we continue covering Chris Van Hollen’s bid for Senate majority leader in the new Congress, it’s worth noting the Progressive Democrats of America have launched a campaign to urge consitutents to call their senators to back Van Hollen’s challenge to the current party leader, Chuck Schumer.
Meanwhile, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Union) announced their support for Van Hollen’s leadership run. “Senator Van Hollen understands this is a fight of workers v billionaires and has the courage to deliver the change voters demanded,” said Brian Bryant, IAM’s international president. “Workers did their part on election night. Now it’s Senate Democrats’ turn. Senator Van Hollen is the right choice.”
Schumer, however, said that while he welcomes discussion about the party’s direction, he was confident he had the votes to prevail as majority leader.
Here is my colleague George Chidi’s profile on Van Hollen’s background and political career so far.
Related: Who is Chris Van Hollen? The senator challenging Schumer as a progressive voice for Democrats
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US forces intercept two Iranian drones heading toward Bahrain
US Central Command (Centcom) said that it has intercepted two Iranian drones heading toward Bahrain. Officials claimed there were no injuries or damage.
This comes after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it attacked and destroyed a “US early-warning radar” in Bahrain. The Guard also said a tanker struck a naval mine while attempting to sail through the strait of Hormuz, causing an explosion.
This week Donald Trump also said he had asked JD Vance to end his interest in negotiating a new deal with Iran and instead focus on corruption and fraud in Democratic-run cities and states.
Related: Iran says it targeted US military radar in Bahrain in retaliatory strike
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Reporting from Denver
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of New York is discussing what Democrats will prirotize during the 120th Congress, emphasizing expanding healthcare access to all Americans, banning congressional stock trading and ending Citizens United v FEC – a landmark ruling that allows allowing corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of funds on advertising to support or oppose political candidates.
Jeffries said he would support ending mid-cycle redistricting efforts, which Republicans used this past year to try and pickup seats in the House.
“Republicans and Maga extremists started this re-districting war, and we’re going to end it,” Jeffries said.
He also voiced support for new rules that would limit how long members of Congress can serve as leaders on committess in an effort to get new, younger lawmakers an opportunity.
The audience is packed, nearly every seat is taken in the concert hall, leaving more than 50 standing in the wings of the venue. So far two separate yelling protests have interrupted the conversation.
As a fun intro, Our House, the 1970s song by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, played before Jeffries and moderator Jessica Tarlov appeared on stage.
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Protesters disrupt Hakeem Jeffries speech in Denver
Reporting from Denver
At the Democrat’s “Whats Next” event in Denver, Colorado, protesters have tried to disrupt Hakeem Jeffries as he is on-stage event discussing the next Congress.
As Jeffries greeted the crowd, a group of demonstrators began shouting asking why Democrats had not paid attention to young voters looking for more progressive leadership. They were removed from the event shortly after.
But they’re not the only protesters trying to get Democrats’ attention in Denver.
Outside of the venue, a group of pro-Palestinian and anti-billionaire protesters shouted at cars as they drove by. Another smaller group of protestrs held an anti-Chuck Schumer sign, encouraging Democrats to elect new leadership.
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Reporting from Denver
It’s day two of the Democratic conference here in Denver and there are more Democratic officials on the grounds today for some of the heavy-hitter events featuring former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, Senators Raphael Warnock and Cory Booker, among others.
Among the most anticipated events today is a discussion on the 120th Congress from Hakeem Jeffries, who is poised to become the next House speaker when Democrats retake the House majority next year.
Energy is still high on the grounds, with lots of excited chatter about the officials who will at the conference today.
But there is a more serious undertone since today’s programing focusing a lot on what Democrats can do better. One event is called “The Lies We Tell Ourselves” another is “What You’re Still Getting Wrong about Gen Z”.
More attendees are dressed in suits and professional outfits, compared with the jeans and cowboy hats dozens adorned yesterday.
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Analysis: Chuck Schumer’s challenger for party control underscores Democrats’ ideological rift
Senator Chris Van Hollen’s challenge to Chuck Schumer’s leadership of Senate Democrats presents an ideological and biographical contrast to the party as it takes control of Congress in two months.
Though only about eight years younger than Schumer, Van Hollen is seen as a more progressive senator who has drawn attention for his opposition to the Trump administration’s abusive immigration practices – visiting his constituent Kilmar Ábrego García after an unlawful deportation to El Salvador – as well as opposition to federal corruption and US support for the Israeli government’s war in Gaza.
Long a supporter of a two-state solution, Van Hollen visited the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza in January 2024 to observe aid shipments, declaring the assistance process “broken”. He subsequently voted for a resolution proposed by US senator Bernie Sanders to apply the human rights provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act to US military aid to Israel. The resolution failed 72-11, with most Democrats also opposing the measure.
Van Hollen authored a report in November 2025 which described the war as a “plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza of Palestinians”, and that “America is complicit.” He has worked to end arms shipments to Israel and opposes American security agreements with Israel in the National Defense Authorization Act.
The Maryland senator is also a critic of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance in ways that distinguish him from Schumer and Democratic political ties to the New York financial markets.
“As we’ve seen time and again, cryptocurrency and digital assets are rife with opportunity for abuse if left unchecked,” Van Hollen said in a statement opposing the Clarity Act, a financial regulatory package offered by Republicans. Van Hollen has pursued legislation to ban federal officials from owning or promoting cryptocurrency, pointedly highlighting the president’s billion-dollar gains.
Speaking in post-election interviews last week, Van Hollen argued that Democrats “should not be overly cautious in going after corporations, billionaires and special interests that voters blame for making their lives harder”.
Related: Chuck Schumer’s challenger for party control underscores Democrats’ ideological rift
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The leader of the world’s fourth biggest economy, California governor Gavin Newsom, has explicitly endorsed a global phase out of the fossil fuels that drive climate breakdown.
Newsom told the Guardian that California is “100%” behind the efforts of the so-called Santa Marta coalition, a group of more than 50 countries that includes many of the world’s largest economies, to transition away from oil, gas and coal toward solar, wind, batteries and other non-carbon energy sources.
Speaking at the Cop31 UN climate summit on Thursday, Newsom said:
When you have a product that is obviously superior, which clean energy is for the climate and the economy, why wouldn’t you make that shift as quickly as possible?
As the head of America’s most populous and economically powerful state, Newsom is the most prominent US politician at Cop31, a process Donald Trump’s administration continues to boycott.
Newsom, a Democrat, is widely expected to run for president in 2028. His statement raises the possibility that the US, the world’s biggest economy and largest historical emitter of planet-warming gases, could join the Santa Marta coalition if he wins the presidency two years from now.
More on this story here:
Related: California governor Gavin Newsom endorses global fossil fuel phaseout
No migrant caravans headed to US, says Mexico's president
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has again rebutted Donald Trump this morning, reiterating that no migrant caravans are headed toward the northern border with the United States.
There are two migrant caravans in Mexico, she said at her daily news briefing, “One dissolved while en route, and most of its members have already returned to their countries of origin, and another caravan is only just forming.”
“There is no caravan currently in transit through our country on its way to the [US] border,” Sheinbaum added, in comments reported by Reuters.
It comes after Trump threatened yesterday to double tariffs on Mexico if it did not stop the “huge CARAVANS” of migrants from reaching the US border, to which Sheinbaum had told her Thursday briefing that “not a single migrant caravan has reached the north” since January 2025, when Trump took office.
As the Washington Post (paywall) notes this morning regarding Trump: “The warning fused two of the president’s favored issues – immigration and tariffs – as he regroups following historic losses for the Republican Party in the midterm election last week … Trump has long warned of migrant caravans at moments of political peril for him, including ahead of the 2018 midterm election, in which Republicans lost control of the House.”
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US Senate race in Alaska on knife's edge as Democrats eye ninth pick-up
The votes are still being counted in the nail-biting US Senate race in Alaska, where Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman, is leading the Republican incumbent, Dan Sullivan, by 5,800 votes.
As of now, 88% of the ballots have been counted. But since Alaska uses a ranked-choice voting system, if no candidate reaches 50% of the vote, the weakest of the four on the ballot will be eliminated and their votes will be redistributed to their next choice and then the overall number will be recounted.
The bright blue map that emerged on election night in the US was unthinkable two years ago. When Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, many Democratic voters curled up in bed and doomscrolled, fatigued and fearful about the direction of the country. Any desire to fight back was dampened by the enormity of the loss.
But the mood gradually shifted over the following two years, culminating in a generational shift on election day: Democrats flipped five governors’ seats and took control of the House and Senate by wide margins. Voters were angry about the rising cost of living, the war in Iran, masked immigration agents in their neighborhoods and datacenters rising in their backyards.
But anger alone didn’t boost turnout. That required years of building coalitions, developing local campaigns and expanding movement infrastructure that turned frustration into organized action – and, eventually, votes.
Now, these same organizers are determining where to go next. The goal was never about any one party or politician. To continue to build power, movements must diversify their tactics, make clear demands, put pressure on the newly elected and keep building community-based networks, movement experts said. And they must be unrelenting.
“Elections themselves don’t achieve what it is that people want,” said Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an African American studies professor at Princeton University and the author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation. “They set the table for the possibility of change.”
Related: Democrats won big in the US midterms. Now, organizers want them to deliver
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In other tech-related news, the Microsoft outage is still going. The longest in the company’s history. My colleagues are covering the latest and how it’s affecting millions and pretty much every industry …
Related: Microsoft outage live: millions still affected as disruption stretches beyond 18 hours
Lutnick set to testify on Nvidia fallout in December
As I noted earlier, the calls for Howard Lutnick to appear before lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been answered.
According to several reports, the commerce secretary has “proactively agreed to appear voluntarily” before the Senate banking committee on 10 December to discuss his relationship with former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and any delay in preventing Megaspeed from buying considerable sums of Nvidia’s advanced chips.
Bessent hints at discord between treasury and commerce departments over advance chip exports
Scott Bessent, the US treasury secretary, said today that “for months” he has been in favor of putting Megaspeed, the data company whose executive is an alleged Chinese spy, on a trade blacklist to stop Nvidia from exporting advanced chips to Beijing.
However, Bessent said this has been stalled because “commerce [department] has the pen”.
“You will have to ask them about their internal process,” the treasury secretary added in an interview with CNBC on Friday.
Earlier this week, Axios reported that Bessent allegedly confronted Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, about his failure to put Megaspeed on the trade blacklist in the White House Situation Room.
However, speaking to CNBC, Bessent refused to comment on the meeting.
“We don’t repeat conversations in the Situation Room,” he said.
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As we bring you the latest on the ramifications of Jensen Huang’s resignation, my colleague Jonathan Freedland has a wider discussion about Donald Trump’s decision to continue defending men who are facing a lot of heat. From Huang to embattled defense secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump has also (jokingly) begged strongmen to take his job offers.
In this week’s episode of Politics Weekly America, Jonathan speaks to the New Yorker’s Susan Glasser about why Trump’s judgment of high-profile men is … questionable.
Commerce secretary to testify on Capitol Hill over Nvidia fallout
There has been a wave of calls from Republican lawmakers in Congress for commerce secretary Howard Lutnick to testify on Capitol Hill, after Jensen Huang’s resignation as CEO of Nvidia.
Tim Scott, the Republican senator and chair of the banking committee, has sent a letter to Lutnick, calling for him to appear before his committee to discuss the national security concerns about chip export regulations in light of Huang’s relationship with data company executive and suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang (no relation to Jensen).
This also comes amid a New York Times report that the commerce department, under Lutnick’s leadership, has taken a more relaxed stance on Nvidia’s advanced chip sales to Asia given Lutnick’s close relationship with Huang.
Earlier this week the Times reported that a commerce department investigation into whether Megaspeed, Alice Huang’s company, was smuggling Nvidia chips into China, withered after an intervention from Nvidia’s general counsel.
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Donald Trump is in Washington today, and will stay in the capital throughout the weekend.
He’ll spend the day in closed-door meetings on Friday, but we’ll let you know if anything opens up and we hear from the president in person.
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JD Vance and 2028: To run or not to run?
Will JD Vance run for president in 2028? It’s a question that seems to have two rather different answers, depending on which news outlet you read.
Drawing on interviews with about a dozen people close to the US vice-president, CNN reported that his path to the Republican nomination has become less certain following the political fallout from the Republicans’ disappointing midterm performance.
One source said: “I wouldn’t be surprised by any decision he makes.” The same source pointed out that, at 42, Vance has plenty of time to pursue the presidency in future, adding: “It just may not be his time.”
A central concern appears be the consequences of Trump’s war with Iran. As one Vance ally put it: “The question isn’t if JD can do it. It’s: If the Iran war is still happening, can any Republican do it?
“If they don’t end the war in Iran, no Republican has a shot at 2028.”
While CNN painted a picture of a vice-president seriously weighing his options, the Washington Post offered a different perspective. In its report, based on conversations with more than a dozen people in Vance’s orbit, the newspaper said he remained more likely to run than not.
One person close to Vance said: “Two years is such an eternity in politics, and people are very easily prisoners of the moment.”
The Post reported another salient point:
People around Vance have embraced criticism from Republican backers of the war. Vance’s goal has long been to make ‘the right enemies’, and he is doing so now, another ally said.”
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Dozens of protesters with the Sunrise Movement, a youth climate organization, were arrested after staging a sit-in inside Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer’s Washington DC office on Thursday.
According to the Sunrise Movement, 54 people were arrested, among a few hundred who joined the protest from across the country, including some from New York, which Schumer represents. On its Instagram, the group is fundraising $24,000 to cover the bail fees and any potential legal fees for those arrested.
Capitol police were not immediately available for comment.
In a clip on the Sunrise Movement’s Instagram, with over 40,000 likes at the time of publication, young people sitting on the office floor chanted: “Hey hey, ho ho, Schumer has got to go!” Protesters, including children, held signs reading “The filibuster kills,” “Stop the climate crisis,” and “Schumer: Step up or step aside.”
Read more:
Related: Dozens of protesters arrested after staging sit-in at Chuck Schumer’s DC office
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There have been murmurings of a possible leadership challenge in recent days, with a number of Democrats questioning whether Schumer is the right person to lead the party into its next chapter.
Among the most outspoken was Kansas senator-elect Adam Hamilton, who warned Schumer was seen by many people in his state as a “polarising” and “divisive” figure.
“What I’d be looking for is a leader who can lead from the centre,” he told NBC on Sunday. “Somebody who can bring Republicans and Democrats together, somebody who can bring the various factions in the Democratic party together. Somebody with fresh ideas.
“No disrespect for Chuck Schumer, just it feels like it is a time for fresh and new ideas and somebody who can unite us instead of dividing us.”
Senator Elissa Slotkin, of Michigan, has also made clear she does not support Schumer as leader.
“I think whoever wants to run this caucus should come forward with a plan on how they’re going to govern differently, what they’re going to do in the first 100 days to put money in people’s pockets and then in particular how they’re going to communicate differently,” Slotkin said on Tuesday, adding that she was not actively seeking the position herself.
Speaking alongside her at the joint press conference, independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democrats, praised Schumer’s role in the party’s success in the midterms but argued such victories should not entitle him to another term in the leadership.
“I personally have known Chuck Schumer for over 30 years, and I like Chuck. Nobody works harder than Chuck Schumer,” Sanders said.
“But in my view, the time is now for change, and I will not be supporting Chuck to be re-elected as the Democratic leader.”
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Van Hollen takes aim at Schumer as Democrats face first big test after midterm wins
Good morning, and welcome to the US politics live blog.
Barely a week after sweeping to a stunning midterm victory, Democrats have found themselves facing an altogether different battle, one within their own ranks.
Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen has launched a challenge to Chuck Schumer, of New York, for the Senate’s top Democratic leadership post. Announcing his decision during an interview with MS Now last night, Van Hollen argued that last week’s midterm election results showed Americans wanted a fundamental change in Washington, and that Democrats needed new leadership in order to deliver that.
He said:
We saw a huge outburst of democracy on election day – red states, blue states, purple states – and it wasn’t only a rejection of Donald Trump and his corruption, his wars and his cruelty, it was also about a call for a larger change, to take on a broken economic system that’s rigged in favour of the very wealthy against working people, and it’s fuelled by a corrupt political system.
The call was to reject the status quo and to reject business as usual, and to do that, I think we need new leadership.”
His challenge came just days after Democrats secured control of the Senate, winning at least 55 seats in what has been a remarkable election cycle for the party. Winning the leadership contest requires a majority of the caucus, about 28 or 29 senators, with an election scheduled for next month.
The caucus votes behind closed doors by secret ballot, but Van Hollen told MS Now that he had the support of “more than 10” Democratic senators.
Progressive heavyweight Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats, has already publicly declared he will not support Schumer, saying “the time is now for change”. Endorsing Van Hollen, Sanders said: “The American people voted for change. They want a Democratic Party that will stand up to powerful special interests, take on the billionaire class and fight for working families.”
Incoming Democratic senator Abdul El-Sayed, of Michigan, has also openly backed Van Hollen, saying he was “proud to stand with him in his bid to lead our Senate majority”.
The American public spoke clearly last week. They rejected Trumpism. But we have yet to earn our mandate. That will require bold leadership. I called [Van Hollen] to lead our caucus as a candidate back in April because he leads with courage and experience. We need both right now.”
Responding to Van Hollen’s leadership bid, Schumer, who has led Senate Democrats since January 2017, said he welcomed “a discussion about the future of our caucus and the important work ahead”, but that he had the votes to be re-elected as leader.
