Axios

Two planes collided and crash at a Dallas, Texas, air show Saturday, killing at least six people, according to state officials.

The big picture: FAA officials said Saturday it was unclear how many people were on board the aircraft.

Two high schools in Montgomery, Alabama, will remove the namesakes of Confederate leaders.

Driving the news: The Montgomery County Board of Education voted 5-2 Thursday to give new names to Robert E Lee High School and Jefferson Davis High School, local station WSFA reports.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has "absolutely" felt her life has been in danger since she joined Congress, she said on CNN’s "Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace."

The big picture: Members of Congress have been sounding new alarms about their personal safety and security after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was violently attacked in their home.

Tuesday's midterms have left America in its longest period of suspended political animation since the Bush v. Gore cliffhanger of 2000.

Why it matters: The weekend after Election Day, neither party has clinched the House or Senate. The leaders, and directions, of both parties are very much up in the air — a convergence of chaos that matches the country's testy mood and partisan split.

Former U.S. Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama are headlining back-to-back democracy conferences next week, highlighting rising threats from authoritarianism and disinformation — and how to combat them globally and at home.

Why it matters: Bush and Obama — a Republican and a Democrat respectively — didn't coordinate their timing, organizers say. But their events — Bush's is Nov. 16 in Dallas and Obama's is Nov. 17 in New York — are happening the week after the U.S. midterm elections.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) will hold onto his seat after beating Trump-backed challenger Blake Masters, the Associated Press reported.

Why it matters: Kelly's win over venture capitalist Masters brings a sigh of relief to Democrats after days without final Senate race results and comes as a blow for Republicans in their quest to regain Senate control.

Former President Trump filed a lawsuit on Friday to counter a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee.

Why it matters: Trump's move likely eliminates the possibility of him testifying before the panel, which is set to release its final report in the coming months and dissolve by the end of the year.

Former President Trump lashed out against Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin on Friday, saying he "couldn't have won without me."

The big picture: Trump has been claiming responsibility for the political rise of potential competitors in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, including Youngkin and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as allies consider distancing themselves from him after an underperformance of Trump-backed candidates in the midterms.

Native American veterans gathered in Washington, D.C., on Friday for a formal dedication to a new memorial honoring their military service.

Driving the news: The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian expected more than 1,500 Native veterans from roughly 125 tribes to participate in a procession along the National Mall ahead of the dedication ceremony.

The Department of Education removed the application for Biden's student debt relief program from its website.

Driving the news: "Courts have issued orders blocking our student debt relief program," the application website reads. "As a result, at this time, we are not accepting applications. We are seeking to overturn those orders."

Biden administration officials are considering recruiting a seasoned business executive — potentially a Wall Street banker — to join the White House in a senior role, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.

Why it matters: After being blindsided by inflation, the president's team wants to ensure he is getting a 360-degree view of the economy, even if that means inflaming the party’s progressive base by bringing in a figure with corporate finance and investment expertise.

Voters split their tickets — supporting a Democrat in one race and a Republican in another — in some of the most important states in this year's midterms.

Why it matters: Even in a hyper-partisan era, the quality of individual candidates clearly still matters — maybe even enough to tip the balance of power in the Senate.

Groups on both ideological ends of the House Republican Conference are preparing to exercise considerable power if the GOP manages to win a narrow majority — in leadership elections and beyond.

Why it matters: The dual dynamic is likely to cause headaches for Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy as he tries to unify a polarized conference made up of members ranging from new blue-district moderates to right-wingers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

Many veterans are unaware of a range of other benefits, from financial counseling to career services, that are also available to them.

Why it matters: Rates of homelessness are higher among veterans than the general public, and 15 in every 100 veterans are living with PTSD, but many aren’t aware of the safety net that exists to support them.

China's government eased some pandemic measures Friday — including reducing quarantine periods for travelers and close contacts of people infected with COVID-19 and ending penalties on airlines for bringing virus cases into the country.

Why it matters: The new rules are a notable adjustment to President Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy. China is the last major economy to have retained the strategy of trying to keep out the virus with measures such as lockdowns and quarantines.

A federal judge in Florida issued monetary sanctions against former President Trump's attorneys as he admonished them for what he called their "frivolous" failed lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and other Democrats.

Driving the news: U.S. District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks denounced what he called the Trump lawyers' "cavalier attitude towards facts demonstrated throughout the case" and ordered that they and their firms pay $50,000 in penalties to the court.

A federal judge in Texas struck down the Biden administration's student debt relief program Thursday.

The latest: The Biden administration said in a Thursday night filing that it's appealing the ruling of the Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman. "We strongly disagree with the District Court's ruling on our student debt relief program," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement confirming the appeal.

Oregon house speaker Tina Kotek, a Democrat, won the state’s governorship against former state house minority leader Christine Drazan in the midterm election, per AP.

Why it matters: The tight race caused frustration and signaled that Democrats don’t have as strong of a hold on the Western state as they once did in one of the most progressive state governments in the country.

Several LGBTQ Americans made history Tuesday night with election wins across the United States.

Driving the news: Among them are Becca Balint (D), who will become the first out gay person and the first woman to represent Vermont in Congress, and New Hampshire's James Roesener (D), the first out transgender man to win a state legislature race.

Multiple states elected women to state-level and federal posts for the first time ever on Tuesday night.

Driving the news: Trump-backed Katie Britt (R) became the first woman elected to the Senate from Alabama, while voters in Massachusetts and Arkansas sent women to the governor's office in historic firsts.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Thursday that the state has now sent 300 buses of undocumented migrants to predominantly Democrat-run cities in a bid to test their social safety nets and challenge President Biden's border policies.

The big picture: Since the spring, over 10,000 migrants have been transported from mostly Texas under the controversial program, which other GOP governors like Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) have also adopted.

Georgia swing voters in our post-election Axios Engagious/Schlesinger focus groups said they're just as committed to voting in the Dec. 6 runoff to decide the winner of the Senate race — and possibly control of the chamber — as to casting ballots in Tuesday's midterms.

Why it matters: The Warnock-Walker runoff — required under Georgia law because neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote — will hinge on both parties' ability to turn out existing voters without the draw of a broader ticket.

Midterm polls conducted in the final five weeks of the race were, on average, off by less than three points — generally within the margin of error, according to an Axios analysis of nearly 250 statewide surveys in the RealClearPolitics database.

Why it matters: Frustrated Republicans and emboldened Democrats are ready for recriminations after the "red wave" failed to materialize. The polling industry is a perennial punching bag, but Axios' analysis shows election returns have thus far tracked fairly closely with late-cycle surveys in key races.

Overlooked amid frantic punditry about the "red ripple" in Congress: Democrats quietly won and defended majorities in state legislatures across the country, weakening GOP power on issues at the heart of the national political debate.

Why it matters: State legislative races are on pace to be the highlight of the Democratic ballot. If Democrats hold on to Nevada, this will be the first time the party in power hasn't lost a single chamber in a midterms year since 1934, according to the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.

Former President Trump on Thursday released a long statement deriding his relationship with Gov. Ron DeSantis, after the Florida Republican easily held onto his position during a midterm election that delivered a series of losses for Trump-endorsed candidates in pivotal races.

Why it matters: The underperformance of Trump-backed candidates in the midterms — set against DeSantis' dominant re-election in Florida — has triggered an internal reckoning within the GOP over who is best positioned to lead the party into 2024.

The Federal Election Commission is taking a significant step towards regulating digital political ads, taking up a measure to force disclosure of paid advertising on leading social and streaming platforms, according to documents posted by the FEC.

Why it matters: Spending on digital ads skyrocketed in the 2022 cycle and is only expected to grow. But watchdogs say they've escaped transparency measures reserved for more traditional political advertising.