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Annmarie Fertoli: Control of Congress is still up in the air, but Republican gain so far have been less than the party's anticipated red wave. What the results tell us about where both the Democrats and the GOP stand.

Jerry Seib: Maybe the message, and I think this would be a healthy message to politicians in Washington from both parties, may be that, well, maybe people are getting tired of the fierce partisanship, the dig in and win at all costs, never compromise messages, and maybe they're looking for something different.

Annmarie Fertoli: And what's roiling cryptocurrency markets. Plus, as more employers cut jobs, some things to think about if you're laid off. It's Wednesday, November 9th. I'm Annmarie Fertoli for The Wall Street Journal. This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories that moved the world today. President Biden says his administration is just getting started. In remarks from the White House this afternoon, he framed Democrats better than expected showing in the midterms as evidence that his agenda has been popular with Americans.

President Biden: While we don't know all the results yet, at least I don't know them all yet, here's what we do know. While the press and the pundits are predicting a giant red wave, it didn't happen.

Annmarie Fertoli: Democrats won a key SENATE seat in Pennsylvania and held the governor's office in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. But control of Congress is still pending. The final makeup of the US Senate will have to wait, until December at least. For the second time in two years, Georgia's SENATE race will advance to a runoff election. That's because neither incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock or Herschel Walker, his Republican challenger, earned 50% of the vote. The peach state's runoff is scheduled for Tuesday, December 6th. The contest was already one of the most expensive races in US history. The two parties combined have spent about $250 million on political ads. And as we reported this morning, there were key ballot measures on reproductive rights in several states, and advocates declared victories in Michigan, California, Vermont, and Kentucky. In that state, voters rejected a ballot measure that sought to amend the state constitution to explicitly say that it does not contain a right to abortion. You can follow all the election updates on wsj.com. Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp parent Meta said it would cut 11,000 workers or 13% of its workforce. In a message to staff on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that he had been wrong to assume that the boost in online activity brought by the pandemic would continue. But our tech reporter, Sam Schechner, also points to fresh competition and regulatory challenges.

Sam Schechner: In social media, it's no longer really the cool kid. A lot of people still use Instagram, but TikTok has been where the energy is, and there's even other smaller apps getting attention like BeReal. Internally, we know that Facebook sees these as major competitive threats, on top of which growing privacy regulation changes from Apple have made its advertising less effective. These are not necessarily things that are going to change.

Annmarie Fertoli: Meta stock has fallen about 70% this year. Binance said it would walk away from its initial offer to acquire competitor FTX after a review of the company's structure and books. In a statement, the crypto exchange said, "The issues are beyond our control or ability to help." The development comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission broadens its investigation into FTX, according to a person familiar with the matter. The probe is focused on whether FTX's US subsidiary violated securities laws. Cryptocurrency prices have been under pressure this year as a state of bankruptcies and token failures have fan concerns about the health of the crypto ecosystem. Bitcoin is trading near its lowest level in two years. In broader markets, the Dow fell more than 600 points or around 2%, the S&P 500 lost 2.1%, and the NASDAQ dropped two and a half percent ahead of the scheduled release of fresh US inflation data early tomorrow. Russia has announced it's withdrawing troops from the southern regional capital of Kherson and its surrounding regions. In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have advanced town by town in Kherson using long range artillery to strike bridges and cut off thousands of Russian troops. It was the only regional capital Russia had seized since invading Ukraine in February. US basketball star Brittney Griner has been transferred to a penal colony in Russia to serve the remainder of her nine year drug conviction. The move follows reports that Russian authorities have declined to act on what the Biden administration describes as a significant offer to secure the WNBA star's release. The White House has said it's exploring new options, but hasn't provided details. Coming up, how are Democrats and Republicans assessing the election results so far, what they mean for the parties, and how they could adjust their messaging after the break. Election results are still trickling in from across the country and control of Congress remains up in the air. But there are a couple of things we can glean from what we do know. President Biden and the Democrats appear likely to avoid the steep losses that historically plagued the party in the White House during midterm elections as Republicans made narrower gains than they anticipated. What do the results tell us about the state of the two parties nationally and how their messaging might change as we, yes, already look ahead to the presidential election in 2024? Joining me now with some answers is Jerry Seib, resident fellow at the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas and, of course, The Wall Street Journal's former executive Washington editor. Jerry, always great to have you in your analysis. Welcome back.

Jerry Seib: Happy to be with you again.

Annmarie Fertoli: Jerry, we know this was not the red wave that Republicans were expecting. What went wrong for the GOP? Where did Republicans perhaps miscalculate here?

Jerry Seib: Well, I think one of the things they'll be asking themselves is whether they needed a better message or a message at all really in some ways. I think there was a tendency in the Republican Party to think that, well, Joe Biden, the Democratic president, is not very popular. And oh, by the way, the economy is not doing well. We'll just let those two forces carry us forward and we'll rely on Donald Trump to some extent to keep our base energized. Those things maybe just weren't enough, or at least not as much as a lot of Republicans thought. There was some debate within the party. Some of the Republicans I talked to thought that maybe they needed a better, more coherent economic message. They didn't really develop one, and I think maybe that was one of the missing factors here. The second one I think they'll ask themselves, why didn't we nominate better candidates, particularly in Senate races? Again, the Trump factor comes into play here, their Trump acolytes who were nominated and who didn't do as well as they had hoped.

Annmarie Fertoli: Let's talk more about Donald Trump. As you said, he did endorse several candidates across the country. What are the results that we know so far tell us about his influence on the Republican Party?

Jerry Seib: Well, his influence is still very great in the Republican Party, but this was not a great night for him, and that influence will be called into question to some extent. There were clear Trumpian candidates who didn't do well. Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania, who was running for governor, embraced the MAGA message completely and he got trounced pretty well by Josh Shapiro, the Democrat. Similarly, Mehmet Oz, who was running for that Senate race, lost a very winnable race for Republicans. He also was not as Trumpian, but embraced Donald Trump to some extent. Kari Lake out in Arizona running for governor, that race, as we are talking, isn't decided yet, but she's struggling a bit. Herschel Walker in Georgia, well, he's headed for a runoff. Maybe he wasn't the strongest senatorial candidate in Georgia. Very Trumpian message from him. I think that Donald Trump will certainly proclaim victory because some of his candidates did do well. But I think overall the party will be wondering, is there too much Trumpian influence right now and can we do anything about that?

Annmarie Fertoli: Of course, this comes with the backdrop of the expected announcement from Trump later this month believed to be that he will run again. But what do the results mean for his viability as a candidate potentially in 2024, or might there be a new standard bearer for the party?

Jerry Seib: Well, he's still very viable and we shouldn't kid ourselves about that. He's still clearly the most popular force within the party, supported by more people as a potential presidential candidate in 2024. But I think the meaning of last night for the rest of the party is that the door is open for a challenge to Donald Trump that people will question whether he can deliver. He did lose in 2020 and some of his most high profile choices aren't doing well in this midterm election. Is there a more viable candidate? And that obviously is going to have people turning to Ron DeSantis, the newly reelected governor of Florida, who had a smashing victory and who has kind of set himself up as the alternative to Donald Trump. I think that a better night for Donald Trump might have made people think there's no point in challenging him in a 2024 primary. That's not going to be the thinking I believe after this midterm election.

Annmarie Fertoli: Jerry, let's talk about the Democrats. They could still lose at least one chamber of Congress. Broadly speaking, what do the results tell us about the party and the candidates they're putting forward and how they might change their messaging?

Jerry Seib: Well, I think that one of the things they will be asking themselves is whether they should have had a better clear economic message earlier. The night was pretty good for them, but it could have been better perhaps if they had a better answer to the question of, how are you going to address inflation, the number one economic concern for Americans, clearly the dominant issue in this campaign on the economic side. Did we really have a correct, good response to voters' concerns about that? Should we have focused on that more? Did we focus too much on the abortion issue? In the wake of the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade in the Supreme Court this summer, there was a big burst of enthusiasm for Democrats as the party that would protect a woman's right to choose. I think some Democrats will wonder, did we focus on that too much at the expense of developing a better economic message? The counter to that among Democrats is going to be, look, without the enthusiasm and the energy that was provided by the abortion issue, particularly among women voters and including suburban women and, in some cases, Republican leaning suburban women, we would not have had as good a night. I think that's going to be the debate within the Democratic Party. And the question now for President Biden is, do I move toward the center? Because it is likely Republicans will control the House. They may control both chambers. Will he do what Bill Clinton did after the 1994 midterm when he lost control of the House and tacked to the center and become a triangulator? That will be a source of great anxiety and anger in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party if that's the course that President Biden takes. He has a big decision facing him. What direction does he head after this election?

Annmarie Fertoli: Right. Are we getting the message from voters that they're looking more for centrist candidates from both parties here?

Jerry Seib: Well, I think that's a really important point, and that may be when the dust finally settles what people will decide on here. I think a lot of the results yesterday were a statement in favor of moving back toward the center, of choosing people who are more conventional candidates, and trying to basically stay out of the partisan ditch on each side a little bit more. Maybe the message, and I think this would be a healthy message to politicians in Washington from both parties maybe, that, well, maybe people are getting tired of the fierce partisanship, the dig in and win at all costs, never compromise messages, and maybe they're looking for something different. I think that may be the most important message to both parties that comes out of this. It will affect the way they govern and also affect the way they think about 2024 and also could affect the kinds of candidates they put forward in the future.

Annmarie Fertoli: I've been speaking with Jerry Seib, resident fellow at the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas and The Wall Street Journal's former executive Washington editor. Jerry, always great to have you and your analysis. Thanks so much for joining me.

Jerry Seib: Hey, thanks for having me.

Annmarie Fertoli: And finally, the tech sector has had a growing number of layoffs in recent weeks. As we reported earlier in the show, Facebook parent Meta is cutting 11,000 jobs, and we've seen tech companies like Twitter, Lyft, and Salesforce also making cuts. Still, the overall job market has remained strong, but forecasts of slower growth have stoked fears that more employers may slash their payrolls. In the event that you find yourself on the wrong side of a pink slip, Wall Street Journal Deputy Bureau Chief Vanessa Fuhrmans has some advice.

Vanessa Fuhrmans: The first thing you should do is look at what kind of separation this is. That's often more important than the reason your company is letting you go. You could have been furloughed, which is something we saw happen a lot in the early stages of the pandemic. You could be laid off or permanently terminated. The big difference between all of these is whether you will have the option to continue your healthcare. If you've been furloughed, usually your benefits and healthcare continue until you return officially back to work. If you are laid off or fired, ask whether you will receive severance pay, as well as how you will be compensated for any unused vacation days. In many cases, severance isn't required by law, but a lot of companies have established policies for offering it. A typical formula is giving the laid off or fired employee one or two weeks of pay for each year of service, but this is up for negotiation and you should negotiate it.

Annmarie Fertoli: Another tip from Vanessa, make an announcement on LinkedIn. Your network will notice and may offer to spread the word that you're looking for work. And that's What's News for this Wednesday afternoon. We'll be back tomorrow morning. If you like what you hear, please rate and review us. I'm Annmarie Fertoli for The Wall Street Journal.