Abdul El-Sayed Launches “Habibi PAC” Days After Winning Election

Days after defeating Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan’s Senate election—overcoming $38 million of AIPAC funds, a tidal wave of bigotry and Islamophobia, and an eleventh hour betrayal by Democratic Representative Haley Stevens—Dr. Abdul El-Sayed has launched the “Habibi PAC.”

A Federal Election Commission filing shows that the first Muslim to ever be elected to the U.S. Senate made the PAC official on Thursday. The leadership PAC is not connected to his campaign and will allow him to raise money for other candidates, perhaps a sign of greater political ambitions.

“Habibi,” meaning “my beloved” in Arabic, is a term of endearment that El-Sayed has used often during his campaign, even using it to refer to Vice President JD Vance in his victory speech early Wednesday morning.

“JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you’re constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January,” El-Sayed said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators determined that failing medical care preceded the deaths of 23 immigrants in detention.

The San Francisco Chronicle obtained internal reports on the deaths of 29 immigrant detainees who died between January 2025 and January 2026. In the 29 cases the Chronicle reviewed, 23 immigrants died after receiving medical care the agency itself found was deficient.

ICE investigators determined that detention staff “deviated from safe limits of practice,” or “did not provide medical care within safe limits of practice” for the 23 detainees.

In at least eight of the cases, medical staff failed to perform CPR correctly, or at all. In only three of the cases, investigators determined that the deficient medical care did not directly contribute to the person’s death.

The agency continues to insist that there has been no spike in detainee deaths, though 2025 saw the most immigrant detainee deaths since 2003. So far in 2026, 31 immigrants have died in ICE detention.

During President Donald Trump’s second term, ICE has subjected tens of thousands of people—including U.S. citizens, lawful immigrants, and immigrants with no criminal convictions—to overcrowded rooms, unsanitary conditions, and insufficient food and water.

In many cases, immigrants report having been denied adequate medical care. Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff released a report in October 2025 documenting at least “85 credible reports of medical neglect” at U.S. detention centers. In January, ICE announced that it had stopped paying for immigrant detainees to receive health care—and wasn’t planning on paying again for months.

For the Trump administration, the cruelty is part of the point. The Department of Homeland Security even rejected plans to construct immigration detention facilities that were more humane.

Stephen Miller will be taking over as White House chief of staff beginning Monday.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social Friday afternoon, saying that “Susie Wiles, who has done an outstanding job, will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation. I want to thank her for her service as Chief of Staff — She has done a great job! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Miller, previously the White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, is receiving the promotion after serving in both Trump administrations. He is well-known for his hardline, xenophobic, and racist views on immigration, which led to violent and deadly mass deportation policies in Trump’s second term.

Trump’s decision to elevate Miller suggests that he is unrepentant about much of the negative attention brought by ICE’s violence even after Republicans were dealt historic losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Earlier this week, Miller was the target of leaks from Republicans and Trump administration officials over how his deportation plans were going too far, with even one anecdote about First Lady Melania Trump complaining to the president about people she knew being deported. Wiles reportedly tried for months to steer Trump away from Miller’s approach, according to The New York Times.

Ultimately, though, Wiles is the one on her way out. She tendered her resignation Thursday night, as Trump has partly blamed her for the GOP’s devastating election losses, Wired journalist Hugo Lowell reported. Rumors that she would be made into a scapegoat for the elections had been floating around for weeks.

In a statement posted on X, Wiles said, “Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime. I’m so proud to have been a part of what we’ve accomplished together from securing our border and cutting taxes to strengthening our economy and putting America First. More than anything, I’m grateful for the extraordinary people I’ve had the privilege of working alongside. While my role may be changing, my commitment to the President and the mission never will.”

Promoting Miller now is a clear message to Democrats after their massive election victory.

The death of nurse Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE agents in January caused a sea change in Americans’ thoughts on immigration, and gave Democrats the edge this November. ICE heavy-handed tactics continued, though. ICE agents have shot at least 25 people in Trump’s second term, according to the Times. On top of that, dozens of immigration detainees have died in ICE custody due to inhumane conditions encouraged by Miller.

But Trump clearly doesn’t care about any of that, and wants to double down on the most brutal part of his second term by elevating his most vile staffer, giving Miller the run of the White House. Any thoughts of Trump moderating or working with Democrats in the final two years of his presidency have been dashed by this move, and Democrats should receive the message loud and clear.

In response to Miller’s appointment, Democratic Representative Robert Garcia, who will be taking over the House Oversight Committee next year, said “Stephen Miller should lawyer up.”

This story has been updated.

The U.S. is on the cusp of losing its measles elimination status.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 5,182 measles infections nationwide Friday, the highest case load of the disease that the country has experienced since 1991. Forty-five states have been affected.

But public-facing federal datasets have not kept up with state reporting. The agency has acknowledged just four measles deaths so far this year, while Pennsylvania on its own has reported six. Health agencies in New York and Wisconsin each reported at least one additional death.

Measles hasn’t been a national concern since 2000, when the long-term use of a vaccine proved so effective at minimizing risk and exposure to the disease that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared measles eradicated from the United States. That status is up for reassessment this month. If it’s determined that a singular viral strain has circulated the country for 12 months, the U.S. will no longer qualify for the label.

The virus’s dormancy has been challenged by anti-vaxers, who have opted against medicating their children in fear that vaccinations could cause autism (a thoroughly debunked conspiracy). One such conspiracist, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has refused to combat the ensuing measles outbreak with vetted science—instead, he has issued guidance that the illness can be treated by simple vitamins.

In April, Kennedy fell short of offering a full-throated endorsement of the MMR vaccine that has historically been used to treat measles, telling CBS News that his agency was focused on finding treatments for unvaccinated individuals while falsely claiming that the jab had not been “safety tested” and was not effective for long-term prevention. As of 2025, there are no known effective treatments or cures for measles other than vaccine prevention.

The return of historically eradicated diseases is thanks to a growing movement of anti-vax parents who refuse to provide their children with the same public health advantages that they received in their youth, mostly in fear of giving their children autism. The researcher who sparked that myth with a fraudulent paper lost his medical license and eventually rescinded his opinion. Since then, dozens of studies have proven there’s no correlation between autism and vaccines, including one study that surveyed more than 660,000 children over the course of 11 years.

But America’s is not the first measles response that Kennedy has bungled. Under Kennedy’s stewardship, the anti-vax nonprofit Children’s Health Defense had its own questionable history with the disease. Preceding a deadly measles outbreak on Samoa in 2019, the organization spread rampant misinformation about the efficacy of vaccines throughout the nation, sending the island’s vaccination rate plummeting from the 60–70 percent range to just 31 percent, according to Mother Jones. That year, the country reported 5,707 cases of measles as well as 83 measles-related deaths, the majority of which were children under the age of five.

Democrats are eyeing investigations into some of America’s largest corporations that tried to curry favor with President Trump. 

The Washington Post reports that now that Democrats won back control of Congress, they are planning to probe powerful entities in Wall Street and Silicon Valley, and the first targets could be Apple, Meta, and Elon Musk and all of his companies. 

The House is already preparing to investigate how President Trump used Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to the Post. House Democrats are also looking at Apple’s hosting of tracking apps used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and at Meta for demanding that local governments sign nondisclosure agreements regarding data centers. 

Corporate lawyers in Washington, D.C., are scrambling to meet with corporate executives to offer advice on the impending high-profile public investigations. Many firms are preparing pitches to attract Musk as a client, as he is not only the world’s richest man, but also holds billions in government contracts, has a close relationship with Trump, and led the disastrous Department of Government Efficiency initiative.  

One lawyer at a major D.C. firm told executives in a private online meeting Thursday that “this is a new era.”

“If your company is caught up in this oversight, it’s likely to be much more highly publicized,” the lawyer said, according to the Post. 

Dozens of corporations and CEOs donated to Trump’s transition fund, his inauguration fund, and his White House ballroom project. Where that once may have protected them from regulations and investigations from the Trump administration, with this new Congress, the opposite is true. Trump also made millions investing in many companies and publicly praised companies that did him favors. 

“Lawyer up,” wrote Democratic Representative Robert Garcia, the next chair of the House Oversight Committee, in a brief statement on election night.