DOUBLE DOWN: President Trump responded to his crushing election defeat by replacing his Chief of Staff Susie Wiles with the angry Stephen Miller, the architect of the administration’s cruel deportation policy, the bombing of suspected drug boats, and the unfettered use of executive power.

  Chief of Staff is a tremendously powerful position and Miller is one of the most odious characters ever to serve in the upper reaches of a presidential administration.

  The move signals that Trump plans to double down on his agenda rather than recognize most of the country doesn’t like it. It says that he doesn’t plan to cooperate with the new Democratic majority. The President even posted a scowling picture of himself leaning on the Resolute Desk titled “MR. VETO.”

  In a social media post, Miller praised Trump as “the most transformative political leader” in US history, saying that he had “single-handedly saved America from those who would destroy it.”

  Miller has been the author or contributor to such Trump policies as separation of migrant families at the border; the 2017 Muslim travel ban;  ending of nearly all US refugee programs; the cultural pressure campaign against universities;  and purges of officials deemed insufficiently loyal to Trump.

  Reports say that Trump had at first been conciliatory after Tuesday’s election. His appointment of Miller says that he is sticking with his fundamental philosophy of never admitting defeat, never apologizing, and never compromising if he can get away with it.

THE LADIES’ ROOM: Reports vary as to whether Susie Wiles was fired or resigned, but her departure adds to the trend in the current Trump administration; women are more likely to get pushed out.

  Wiles joins four of Trump’s eight female cabinet-level officials who resigned or were fired earlier this year: Attorney General Pam Bondi; Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the labor secretary; Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem; and Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence.

THE LONG COUNT: The balance in the US Senate for the next term remains at 54 Democrat, 44 Republican, with Alaska and Mississippi yet to be decided.

  The Democrats have a dramatic majority in the House, 254-162, with 19 seats still to be determined. 

ECON 101: The economy added a healthy 165,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1 percent from 4.2 in September. 

  Job additions for August and September were revised up by a total of 84,000, although restaurants and construction companies have been cutting. 

THE SPIN RACK: The US homeless population dropped by 6 percent last year, about 47,000 people, the largest decline in homelessness since an annual count began nearly 20 years ago, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD credits President Trump while homeless advocacy groups say policies of his predecessors have played a big part. — Six people died in a Brooklyn house fire this week raising the toll in a terrible year for fires in New York. Eighty-six people have died in New York City fires so far this year, compared with 44 in the same time period last year.  — The Cornell University Faculty Senate issued a rarely-invoked vote of no confidence yesterday against the school’s administration, rebuking the leadership for its  handling of sexual assaults on campus. This comes amid the controversy over a former student’s claim that she was gang raped two years ago in a fraternity house. — Thomas Markle, the father of Prince Harry’s wife Meghan, has been charged in the US with possession of child pornography. Markle is in a wheelchair, living in an assisted facility.

BELOW THE FOLD: We’re keeping it short today.

 Rapper Kanye West’s wife Bianca Censori appeared half-naked in public again, which is more of a distraction from the national discourse than anything Donald Trump ever does.