Welcome back to the Morning Brief——brought to you by one of America’s largest independent newspapers—The Epoch Times. 

It’s Wednesday November 4th, and I’m Keegan Billings.

Let’s jump right in.

Good morning! Americans voted yesterday to alter the political direction of the nation. Here are the biggest stories from last night.

• Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, including major U.S. Senate victories in Republican strongholds in South Carolina, Texas, and Kansas.

• President Donald Trump said he is open to working with Democrats and congratulated them on the hard-won triumph.

• In Kansas, the Senate win by the Democrats is the first in 94 years.

• 🍵 Health: about sleep,  which is something we could all probably use a little bit more of.

NOW, BACK TO OUR TOP STORY:

Democrats Win Control of Congress

Democrats recaptured control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

The victories included areas of the country where President Donald Trump had won by a comfortable margin two years ago, places redistricted by Republicans to their advantage, the deep red states of South Carolina and Kansas, and the Texas Senate seat long targeted by national Democrats.

“Today begins the great American comeback,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the heir apparent to the speaker’s gavel.

Jefrries said the American people “want a Congress that’s going to deliver for the American people and that’s exactly what House Democrats will do as soon as we get into office in January.”

President Donald Trump, speaking to Fox News after Democrats won Senate Control, congratulated Democrats on their win. “You worked very hard,” he said.

The president also said he would work with Democrats on certain issues, but not on others, such as the border or transgender issues.

In addition to Texas, South Carolina, and Kansas, the Democrats flipped Senate seats in Iowa, Ohio, North Carolina, and Maine.

The first call of the night was in North Carolina, where former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, defeated former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley.

Down south in South Carolina, pediatrician Annie Andrews, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who took the seat after her brother, former Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), died earlier this year.

In Kansas, pastor Adam Hamilton, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. Hamilton will be the first Democrat from Kansas in the Senate in 94 years.

The biggest upset was in Texas, where Democratic state Rep. James Talarico defeated Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. This is the first time a Democrat will be sent to the Senate from Texas since Lloyd Bentsen, who served between 1971 and 1993.

In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown will return to the Senate, defeating incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio). Brown will serve the remaining two years of Vice President JD Vance’s term.

Over in Iowa, Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek defeated Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson for Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-Iowa) seat. The last Iowa Democrat in the Senate was Tom Harkin, who retired from the Senate in 2015.

In Maine, former state Senate President Troy Jackson defeated longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Samara Klar, a political science professor at the University of Arizona, told The Epoch Times that one issue has defined the past two elections.

“The Republicans had an incredibly strong election in 2024 largely based on their promises of affordability. And affordability remains as big of an issue, if not bigger, for Americans today than it was then,” she said.

Klar said the American electorate has sent a message to the president and the GOP.

“Voters are sending a message that the policies Trump and his Republican government have brought in over the last 2 years are not working for them,” she said.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday night that he accepts the results of the election.

In the months ahead of Election Day, many critical Senate races were polling in favor of Democrats in contests that were once seen as competitive. For example, the North Carolina election to replace Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) was re-ranked as leaning blue.

Those trends fueled predictions that the Democrats could reclaim the upper chamber after losing it in the 2024 election.

Democrats last held the Senate and House during the first half of President Joe Biden’s administration.

A clear Democratic majority in the Senate would give the party more leverage in spending battles with the GOP and the Trump administration.

Many, if not all, of Trump’s nominees, including possible Supreme Court justice selections, may also face insuperable hurdles in that scenario.

Some Democratic senators—most notably, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.)—have occasionally voted with Republicans and the current administration.

NOW, OVER TO POLITICS:

• President Donald Trump said he is open to working with Democrats and congratulated them on the hard-won triumph.

“I am absolutely willing to accept those results,” Trump told The New York Times. “We’ll work with the Democrats, and we’ll, you know, look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out.”

In a separate interview with Politico, Trump said he had already spoken with some Democratic Party leaders, though he did not specify names.

“They’ve already called, and they want to work with me,” Trump said.

Trump added that he doesn’t want to waste the next two years vetoing every measure.

When asked whether he would agree to immigration reform, Trump said he would consider doing whatever is “appropriate and good for the country.”

Trump also defended his decision regarding Iran.

“I am totally convinced that my decision on Iran for the long-term good of our country and even the world was an absolutely correct one, and it continues to be,” Trump told Politico.

The president earlier said Republican losses were due to his absence from the ballot, soon after Democrats scored key victories in House and Senate races.

“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote Tuesday evening on Truth Social.

Separately, Trump wrote: “I’m going to become a Political Pundit, both good and bad, on the reasons these Candidates won and lost!”

The president also told The New York Times he had no regrets about endorsing Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) or Texas Republican Ken Paxton, who both unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate seats.

But he took aim at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after his failed reelection bid.

“If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost. He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!” he wrote on Truth Social.

A White House official echoed the president’s statements in an email. The White House is in a defiant mood as election results come in, the official said, blaming turnout and candidate quality for Democratic wins.

Democrats won many of the contested U.S. Senate races by 11:30 p.m. ET and scored a number of victories in other contests.

“The White House mood is defiant,” the official said in the email. “President Trump was not on the ballot, and it’s proven that Trump voters show up when he is on the ballot.

“Also, candidate quality matters,” the official continued. “President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the candidates did themselves.”

Trump, his Cabinet officials, and political advisers have gathered in the White House East Room to watch the results.

According to the White House official, voters who backed Democrats might start feeling “a serious case of buyer’s remorse” once the Iran war ends and gas prices start to fall.

Regardless of how the election plays out, the official said, “Trump’s resolve to stop the radical left is only going to become stronger. Buckle up.”

• In Kansas, the Senate win by the Democrats is the first in 94 years.

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) lost the hotly contested Kansas Senate race, losing to megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton, a Democrat.

Hamilton well out-raised Marshall in campaign fundraising. As of Oct. 14, Hamilton had almost triple what the incumbent had on hand. Republican Party leadership even redirected campaign funds from the Senate race in North Carolina to back Marshall.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance both visited Kansas to campaign for Marshall at the end of the midterm push.

Hamilton led in the polls in the last few weeks before the election by such a small percentage that it was within the margin of error

Despite the state’s long Republican-leaning history, the past few elections have seen a swing to the left for the Sunflower State.

AND MORE ON POLITICS:

Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed won Michigan’s Senate election on Nov. 3, defeating former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) in one of the most closely watched races of the 2026 midterms.

The race was a major test for the progressive movement. Progressive Democrats have netted a series of wins and upsets throughout blue cities and districts this year but had yet to prove themselves against a Republican in a purple battleground state like Michigan

El-Sayed is also the first Muslim in U.S. history to be elected to the Senate. He faced attacks from Rogers and President Donald Trump throughout the race for his past activism and allegations of family associations with groups including the Muslim Brotherhood.

In comments that many analysts branded “anti-Muslim rhetoric,” Trump went as far as calling El-Sayed a “jihadist” and compared him to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists.

Said Shukri, a Muslim Michigander from the Hartland area, said he believed national media fueled a narrative of “hatred” towards the Muslim community from others in Michigan, and that he doesn’t think it represents the people of the state.

MAIN

What Happens to Your Body When You Sleep Well 

Hi, it’s Helen Billings and for today, our health section is about sleep,  which is something we could all probably use a little more of. 

Ok so In Greek mythology, Zeus could be overcome by sleep. Perhaps the ancient Greeks understood something we are only beginning to fully appreciate: sleep is not merely rest.

Modern research reveals just how deep this connection runs. During sleep, your body repairs and restores itself across multiple organ systems.

So Healthy sleep depends not only on sleep duration and timing, but also on its alignment with the circadian rhythm. 

A recent study narrowed down the sweet spot for adults. It was 6.5 to 7.8 hours for women and 6.4 to 7.7 hours for men. Adults who regularly slept outside this range showed signs of faster organ aging.

Now people have different natural sleep preferences, called chronotypes. For example, morning types, often called “larks,” tend to wake early and feel most alert in the first half of the day. and evening types, or “night owls,” naturally prefer later bedtimes and feel more productive later in the day. 

However Timing still matters, though. Research involving more than 73,000 people found that later sleep timing was associated with a higher risk of several physical health problems, Even after accounting for sleep duration—regardless of chronotype. Staying awake during the body’s biological night may disrupt hormones and metabolism.

The good news is that your internal clock can be adjusted. Morning light, consistent sleep and wake times, and reduced light exposure in the evening all help.

Some people wonder whether they can function well on very little sleep. For most people, experts say no. 

Joseph Dzierzewski, with the National Sleep Foundation, told us that “Sleep is a biological requirement, just like breathing. And you cannot outrun the effects of insufficient sleep,”

He added  “Interestingly, when we haven’t gotten enough sleep, we become poor judges of our own functioning, which might be one of the reasons people think they can function fine on very low levels of sleep.”

Like the Western medical perspective, TCM views sleep as closely connected to the natural rhythms of day and night. Just as nature shifts from activity to rest, the human body is believed to follow a daily cycle of qi, or vital energy, which flows through pathways called meridians. According to TCM, bedtime is ideally before 11 p.m.

Now One Lifestyle Strategy I would like to mention to improve sleep is having a  Sleep Ritual.  It even starts in the morning—by getting morning sunlight after waking. Morning light helps set your internal clock so that your body releases melatonin at the appropriate time in the evening. 

For some, consider avoiding coffee after noon and heavy meals in the evening.

Next, set a consistent bedtime and, as it approaches, begin a relaxing ritual, whether that’s dimming the lights, taking a warm bath, or reading a physical book. Choose whatever calms you and puts you in the mood for sleep.

Then when it’s time for sleep, keep your room at a comfortable, cool temperature, with the level of darkness and quiet you prefer.

Personally I do practice most of these suggestions most of the time and feel it’s helping me. Now I want to thank you for listening and hope you have a healthy day.

And before we leave, here are some words of wisdom to start the day…Today’s quote is by Carl Jung,

He said,

“Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” 

—Carl Jung