Virginia Foxx to be only woman leading House committees in 119th Congress
Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx, 81, was tapped by House Speaker Mike Johnson to serve as the chairwoman of the powerful House Rules Committee, two GOP sources told ABC News, becoming the only woman to lead a House committee in the 119th Congress.
The House GOP conference voted to approve Foxx’s selection during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.
“For two decades, Dr. Foxx has been a stalwart in the House and a leader in multiple policy areas,” Johnson said in a statement. “Her drive and personality have established her as among the most universally respected members of our Republican Conference. Dr. Foxx is an example of how Members should serve, and our Conference will benefit greatly with her at the helm of the influential Rules Committee.”
The Rules Committee is the last stop for big-ticket legislation before it can hit the House floor for a vote. Several Republicans urged Johnson to appoint Texas Rep. Chip Roy, who often bucks leadership, to lead the committee to ensure he’d win the gavel. Meanwhile, Foxx is a staunch supporter of Johnson and getting his priorities passed through the House.
“I feel very humbled,” Foxx told ABC News. “It’s going to be a tough session, but I’m committed to helping make it work.”
“From securing our southern border, to unleashing American energy, to fighting to lower Bidenflation, and making our communities safe again, our Committee Chairs are ready to get to work fulfilling the American people’s mandate and enacting President Trump’s America-First agenda,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in announcing the list of chairs, who were selected by the House Republican Steering Committee. “House Republicans are heading into the 119th Congress prepared to address the issues most important to hardworking Americans and fight for meaningful legislative wins.
“I look forward to working with these strong leaders and their Committees to advance President Trump’s priorities and deliver the American people the government they voted for in November,” he added.
Three Republican women led House committees in the 118th Congress: Texas Rep. Kay Granger chaired the Appropriations Committee, Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers chaired the Energy and Commerce Committee and Foxx chaired the Education and the Workforce Committee.
Neither Granger nor McMorris Rodgers ran for reelection in 2024, though Foxx did earn an 11th term in office. Foxx, 81, had been granted a waiver to lead the Education and the Workforce Committee in the 118th Congress beyond the six-year term limits the House GOP imposes, and she did not request an additional waiver. She had served as chairwoman in the 115th Congress, as well as ranking member in the 116th and the 117th. Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg will take over the chairmanship of the Education and the Workforce Committee instead.
“Chairmen of committees are very important positions, but we really do engage all the membership,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week ahead of the selections. “We have extraordinary women serving in Congress and in the Republican Conference. In fact, we elected some really strong women in the upcoming freshmen class.
“We value those voices. And everybody has an equal say at the table,” he noted. “These are thoughtful elections. We have an embarrassment of riches, frankly.”
Florida Rep. Brian Mast, a close Trump ally, will lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan will continue to lead the Judiciary Committee, Kentucky Rep. James Comer will continue to lead the Oversight Committee and Missouri Rep. Jason Smith will continue to lead the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
“Very fitting in the MAGA Era – No Women Need Apply,” former Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock, a Republican, posted ahead of the final selections in December when no women had been selected.
The Republican Party will have a trifecta after Trump’s inauguration with control of the House, Senate, and White House, but the razor-thin majority of 220 Republicans to 215 Democrats in the House will leave little room for dissent, especially with two members of the House GOP set to be nominated for posts in the Trump administration and the resignation of Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.
“After four years of suffering under the radical policies of the Biden-Harris Administration and a Democrat-controlled Senate, the American people made clear they are ready for a change,” Scalise added. “With Republicans taking control of the White House, Senate, and House, it is imperative we are in position to move President Trump’s agenda efficiently and thoughtfully so we can quickly restore our nation to greatness.”
ABC News’ John Parkinson contributed to this report.
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead. Via Flickr
(WASHINGTON) — After a sweeping victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5, President-elect Donald Trump is now set to become just the second ever to serve nonconsecutive terms in office.
Trump has wasted no time in moving to assemble his team for a second term in the White House — naming Susie Wiles as his chief of staff and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.N. ambassador, among other positions.
Inauguration Day is Jan. 20.
November 12, 2024, 7:59 PM EST – Gov. Kristi Noem picked for Homeland Security secretary
Trump confirmed he has picked South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to be his Homeland Security secretary.
Trump said in a statement that Noem will work closely with “border czar” Tom Homan and “will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries.”
The role requires Senate confirmation.
November 12, 2024, 7:47 PM EST – Trump announces Department of Government Efficiency led by Musk, Ramaswamy
Trump has announced that billionaire Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate and ally of the president-elect, will lead a new Department of Government Efficiency.
“Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” Trump said in a statement.
The Department of Government Efficiency is not a new government agency. Trump said it will “provide advice and guidance from outside of government” and “partner” with the White House and Office of Management and Budget to drive structural government reform.
Trump has previously said Musk would take a role in his administration as head of a new “government efficiency commission.”
November 12, 2024, 7:27 PM EST – Trump nominates Pete Hegseth for defense secretary
Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth to be his defense secretary.
Hegseth is currently a host of “Fox & Friends” as well as an Army combat veteran.
“Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy,” Trump said in a statement.
The role requires Senate confirmation.
November 12, 2024, 5:57 PM EST – Trump picks John Ratcliffe for CIA director
Trump announced that John Ratcliffe is his pick for director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
The role requires Senate confirmation.
Ratcliffe was a former director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term.
“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, adding that Ratcliffe “will be a fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans.”
November 12, 2024, 5:55 PM EST – Trump names attorney Bill McGinley as his White House counsel
Trump has named attorney Bill McGinley as his White House counsel, his transition team announced.
McGinley served as the White House Cabinet secretary during Trump’s first term and has served as general counsel at the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“Bill is a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement,” Trump said in a statement.
The White House counsel is appointed by the president.
November 12, 2024, 5:27 PM EST – Trump taps friend and donor Steve Witkoff as special envoy to the Middle East
Trump has tapped his longtime friend and donor Steve Witkoff as his special envoy to the Middle East, the president-elect’s transition team announced.
Witkoff, along with former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, has been leading the inauguration efforts.
Witkoff has held multiple fundraisers for Trump throughout the election cycle and accompanied him to numerous campaign rallies. He was also golfing with Trump during the alleged second assassination attempt in West Palm Beach earlier this year.
-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim, Kelsey Walsh and Lalee Ibssa
November 12, 2024, 4:42 PM EST – Trump expected to tap Kristi Noem for DHS secretary: Sources
Trump is expected to soon announce he has chosen South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as his next secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, according to sources.
The role requires Senate confirmation.
Noem was on the short-list to be Trump’s running mate, but her chances dimmed as she fended off controversy over accounts in her book about killing her dog that she claimed was showing aggressive behavior.
She also faced backlash after her spokesperson said a claim she made about meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and an account of an interaction with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley were “errors.”
She is a loyal Trump ally who will work closely with Trump’s new border czar Tom Homan and new deputy chief of staff for policy, Stephen Miller. CNN was first to report the news of Noem as the secretary pick.
-ABC News’ Jonathan Karl. Rachel Scott, Katherine Faulders and Luke Barr
November 12, 2024, 3:25 PM EST – DeSantis must call for special elections to fill Waltz’s impending vacancy
To replace Florida Rep. Mike Waltz in the U.S. House following his selection to serve as Trump’s national security adviser, state statute requires Gov. Ron DeSantis to call for a special primary and then a special election in Florida.
The special elections to fill the House seat differ from Florida’s way of filling Senate seats. State law mandates that DeSantis appoint an individual to fill any Senate vacancy.
Waltz currently represents Florida’s solidly red 6th Congressional District, one that hasn’t been represented by a Democrat since 1989. DeSantis himself was the congressmember for the northeastern Florida seat ahead of Waltz.
ABC News has not yet reported a projection for who will have control of the House, but Waltz’s impending vacancy could impact Republicans’ numbers as they head toward a GOP “trifecta” in Washington.
-ABC News’ Isabella Murray
November 12, 2024, 2:01 PM EST – Trump nominates Mike Huckabee to be Israeli ambassador
Trump announced he has nominated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel.
“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years,” Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”
The role, which will need to be confirmed by the Senate, will be a key appointment as tensions remain high in the Middle East.
November 12, 2024, 1:37 PM EST – Trump officially announces Waltz as national security adviser pick
Trump has officially announced his appointment of Florida Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security adviser.
The president-elect highlighted Waltz’s military background in a statement on the appointment, noting that he is the first Green Beret to have been elected to Congress and served in the Army Special Forces for 27 years.
“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!” Trump said in a statement.
The national security adviser is appointed by the president without confirmation by the Senate.
-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim, Kelsey Walsh and Lalee Ibssa
November 12, 2024, 11:50 AM EST – Will Trump’s administration picks impact House control?
While control of the House has not yet been projected by ABC News, Republicans are inching toward maintaining their slim majority.
But already, Trump has picked several lawmakers to serve in his administration: Rep. Elise Stefanik for United Nations ambassador and Rep. Mike Waltz for national security adviser.
Speaker Mike Johnson, asked about the issue on Tuesday, said he’s spoken to Trump about it several times.
“We have a really talented Republican Congress … Many of them can serve in important positions in the new administration. But President Trump fully understands, appreciates the math here and it’s just a numbers game,” Johnson said. “You know, we believe we’re going to have a larger majority than we had last time.”
The speaker added: “I don’t expect that we will have more members leaving, but I’ll leave that up to him.”
November 12, 2024, 11:39 AM EST – Billionaire John Paulson says he’s not a candidate for Treasury role
Billionaire John Paulson said Tuesday he does not plan to formally join the administration as the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, though he said he intends to remain actively involved with Trump’s economic team.
“Although various media outlets have mentioned me as a candidate for Secretary of the Treasury, my complex financial obligations would prevent me from holding an official position in President Trump’s administration at this time,” Paulson said in a statement.
“However, I intend to remain actively involved with the President’s economic team and helping in the implementation of President Trump’s outstanding policy proposals,” he added.
-ABC News’ Beatrice Peterson
November 12, 2024, 11 AM EST – Johnson teases Trump visit to the Capitol
House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that Trump is expected to visit the U.S. Capitol to celebrate a potential Republicans “trifecta” on Wednesday morning before he sits down in the Oval Office with President Joe Biden later in the day.
“Well, I’ll say I didn’t intend to break this as news this morning,” Johnson quipped as he held a press conference with House Republican leadership.
“He wanted to come and visit with House Republicans, so we’re working out the details of him gathering with us potentially tomorrow morning, before he goes to the White House,” Johnson said. “And that would be a great meeting and a moment for all of us, there’s a lot of excitement, a lot of energy here. We’re really grateful for President Trump leaving it all on the field to get reelected.”
ABC News’ John Parkinson, Isabella Murray and Lauren Peller
November 12, 2024, 11 AM EST – House Republican leadership say they’re ready for Day 1 under Trump
Returning to Washington on Tuesday, Speaker Mike Johnson and other top House Republicans took a victory lap on last week’s election results.
While ABC News has not yet projected House control, Republicans are three seats away from clinching the 218 needed for a majority.
Johnson said they are monitoring outstanding races closely but are confident they will have a “unified” government come January.
“This leadership will hit the ground running to deliver President Trump’s agenda in the 119th Congress, and we will work closely with him and his administration to turn this country around and unleash, as he says, a new golden age in America,” Johnson said at a press conference on the Capitol steps.
November 11, 2024, 11:22 PM EST – Trump’s new ‘border czar’ issues warning to sanctuary states and cities
President-elect Donald Trump’s newly picked “border czar” Tom Homan addressed his forthcoming deportation plan and state leaders who have objected to sweeping immigration policies.
During an appearance on Fox News on Monday, Homan issued a warning to so-called “sanctuary” states and cities to “get the hell out of the way” of the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans.
“I saw today numerous governors from sanctuary states saying they’re going to step in the way. They better get the hell out of the way. Either you help us or get the hell out of the way, because ICE is going to do their job,” he warned, referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where he formerly served as director.
“I’ll double the workforce in that sanctuary city. We’re going to do our job despite the politics. We’re doing it. So get used to it, because we’re coming,” Homan said.
When asked if he plans to deport American citizens, Homan said, “President Trump has made it clear we will prioritize public safety threats and national security threats first, and that’s how the focus would be.”
-ABC News’ Soo Rin Kim
November 11, 2024, 8:48 PM EST – Trump expected to tap Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state: Sources
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to announce his intention to nominate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for secretary of state, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Rubio, 53, has served in the Senate since 2011. He is currently the vice chair of the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Intelligence, and he also sits on the chamber’s Foreign Relations Committee.
Several long-serving State Department officials tell ABC News they respect Rubio’s extensive foreign policy experience and view him as unlikely to overly politicize the secretary of state role.
The secretary of state is appointed by the president with the consent of the Senate.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Shannon Kingston
November 11, 2024, 7:00 PM EST – Trump asks Rep. Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser: Sources
Trump has asked Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., to be his national security adviser, multiple sources said.
Waltz was at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, sources said.
Waltz is a former Green Beret and China hawk who emerged as a key surrogate for Trump, criticizing the Biden-Harris foreign policy record during the campaign.
The Florida Republican sits on the Intelligence, Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees.
He has supported aid to Ukraine in the past but has demanded “conditions,” including increased spending from European allies, additional oversight of funds and pairing the aid with border security measures.
Waltz, who has visited Ukraine, was a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s policy towards Ukraine, criticizing the White House and allies for not providing Ukraine with more lethal aid — such as MiG fighter planes — earlier in the conflict.
Before running for elected office, Waltz served in various national security policy roles in the Bush administration, Pentagon and White House.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Benjamin Siegel, John Santucci and Katherine Faulders
November 11, 2024, 6:06 PM EST – Volunteer-run effort on RFK Jr.’s website crowd-sourcing ideas for Trump admin appointments
A volunteer-run effort on Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s website has begun crowd-sourcing ideas for appointments in Trump’s administration.
A website titled “Nominees for the People” gives anyone the chance to submit names of people they’d like to see join the administration.
“President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. want your help nominating people of integrity and courage for over 4,000 appointments across the future Trump administration,” the website reads.
Stefanie Spear, a Kennedy spokeswoman, told ABC News that the crowd-sourcing effort is “a grassroots initiative run by volunteers,” and is not actually spearheaded by Kennedy, although the page uses the “mahanow.org” URL that Kennedy’s official campaign website adopted after he exited the race.
“We’ve always offered space on our website to our grassroots movement,” Spear said.
This post has been updated to reflect that the crowd-sourcing effort is a volunteer-run effort.
-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik
November 11, 2024, 5:55 PM EST – Trump’s ‘border czar’ says mass deportation strategy will be a main priority
Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan, Trump’s newly announced “border czar,” said his main priority will be overseeing and formulating Trump’s long-vowed mass deportation strategy while consolidating decisions related to border security.
“Everybody talks about this mass deportation operation. President Trump talks about. I’ll oversee that and come up with a strategy for that,” Homan said during a lengthy interview with his hometown television station WWNY on Monday.
Homan said Trump’s mass deportations is “going to be a targeted enforcement operation, concentrating on criminals and national security threats first.”
He acknowledged that the deportations would be costly but argued the policy would “save the taxpayers a lot of money.”
Homan said he does not plan to “separate women and children” but acknowledged that deporting alleged criminals would result in breaking up families.
“When we arrest parents here, guess what? We separate them. The illegal aliens should be no different,” Homan said.
Homan also said worksite enforcement — an aspect of immigration policy focused on unauthorized workers and employers who knowingly hire them — is “going to get fired back up.”
“Under President Trump, we’re going to work it and we’re going to work it hard,” he said.
-ABC News’ Peter Charalambous
November 11, 2024, 5:46 PM EST – Melania Trump skipping meeting with Jill Biden: Sources
Melania Trump is not expected to travel to Washington with President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, two sources told ABC News.
First lady Jill Biden had extended an invite to Melania Trump for a meeting, according to the sources. In 2016, Michelle Obama had hosted Melania Trump at the White House.
The Trump campaign declined to comment. The first lady’s office confirmed to ABC News that a joint invitation was extended to the Trumps to meet at the White House though declined to comment beyond that.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, John Santucci and Molly Nagle
November 11, 2024, 4:26 PM EST – RFK Jr. advising Trump transition on health decisions: Sources
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has continued to broadly advise Trump and the transition team on health-related appointments and has been in discussions to possibly fill a major role in the next administration, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
While sources caution that a role has not been finalized, RFK Jr. has been discussed as a potential candidate for the next secretary of Health and Human Services. But other roles are also on the table, including a broad “czar”-like position that would advise on policy and personnel decisions in other health arenas, the sources said.
RFK Jr. has been in active discussions with the transition team since Trump’s election victory last week. He’s been spotted at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club multiple times and has been engaging in presentations which include candidates for specific Cabinet and health-related jobs, sources said.
He has spent hours with the co-heads of Trump’s transition team — billionaire Howard Lutnick and Linda McMahon — in addition to others at Mar-a-Lago such as Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr.; investor and donor Omeed Malik; Tucker Carlson; and Del Bigtree, RFK Jr.’s former campaign spokesperson who produced a documentary called “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe.”
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders, Olivia Rubin and Will McDuffie
November 11, 2024, 3:30 PM EST – Lee Zeldin named to be EPA administrator
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies,” Trump said in a statement. “He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet. He will set new standards on environmental review and maintenance, that will allow the United States to grow in a healthy and well-structured way.
Zeldin, who also ran for New York governor against Andrew Cuomo in 2022, confirmed he had been offered the job via a post on X.
“It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator,” he wrote. “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”
-ABC News’ John Santucci, Rachel Scott and Katherine Faulders
November 11, 2024, 3:06 PM EST -RFK Jr. suggests he’ll gut NIH, replace 600 employees
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. indicated over the weekend that he would fire 600 employees at the National Institutes of Health, replacing them with a new cohort of workers as he seeks to dramatically reshape America’s health agencies.
Speaking at the Genius Network Annual Event in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kennedy described his role vetting people for Donald Trump’s new administration.
“We need to act fast, and we want to have those people in place on Jan. 20, so that on Jan. 21, 600 people are going to walk into offices at NIH and 600 people are going to leave,” Kennedy said, according to a video of his remarks posted on YouTube.
November 11, 2024, 3:06 PM EST- Trump expected to announce Stephen Miller as deputy chief of staff
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to announce Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner and one of his senior advisers, will become his deputy chief of staff for policy, multiple sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
It’s not clear when Trump plans to formally announce the job, the sources said.
Miller worked in the first Trump administration and played a key role in crafting immigration policies — including those that resulted in thousands of families being separated at the border.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, John Santucci and Katherine Faulders
November 11, 2024, 3:00 PM EST – Trump picks Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador
President-elect Donald Trump selected Rep. Elise Stefanik to be his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, multiple Trump officials told ABC News.
“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement to ABC News.
Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman from New York’s 21st District, was elected last week to her sixth term in the House. She will inherit a role Nikki Haley held for two years in the first Trump administration.
-ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Katherine Faulders and John Santucci
(WASHINGTON) — Democrats suffered a knockout punch in this month’s elections. New Jersey’s and Virginia’s off-year gubernatorial elections in 2025 offer them their first chances to get off the mat.
Both states have become reliably blue in federal races, but President-elect Donald Trump narrowed his margins in each state, and Democrats are unable to take anything for granted as they undergo a postelection reckoning over their national brand. New Jerseyans haven’t granted one party more than eight straight years in the governor’s mansion in over five decades, and Republican Glenn Youngkin rode into Richmond just three years ago.
That makes the contests to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, in New Jersey and Youngkin, who can’t run for two consecutive terms, in Virginia key barometers for Democrats’ ability to find their way out of the political wilderness ahead of the midterm elections in 2026.
“I think both these are going to be competitive races. Democrats know to take nothing for granted right now,” said Jared Leopold, a former Democratic Governors Association staffer based in Virginia. “Gubernatorial races have always been the path back for a party out of power, and 2025 is no different. So, this is going to be a huge opportunity for the Democratic Party.”
Both races are in the early stages, with candidates still throwing their hats into the ring.
New Jersey Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, former state Senate President Stephen Sweeney and New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller are among the Democrats running to replace Murphy. Rep. Abigail Spanberger is the top Democrat running in Virginia and is widely considered a party powerhouse in the state.
Republicans are also sifting through their own candidates. Former GOP gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli, who fell short of unseating Murphy by about 3 points in 2021, is running again in New Jersey, as are other candidates who are casting themselves as more aligned with and antagonistic toward Trump’s brand. And Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is running for the governor’s mansion with Youngkin’s endorsement.
But it’s Democrats who are on the outside looking in these days, having lost the White House and Senate this month, and eager to bounce back.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump has set off recriminations among Democrats that the party has lost touch with working-class voters and instead reinforced an elitist, out-of-touch brand that was so unpalatable that voters instead opted for a twice-impeached former president who had been convicted of 34 felonies in New York.
Warning signs loomed this month specifically in New Jersey and Virginia. Trump stunned when he became the first Republican presidential candidate in over 30 years to win racially diverse Passaic County in New Jersey. And he made inroads in northern Virginia, the suburban machine of Democrats’ statewide advantage.
Many of the leading Democrats in New Jersey and Virginia have sought to create distance with the party’s left-flank and prioritized affordability over social issues, a possibly effective strategy after voters prioritized economic issues and Trump blanketed the airwaves with ads attacking Harris over her position on transgender issues.
Now, they just have to convince voters that they’re not like the national Democratic bogeymen they’ve heard so much about.
“I think they will be talking the talk. The question is, how can they convince voters that they are walking the walk, and how can they convince voters that this is the centerpiece of their campaign?” said Micah Rasmussen, who served as press secretary for former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey, a Democrat.
“If you can convince voters that you’ve gotten the message and that you need to focus not so much what you want to focus on but you want to focus on what the voters want you to focus on, that’s what it’s going to take,” he added. “I certainly think, at this point, the candidates have gotten the message.”
Democrats in both states have gotten something of a head start over their national counterparts.
Murphy’s narrower-than-expected win over Ciattarelli in 2021 alarmed Democrats who had expected to coast in New Jersey but were instead rebuffed by voters’ complaints about affordability in the high-tax state. And Youngkin’s win in a state that President Joe Biden won by 10 points just a year earlier jolted Democrats there, too.
In hindsight, both results may have foreshadowed the post-COVID-19 economic frustrations that sunk Democrats this year.
Now, candidates are putting the economy first. “Let’s make life more affordable for hardworking New Jerseyans, from health care to groceries to child care,” Sherrill said in her announcement video. Spanberger touts efforts aimed at “lowering prescription drug prices” and “lowering costs and easing inflation.”
Republicans, for their part, are feeling their oats.
While Trump won each swing state by narrow margins, he did sweep them, and he made notable gains among Democratic-friendly demographic groups and in blue states. And almost nothing is as unifying as winning.
“There’s an opportunity for sure, and being unified, that’s step one,” Virginia-based GOP strategist Zack Roday said. “If your party sweeps the House, Senate and the White House, you want to try to just hold your serve downballot and compete, and I think we can actually compete to win at the top. Democrats have the advantage, but there’s a lot around the coalition that could be united in both states that is really appealing to where the GOP is.”
It’s not all doom and gloom for Democrats, though.
Democrats performed well in off-year elections in 2017 after Trump’s first win and in the 2018 midterm elections, and New Jerseyans in particular have traditionally been reluctant to elevate Republicans the year after a Republican wins the White House. And while Trump was able to juice the base and cut into his opponent’s advantages, he still fell short in two states where Democrats retain voter registration edges.
“I don’t think that anyone’s sitting around panicking right now about where the election is. There’s certainly work to do, but there’s no panic,” one senior New Jersey Democratic strategist said.
Trump could also supercharge Democrats’ push to coalesce after their losses this month. His policy proposals, including banning travel from several Muslim-majority countries in 2017, infuriated the Democratic base, leading to Democratic successes in 2017 and 2018.
“It really started when Trump started doing really controversial, unpopular things, like the Muslim ban, and that’s when you saw governors and people come together to fight back against him. My suspicion is that same trend will happen here, where the reality of Trump’s policies will galvanize Democrats,” Leopold said.
However, he added, for a party that’s still smarting after its shortcomings this month, no race is considered safe, and Democrats will have their work cut out for them despite the friendly terrain.
Leopold noted that “2025 is a huge step on the path back for Democrats. We can lick our wounds for the rest of 2024, but come 2025, we got to get focused.”
(WASHINGTON) — After losing the 2020 election, then-President Donald Trump broke with two traditions that demonstrate American democracy’s peaceful transfer of power.
First, he declined to invite then-President-elect Joe Biden to the White House in the weeks after the race while contending he hadn’t lost. Later, he skipped Biden’s inauguration, instead leaving Washington mere hours before the ceremony began.
But those customs will return as Trump and Biden are set to meet on Wednesday in the Oval Office.
It will mark Trump’s first time back in the White House since ending his presidency under a cloud of election denialism four years ago. A week before his departure, he was impeached by the House for a second time as lawmakers charged him with “incitement of insurrection” after his supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump vowed to return and his comeback was made complete last week. He swept all seven swing states, clinching 312 electoral votes to Vice President Kamala Harris’ 226 votes, and is on track to win the popular vote.
Biden spoke with Trump on Nov. 6 to congratulate him and to extend a political olive branch with an invitation to the White House.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that Biden did so because “he believes in the norms.”
“It is important not just because it’s important to him, but it’s important to the American people,” Jean-Pierre said. “The American people deserve this. They deserve a peaceful transfer of power. They deserve a smooth transition. And that’s what you’re going to see.”
Last month, before Election Day, the White House said Biden would attend the inauguration no matter who won.
Biden made preserving democracy a key message of his 2020 campaign and his 2024 reelection effort before dropping out, repeatedly blasting Trump as a threat to the institution over Jan. 6.
“He wants to show the American people that the system works,” Jean-Pierre said.
Asked by ABC News White House Correspondent Karen Travers what was on the agenda for their meeting, Jean-Pierre said the conversation would be private but that reporters will be allowed in the room to capture the start of their sit-down.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said this past weekend, though, that Biden and Trump would go through both domestic and foreign policy issues.
Vice President Harris will not attend the meeting, Jean-Pierre said.
Melania Trump will also not be in attendance, her office confirmed on Wednesday. First lady Jill Biden’s office confirmed that a joint invitation was extended to the Trumps to meet at the White House.
“Her husband’s return to the Oval Office to commence the transition process is encouraging, and she wishes him great success,” Melania Trump’s office said in a statement.
In 2016, Michelle Obama hosted Melania Trump at the White House when then-President Barack Obama invited Trump just days after the election. The two men met for 90 minutes, and Obama called the conversation “excellent.”
While in Washington, Trump will also make a stop near the Capitol to meet with House Republicans.
House Republican leaders took an early victory lap on Tuesday as the party inches closer to a “trifecta” — or control of the White House, the Senate and the House. ABC News has not yet projected the balance of power in the House, though Republicans are three seats away from a majority.
“It is a new day in America,” Speaker Mike Johnson proclaimed. He said Republicans were ready to begin delivering on Trump’s agenda on Day 1 of his administration.
ABC News’ Justin Gomez and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
