⭕️ It would take just ~43 House Democrats to keep Hakeem Jeffries from becoming speaker. The Congressional Progressive Caucus alone expects more than 100 members in January. 🔹Its chair, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), co-sponsored Rep. Rashida Tlaib's November 2025 resolution "recognizing the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza." Now he says he expects to "deliver the votes" for Jeffries. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), another co-sponsor, told MS NOW on Monday that Jeffries will have the caucus's unanimous support, calling his expected rise a "pretty historic moment." In all, 22 House Democrats backed the genocide resolution and well over 40 have described Israel’s actions as genocide. 🔹Jeffries has been one of the strongest supporters of Israel’s military response in Gaza. He opposed a July bid to cut off US military aid to Israel, saying it would "restrict our country's ability to confront Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations in the region." His promised "reset" wouldn't touch aid until the current 10-year deal expires in 2028. 🔹The math: Speaker needs 218 votes cast for a person by name on Jan 3, 2027. With roughly 260 Democrats, if 43 commit to naming someone else and every Republican votes against Jeffries, he falls short. 🔹It's been done before. In January 2023, about 20 Republicans withheld their votes from Rep. Kevin McCarthy through 15 rounds of voting. He won only after major concessions, including a rule letting any single member force a vote to remove the speaker, which Rep. Matt Gaetz used to oust him nine months later. 🔗 Drop Site's Julian Andreone asked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), another co-sponsor of the genocide resolution who backs Jeffries, whether progressives could use that kind of leverage.

Sen. Warnock declines to back Schumer for leader, saying: "I think we're at an inflection point in our country. Voters are demanding that we stand up and fight for them; and so any member of my caucus that feels like they should lead in this moment, I look forward to hearing their case."

🇺🇸 BREAKING: Eleven Democratic senators led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) are urging congressional leaders to strip three provisions from the annual defense bill that would lock in deeper US military and intelligence ties with Israel, citing Israel's conduct in Gaza, the West Bank and the region. The three provisions they want cut: 🔸 Section 1217 (Senate defense bill): creates a "United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative" for joint weapons production and research in AI, quantum computing, biotechnology and cyberwarfare 
🔸 Section 219 (House defense bill): creates the same initiative 
🔸 Section 618 (Senate intelligence bill): requires the US to "expand and enhance intelligence sharing" with Israel and bars it from being "suspended, reduced, or otherwise materially limited" The senators warn the plan would hand Israel leverage over US weapons, noting Israel already used a missile defense deal to keep US Iron Dome batteries from Ukraine. They quote Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the initiative "my plan," and cite reports that the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has raised Israel's counterintelligence threat to its highest level. 🔗 Signers include Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Patty Murray, Brian Schatz, Andy Kim, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Peter Welch, Tina Smith and Ron Wyden. The letter is addressed in part to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Drop Site’s @JulianAndreone caught up with Republicans on Capitol Hill after the midterms to ask why their party fared so poorly and which issues they missed. Rep. Thomas Massie blamed the party for funding other countries’ wars and starting a new one of its own. “We were told no new wars, not that we’d be funding somebody else’s new wars and starting our own new war,” he said. The answers from others ranged widely. Rep. Lauren Boebert said Republicans had “a lot of wasted opportunities” and hopes incoming freshmen don’t take the bait, “because clearly America hates the way we do things up here.” Rep. Troy Nehls said it was “Congress’s inability to pass the president’s agenda,” pointing to bills passed in the House but sitting in the Senate.

⚡️ Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Tuesday he's "in the process right now of calling my colleagues," edging closer to challenging Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "I am listening to all the people from around the country that were calling for big change," he told the Popular Mandate gathering in Southeast DC, Semafor's David Weigel reported. "We have two newly-elected senators who would not be there if Schumer and the DSCC had their way. Schumer and the DSCC sided with the crypto industry and AIPAC,” Van Hollen said. His remarks came as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he "will not be supporting Chuck to be reelected as the Democratic leader." Senate Democrats are expected to hold leadership elections in early December.

💢 On Monday, dozens of Israeli settlers stormed an industrial zone in Beita, south of Nablus, and set fire to three bulldozers, several other vehicles and equipment belonging to stone-cutting workshops. Israeli forces raided the town at the same time. Beita Mayor Mahmoud Barham says 60 to 70 settlers carried out an organized attack that lasted only a few minutes, with preliminary losses of more than 10 million shekels. Business owner Asad Bani Mufleh says the zone is "a thorn" in the Israeli settlers’ side because it prevents them from expanding. “They’re basically trying to discourage people, trying to tell them that there’s no work here for you, no jobs here for you, just losses, just damage," Mufleh told Drop Site's Mutasem Sqf ElHait. Settlers have repeatedly attacked Beita’s industrial zone, burning facilities and vehicles and opening fire on Palestinians. Settler attacks across the occupied West Bank more than doubled in October to 1,369, including 353 in the Nablus governorate alone, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission. 📹 Mutasem Sqf ElHait

🇺🇸 Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said Tuesday that if Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer runs unopposed for majority leader, Democrats should withhold quorum, denying the caucus enough members to hold its leadership vote, until he presents a clear plan that members have a voice in. "Whoever wants my vote is gonna have to show me a concrete plan that's definitively different," she said. Slotkin, a moderate who has already called for replacing Schumer, rejected framing the fight as progressives versus moderates, calling it "team fight vs. team flight."

Bernie Sanders is not supporting Chuck Schumer for Majority Senate Leader: "But in my view the time for now is change. And I will not be supporting Chuck for Democratic leader."

⭕️ “Where do I go now? Where do I go?!” Scenes of anguish in Gaza after Israeli bombardment set fire to tents sheltering displaced Palestinian families south of Gaza City. A young man collapses in grief as his shelter burns, while a woman cries out in desperation running down the middle of a street at night: “Our tents are gone! My tent has burned down! Oh God, where are we supposed to go now?” Israel is reducing to ashes the last refuge of families already displaced repeatedly by Israel’s genocide. Footage: IG press.saleh and aymanalhesi

Rep. Adam Hamawy tells a seemingly incredulous CNN anchor that, when it comes to Iran, the United States is “making adversaries when we should be making friends.” @HamawyForNJ | @CNN

A Palestinian mother visiting the grave of one son killed during Israel’s genocide in Gaza received a phone call informing her that her other son had just been shot dead by Israeli forces in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis. 🎥Footage: Palestinian journalist Baraa Lafi (IG: baralafi).

Tomorrow is the trial of Mada Masr’s Lina Atallah who is the latest victim in Egypt’s war against independent journalism. Like the journalists of the fact-checking platform Matsd2sh, who were detained before her, she faces trumped up charges and her fate is unknown. Read her in her own words:

NEW: Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), who authored the current session’s Block The Bombs legislation, told Drop Site News she has had initial discussions with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about bringing the bill to the floor, and more conversations are planned for the coming days. Ramirez said she “did not get a direct ‘no’” and she is optimistic because of progressives’ new power in Congress, Israel’s dismal polling among Democrats, and because voters sent a message by electing at least 16 new pro-peace candidates in November, some of whom defeated among Israel’s staunchest congressional allies. The current Block The Bombs bill, which has 82 cosponsors, was introduced in September 2025 and would stop the president “from selling, transferring, or exporting certain defense articles or services to Israel, except in specified circumstances.” The sales would be allowed only if Congress passes legislation specifying how the weapons would be used and Israel agrees to the terms. The precise scope of next session’s legislation is unclear but the bill is not the full arms embargo that would end all weapons sales to Israel, which has gained considerable traction in the political mainstream. Among those supporting ending taxpayer assistance and barring weapons sales are Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed (D-Mich.)—as well as several incoming representatives. 🔗 Full report below ⬇️

🚨 ISRAEL KILLS 7 PALESTINIANS, INCLUDING A 13-YEAR-OLD BOY, IN FRESH ATTACKS ACROSS GAZA Israeli forces killed at least seven Palestinians and wounded dozens more on Tuesday, November 10, in a series of airstrikes and shootings across Gaza, continuing their deadly attacks more than a year after the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. According to Palestine Online, which cited medical and local field sources: ➤ Fadi Rajab Sabri Hajjaj, 43, and his son Abu Bakr, 13, were killed when an Israeli drone struck the roof of a building sheltering displaced families in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood. Fadi’s wife, Sabreen, 40, was also wounded. ➤ Three Palestinians were killed and eight others wounded in an Israeli airstrike reported in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighborhood. ➤ Another Palestinian was killed when Israeli forces bombed a tent sheltering displaced people in Gaza City’s Daraj neighborhood. ➤ Thaer Hilmi Breika, 26, was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. 🔹A five-year-old boy was shot inside a school sheltering displaced families in Khan Younis. Another child and a displaced woman were wounded by Israeli gunfire, while Israeli naval forces attacked Palestinian fishing boats, wounding a fisherman and destroying two small vessels. Families are being bombed in shelters, children are being shot in schools, and fishermen are coming under fire at sea. 🎥 Five-year-old Khalil Khalid Abu Hameed is fighting for his life after being shot in the abdomen while playing inside a shelter in Khan Younis, Gaza, according to footage by Palestinian journalist Ibrahim Qannan (IG: ibrahimqannan).

Dem Sen. Raphael Warnock non-commital on Schumer: “I think we're at an inflection point in our country. The voters are demanding that we stand up and fight for them and so any member of my caucus that feels like they should lead in this moment, I look forward to hearing their case,” he told me.

Sen. Patty Murray, ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, tells me Democrats will “explore every option” to end the Iran war, but wouldn’t commit to opposing Schumer should he refuse to block any government funding bill with dollars for it. Murray has the power to stop war funding in the CR.

⚡️ New At @DropSiteNews: Progressives Lay the Groundwork to Force a Vote on Ending Some Arms Sales to Israel Rep. Delia Ramirez told Drop Site she is in discussions with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on bringing the Block The Bombs Act to the floor. Story by @PomTerkins 🔗

⭕️ It would take just ~43 House Democrats to keep Hakeem Jeffries from becoming speaker. The Congressional Progressive Caucus alone expects more than 100 members in January. 🔹Its chair, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), co-sponsored Rep. Rashida Tlaib's November 2025 resolution "recognizing the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza." Now he says he expects to "deliver the votes" for Jeffries. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), another co-sponsor, told MS NOW on Monday that Jeffries will have the caucus's unanimous support, calling his expected rise a "pretty historic moment." In all, 22 House Democrats backed the genocide resolution and well over 40 have described Israel’s actions as genocide. 🔹Jeffries has been one of the strongest supporters of Israel’s military response in Gaza. He opposed a July bid to cut off US military aid to Israel, saying it would "restrict our country's ability to confront Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations in the region." His promised "reset" wouldn't touch aid until the current 10-year deal expires in 2028. 🔹The math: Speaker needs 218 votes cast for a person by name on Jan 3, 2027. With roughly 260 Democrats, if 43 commit to naming someone else and every Republican votes against Jeffries, he falls short. 🔹It's been done before. In January 2023, about 20 Republicans withheld their votes from Rep. Kevin McCarthy through 15 rounds of voting. He won only after major concessions, including a rule letting any single member force a vote to remove the speaker, which Rep. Matt Gaetz used to oust him nine months later. 🔗 Drop Site's Julian Andreone asked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), another co-sponsor of the genocide resolution who backs Jeffries, whether progressives could use that kind of leverage.