Week in politics: Democrats plan for the next Congress, Trump's new Chief of Staff : NPR

Democrats plans for the next Congress, where they’ll hold significant majorities in both chambers.
Meanwhile, President Trump signals his plans by promoting Stephen Miller as his new Chief of Staff.

Transcript

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

The midterms were chock full of surprises.

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

JAMES TALARICO: We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas.

(CHEERING)

ABDUL EL-SAYED: My name is Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed.

(CHEERING)

EL-SAYED: And I am so proud and honored to stand here as your senator-elect from the great state of Michigan.

(CHEERING)

KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS: And no matter who you voted for tonight, I will be a governor for all of Georgia.

(CHEERING)

RASCOE: That’s Keisha Lance Bottoms, who will become the country’s first Black female governor. Some other surprises – the senators-elect from Michigan and Texas, Abdul El-Sayed and James Talarico, just three of the many Democrats who gave victory speeches last week. NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson is with us now. Good morning, Mara.

MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Good morning.

RASCOE: Can you put this Democratic sweep into perspective?

LIASSON: It’s the biggest shift in power since the 1974 elections right after Watergate. There’s still more than a dozen races in the House left to be called, but the Democrats could have as big as an 80-seat majority in the House next January. And in the Senate, they have 54 seats now, but Mississippi and Alaska are still left to be called, and that could end up being 56 seats. Democrats also won up and down the ballot in red states. Texas was the most dramatic example of that – the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state lawmakers.

There are also six new Democratic state trifectas. That means that Democrats will control both legislative chambers and the governor’s mansion in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Those are big states that are important for the 2028 presidential elections.

And if that doesn’t convince you of the scope of the wins, just consider what some Republicans said about it. Texas senator said – Ted Cruz called it a Watergate-level repudiation. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called it close to an extinction-level event for Republicans. And one of the most descriptive lines came from Henry Olsen of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in a column for The Washington Post, where he wrote, the midterms were not just an earthquake, they were a continent-wide rupture of the Earth’s crust, allowing molten lava to spill out across the nation and burn Republican bastions to the ground.

RASCOE: Well, that is quite the image.

LIASSON: (laughter).

RASCOE: So what happened to the voters who broke for Trump in 2024?

LIASSON: Well, the Trump coalition fell apart and turned back to Democrats. The groups that had moved toward him in 2024 – Latinos were the biggest swing – moved back to the Democrats. White non-college voters, young Black men, especially in the once-solid Republican South, African American voters, who are angry like everyone else about the war and the economy, were particularly angry that the Supreme Court had weakened the Voting Rights Act and allowed Republicans to gerrymander away congressional districts long held by Black representatives. Those voters turned out in huge numbers, even better than in the 2024 presidential election.

RASCOE: OK. So with the incoming Congress, what does the Democratic Caucus look like? And what are they saying that they will do?

LIASSON: Well, yeah. You know, there was a lot made this year about left-wing candidates winning, and the Democratic Socialists of America did increase their numbers in the House from four to eight. But they were not the majority makers. The majority makers were centrist Democrats who won in red states and rural places.

And Hakeem Jeffries, who’s poised to be the next House speaker, said he expects the caucus to work together to try to find the, quote, “highest common denominator.” And he has the gift of a big majority, so he won’t be beholden to any one group inside the Democratic ranks the way Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was because he only had a three-seat majority.

Democrats say what they want to do is focus first on affordability, pass bills that will lower prices for Americans on housing, healthcare, food, gas – hope that Trump will sign them.

Second priority is accountability. There are going to be a lot of investigations. Democrats want to tell a story about the connection between high prices and corruption.

RASCOE: And how has the president been taking all of this?

LIASSON: Well, Donald Trump says different things at different times, as he often does. But he has said he’s willing to work with Democrats to make deals. But if they can’t agree, he’ll become Mr. Veto.

But he’s also done something that better communicates how he’s planning to go forward. He promoted Stephen Miller to be his new chief of staff. Miller is the deputy chief of staff now, and he has promoted the hardest of hard lines on any number of issues, primarily mass deportations. He believes in unchecked executive power. And by choosing Miller, Trump is showing that he is ready for a lot of confrontation with an opposition Congress.

RASCOE: That’s NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Thank you so much.

LIASSON: You’re welcome.

Accuracy and availability of transcripts for NPR programming may vary. Transcript text may also be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Please note that NPR platforms and products also include some programming produced by third parties; NPR cannot guarantee transcripts for that content and some transcripts may be produced using automated or other tools.

Source: www.npr.org