Welcome to the online version of From the Political Bureauan evening newsletter with 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 Republicans in the House of Representatives are increasingly aligned with Donald Trump. Plus, “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker looks back at how Trump’s Cabinet announcements from years ago compare to today.
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The House Republican Party is more aligned with Trump than ever
By Ben Kamisar
President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Party believe the Americans gave them a mandate last week when they gave the party joint control of Washington. And a look at the dynamics in both chambers of Congress shows how Trump can more easily push their agenda through the House of Representatives than the Senate.
About two-thirds of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives that takes office next year (pending the results of the final races yet to be called by NBC News’ Decision Desk) entered Congress in 2017 or later. For these members, all they know is a world where Trump has been a leader of their party.
“If Donald Trump says jump 3 feet high and scratch your head, we’ll all jump 3 feet high and scratch your head. That’s it,” Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told my colleague Kyle Stewart on Wednesday. “He’s the best thing since sliced bread.”
It’s unclear how many Republicans will actually have in the House of Representatives — they’re expected to have only a slim majority when the dust settles, and Trump is only complicating that with plans to add a handful of Republicans to the House of Representatives Appoint delegates to serve in his government.
Although the Republican Party’s majority in the House of Representatives will now be much smaller than it was at the start of his first term, this time Trump will likely work with a much more flexible group of Republicans, plus a House Speaker he will appoint as ally sees.
It won’t be quite the same dynamic in the Senate, where Republicans will have a two- or three-seat majority (depending on the results in Pennsylvania). Newly elected Republican Senate Leader John Thune is certainly not an opponent of Trump, but he is a descendant of the institutional Republican Party.
And while the GOP conference in the Senate has become more pro-Trump over the years, a majority of the new Senate will have started their terms in the body before Trump took office. And a handful served before Trump in the House of Representatives, but not in the Senate.
Senators are also elected to six-year terms, as opposed to two years in the House of Representatives, contributing to this trend.
It’s a dynamic worth keeping an eye on, especially as Senate Republicans begin vetting Trump’s Cabinet picks.
Trump Cabinet Choices: Then vs. now
By Kristen Welker
On “Meet the Press” last Sunday, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told me that Senate Republicans were looking forward to “acting quickly” on President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks so that Trump “can can start. 20.”
Barrasso wasn’t kidding.
This week alone – more than 60 days before the inauguration – Trump has already announced his picks to lead the State Department (Marco Rubio), the Justice Department (Matt Gaetz), the Defense Department (Pete Hegseth ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), Interior (Doug Burgum), and other positions such as Director of National Intelligence (Tulsi Gabbard).
That’s a significant departure from Trump’s first term, when he was still weighing his Cabinet options at the same point in 2016. (Remember those Trump Tower interviews from eight years ago?)
Another difference from eight years ago is how many of the then Cabinet members — think James Mattis at the Pentagon, John Kelly at the Department of Homeland Security and even Jeff Sessions as attorney general — have been replaced by outsiders like Hegseth and RFK. jr.
But what hasn’t really changed is the frenzied news cycle and flurry of social media announcements that accompany Trump’s return to office. They’re just happening much earlier than they did eight years ago.
When it comes to his current picks, Trump is definitely testing whether Republican senators will break with him on some of his more controversial selections, like Gaetz and RFK Jr.
And while there has been some backlash from the Republican Party to Gaetz, for example, it’s a move that’s exactly in line with what Trump signaled he would do during his campaign, where he talked about overhauling the Justice Department.
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon told me this week that Trump wants to bring a “blowtorch” to the Justice Department, and he sees Gaetz as that “torch.”
And this is important: While some lawmakers have expressed skepticism about Gaetz, no Republican senator has explicitly said they won’t vote for him — at least not yet.
Trump transition watch
Here’s the latest news and updates on President-elect Donald Trump’s picks to fill his Cabinet and other key advisory roles:
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Speaker Mike Johnson said he would “strongly request” that the House Ethics Committee not release a report detailing its investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Trump’s pick for attorney general.
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Gaetz has also spread lies about the attack on the Capitol and championed the cause of the Jan. 6 suspects whose cases he would oversee if confirmed to lead the Justice Department.
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Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick of defense secretary, was investigated in 2017 for “an alleged sexual assault” at a California hotel where a meeting of Republican women took place, police said Friday.
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Trump’s selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services received mixed reviews from the senators needed to support his nomination.
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Democrats and good government groups are skeptical about the amount of influence Trump’s external advisory committee, chaired by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, will have on government spending and the state of the federal workforce.
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Trump announced he will nominate Todd Blanche, one of his criminal defense attorneys, as deputy attorney general.
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And Trump chose former Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., a veteran of the Iraq War, to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.
🗞️Today’s other top stories
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📝 Legacy in limbo: President Joe Biden’s executive actions on immigration, student loans and LGBTQ rights could be first on the chopping block if Trump comes to power. But it will be difficult to undo the bipartisan legislation Biden signed into law, as well as his judicial appointments. Read more →
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🔴 Seeing red: In addition to gaining full control of Washington, Republicans have flipped control, maintained or expanded their majorities in nearly all state legislative chambers across the country, where partisan control was up for grabs. Read more →
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🔵 Looking to 2025: Rep. Josh Gottheimer is entering a growing Democratic primary for governor of New Jersey ahead of next year’s elections. Read more →
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💲 Looking to 2026: Trump’s team plans to launch a new super PAC to play in the 2026 Senate races, Politico reports. Read more →
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🗓️ Looking to 2028: Democrats are already looking to renew their early 2028 presidential primaries. Continue reading →
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🗣️ Question and answer: In an interview with NBC News, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said Democrats cannot panic about every controversial move Trump makes. Read more →
For now, that all comes from the Political Bureau. If you have any feedback – like it or not – please email us at politicsnieuwsbrief@nbcuni.com
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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
