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TDFP News Roundup – 11/09/26

Writer: Yossi Schmidt
Yossi Schmidt
8 minutes ago
8 min read

Today’s 20 stories from The Digital Free Press: Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls Iran’s demands “outrageous” as President Trump says new strikes are unlikely if talks succeed, Trump calls his deportation policy “too tough,” Congress returns facing a Dec. 11 shutdown deadline, and four TDFP reports, led by the TDFP exclusive on a Lebanese billionaire lawmaker’s pipe company hiring a former Vance adviser to lobby Washington, plus USDA’s SNAP eligibility proposal, the Justice Department’s next step in the Planned Parenthood Medicaid case and a Supreme Court order in a Colorado jail case.



Part 1: Top 10 Stories


1. EXCLUSIVE: Lebanese billionaire lawmaker’s pipe company hires former Vance Middle East adviser to lobby Washington

A Houston pipe maker owned by the holding company of Lebanese billionaire and lawmaker Fouad Makhzoumi, Future Pipe Industries LLC, has hired the lobbying firm Continental Strategy, according to a lobbying registration reviewed by The Digital Free Press. The filing, signed Nov. 4, 2026, lists one lobbyist whose prior government post is given as “Special Advisor to the Vice President.” It names Luxembourg-based Future Group Holdings SA SPF as the client’s 100% owner and enters $100,000 in the column for the foreign entity’s contribution to lobbying; the firm’s fee is not disclosed.


2. Rubio calls Iran’s demands “outrageous and ridiculous” as Trump says new strikes are “highly unlikely” if talks succeed

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Sunday that “right now it hasn’t been very productive” with Iran because its demands are “not just unacceptable but, in some cases, outrageous and ridiculous,” the New York Post reported. President Trump said in a Sunday interview that renewed strikes were “highly unlikely” to be necessary if Iran signs “a very strong agreement.” Trump is set to meet Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the White House on Monday, according to the Post.


3. Trump says his deportation policy was “too tough” after the GOP’s midterm losses

President Trump said in a television interview Sunday that his administration’s deportation policy was “too tough,” the New York Post reported. “I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out,” he said, “but I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs” whose one violation was entering the country illegally. The Post reported that about one in three Hispanic voters backed a Republican in their House race on Tuesday, citing a survey of more than 100,000 midterm voters.


4. GOP Rep. French Hill won’t rule out voting to impeach War Secretary Pete Hegseth

Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), who narrowly won a seventh term, said Sunday he wants “to hear the debate” on whether impeaching War Secretary Pete Hegseth is merited “versus some other disciplinary action,” the New York Post reported. Asked if he was satisfied with how the war has been handled, Hill answered “no,” according to the Post. The House is expected to vote this week on an impeachment resolution pushed by lame-duck Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has vowed to force the issue unless Hegseth resigns, the Post reported.


5. USDA proposes ending SNAP’s “broad-based” eligibility route; its own analysis says 6.3 million people would lose benefits

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed ending “broad-based categorical eligibility,” the policy most states use to qualify households for food stamps without applying federal income and asset limits, according to a proposed rule reviewed by The Digital Free Press. USDA’s own analysis estimates 6.3 million people would no longer receive benefits once the change takes full effect. The rule, posted for public inspection Monday and set for publication in the Federal Register on Nov. 10, says 46 of 53 state agencies used the policy as of December 2025.


6. Congress returns for a lame-duck session facing a Dec. 11 shutdown deadline

Lawmakers are back on Capitol Hill this week for the first time since the midterms, with current federal funding set to run out on Dec. 11, Fox News Digital reported. One House Republican, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Fox News Digital they expect another short-term funding extension into February or March. The farm bill, a transportation bill, a bipartisan tax package and a January debt-ceiling deadline are also in front of Congress before Democrats take control in January, the outlet reported.

Source: Fox News


7. Trump calls Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang “honorable” as the company investigates his relationship with a suspected Chinese spy

President Trump told reporters Sunday night that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is an “honorable guy” and said, “I haven’t heard that he’s done anything wrong,” the New York Post reported. Nvidia’s board opened an investigation after Huang admitted to employees that he had an affair with an executive of Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that bought billions of dollars in Nvidia AI chips, the Post and Breitbart News reported. The Post reported that a State Department memo says she was allegedly recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security.


8. Justice Department says it will move to join Texas Medicaid fraud case against Planned Parenthood by Nov. 13

The Justice Department plans to ask a federal judge in Amarillo, Texas, by Nov. 13 for permission to join a False Claims Act lawsuit accusing Planned Parenthood of improperly collecting Medicaid payments, according to a joint status report reviewed by The Digital Free Press. The report, filed Friday, Nov. 6, says the United States does not intend to file a separate complaint. The parties jointly propose a seven-day trial beginning April 13, 2027, before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.


9. North Carolina congresswoman-elect due in court on a felony rental-car charge

Democrat LaKesha Womack, who won North Carolina’s 14th Congressional District last week, is set to appear in Mecklenburg County court Tuesday on a felony summons for failing to return a rental car, according to court records reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The summons was first issued in 2020, returned unserved and reissued Oct. 11, the Free Beacon reported; a police report says a $20,000 Toyota Corolla rented in Charlotte was not returned. Womack has said she has retained counsel and cannot comment on the details, and said in an October live stream that she did not know of the case because she was homeless, the outlet reported.


10. Supreme Court vacates appeals ruling for transgender inmate who sued Colorado sheriff over jail housing, as Justice Department urged

The Supreme Court on Monday threw out a Tenth Circuit ruling that had revived a transgender inmate’s lawsuit against El Paso County, Colorado, Sheriff Joseph Roybal over jail housing and an intake search, and sent the case back for another look in light of its decisions in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and United States v. Skrmetti, according to the Court’s Nov. 9 order list reviewed by The Digital Free Press. The order in Roybal v. Griffith, No. 25-442, was unsigned, and no justice noted a dissent. The Justice Department had asked the Court to take that step in a September brief.


Part 2: 10 More Stories, Only on TDFP


11. Deputy White House chief of staff Richard Walters leaves ahead of Stephen Miller’s takeover

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Richard Walters, a longtime ally of outgoing Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, is leaving the administration after President Trump picked Stephen Miller to replace Wiles, Fox News reported. Miller confirmed the departure in a statement to Fox News, calling Walters “an invaluable member of the White House” who “will continue to help from the outside.” Walters was appointed to the post in May 2026, according to LegiStorm, Fox reported.

Source: Fox News


12. Border Democrat Henry Cuellar rejects calls to defund ICE

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), the ranking member of the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee and in line to chair it, told Fox News Digital, “I don’t believe in defunding ICE,” as more than a dozen progressive Democrats elected or reelected in the midterms rally around “Abolish ICE.” Cuellar said he wants serious guardrails on the agency, Fox reported. He also warned Democrats against returning to the Biden administration’s border policies, saying, “We just can’t open up the border.”

Source: Fox News


13. Incoming progressive House Democrats won’t commit to Hakeem Jeffries for speaker

Several incoming progressive House Democrats are stopping short of committing to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) as the next speaker, the Washington Examiner reported. Some have faced pressure from constituents to withhold their support from Jeffries, whom they view as too closely aligned with the party’s centrist establishment, the outlet reported. Jeffries is the only Democrat to have announced a bid for speaker.


14. Wes Moore’s former Army supervisor calls his combat-paratrooper claims “disingenuous”

Retired Lt. Col. James Gottschling, who supervised Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) during his deployment to Afghanistan, told the Baltimore Sun that Moore’s service there “was good” but that he was “not a paratrooper,” Breitbart News reported. Gottschling called it “disingenuous” for Moore to say he “led paratroopers in combat,” while acknowledging that Moore served with the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan as an attached Army reservist, according to the report. Moore has defended his record, saying he has “nothing to hide,” Breitbart reported.


15. Mississippi auditor Shad White launches a run for governor, vowing to take on corruption

Mississippi State Auditor Shad White, who says his office uncovered more than $75 million in stolen or misspent taxpayer funds over eight years, told Fox News Digital he is running for governor. White, a Trump supporter and Mississippi National Guard captain who served overseas this year, said he would use his office’s audit findings to cut wasteful contracts and sweetheart deals. “As governor, I’m shutting the whole rotten system down,” he said.

Source: Fox News


16. State Department approves a $1.08 billion sale of 11 Black Hawk helicopters to Mexico

The State Department approved the sale of 11 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, with engines, GPS systems, radios, night-vision gear and weapons, to Mexico’s government in a package valued at $1.08 billion, Breitbart News reported. Sikorsky, part of Lockheed Martin, would handle the sale, which includes training that would send 15 U.S. officials or contractors to Mexico, according to the report. U.S. officials said the sale is meant to modernize Mexico’s helicopter fleet and strengthen security cooperation.


17. Mexican border-city mayor kidnapped by gunmen during a family trip; Mexico’s security chief says he was found safe

Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mayor Miguel Ángel Almaraz was kidnapped by gunmen this weekend while traveling by highway with his family in San Luis Potosí, Breitbart News reported. His family was released and reported the kidnapping, according to the report. By Sunday morning, Mexico’s security secretary, Omar García Harfuch, said the mayor had been found safe; it was unclear whether he was rescued or released, Breitbart reported.


18. Fake federal agents push seniors to turn their savings into gold bars for couriers to collect

Scammers posing as federal agents are sending couriers with secret passwords to collect gold bars from retirees, in some cases draining their life savings, Fox News Digital reported. In Laramie, Wyoming, authorities said an elderly resident handed about $131,000 in gold to a courier after impostors posing as Federal Trade Commission agents said her money was at risk, according to the Laramie Boomerang. Police later set up an undercover handoff and arrested a man who was charged with felony theft, Fox reported.

Source: Fox News


19. Saudi Aramco office tower in Riyadh damaged as Saudi forces intercept Houthi missiles

An office tower belonging to Saudi Aramco in Riyadh sustained “minor damage” from “falling shrapnel” Sunday and no one was injured, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said, according to the Daily Caller. The ministry described it as an “attempted attack” but did not name the source. Saudi authorities had intercepted three missiles from Yemen’s Houthi militia earlier in the day, the Daily Caller reported.


20. More than 3.6 million Little Giant ladders recalled over locks that may not engage

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of more than 3.6 million Little Giant ladders because their “Rapid Locks” may not fully engage, letting the ladder retract suddenly, Breitbart News reported. The company has received 25 reports of ladders retracting, 19 of which resulted in injury, according to the report. Owners are told to stop using the ladders until they apply the warning labels in a free kit from the company.


Hold Everyone Accountable.

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