Democrats Take Congress, HIV Drug, & America's Healthiest Cities

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Adam Rogers
November 04, 2026

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Democrats won control of both the House and Senate in Tuesday’s midterm elections, ending Republicans’ unified control of Washington. They flipped seven Republican-held Senate seats and won enough House races to secure a majority, although counting continued in several states. The results set up divided government for President Trump’s final two years in office.
The Senate gains extended beyond the usual battlegrounds. James Talarico (D) defeated Ken Paxton (R) in Texas, and Adam Hamilton (D) unseated Roger Marshall (R) in Kansas. Sherrod Brown (D) defeated Jon Husted (R) in Ohio while Josh Turek (D) beat Ashley Hinson (R) in Iowa. Roy Cooper (D) won North Carolina’s open seat and Troy Jackson (D) defeated Susan Collins (R) in Maine. Annie Andrews (D) flipped South Carolina. Democrats also defended closely watched seats in Georgia through Jon Ossoff (D) and Michigan through Abdul El-Sayed (D).
The new majorities take office in January. House Democrats will control committees and can launch investigations into the administration, while Senate Democrats can block presidential nominees. Trump retains veto power over legislation. Democrats also captured Republican-held governorships in Georgia and Ohio alongside Iowa and Texas. Georgia’s Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) became the first Black woman elected governor of a U.S. state.

President Trump said Tuesday that the United States will stop providing roughly $4 billion in annual aid to Israel in 2027 but will continue selling it weapons. He said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed the arrangement and that they had agreed to end the payments.
The aid helps Israel purchase American military equipment under a 10-year agreement signed in 2016 that pledged $38 billion in assistance. Ending those payments would shift the cost of future purchases onto Israel rather than end its access to U.S. weapons. Trump said Israel no longer needs the money. Netanyahu’s office did not immediately confirm the agreement.
Separately, the United States struck Iran’s Qeshm Island Monday after Iranian forces fired at an American aircraft, according to U.S. officials. They described the strikes as limited defensive operations rather than a resumption of major combat.

U.S. regulators tentatively approved a generic version of a twice-yearly HIV-prevention injection that is expected to cost about $40 per person annually in 120 lower-income countries. Monday’s announcement clears a regulatory hurdle for Indian manufacturer Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories but does not authorize U.S. sales.
Lenacapavir offers an alternative to preventive pills that people must remember to take every day. Two injections a year can make protection easier to maintain for people who struggle to obtain or consistently take those pills. The generic’s expected annual price is comparable to daily prevention tablets in the countries covered by the arrangement.
The approval could help expand access where the branded medicine remains difficult to obtain. Initial supplies are expected in some countries within weeks, although national approval requirements could delay distribution elsewhere. The medicine prevents HIV infection rather than curing it and is not a vaccine.

The Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s request to set aside ballots from roughly 20,000 California voters it alleged were noncitizens. (More)

A child in upstate New York died from measles in the state’s first reported death from the disease in roughly three decades. (More)

Authorities captured escaped Tennessee prisoner Jacob Morley near Kansas City Tuesday, more than a week after he fled while serving a life sentence for murder. (More)

Australia’s High Court began hearing a challenge to the country’s under-16 social media ban brought by Reddit. (More)

Greenland’s parliament approved a security agreement with Denmark and the United States Tuesday to strengthen defense cooperation in the Arctic and North Atlantic. (More)

Israel’s opposition recommended Gadi Eisenkot to attempt to form a government after last week’s election left neither main bloc holding a parliamentary majority. (More)

U.S. stock markets closed mixed on Tuesday (S&P +0.36%, Nasdaq +0.68%, Dow -0.38%). The S&P and Nasdaq stopped a three-session skid. (More)

Disney is considering thousands of job cuts and has asked some managers to target 20% in annual cost savings. (More)

Shopify shares fell about 10% on Tuesday after quarterly sales and the value of orders processed through its platform missed Wall Street expectations. (More)

Miami topped the season’s first College Football Playoff rankings, followed by Georgia at No. 2, Utah at No. 3, and defending champion Indiana at No. 4. (More)

Tenerife striker Jesús de Miguel died at 30 Tuesday after suffering cardiac arrest following a collision with an opposing goalkeeper during Monday’s Spanish second-division match. (More)

“The Greatest” premieres today on Prime Video as the first authorized scripted series about Muhammad Ali. (More)

Scientists identified all five molecular building blocks used in DNA and RNA in samples returned from asteroid Ryugu, adding evidence that life’s ingredients formed beyond Earth. (More)

Europe’s Hera spacecraft captured its first clear view of the asteroid pair where NASA tested a method of deflecting a space rock in 2022. (More)

Researchers linked historical frog disappearances in Brazil to a deadly fungus in a study investigating declines that began nearly 50 years ago. (More)

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