Principals

1. Democrats question everything
2. Republicans game out their priorities
3. Harris concedes
4. House GOP edge
5. Trump cases
6. Central banks’ tariff fear
7. Markets rise on Trump win

PDB: Key Senate, House races called

Biden to address nation … Fed’s Powell to give news conference … WSJ: Trump weighs competing proposals to end Ukraine war

Democrats ask: Why didn’t anything work?

Democrats are confronting the notion that a short progressive era ended with Kamala Harris’ loss, Semafor’s David Weigel reports. Two populist Democratic senators who previously defied gravity lost, two reform prosecutors in deep blue counties in California were defeated, and Oakland’s progressive and scandal-plagued mayor was recalled, among other losses. All of that unfolded on a map that got redder outside of a few cities and suburbs, and far redder in majority-Latino areas that had rarely voted Republican. Before Tuesday, no Democrat born after 1986 had ever voted in an election where Republicans won the popular vote. Now, all of them had. They’re searching for answers. “I would love to see some kind of autopsy,” said Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campaign manager Faiz Shakir. “I would worry about a party that said: Let’s move on, let’s fight, let’s get into resistance mode.”

GOP plots out Trump’s agenda

Republicans are charting out how they will rule Washington as the GOP looks like it might hang onto the House majority by a thread, Semafor’s Burgess Everett reports. It’ll start with confirming Donald Trump’s Cabinet, and there are already discussions about holding confirmation hearings in January before Trump is sworn in. Then there are ongoing talks about extending the Trump tax cuts that started simmering this summer. After that? “That’s going to be up to President Trump,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. “We’re going to work closely together with him on a shared agenda.” Some of it will be pretty doable, from sticking together on immigration and nominees, to more difficult items like repealing parts of the Inflation Reduction Act or Affordable Care Act. And if the GOP keeps the House, some of it can be done with a simple majority in the Senate.

Harris concedes, urges supporters to accept results

Kamala Harris conceded to Donald Trump, telling disappointed supporters gathered at Howard University that they “must accept the results of this election.” “While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fuels this campaign,” Harris said, vowing to advocate for abortion rights, gun control, and democracy protections. National Democrats and members of Harris’ circle are grappling with her decisive loss, with some blaming President Biden’s late exit from the race. “No one would tell him ‘no’,” one Democratic official told Reuters. Some Biden allies, meanwhile, argued he could have performed better, per Politico. Harris’ message also failed to convince voters who were more concerned about paying rent than warnings about Trump being a threat to democracy. “In a time of widespread distrust in institutions, Ms. Harris’s call to protect the nation’s norms rang hollow for many Americans,” The New York Times writes.

Republicans on track to win House

House Republicans are poised to hold onto their House majority, though it hasn’t been called yet. Democrats’ path to House control hinges on winning nearly all of the still-uncalled races, with some pickup opportunities now out of reach. But as of Wednesday afternoon, Democrats weren’t completely giving up just yet, Semafor’s Kadia Goba reported, quoting an aide who described the path as “tight and narrow.” “The House remains very much in play,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said. Republicans are feeling confident, though, and some Democrats privately concede that they’re likely to fall short, CNN reported. Democrats are already engaged in an elaborate game of finger pointing following Tuesday’s results, which may continue during a planned call later today. Even if Republicans hold the majority, it won’t be a large one. “Buckle up,” one GOP operative said. “Every House member is about to be Joe Manchin.”

Trump victory kills criminal cases

Donald Trump’s criminal cases are about to die — or at least lie dormant. When Trump assumes the presidency, he’ll have the power to shut down the Justice Department cases against him. Special counsel Jack Smith is already looking at ending the prosecutions, according to ABC News, due to DOJ policy that a sitting president can’t be indicted. “The federal criminal cases are dead. The only question is when,” legal commentator Randall Eliason told Semafor. The two state cases against Trump don’t stand much of a chance, either. While he faces sentencing on hush money charges in New York this month, Trump’s lawyers will probably try to postpone it and he’s unlikely to see any punishment before his inauguration. Prosecutors in Georgia, meanwhile, won’t try a sitting president, though they could still pursue the cases against other defendants.

— Morgan Chalfant

Central banks’ Trump conundrum

Central bankers across the world face a tricky few months ahead with the imminent return of Donald Trump to the White House. The US president-elect has said he will impose widespread tariffs on imports, a move the Bank of France chief said would bring “more protectionism” that “increases risks for the global economy.” The US Federal Reserve is today expected to announce a quarter-point cut in interest rates, but Trump’s victory has “set up traps” for the world’s central banks, the Financial Times’ economics commentator wrote. While most have been on a rates-cutting regime for months, Trump’s tariff agenda — which, if implemented, would worsen inflation — could pressure rate setters to raise the cost of borrowing again.

US market jumps on Trump win

US stock markets surged in the hours following Donald Trump’s reelection as US president, with the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 indexes all reaching record highs yesterday. Joe Biden’s presidency long touted its tough approach to business, notably the blocking of several major mergers and acquisitions. The prospect of widespread deregulation under Trump and the expected departure of the heads of key regulatory watchdogs boosted the surge in the market. Meanwhile shares in private equity groups jumped between 8 and 10% on Wednesday, the Financial Times reported. Big Tech is hopeful too, having been the target of a series of antitrust investigations under Biden-appointed figures.

Beltway Newsletters

Punchbowl News: Members of House Republican leadership are working to keep their positions ahead of elections scheduled for next week.

Playbook: Corey Lewandowski’s attempt to make peace with Chris LaCivita at Donald Trump’s watch party Tuesday night didn’t go over so well. When Lewandowski tried to shake his hand, LaCivita yelled at him: “Fuck you, fuck you and fuck you. You have fucked with the wrong person. I’m going to fucking destroy you.”

WaPo: Trump will have more control over the Senate GOP than he did during his first term. “Some of these Republicans definitely were boosted by the fact that Donald Trump was carrying their district or their state, in some cases, by big margins,” former Republican Sen. Patrick Toomey said. “They’re going to be aware of that and sensitive to that. On the margins that makes it more difficult to push back.”

Axios: Trump is expected to fill his White House and Cabinet with “rich, accomplished men.”

White House

• President Biden will give a speech this morning at 11 a.m. ET about the presidential election and the transition period.
• Vice President Harris said during her speech at Howard University that she told Donald Trump the Biden administration would “engage in a peaceful transfer of power,” gesturing towards his efforts to overturn the 2020 results. Biden offered a similar message to Trump during a phone call and invited him to a meeting, the White House said.

Congress

• Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., won reelection, while Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., won his own tight race.
• Democrat Elissa Slotkin defeated Republican Mike Rogers in the Michigan Senate race, while Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., held onto her seat in the race against Republican Eric Hovde. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., arguably the most vulnerable Democratic senator, lost his race against Republican Tim Sheehy.

Outside the Beltway

• Ranked-choice voting ballot measures failed across several states on Tuesday (except in Washington, DC, where a measure passed).

Business

• Online betting markets took a victory lap following Donald Trump’s win, given that their odds favored Trump for weeks before the vote.
• JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon doesn’t have plans to join the Trump administration. — Reuters

Courts

• A military judge revived plea agreements reached with Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two others, overruling Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin who ordered the deals to be thrown out. — AP

On the Trail

• Kamala Harris’ campaign rejected a $10 million plan from the Congressional Black Caucus to mobilize undecided Black voters across swing states. — Politico

National Security

• The nation’s top cybersecurity official said the American public can have confidence in the US vote, noting the federal government has “no evidence of any malicious activity that had a material impact on the security or integrity of our election infrastructure.”
• The Biden administration is planning for a possible spike in border crossings ahead of Donald Trump taking office. — NBC News

Foreign Policy

• The Biden administration is rushing the remaining $6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine before Inauguration Day. — Politico
• Several foreign leaders held phone calls with Trump after he won the race for the White House, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• Germany’s government is on the verge of collapsing, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister, setting the stage for snap elections.

Technology

• Canada said it won’t block access to TikTok, but it is ordering the app’s business in the country to be dissolved after a national security review of Chinese parent company ByteDance.
• Australia’s government proposed banning children and teens under 16 from using social media.

Media

• Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos congratulated Donald Trump.

Blindspot

Stories that are being largely ignored by either left-leaning or right-leaning outlets, curated with help from our partners at Ground News.

What the Left isn’t reading: Former Attorney General Bill Barr urged federal prosecutors to drop the cases against Donald Trump, calling it “the right thing” for the country.

What the Right isn’t reading: One person convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol cited Trump’s promise of clemency in a court filing seeking a delay in his case.

Principals Team

Editors: Benjy Sarlin, Elana Schor, Morgan Chalfant

Reporters: Burgess Everett, Kadia Goba, Joseph Zeballos-Roig, Shelby Talcott, David Weigel

Brian Jack is a Republican who was elected to represent Georgia’s 3rd congressional district on Tuesday. He served as White House political director under Donald Trump during his first term.

After the last two US presidential elections, there were questions about what it would mean for the tech industry.

After this one, the results are clear: The big winner is Elon Musk, Trump’s most vocal Silicon Valley ally, and his vast empire of electric cars, rockets, brain implants and AI data centers, Semafor’s Reed Albergotti wrote.