Stephen Miller favored arresting journalists to make them reveal sources in leak probes, The Atlantic reports; the Justice Department calls it “absolutely false.”
White House and Justice Department officials discussed ways to force journalists to reveal their government sources, including arrests, three people familiar with the talks told The Atlantic. Two of them said Susie Wiles pushed back and Miller was in favor. He replaces Wiles as chief of staff on Monday, Nov. 9.
A Justice Department spokesperson said “this is absolutely false” and declined to elaborate. A White House spokesperson said leaks will “NEVER be tolerated.” A person familiar with the decision told The Atlantic that Trump wants somebody who “will crack skulls.”
“I pledge to you, Mr President, my absolute loyalty, my unwavering commitment, and my total devotion to your success.”Miller, at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, Nov. 6
The reactionSen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who retires in January, called the promotion a “colossal mistake,” The Hill reports. Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican also leaving Congress, told CNN that Miller “cost us seats in Texas and Arizona by alienating many Hispanic voters who voted for Trump in 2024.” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called Miller “a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist” and demanded he be fired, The Guardian reports.
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Trump says he is ordering the Justice Department to investigate Democrats who threaten administration officials with impeachment, calling it extortion.
In Truth Social posts on Saturday, Nov. 7, he called it “extortion at the highest level” and wrote: “These SLEAZEBAGS should go to jail for what they are doing.” He cited no statute and offered no evidence of a crime, Newsweek and CNBC reported.
Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan is the only Democrat he named. Fox News and Politico said he appeared to mean her Oct. 13 remarks about future probes, 25 days before the posts. Since the Nov. 3 election, Reps. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Deborah Ross of North Carolina have backed impeaching Attorney General Todd Blanche. Trump did not name either. The Constitution gives Congress the impeachment power.
What DOJ’s 2017–2020 leak probes pulled from Congress, per its inspector general
- 2 members
- Records sought for two members of Congress, both Democrats.
- 43 staffers
- Records sought for 21 Democratic, 20 Republican and 2 nonpartisan congressional staffers.
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U.S. Central Command sets up Task Force Iron Gate to stop Iran moving arms and sanctioned goods by land and across the Caspian Sea.
Adm. Brad Cooper announced it on Saturday, Nov. 7. The naval blockade of Iran’s ports stays in place. CENTCOM says it has kept Iran from exporting more than $25 billion in crude oil “in recent months,” without giving dates.
- Land borders: Iron Gate
- Caspian Sea: Iron Gate
- Southern coast and ports
- More than 85%
- of cargo went through southern ports before the sea restrictions, Iran’s roads minister said.
- Roughly half
- of Iran’s non-oil trade already moves by land or the Caspian, an expert quoted by AP estimates. An estimate, not a customs count.
CENTCOM calls Iron Gate an internal staff of about 20, based in Tampa, Fla. Its release does not say who will physically stop cargo, under what legal authority, or which foreign governments have agreed to help. Treasury rules still allow food, medicine and medical devices to reach Iran, but the task force has published no border-clearance process for them.
The objectionJoe Kent, the former U.S. counterterrorism chief, called the move a “brash provocation” that undermines peace talks.
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House Oversight chairman James Comer declines to defend Pete Hegseth before the impeachment vote Thomas Massie plans to force the week of Nov. 9.
Massie, a Kentucky Republican like Comer, filed eight impeachment articles. Hegseth vows to stay at the Pentagon for the rest of Trump’s term, The Wall Street Journal reports. In Comer’s Kentucky, Republicans lost a House seat on Nov. 3 that Trump carried by about 15 points.
“There’s a lot of questions about Hegseth. We have no idea what the strategy is moving forward in Iran.”Comer, the House Oversight chairman
The articles charge Hegseth with carrying out orders to start a war with no approval from Congress and keeping operations going past the War Powers Resolution’s withdrawal deadline.
The mathA simple House majority brings the charges. Removal takes 67 senators, so at least 20 of the 53 Republicans would have to join all 47 senators who caucus with Democrats. If Hegseth left, Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg would take on his full powers, including approving Iran operations.
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U.S. strikes an Iranian air-defense system on Qeshm Island as the State Department offers up to $20 million for information on Iran’s nuclear program.
The strike on Friday, Nov. 6, was the first since the midterms, the AP reported. Iranian state media reported two explosions in the island’s Suza area. No damage or casualty figures have been released.
“They built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five.”Trump, who called the strike “minor”
A U.S. official told Axios that CENTCOM is preparing for a possible return to major operations but has no new order. The previous U.S. strike on Qeshm came Monday, Nov. 2.
The rewardThe State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offers up to $20 million, and possible relocation. On Oct. 27 the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, said Iran still had not let inspectors verify about 440 kg of uranium enriched up to 60%. Inspectors have been out since June 2025.
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House Republican chairs ask Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to brief them Nov. 18 on his ties to an alleged Chinese spy.
The Financial Times and The New York Times report that U.S. intelligence believes Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center firm and Nvidia customer, was recruited by Chinese intelligence to spy on him. Nvidia says she was a business contact and nothing more.
The letter is an invitation, not a subpoena. It comes from Brian Mast, John Moolenaar and Rick Crawford, who chair Foreign Affairs, the China select committee and Intelligence. Spy services in the U.S., Singapore and Taiwan suspected Alice Huang, per The Wall Street Journal. Axios says her alleged aim was to get him to lobby for chip sales to China.
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U.S. employers added 165,000 jobs in October, more than any economist forecast.
Unemployment fell to 4.1% from 4.2% in September, and average hourly pay rose 0.4%, to $38.00, the Labor Department said.
48,000 a month, what employers averaged over the prior 12 months
Revisions raised August and September by a combined 84,000. The three-month average went from about 50,700 a month before the report to 137,000 after, TheStreet calculated. After the report, traders put the odds of a December rate hike at 74%, up from 67%, Bloomberg reported.