FIVE MINUTE DAILY

One night handed Democrats the keys to Capitol Hill and put a Latina on track to lead Texas for the first time. Then Nvidia shed more than $440 billion in a single session, Trump’s longtime immigration architect was tapped to run the West Wing, and a UFC boss got a surprise job offer. Plus, hiring beat the forecasts and NASA is recruiting astronauts for the moon.

ChatGPT is insanely powerful.

But most people waste 90% of its potential by using it like Google.

These 1,000+ proven ChatGPT prompts fix that and help you work 10X faster.

Sign up for Superhuman AI and get:

Claim your free prompts

Democrats won both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, returning the party to full control of Capitol Hill for the first time since 2023 and ushering in divided government. Seven Senate seats flipped from Republican hands, including North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Maine, while House Democrats ousted four Republican incumbents in Pennsylvania's competitive swing districts.

Cost-of-living frustrations and concerns over public corruption drove much of this year's Democratic messaging, and those themes carried candidates to wins in several traditionally red states. President Trump now faces his final two years in office with congressional investigations expected in both chambers and lawmakers hostile to much of his second-term agenda.

Democrat Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, in Texas, ending more than three decades of Republican control of the governor's office and denying Abbott a fourth term. Hinojosa, an Austin state representative who campaigned on public education and household costs, was set to become the first Latina to serve as Texas governor once she takes office.

Democrats also flipped governor's races in Iowa, where Rob Sand ended Republican control of the office, and Ohio, where Amy Acton became the state's first elected woman governor. Wisconsin elected Democrat David Crowley as its first Black governor, giving the party several historic firsts in governor's races on the same night it took control of Congress.

Stocks suffered a major sell-off on Thursday as investors worried that data-center construction could slow after the midterm results, dragging down tech shares and the broader market. Tech-heavy Nasdaq sank 5.5% into correction territory, the S&P 500 fell about 4.4% and the Dow dropped roughly 1,833 points, or 3.4%, wiping out Wednesday's post-election rally.

All three major indexes posted their steepest one-day declines since the tariff shock of April 2025, and the Magnificent Seven lost more than $1 trillion in combined market value. Nvidia led the losses, tumbling more than 9% and shedding over $440 billion in market value during the session, which left the chipmaker's stock negative for the year.

President Trump announced Friday that Stephen Miller will replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, a move that came just days after Republicans' sweeping midterm losses. Miller, the deputy chief of staff and a Homeland Security adviser, was the architect of many of Trump's most controversial immigration policies and was set to start Monday.

Trump said Wiles, the nation's first female White House chief of staff, would keep working for him on political operations, and she pledged continued commitment to his mission. Wiles had built a reputation as a strict manager who reduced the staff turnover and press leaks that plagued Trump's first term in the White House.

The U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in October, far above the 59,000 economists expected, while the unemployment rate slipped to 4.1%, a tenth of a point better than forecasts. Earlier months looked stronger too, as revisions raised August by 53,000 to 186,000 jobs and lifted September by 31,000 to 60,000 jobs in the same Friday release.

A broader underemployment measure counting discouraged workers and involuntary part-timers rose to 7.9%, up 0.3 percentage point, as the civilian labor force grew by 421,000 people. One senior economist at Allianz Trade said "you have to look pretty hard to find something to dislike in there" after reviewing the October payroll figures.

The White House denied reports that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could leave, as Trump and Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for Republican losses. An outgoing congressional Republican has threatened to force an impeachment vote against Hegseth as soon as this coming week, though Trump said he has "every intention" of keeping him.

President Trump said Saturday that he offered the press secretary job to his friend Dana White, the UFC boss, who was in London for a boxing event. White said he plans to fly to Washington and meet with Trump at the White House on Monday, though he noted he already has a lot of jobs.

NASA is accepting applications for new astronauts to help grow its Artemis program and build a permanent lunar base, with only 32 active astronauts on its roster. Aspiring astronauts have until early December to apply, and the agency expects to make its final picks by late 2027 after more than 8,000 applied last time.

Getting the nutrition you deserve doesn’t need to take up all your time. CookUnity delivers fresh dishes handcrafted by award-winning chefs, ready to heat in minutes. Build a custom menu for your entire week, so you can spend your evenings on your terms—not scrubbing pans. Skip, pause, or change your plan size anytime.

Build Your Weekly Menu

Voters reshaped Washington in a single night, handing Democrats both chambers of Congress and flipping governor’s mansions from Texas to Ohio in results that outran many forecasts.

Aftershocks spread quickly through the week, as Stephen Miller was tapped to run the West Wing and Dana White was offered the podium as press secretary. Wall Street and the job market sent opposite signals, with stocks suffering their worst day in over a year while employers kept hiring at a pace few economists predicted.

Next comes the harder part, as a reshuffled White House, a possible impeachment fight and a newly empowered Democratic majority test whether this moment brings compromise or collision.

For readers watching their 401(k)s, paychecks and ballots alike, the coming weeks should reveal whether this turbulence settles into a new normal or keeps building into something bigger.

Godzilla Minus Zero stomped the weekend box office with a $31.6 million opening, the biggest ever for a live-action foreign-language film in North America, while The Cat in the Hat stumbled.

A charity protecting the endangered Suffolk Punch horse will be saved by Ipswich Town, the soccer club that has carried the breed on its badge for over 50 years.

A designer in Wales who built a self-powered off-grid hut without telling authorities gets to keep living there, after officials ruled four years' occupancy made it immune from prosecution.

MarketBeat analysts just updated their 10 Best Stocks to Own for Fall 2026 report. The list includes AI growth names, a high-yield dividend payer, a steady portfolio diversifier and companies positioned for continued growth into year-end. Get all 10 stocks and the research behind them for free now.

See the 10 Stocks

Abolitionist editor Elijah Lovejoy is killed by a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois (1837) · Colorado becomes the first state where male voters approve women's suffrage by referendum (1893) · A Wright Model B flies 10 bolts of silk from Dayton to Columbus in the first air cargo shipment (1910) · Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is born in Fort Macleod, Alberta (1943) · The Bush-Gore presidential election ends without a clear winner, setting up a month-long Florida recount fight (2000)

"As long as I am an American citizen, and as long as American blood runs in these veins..." — Elijah Lovejoy, defending his right to publish days before his death (1837)

Enjoyed today's Five Minute Daily? Forward to a friend who wants the world in five minutes.

—The Five Minute Daily Team