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    • Congress prepares for the fights of 2025
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    Congress prepares for the fights of 2025

    Umito Posted on

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    WASHINGTON — Republicans won’t take full control of Congress until January, but lawmakers on both sides have returned to a new status quo. Capitol this week. Republican leaders are preparing to embrace President-elect Donald Trump’s priorities — and Democrats are widening their 2024 losses.

    As the sun’s rays hit the marble steps of the Capitol Wednesday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., stood behind a white podium with the words “New Day” printed in bright red letters. The sunny weather, Johnson said, was a “reflection” of how Republicans were feeling.

    “We’re going to raise an ‘America First’ banner over this place,” he said. The speaker said he had a mandate to implement Trump’s agenda after the president-elect’s quick defeat. Vice President Kamala Harris In the race for the White House, Republicans retained control of the House and flipped enough seats to capture the Senate.

    The trio gives the GOP considerable power to enact major policy changes next year. Johnson, for example, told a crowd of supporters on the campaign trail last month that there would be “no Obamacare” and “massive health care reform” if Republicans controlled the White House. , the Senate and the House of Representatives.

    Democrats, meanwhile, largely dodged questions upon returning to Washington about how they plan to move forward.

    “It’s only day one, so let’s put that aside,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., joked on Capitol Hill Tuesday night.

    Rep. Jared Golden, R-Maine, who was re-elected in a district that also supported Trumpadvised his colleagues to “breathe deeply.” He called on his fellow Democrats to avoid rushing to predict their losses as lawmakers return to the nation’s capital after spending more than a month in their districts.

    Others on the left who won close elections in swing states have given limited advice to their colleagues on how to regain voters’ trust.

    Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., who narrowly won reelection margin 49.4% to 48.5%, in battleground won by Trump, suggests Democrats need to listen to voters of all backgrounds — and not exclude any potential supporters ahead of the 2026 midterm elections .

    “Show up everywhere: red counties, purple counties, blue counties,” she said.

    The Republicans are preparing for a trifecta

    Republicans have not hesitated to explain their agenda for the second Trump administration.

    Enthusiasm within the party soared Wednesday morning when Trump appeared at the House Republican conference meeting, greeting fellow lawmakers in a hotel ballroom and telling them it was “nice to win”.

    Members beamed as they entered the lobby of the Hyatt Regency en route to the Capitol building, a few blocks away, after listening to Trump’s speech. Many said they were eager to greenlight the president-elect’s agenda.

    Rep. Troy Nehls, Democrat of Texas, wore a red Trump tie and $399 gold Trump-branded sneakers. “Everyone here should be smiling,” he said, with a smile on his face. Nehls argued that Republicans must embrace “every word” of Trump’s mission.

    “A lot of hard work has gone into this election cycle. People were very, very happy with it … and just took a little victory lap,” said Rep. Byron Donalds, Democrat of Florida, one of Trump’s most loyal supporters in Congress.

    Regarding political priorities, GOP lawmakers told USA TODAY they are still ironing out the details, but they highlighted plans that reflect Trump’s main talking points on the campaign trail: strengthening border security, cutting taxes and remove environmental regulations in an effort to reduce energy costs like some. of their first priorities.

    For starters, the Republican trio could pave the way for Trump to appoint any cabinet picks he wants.

    The former president has already put forward a series of loyal senators and House members for positions in his next administration — including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as secretary of state; Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., as attorney general and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. as ambassador to the United Nations. He also proposed creating a Department of Government Effectiveness led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, although it is unclear whether the new initiative would require Senate confirmation .

    DOGE has received widespread praise from House Republicans. But Democrats didn’t mock Trump’s choices at all.

    Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., welcomed Rubio’s nomination. Warner, who works with Rubio on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told USA TODAY that his colleague was a “very wise choice” shortly before Trump officially announced Rubio.

    Other candidates – notably Gaetz – have received more pushback, and not just from Democrats.. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a more moderate Republican, told reporters she was “shocked” by his appointment to the Justice Department, which had previously investigated Gaetz for sex trafficking.

    Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said the Florida Republican would have “a lot of work” to win Senate confirmation.

    “We have 53 members, not one Democrat that’s going to vote for him,” Tillis said, referring to the 60-vote threshold in the Senate that a candidate would have to clear. out. But I’m sure this will confirm that I’m eating popcorn.

    Contributors: Riley Beggin, Savannah Kuchar and Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY

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