What awaits Republicans’ narrow House majority: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the latest reporting and analysis from the NBC News politics 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” host Kristen Welker looks back and compares the recent Trump Cabinet announcements to the present.

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Democrats gained ‘enthusiastic’ voters but struggled with other voters in 2024

Written by Mark Murray

Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party have persuaded frequent voters and committed voters to support them in the 2024 presidential election.

Their problem: They lost to almost everyone else.

According to NBC News’ final poll for the 2024 election, 76% of registered voters said they closely monitor public affairs and politics. Among this group, the poll showed Harris winning by 5 points over Donald Trump (52% to 47%).

But among the remaining quarter of voters who said they weren’t interested in politics, Trump held a significant 14-point lead (54% to 40%).

These disengaged voters are disproportionately younger, more Republican, and less likely to have a college degree. NBC News exit polls show that across all voter groups, election results earlier this month showed Democrats struggling, especially compared to past presidential elections.

After the 2024 loss, Democratic strategists told NBC News that the party needs to better communicate with these disengaged voters and avoid falling into a bubble.

“One of the main lessons from this cycle is that Democrats are doing a lot of work on how they reach out to voters,” said Democratic strategist Christina Freundlich. . “We lost the persuasion game.”

Steve Scheer, a veteran Florida-based Democratic strategist who worked on Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and a super PAC supporting Joe Biden in the 2020 campaign, has criticized the party. I take it even more seriously.

“We don’t have a real messenger,” he said. “We are avoiding the communication channels where many of these voters get their information.

“And, whether fair or not, our brand among many voters is defined by our party’s most extreme voices,” Scheer continued, adding that Sen. John Fetterman and others reiterated a point he made recently.

Republicans push through huge spending bill aiming for slim House majority

Written by Sahil Kapoor, Saida Asghar, Ryan Nobles, Kyle Stewart

Congress faces a Dec. 20 deadline to fund the government and avoid a shutdown, with Speaker Mike Johnson saying House Republicans will probably push the fight to early 2025 rather than reaching a full-year funding deal by the end of the year. It is said that it will be postponed to.

“Time is running out. December 20th is the deadline. We are still hopeful that we might be able to achieve that, but if not, we will take temporary measures in the first half of next year. “I think it’s going to give us the time we need to get this done,” Republican Johnson, R-Louisiana, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

That would extend the deadline to the beginning of President-elect Donald Trump’s second term. By then, Republicans will maintain a narrow House majority and wrest control of the Senate from Democrats, giving them authority over federal funds for the remainder of the fiscal year, but the government funding bill will require 60 votes in the Senate. Standards apply. , Republican leaders have vowed to keep it that way.

“Ultimately, that would be a good move because the country would benefit from it, because it would give Republicans control and give us a little bit more say in what’s in the spending bill,” Johnson said. ” he said.

That’s another challenge the slim House Republican majority will have to grapple with early next year. NBC News predicts that Republicans will take control of the House, but five races have not yet been called, and so far there has been a net gain of zero seats compared to before the election. There is some room for variation depending on the situation.

But that’s before considering the resignation of former Rep. Matt Gaetz and the upcoming departures of Rep. Elise Stefanik and Rep. Mike Walz, all three of whom were elected to positions in the Trump administration. It’s a story. (The timing of that is not yet clear.) And remember, the criteria for passing a vote in the House is always based on attendance, so an illness or family emergency won’t affect that day’s vote. This means that the vote-counting process for both sides could be complicated. Given how tight the margins are.

The remaining House Republicans will need to muster a different level of unity than they have been able to achieve in recent years to move the party’s legislative agenda.

Trump administration transition monitoring

The House Ethics Committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss a report on Gaetz, President Trump’s nominee for attorney general, following the recent conclusion of an ethics investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use. . A lawyer for former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, admits he paid an undisclosed amount to a woman who accused him of sexual assault, but claims the woman lied. did. Trump announced his selection of Brendan Carr as deputy secretary of state. Become Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Carr, the committee’s top Republican, also wrote the “Project 2025” chapter on regulators. Johnson on Sunday left the door open for Congress to prorogate, allowing President Trump to appoint Cabinet nominees without going through the normal Senate confirmation process if necessary.

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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