In the Top of the News Stack, fears of a Democrat-led clampdown on AI slammed the markets Thursday – sparking unprecedented dollar losses just a day after a massive, post-election rally. S&P 500 firms shed $2.9 trillion in market value and Nasdaq companies lost $2.5 trillion – both single-day records. The Nasdaq entered correction territory as investors panicked over a looming datacenter reckoning in the wake of Democrats’ midterm sweep. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 1,833 points, or 3.44%, to close at 51,523.06. It completely wiped out its 1,500-point post-election rally – which was its best day in 18 months– as industry leaders grew convinced the new Congress will slow the pace of projects, potentially hitting revenue at top AI labs. 

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon is resigning as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, telling Fox News Digital exclusively that she made the decision weeks before Republicans' midterm losses and was asked by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles to delay her departure until after the election. "I wasn't asked to resign," Dhillon told Fox News Digital. "I resigned three weeks ago, and Susie asked me to please wait until after the midterms." Dhillon formally submitted her resignation on November 5, according to a letter obtained by Fox News Digital. Dhillon said she informed Wiles three weeks before Election Day that she believed she had "accomplished everything" she came to Washington to do and wanted to return to private practice. Asked if she would testify before Congress if subpoenaed after leaving the administration, Dhillon said there would be limits on what she could discuss because of executive privilege but indicated she would seek legal advice and follow it. "I would certainly take legal counsel and follow it in that regard," she said. Dhillon was also asked whether she expected Trump to pardon her or other administration officials if congressional Democrats sought to target them. "I have no idea. I haven't ever discussed that with him, asked for it," Dhillon said. "And I have done nothing, in my opinion, that would require that, but, you know, that's up to the president." She revealed that the decision to leave the DOJ ultimately came down to wanting to return to the work she had done for much of her career in the private sector.

A federal judge blocked construction of President Trump's arch, stopping work the administration had hoped to begin immediately.  Just before midnight Friday, District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan issued an order — finalized and made public minutes later - barring the government from any construction work for 14 days, granting a request filed days earlier by the governments of D.C. and Virginia. She laid out her reasoning in a 33-page opinion, in which she scrutinized the administration's competing justifications for the arch — particularly its sudden emphasis on national security — and agreed that the local governments are likely to be harmed by its construction. The 250-foot arch would stand in Memorial Circle, a traffic island on the bridge linking the Lincoln Memorial to Arlington National Cemetery. Trump administration officials have said work would take place 20 hours a day, year-round, for two to three years. In addition to questioning the arch's legality, D.C. and Virginia argue the construction would cause all sorts of financial and logistical disruptions.