Politics
With the midterms upon us, Democrats are on pace for notable gains. The party is on the cusp of winning one chamber of Congress, and possibly both, if current trends hold.
President Trump’s policies are on the ballot, as he himself said. Unfortunately for him, his low approval ratings (south of 40%) have GOPers in battleground districts and states keeping him at arm’s length. Voters, overall, are in a sour mood. The Iran war, high fuel prices, trade wars and stubborn inflation are weighing on them, and many place the blame on the party in power. While the party out of power usually makes gains in midterm elections, we expect Democrats to do better than the historical norm. Democratic voter enthusiasm is high, though not always for individual candidates. Rather, those voters are eager to put up a roadblock against Trump’s policies. Turnout also may be an issue for Republicans with the president not on the ballot. Republicans do have a big money advantage and are spending heavily now, with these midterms shaping up to be the most expensive in history. That cash could tip the scale toward the GOP, but it probably won’t be enough.
Democrats are on track to win the House, with gains of 12 to 22 seats, which would give the party a majority similar to the one it won in the 2018 midterms. Political shifts have nearly neutralized the GOP’s redistricting advantage and taken one-time pickup opportunities including some majority-Latino districts in Texas, out of contention. The effort may net them a handful of seats at most. Meanwhile, Republican spending is picking up in usually safe red districts, a sign that the party feels pressure to shore up potential political vulnerabilities.
The Senate is harder to call. Democrats need a net gain of four seats, a tall order, and they are running in more competitive races than Republicans are. But races in GOP-held Alaska, Iowa, Kan., Maine, Ohio and Texas are unusually tight, with Democratic candidates polling ahead or about even in each. Dems are also likely to flip a GOP-held seat in N.C. and hang on to seats in battlegrounds Ga. and N.H.
Republicans’ best shot at flipping a Democrat-held seat is Mich., as the race is close. Winning there would significantly help the GOP retain the Senate. Overall, Democrats hold the slightest of edges to capture the Senate. Whichever party wins, expect a slim majority of only a seat or two.
If the GOP loses even one chamber, Trump’s legislative agenda would falter, unless he decides to strike deals with Democrats. But his working relationship with the party is almost nonexistent, and Dems are in no mood to change that. A Democratic Senate would also mean long odds for Trump’s cabinet and judicial nominees. ‡
Economy
How elections turn out often comes down to the state of the economy. Heading into the midterms, the economic situation is currently a mixed bag. There are plenty of positives for the incumbent Republicans to run on, but ultimately, inflation and rising interest rates seem to be what are influencing voters this fall. The good news: GDP is growing solidly, by 3.4% in the third quarter according to the government’s first estimate, which marks the fastest pace of economic growth this year. Consumers continue to spend, and business investment is high, though much of that is linked to AI facilities, which rely on imported gear (imports subtract from GDP).
Unemployment is low and should stay that way, with no signs of major layoffs. The bad: the cost of living keeps rising too fast for most people’s comfort. Prices of many staples in particular are rising swiftly, and that is what voters feel when they reflect on their personal financial situations. For instance, gasoline is up by 34% from a year ago. Heating oil is up a whopping 74%. Electricity is up 4% on average (your bill might be notably higher). Even ground beef is up 7% from 2025. Plus, interest rates are up as bond investors demand higher yields to finance the gap between spending and tax revenue, and the Federal Reserve lifts short-term rates to combat inflation. The result: Borrowers are paying more on everything from mortgages to credit cards. *
AI Agents
Note a major shift in artificial intelligence, the coming wave of AI agents for businesses. Describe a project, outcome or goal, and these tools will take on the complex, multistep tasks needed to get there. Agents learn, reason and can proactively do work, too. The leading firms building this advanced AI: Anthropic and OpenAI, both with systems that are widely used to automate computer coding, one of the top uses of agentic AI, which is already paying off.
Agents can already take control of a computer and access files, connect to apps and surf the web. The tools have memory of past tasks and context of an entire firm, working 24/7 in the background. They send alerts when human approval is needed. A flurry of agentic services are rolling out, powered by ever-improving large language models from Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and SpaceX. There’s a recent crop of personal agents designed to help professionals and small businesses, including Claude Duet, OpenAI Dots and Meta’s Muse. Think of them as always-on personal assistants. Muse has free and paid plans. Duet starts at $20 monthly. Dots, at $100 monthly.
What do agents do? Most of what a human on a computer can do and more: Locate and organize files, generate regular reports, produce polished slideshows, build online apps, analyze data, fetch online research, discover security flaws, etc. They can send emails, fill out online forms and flag obscure spreadsheet errors. Agents vastly speed up software development, catching and fixing bugs, reviewing code, building new features and migrating code from one system to another. Agents are used in customer service, marketing, sales, finance, e-commerce, insurance and more. Salesforce’s tool can analyze sales leads, highlight top accounts and draft closing pitches. Travelers use agentic voice AI to handle insurance claims. The company Wayfair tags and categorizes millions of products on its online store. eSentire, a cybersecurity vendor, reduced threat analysis from five hours to seven minutes. Novo Nordisk automated lengthy clinical study reports, saving weeks of time. Agents can process complicated energy permits and streamline nonprofit reporting.
The top hurdles to adoption include cost, data issues, security and trust. Fitting agents into today’s business processes and IT systems will often be difficult. Some advice to get started: Start small and scale up. Use agents in software that you already pay for. Closely track results. Make sure to retain human judgment. §
Defense
Lasers are increasingly a battlefield reality for the Pentagon. The Army recently awarded the military’s first laser weapons production contract to defense firm AV, which will equip the service with 26 of its LOCUST X3 weapons over the next five years to counter the threat of low-cost, weaponized drones.
Such weapons have seen recent success on the battlefield against Iran, where Lockheed Martin’s HELIOS system has reportedly been used to shoot down drones. The Army has also deployed earlier AV laser systems against cartel drones at the U.S. southern border. Over the past few years, the Pentagon has selectively deployed laser weapons in various theaters, most recently Boeing’s Compact Laser Weapon System, or CLWS, across Europe.
Expect the pace of development to keep picking up as officials seek lower-cost ways to defend against enemy drones and missiles. Still, so-called directed-energy weapons have their limits. They struggle with cloud cover and atmospheric conditions like rain, smoke and fog. ^
Health Care
Amid the media hype surrounding the recent Nobel Prize for optogenetics… The field’s first big vision-restoration therapy is up for federal approval in 2027. Officials will rule on Nanoscope Therapeutics’ treatment for retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disease in which the breakdown of retinal cells causes progressive vision loss. The treatment, known as Mogenry, aims to restore vision by making surviving retinal cells more sensitive to light after rods and cones have died. GenSight Biologics and Ray Therapeutics are working on similar optogenetic therapies. Optogenetics uses light to manipulate neurons and other cells. †
^ statistics derived from - https://breakingdefense.com/2026/09/army-awards-first-ever-laser-production-contract-to-av-with-465m-value/
† statistics derived from - https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2026/10/press-medicineprize2026.pdf