What's the GOP path forward after midterms?

Fox-KTVU
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30 Video Views·Nov 6, 2026
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The Democrats' sweeping win in the midterms
on Tuesday night has prompted new questions
about how the Trump administration will govern for the next two years.
As Democrats celebrate,
Trump administration leaders plan for resignations and investigations.
KTVU political reporter Greg Lee joins us now to break it all down.
Yeah, just a couple days after the election
and we're already starting to see changes.
Votes are still being counted here
in California and around the country,
but the political fallout is well underway.
Many Republicans are blaming the war in Iran for their midterm losses
and in the process pointing the finger at Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Experts believe the president's inner
circle could see some big changes.
Shake-ups within the Trump administration and the aftermath
of a sweeping midterm election defeat for Republicans.
Longtime San Francisco lawyer Harmeet Dhillon resigned from her role,
leading the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
In her resignation letter, Dhillon said she made the decision
in early October and called serving the greatest honor of her lifetime.
Yes, there will absolutely be a large number
of appointees leaving the administration by force
or by choice, but it will begin happening.
Republican strategist and co-founder of the
anti-Trump group, the Lincoln Project,
Mike Madrid, said more high-profile changes could
be on the way after Democrats decisively seize control
of the House and Senate.
Best case is you can argue that it's just this moment,
it's just gas prices and this war, but
Worst case, I think the more realistic case
is to understand that an entire political
class enabled this and marched down the road with it.
Bloomberg reporting Secretary of State Marco Rubio
is considering resigning as he
mulls a presidential run in 2028. Rubio's office denied the reporting.
Donald Trump is now very much viewed as more
of a liability than an asset in a way
In a way that he has not in the past 10 years.
Frustration over the war and its impact on prices at home,
spurring a bipartisan impeachment
threat for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Vocal critic of the president, Republican
Congressman Thomas Massie,
said he'll force an impeachment vote for Hegseth if he doesn't resign.
They will either be blamed rightfully or they will,
or take him, you know, kind of the grenade
for him. So this is not a good moment.
And especially entering a lame duck session,
it's hard to see all but the hardest core MAGA rallying around what
is left of the remnants
The remnants of the party.
The president's standing by Hegseth
while the secretary released a defiant video statement.
Their obsession with political theater disguised
as power drives them to try to destroy their
opponents.
It's all about the politics of personal destruction.
Didn't work against President Trump.
And it won't work with me.
After Vice President J.D. Vance blamed
the historic losses on the Iran war,
other prominent Republicans
also moved to create distance from the president.
It's the political equivalent of a meteor strike
that went all around the United States,
blue states, red states, everything in between.
And the one state that was able to hold the line and withstand that
is right here in the free state of Florida.
House Republicans also bracing
for Democrat-led investigations in a new Congress.
Majority Leader Steve Scalise sending
a letter to the chairs of House committees
warning them to, quote,
maximize our remaining days in power to prepare for what is coming.
Democrats have promised to open multiple investigations
into the administration once
they take power on January 3rd.
But before that, a lot of eyes on Congress as the House and Senate
return to session for two weeks starting on Monday.
A lot of eyes on the defense secretary.
Is there a chance that he would resign here?
No. I mean, he was certainly defiant today.
President Trump has backed him
and continued to say that what he's doing in Iran is the right
thing. But the president has said today he's getting
a lot of phone calls from a lot of
frustrated lawmakers, especially Republicans,
all Republicans at this point. And remember,
Well, there's precedent for this because in 2006, Donald Rumsfeld,
who was the Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense,
he resigned after major losses during that midterm election
because of the war in Iraq.
So we expect President Trump to hold the line for him.
For now.
For now.
And listen, that's the thing is the president is unpredictable
and he beats to his own drum
and you can't have a lot of influence over
him unless you're really in his inner circle.
So we will see the impact of that moving forward.
Got it.
Okay.
Thanks, Greg.
