Congress returns after 2026 midterms

Congress returns to Washington as Democrats are about to take control of Congress. Democrats are trying to decide what to do first, as President Trump talks about what may have led to the political losses for Republicans. And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may face an impeachment effort this week in the House. Pete Hegseth. I'd like to see us impeach Kash Patel. I'd like to see us impeach RFK Jr. We are ready. And if you work in this administration, you have a lawyer. It's me. Now, Attorney General Todd Blanche promised he will fight back, and in a defiant move, President Trump promoted Stephen Miller to be his new White House Chief of Staff. Miller is an immigration hardliner. At the same time, President Trump told 60 Minutes last night his immigration enforcement efforts may have gone too far. Now, to talk more about all this, we're joined now by David McEwen, our political science professor from Sonoma State. David, good morning, and always good to see you on Mornings on 2. Always good to see you as well, Dave. Happy Monday. So, everybody's heading to Washington now. The people who were newly elected to Congress and all of that are coming in for orientation. What do you make of what's happening now in Washington? Well, this lame duck session is going to be very active. There's a lot going on. Republicans in the House side have to pick a new leader. Obviously, Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan are going to be running for that. Republicans in the Senate are trying to put that off. There's a contingent within the Senate that wants to slow down selecting their next leaders. Democrats will talk about their next leaders, expected to be Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker, Catherine Clark of Massachusetts, Majority Leader, and Pete Aguilar from California, also playing a role in leadership. As we look at that, though, there are several things that have to get done. The National Defense Authorization Act, the NDAA, authorizing the Defense Department, its budget, and the supplemental related to the Iran war, all will come up. Those will be controversial. There's a farm bill that needs to come up and to be dealt with. And the government runs out of money on December 11th. So you need to have a continuing resolution in there as well. And obviously, as you talked about on the lead end, there's the potential that Pete Hegseth will be impeached as the secretary of defense. Todd Blanche talked about that over the weekend, but there are a number of other figures, including RFK Jr., for example, that potentially could be impeached as well. Democrats are trying to set things up for the 120th. 120th starts in early January and January 3rd. But between now and the middle of December, a lot is going on. U.S. foreign policy, operations in terms of what's going on overseas, as well as the Iran war, and domestically, including continuing to fund the government. That is an awful lot. Hey, David, before you go, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, do you think they'll survive possibly expanding their power? You think they'll be able to survive? Yeah, Hakeem Jeffries will certainly be there for the Democrats, along with the folks that we've seen most recently, Catherine Clark and Pete Aguilar. In terms of the Senate, there will be a move by some of the new senators to. At least explore the possibility of Chuck Schumer not being the Democratic leader. However, there isn't anyone who has provided an alternative or kind of stepped up or has the necessary vote. So in the final analysis, we should look for Chuck Schumer to be that Democratic leader, although there will be a lot kind of underneath the surface where folks will be unhappy and watching him closely. But right now, it looks like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries will be the Democratic leaders in that 120th Congress beginning January 3rd. All right. I'll hold you to that. David McEwen, our political science professor from Sonoma State, always good to see you on Mornings on 2. Pleasure to join you, Dave. Thank you.