Despite Republicans losing control of both chambers of US Congress in Tuesday’s decisive US midterm elections, and voters across the country expressing frustration with key pillars of Trump’s controversial agenda, from the Iran war to sweeping tariffs, the administration appears set to press ahead. The US president’s hardline aide, Stephen Miller, will
begin as White House chief of staff on Monday. He will also meet with Dana White, CEO and president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, after
offering him the job of press secretary.
Miller’s promotion has stoked expectations that Trump is poised to double down on an aggressive immigration crackdown, stoke cultural war battles, and refuse concessions to the new Democratic majority in Congress. The move “signals the administration is going to have a fighting-from-a-bunker approach the last two years”, Dan Eberhart, a Trump donor and energy executive, told Reuters. Trump abruptly announced on Saturday that he had offered White, whom he described as “a violent Fighter and Warrior”, the role of White House press secretary, which he’s already turned down, which has been largely vacant since Karoline Leavitt
departed the administration this summer. Leavitt initial replacement, Katie Zacharia,
lasted five days in the job. During his first term, Trump went through four press secretaries also.
Trump poised to double down on immigration crackdown and refuse concessions to new Democratic majority in Congress
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After Trump also threatened Democrats planning to conduct oversight of his administration and family, announcing he had ordered the
US Trump Department of Justice to “look into” them, attorney general Todd Blanche told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday that “
there could be” investigations. Republicans have faced “dangerous” threats, Blanche claimed, without specifying what crimes he believed had been committed. “You have to draw the line.” Democrats have made clear that Miller and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a close Trump ally, are likely to be targets of congressional investigations once the party retakes control of Congress in January.
Representative Jamie Raskin, poised to become the chair of the House judiciary committee, has also requested information on the business dealings of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and son Donald Trump Jr. Democratic lawmakers are likely to make Rubio a top target for oversight and other hearings in the new Congress — grilling him on the Iran war, legally questionable
strikes on alleged drug boats, deals
related to Venezuelan oil and more, according to a House Democratic aide and a Senate Democratic aide familiar with the discussions.
The secretary of State will find it hard to flee the toxic issue of the Iran war.
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Vice President JD Vance released
a statement blaming the Iran war as the main reason for the loss. Outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ran for president in 2024, gave a
lengthy interview in which he criticized Trump policies and said the midterms were an “extinction-level” event for the party.
Senate Republicans returning to the Capitol on Monday are furious with President Trump, whom they blame for last week’s big losses in Senate and House races.
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One senior Senate Republican aide predicted that GOP senators and the broader party will begin to shift away from Trump over the next year. “We need somebody who can work together with people, who doesn’t just try to divide — who is focused on real issues that people care about that are of importance versus stupid little internet memes, which it seems like Trump and [Vice President JD] Vance are more focused on now,” the aide argued.
