*By Chloe Aiello*
The 2018 Midterms may well go down in U.S. history as an election of firsts, with historic wins for Muslims, women, and LGBTQ candidates.
In Boston, city council woman Ayanna Pressley made history by becoming the first black woman the state of Massachusetts has ever sent to Congress. Pressley ran unopposed after she ousted 10-term incumbent Rep. Michael Capuano in the primaries.
In New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 29-year-old Bronx native and self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, [became the youngest women ever elected to Congress](https://cheddar.com/videos/cheddars-midterm-races-to-watch). She made headlines in September after a stunning primary upset over career politician and incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley.
Two Midwestern states will both be the first to send Muslim women to Congress come 2019. Ilhan Omar handily beat her Republican opponent and will go on to the House to represent Minnesota's fifth district, which includes much of Minneapolis. She will also be the first Somali-American in Congress.
In Michigan, voters elected Rashida Tlaib to fill a seat vacated by John Conyers, who resigned last year after allegations of sexual misconduct. Tlaib won by a landslide in a district that includes parts of Detroit and its suburbs.
Jared Polis made history in Colorado as the first openly gay man to be elected governor in the U.S. An early cannabis proponent, Polis ran on a progressive platform and replaced incumbent John Hickenlooper, who had reached his term limit.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
For President Donald Trump, tariffs — or the threat of them — can bend nations to his will.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
