Today in one sentence: Control of Congress continues to hang in the balance two days after the 2022 midterm elections; the consumer price index increased 7.7% from a year ago; home prices rose in 98% of metro markets from July through September despite mortgage rates rising to their highest level in 20 years; and the IRS urged the Supreme Court to allow the release of Trump’s tax returns to a House committee.

1/ Control of Congress continues to hang in the balance two days after the 2022 midterm elections. Republicans are on track to take a narrow House majority, needing 9 more seats with 37 more races still up for grabs. Meanwhile, three Senate races remain uncalled: Arizona, Nevada and Georgia, which is headed for a Dec. 6 runoff. Democrats currently have a slight lead in Arizona, while Republicans maintain a slim advantage in Nevada. Some analysts say they expect the outstanding vote in both of those races to favor the Democratic candidates. Meanwhile, at a Democratic National Committee event, Biden said that, nationally, there were “a lot of concerns about whether democracy would meet the test.” He added: “It did.” Trump’s allies, meanwhile, are pushing him to delay his planned presidential announcement, while Paul Ryan called Trump “a drag on our ticket.” Trump, however, claims he’s “not at all angry” about the midterms. (New York Times / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal / Politico / NPR / Washington Post)

2/ The consumer price index increased 7.7% from a year ago – down from 8.2% in September and June’s 9.1% rate. While that’s the lowest rate of inflation since January, inflation remains near a 40-year high and well above the Fed’s 2% target. The inflation report leaves the Federal Reserve on track to raise rates by 0.50 percentage points in December after four consecutive hikes of 0.75 percentage points. (Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / New York Times / Washington Post / CNBC / Politico / CBS News / ABC News)

3/ Home prices rose in 98% of metro markets from July through September despite mortgage rates rising to their highest level in 20 years. Nationwide, prices for an existing, median single-family home rose by 8.6% from last year to $398,500. Median prices were up 10% or more in 46% of cities. Home sales, however, have dropped for eight straight months through September. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 7.08% last week. A year ago, the 30-year fixed rate stood at 2.98%. (National Association of Realtors / Wall Street Journal / CNN / The Hill)

4/ The IRS urged the Supreme Court to allow the release of Trump’s tax returns to a House committee. Nine days ago, Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked the IRS from transferring six years of Trump’s returns to the House Ways and Means Committee while the court considered Trump’s request for a longer delay. In a legal brief, the IRS and Treasury said Trump’s request for the delay “cannot satisfy the demanding standard for that extraordinary relief.” The committee, which has been seeking the documents since 2019, told the court that further delays would leave the committee “little or no time to complete their legislative work during this Congress, which is quickly approaching its end.” (Bloomberg / CNBC)

Two years ago today: Day 1391: "A smooth transition."
Five years ago today: Day 295: If true.