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    Mississippi makes history with Democrat Scott Colom’s Senate win – The Latest

    Mississippi has elected the Democrat Scott Colom in a historic race in the traditionally deep-red state, making him its first Black senator since shortly after the US civil war. The closely contested race was called more than a week after the US midterms, with Colom running against the Republican incumbent, Cindy Hyde-Smith. How did Colom’s grassroots campaign win despite limited early backing from national Democrats? Lucy Hough speaks to politics and democracy reporter George Chidi Continue reading… More

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    Promises and pride: Scott Colom rejoices with young and old on historic night in Mississippi

    When he finally arrived at his victory party, Colom walked out to T.I.’s Let ‘Em Know. The audience, still galvanized even after hours of standing, roaredAbout a thousand people gathered on the Woodworth Chapel Lawn at Tougaloo College, a historic black college in Jackson. A DJ played classic southern line dance tunes and much of the crowd obliged, dancing while they waited for Scott Colom, Mississippi’s new senate-elect, to arrive.All of the Divine 9, a nickname for the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), an umbrella organization of nine historically Black Greek-letter fraternities and sororities, were represented, their members proudly wearing paraphernalia bearing their organization’s letters. Others were decked out in gear from some of the state’s colleges and universities – Tougaloo College, of course, but also Alcorn State University, Millsaps College, Jackson State University, Mississippi State University and others. Continue reading… More

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    Democrat Scott Colom unseats Cindy Hyde-Smith in stunning Mississippi Senate win

    Colom takes victory by razor-thin margin in state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982Democrat Scott Colom defeated Cindy Hyde-Smith, the incumbent Republican senator, to become the first Black senator in Mississippi elected since Reconstruction, in a stunning upset after more than a week of vote counting in one of the country’s most reliably red states.“All I did was have the courage to imagine a night like this,” Colom told a crowd of hundreds who on Wednesday had gathered at Tougaloo College for his victory party. “I had the courage to believe in Mississippi. I had the courage to understand that we can show the country that Mississippi matters.” Continue reading… More

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    How Scott Colom won deep-red Mississippi with little help from Democrats

    Democrat chatted up people at hair salons, colleges and at Trump rallies to become Mississippi’s first Black senator since ReconstructionThe ad is simple, less than half a minute long, but many say it was the moment the nation took notice of Mississippi’s US Senate race.In it, the incumbent Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, a cattle farmer, answers a reporter’s question about the rising price of beef: “You know, you have so many proteins to choose from,” she says. Continue reading… More

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    Republicans return to Washington to sift through wreckage of midterms rout

    With weeks left on the congressional calendar, House and Senate representatives have a host of issues they still need to tackleOn their first day back in the Capitol after comprehensive defeats in last week’s midterm elections, Republicans were divided into two camps: those who saw the catastrophe coming, and those who did not.“I told you exactly what was going to happen. Over and over and over, I told you,” said West Virginia senator Jim Justice. “I said really and truly, if you weren’t concerned and you were a Republican, you were living in a cave. That was my exact words.” Continue reading… More

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    Donald Trump doubles down on defense of Pete Hegseth and attacks fresh effort to impeach him – as it happened

    This live blog is now closed.Republican Thomas Massie moves to force vote to impeach Pete HegsethSign up for US Breaking News emailDemocratic Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, currently the House minority leader who is poised to become new Speaker next year, told CBS News that the Trump administration will hold a closed-door congressional briefing today to discuss Jensen Huang’s affair with an alleged Chinese spy.Last week the Republican chairs of three key House committees also called on Huang to appear before lawmakers in a closed-door hearing on 18 November. Continue reading… More

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    Senate advances bill to speed up projects from gas pipelines to clean energy

    Key environmental groups come out against bipartisan Baaja bill over fears it could spur datacenters and ICE jailsThe Senate on Monday advanced bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up permitting reviews for datacenters and other infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week’s election that soundly repudiated Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.It’s a bill that would make it easier to build big infrastructure projects in America – everything from fossil fuel pipelines to transmission lines that would add more clean energy to the grid. And it would roll back environmental and social protections to achieve this goal. That is why climate advocates are torn over the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs act (Baaja). Continue reading… More

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    Senate advances bill to speed up permit reviews for infrastructure projects

    Chamber voted 73-25 to formally take up bill that will shorten timelines to start energy and datacenter projectsThe Senate on Monday advanced bipartisan legislation aimed at speeding up permitting reviews for datacenters and other infrastructure projects, in the first major action since last week’s election that soundly repudiated Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.The Senate voted 73-25 to formally take up the bill, which senators and the president have pushed as a way to meet growing demand for electricity and other forms of energy that now face years-long delays in getting to the grid. Continue reading… More