New momentum for national popular vote push and more news from the states

Good evening. Tonight we begin with a look at the push for a National Popular Vote Compact, which has been reinvigorated by new Democratic trifecta control in multiple battleground states. 

In Minnesota, dozens of civil lawsuits are seeking damages for abuses by federal agents, while President Donald Trump said in an interview that his mass deportation campaign had gone too far. 

In North Carolina, food insecurity is in the spotlight after Meals on Wheels delivered a milestone meal to a 105-year-old retired teacher. And disability providers in New Jersey are trying to work with more stringent Medicaid reimbursement requirements. 

Democrats’ midterm victories in Pennsylvania and other swing states have prompted renewed interest in an alternative to the Electoral College that proponents have urged the commonwealth to join, Pennsylvania Capital-Star reports. 

With Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s reelection and majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, Democrats could pass legislation that supporters say would ensure that every vote counts in presidential elections.

Already enacted in 18 states and the District of Columbia, the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact would guarantee the candidate with the most votes across the country wins the presidency. Five presidential elections have been won via the Electoral College by candidates who lost the popular vote. 

The states that have joined the compact since 2007 collectively have 222 of the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency. That leaves 48 needed before the compact would take effect.

With 19 Electoral College votes, Pennsylvania is one of the battleground states with state government trifectas advocates are now targeting along with Michigan (15 votes), Wisconsin (10), Arizona (11) and Nevada (6).

Related: Maine joined a pledge to ditch the Electoral College. Dems’ national wins could make it reality.

In Utah, 13 Democrats and two unaffiliated candidates are on pace to take 15 seats from Republicans in the state House of Representatives — breaking the GOP supermajority for the first time in more than three decades, Utah News Dispatch reports. 

But for some Democrats in power, a few of the wins are a bit bittersweet. Some of the Republicans currently trailing their Democratic challengers were considered more moderate members of the GOP caucus that in some ways reached across the aisle and worked in a bipartisan fashion. 

Political pundits have credited Utah’s blue wave to a combination of intense frustration with President Donald Trump and his administration and a frustration with how Utah’s Republican-controlled supermajority has handled redistricting, ballot initiatives, unions and other issues, along with an ongoing wave of outcry over data centers and development.

Related coverage: 

While local law enforcement is investigating federal agent Jonathan Ross for the January shooting death of Renee Good in Minneapolis, criminal charges are unlikely to succeed anytime soon — if they’re filed at all, Minnesota Reformer reports. So Good's family has filed one of dozens of lawsuits seeking justice for federal agents’ abuses through the civil court system.

There is no federal law, however, that allows citizens to sue federal agents for constitutional violations. 

Instead, the Good family and others are filing claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows for the financial compensation of people harmed by federal employees’ wrongful or negligent acts in the course of their duties. 

Others who have filed similar claims include Patty O’Keefe and Brandon Sigüenza, who were pepper sprayed and arrested while they were following and observing ICE; Aliya Rahman, who was dragged from her car while she was driving to a doctor’s appointment; Orbin Mauricio Henriquez Serrano, who was choked unconscious during his arrest at a St. Paul gas station; and Quentin Williams, an employee of Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, who was tackled to the ground and arrested when Border Patrol agents showed up at the school hours after Good’s killing. 

More immigration coverage: 

Ohio: Secretary of State-elect Allison Russo, a Democrat, said she will do what she can to roll back Republican voting restrictions. 

Arizona: Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Eli Crane will keep his seat after an unexpectedly tight race with former president of the Navajo Nation, Jonathan Nez. 

New Jersey: Shirley Emehelu, a former state and federal prosecutor and a longtime friend of Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill, was sworn in as the state’s new lieutenant governor Monday.

Rhode Island: As calls for his resignation and impeachment grow, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke at the U.S. Naval War College about an effort to strip military education of what he called overly civilian influences.

New Mexico: The U.S. Department of Education launched investigations into the Albuquerque and Santa Fe Public School districts, alleging their gender-identity and expression policies violate federal law. 

New Hampshire: A group of transgender girls is suing the federal government to challenge a federal rule banning Medicaid funding for most types of gender-affirming care for children. 

West Virginia: Two state lawmakers are raising questions after the state auditor appears to have stepped in to fix a deed issue for a friend.  

Virginia: Seventeen localities using automatic license plate readers to identify vehicles and investigate crimes are reconsidering or scaling back ALPR use, vendor relationships, or camera installations.

Alabama: Voters approved four statewide amendments, including measures allowing school board consolidation and requiring schools to have policies for daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and for student-led prayer.

Randi Meltzer puts lip gloss on her daughter, Marni Tanenbaum, 10, in Marlboro, New Jersey, on Nov. 7. Meltzer co-founded Project MAC, which hosts art, music, and social skills classes for disabled adults and other members of the public. (Photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor)

Organizations that provide specialized services for disabled individuals, including medical care, behavioral health, speech and physical therapy and tailored support services specifically for people with disabilities, like Project MAC, are licensed as Medicaid vendors.

But starting last summer, New Jersey officials began to more sharply scrutinize how Medicaid was paying some operators who work with disabled adults, prompting payment denials for programs that had been reimbursed in the past, sometimes for years.

Multiple program operators, parents, and disability advocates said the shift has left a growing number of disabled people without programs they have come to love.

Read more from New Jersey Monitor.

President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday his mass deportation campaign, which helped propel his return to the Oval Office, had gone too far and potentially led to Republicans losing the U.S. House and Senate in the midterm elections, States Newsroom’s D.C. Bureau reports. 

“I think it might be too tough, yeah,” Trump said in the interview with Ross Douthat of “60 Minutes”. “And a lot of people would say that it’s great. But a lot of people think it’s too tough.” 

The president’s description of his mass deportation campaign was in stark contrast with his decision to elevate Stephen Miller, the main architect of his immigration crackdown, to White House chief of staff — the first major shakeup since the midterm elections. 

Trump added that he is willing to work with Democrats on legislation to provide legal status for immigrants who work in certain sectors, such as hospitality. The Trump administration has carried out one of the largest de-legalization efforts in recent history, stripping more than 1 million immigrants of their humanitarian and temporary legal statuses. 

More from the D.C. Bureau: 

Oregon Democratic U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden plans to press for “the boldest” healthcare bill possible after he takes over as Finance Committee chairman next year, but he didn’t commit to Medicare for All, a longstanding policy goal for progressives, the D.C. Bureau reports. 

Wyden told reporters in the Capitol that while he supports legislation that would eliminate private health insurance companies and put all Americans on a Medicare-like health program, he needed time to discuss legislation with his colleagues. 

Wyden added he believes the country’s health insurance network is “broken” and a “mess” that’s in need of significant overhaul.

Related: (Oregon) Wyden says he’ll use most powerful Senate committee to undo Republican cuts

Georgetown University researchers posing as consumers looking for health insurance plans found that insurance brokers and sales representatives often pushed short-term health insurance plans with limited coverage, and used misleading and inaccurate information to make them more appealing, Stateline reports. Critics call them “junk plans.”

But as insurance costs skyrocket for many and millions of people stand to lose Medicaid coverage due to federal changes, consumers could see more such plans.

Conservative states are making it easier for insurance giants to sell cheap, short-term healthcare plans with limited coverage — potentially sticking buyers with thousands of dollars in unexpected medical bills. 

More from Stateline: 

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein was on hand Monday as Meals on Wheels delivered its eight millionth meal in Forsyth County, North Carolina Newsline reports. The recipient was Ben Briggs, a 105-year-old retired science teacher who relies on the nonprofit to deliver meals to his home.

In North Carolina 13.9% of seniors, more than 341,000 older adults, face food insecurity.

Stein, a Democrat, said rising grocery prices leave too many North Carolinians wondering where their next meal may come from.

“Delivering eight million meals is an incredible milestone,” said Stein in a statement. “I am grateful to the Meals on Wheels and Senior Services team and every volunteer who connects people to the food they need.”

The Stein administration has focused on hunger-related issues after passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, which cut food benefits and instituted work requirements to qualify for them.

Stein also used Monday’s meal delivery to announce that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will relaunch a streamlined Healthy Opportunities Pilot program in early 2027. The program will deliver weekly healthy food boxes to high-need NC Medicaid Managed Care recipients.

The initial pilot program was suspended in July 2025 because of a lack of additional funding by the North Carolina General Assembly, where some Republican leaders were skeptical about the program’s impact.