As Washington prepares for a Democratic majority in the coming legislative session, some of President Donald Trump’s top legal lieutenants are using this lame-duck period to explore greener professional pastures. Since last week, four top Justice Department officials have submitted resignations. With Trump looking to the DOJ and Attorney General Todd Blanche as an animating force behind much of his second-term agenda, what do these sudden defections mean for MAGA moving forward?

What did the commentators say?
The high-profile resignations include Civil Rights Division chief Harmeet Dhillon, U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones, Civil Division boss Brett Shumate, and John Eisenberg, who led the DOJ’s national security section. Although a post-midterms “wave of resignations” is “not unheard of in any administration,” the DOJ’s “rapid-fire series” of departures in recent days makes it an “early outlier among federal agencies so far,” said The Washington Post. 

Four senior Senate-confirmed DOJ figures “heading for the exits after barely a year and a half on the job” is the “sort of turnover that raises a serious question,” said former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance on Substack: “What’s going on inside the Justice Department?”

The “thinning” of the department’s “upper ranks” leaves Trump’s DOJ without “some of its most seasoned hands,” said Politico. Democrats, meanwhile, are “salivating at the chance to use their newly minted majority” to investigate the department’s most “politically sensitive decisions” and Trump’s role therein. 

Reding Quiñones, in particular, was a “key figure” in DOJ investigations into law enforcement figures involved in previous probes into Trump’s conduct, said MS NOW. Those efforts are “widely viewed” as part of a “retribution campaign against the president’s perceived enemies.”

What next?
Reding Quiñones’ exit leaves the “future of his office’s marquee probe” into Trump’s alleged enemies “in doubt,” said the Post. The White House could “struggle to replace Senate-confirmed officials” in the coming term, said Politico. Democrats will have the power to “delay any confirmation,” forcing the DOJ to “rely on acting appointees for those jobs.” Ultimately, said Joyce Vance, the resignations “only buttress” a broader point that Blanche “should be impeached as soon as possible if he won’t resign.”

Thousands of European troops are taking part in military exercises in Poland in the first deployment of the so-called coalition of the willing. The brainchild of former U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, the 35-nation group was established in March of last year to “strengthen support for Ukraine and put economic and diplomatic pressure on Russia,” said the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence.

Who’s participating?
About 2,800 military personnel from 10 European nations — Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the U.K. — make up the Multinational Force-Ukraine, the military component of the coalition. As of yesterday, they are conducting a war-game rehearsal called Exercise Koalicja (Coalition in Polish) until Nov. 22.

Anglo-French-led, with operational headquarters rotating between London and Paris, the coalition is “not a peacekeeping or a ceasefire-monitoring force, nor is it connected to NATO,” said the Ministry of Defence. The U.S. will not be part of the mission nor will the Multinational Force-Ukraine (MNF-U) rely on U.S. weapons or technology such as Elon Musk’s Starlink, said an unnamed official to The Times.

What will they be doing?
The two-week military exercise will test this new alliance’s ability to deploy in Ukraine once fighting between Kyiv and Russia ends. This is a “key milestone” that will “serve as a concrete demonstration of the MNF-U’s ability to be deployed as soon as hostilities have ended,” French General Armel Dirou, who will co-lead the exercise with British Lieutenant General Tom Bateman, said to France 24.

What will the force look like?
The new force is “not designed for offensive operations,” said Bateman. Its purpose is to “provide reassurance and support the regeneration of Ukraine’s armed forces, strengthening their ability to deter and, if necessary, defend against future Russian aggression.” 

Russia has already voiced opposition to foreign troops being stationed in Ukraine, and President Vladimir Putin last year said they would be “legitimate targets.” Western officials have “declined to spell out the rules of engagement if any international troops were to be attacked in Ukraine,” said the BBC, but “they say the force would be able to defend itself.”

Workers prepare to uncover a 46-foot-tall statue of Pope Leo XIV in the Peruvian port city of Callao ahead of his arrival in the country tomorrow for a six-day visit. Rafael Gutiérrez’s sculpture is the world’s largest monument dedicated to the pontiff.

As an art form, fantasy has always sailed into the fierce headwinds of elite dismissal. Then there are the wild exceptions, including these superb shows beloved by both critics and audiences alike.

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ (1997-2003)
A group of teenagers in the town of Sunnydale battles demons and vampires emanating from the “Hellmouth” in this witty, kitschy cult classic (pictured above) that doubles as a coming-of-age story. A “knockout” series, it articulates the “realities of growing up, when perception and loyalties are constantly shifting,” said Steve Vineberg at The New York Times. (Disney+)

‘Charmed’ (1998-2006)
Three San Francisco sisters lead double lives as benevolent witches fighting the forces of evil in a show that delivers a masterclass in network-era storytelling. In addition to “schlock horror, campy giggles and skintight leather pants,” the series contains “some really meaningful and resonant messages,” said Isabelle Oderberg at The Guardian. (Peacock)

‘True Blood’ (2008-2014)
Sporting cinematic aesthetics, a lavish budget and A-list actors, “True Blood” follows Louisiana vampires who join human society by drinking a synthetic blood substitute, a premise that leads to intrigue and social upheaval. It’s a “juju-laced, borderline-bonkers slab of Southern Gothic that delights in its pulpiness,” said William Thomas at Empire. (HBO Max)

‘Game of Thrones’ (2011-2019)
Ultraviolent and explicit, HBO’s franchise-launching, discourse-driving hit revolves around the warring kingdoms in the fictional realm of Westeros as they battle one another as well as supernatural threats. The “singularly epic” series became a “cultural juggernaut that heralded new norms in TV storytelling,” said Inkoo Kang at Slate. (HBO Max)