House Republicans are more aligned with President Trump than ever: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online edition of From the Politics Desk, our evening newsletter that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News political team from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.

In today’s edition, national political reporter Ben Kamisar examines how House Republicans are increasingly aligned with Donald Trump. In addition, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker looks back at the latest Trump Cabinet announcements and the current situation.

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House Republicans are more aligned with President Trump than ever before

Written by Ben Kamisar

President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Party believe the United States gave them a mandate when it handed over unified control of Washington to the party last week. And the balance of power between the House and Senate shows how much easier it is for President Trump to pass his agenda in the House than in the Senate.

Roughly two-thirds of the House Republican majority that will take office next year (until final election results are announced by the NBC News decision desk) have been in Congress since 2017. For these party members, they only know a world where Trump is the party’s leader.

“If Donald Trump says jump 3 feet high and scratch your head, we’ll all jump 3 feet high and scratch our heads. That’s it,” said Rep. Troy Neals, R-S.C. , Texas) told my colleague Kyle Stewart on Wednesday. “He is the greatest man since sliced ​​bread.”

It’s unclear how many seats House Republicans will actually win. House Republicans are expected to maintain a narrow majority once the crisis is over, but President Trump has only complicated the situation with plans to nominate a handful of House Republicans to serve in his administration.

Although the current Republican majority in the House is much smaller than it was at the beginning of his first term, President Trump will be working with a much more flexible group of Republicans this time around, as well as the Speaker of the House, whom he considers an ally. Probably.

It won’t be quite the same in the Senate, where Republicans will have a two- or three-seat majority (depending on the Pennsylvania outcome). Newly elected Senate Republican leader John Thune is certainly not an opponent of President Trump, but he is a descendant of the institutional Republican Party.

And while the Senate Republican Conference has moved more toward Trump over the years, a majority of the new senators began their terms before Trump took office. And a handful of people before Trump had served in the House of Representatives, but not in the Senate.

Contributing to this trend is the fact that senators are elected for six-year terms, compared to two years in the House of Representatives.

The move is noteworthy, especially as Senate Republicans begin to scrutinize President Trump’s Cabinet appointments.

Trump administration cabinet picks: then and now

Written by Kristen Welker

On last Sunday’s “Meet the Press,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said he looks forward to seeing Senate Republicans “move quickly” on President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments, and that he hopes to do so. President Trump said, “We will be able to begin full-scale operations in January next year.” 20. ”

Barrasso wasn’t kidding.

This week alone, more than 60 days before Inauguration Day, Trump has already made top picks for the State Department (Marco Rubio), the Justice Department (Matt Gaetz), the Pentagon (Pete Hegseth), and the Department of Health and Human Services. Other positions such as Announcer (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), Department of the Interior (Doug Burgum), and Director of National Intelligence (Tulsi Gabbard).

This is a sharp contrast from Trump’s first term, during the same period in 2016, when he was still considering Cabinet options. (Remember that Trump Tower interview from eight years ago?)

Another difference from eight years ago is how many people were selected from the establishment cabinet at the time – James Mattis for the Pentagon, John Kelly for the Department of Homeland Security, even Jeff for Attorney General. How many people, even Mr. Sessions, have been replaced by outsiders like Mr. Hegseth and RFK. junior

But what hasn’t really changed is the frenzied news cycle and flood of social media announcements that have accompanied Trump’s return to office. It’s just happening much faster than it was eight years ago.

Regarding current picks, Trump is thoroughly testing Republican senators to see if they will break with him on more controversial picks, such as Gates and RFK Jr.

And there was some Republican pushback against Mr. Gaetz, for example, which is exactly the same move that Mr. Trump had talked about and indicated he would make during the campaign about reforming the Justice Department.

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said this week that what Trump wants is to carry a “torch” to the Justice Department, and he sees Gates as that “torch.”

And this is important. While many senators have expressed skepticism about Gaetz, at least for now, not a single Republican senator has said they won’t vote for him.

Trump transition monitoring

Here’s the latest news and updates on who President-elect Donald Trump has chosen to serve in his cabinet and other key advisory roles.

Chairman Mike Johnson “strongly urges” the House Ethics Committee not to release a report detailing its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), President Trump’s nominee for attorney general. Then he said. Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, was investigated for an alleged sexual assault at a California hotel in 2017. Police said they hosted a rally for Republican women on Friday. President Trump’s choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services received mixed reviews from the senators needed to support Trump’s confirmation. Democrats and good-government groups are skeptical about how much influence Trump’s outside advisory board, chaired by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, could influence the state of government spending and the federal workforce. Become. Trump announced that he would nominate Todd Blanche, a criminal defense attorney, to be deputy attorney general. Trump then announced that he had chosen his predecessor. Representative Doug Collins (R-Ga.), an Iraq War veteran, will head up the Department of Veterans Affairs.

That’s all from the political desk. If you have any feedback, love it or hate it, email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com.

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