December 4, 2024
Democrats Leave House GOP With “Nothing to Spare”
The final undecided U.S. House seat from last month’s elections has been called for the Democrats. They managed to flip the Republicans’ previously held 13th Congressional District in California by a margin of 187 votes. With Adam Gray’s victory over Rep. John Duarte, that brings the totals to Republicans having won 220 seats to Democrats’ 215. However, when the 119th Congress is convened in January, there will most likely be only 217 Republicans taking the oath, as Representatives Elise Stefanik of New York and Mike Waltz of Florida are expected to take positions in the Trump administration, and Rep. Matt Gaetz has already announced that he has resigned.
This means that the GOP will have a literal one vote margin of error for any actions (as tie votes in the House fail), until special elections later in 2025 re-fill those seats. Speaker Mike Johnson lamented that the GOP will have “nothing to spare” to try to enact President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda in the new year, which further erodes Trump’s already-dubious claims of any sort of “mandate”, moving forward.
With Hegseth in Peril, Others Waiting in the Wings
Former Fox News commentator Pete Hegseth continues to fight to save his nomination to be Trump’s Secretary of Defense. There’s been a steady drip of allegations over the past week or two involving Hegseth, including sexual assault, excessive drinking and intoxication at work, and even a leaked email from his mother, lambasting him for his treatment of women. The New Yorker reported that Hegseth was forced to step down from two veteran nonprofit groups amid accusations of financial mismanagement, sexist behavior, and other concerns, although Hegseth’s attorney has called the reports “outlandish”.
With word of at least six Republican senators stating that they are not on-board with Hegseth, the president-elect’s team is reportedly looking at potential replacements, including Iowa Senator Joni Ernst or even Florida Governor — and former-Trump-critic-turned-ally — Ron DeSantis. DeSantis, who has expressed interest in the role, was seen earlier today with Trump. But official spokespeople for the Trump have refused to comment on the matter.
Around the World
I did want to touch on some of the big news items happening outside of the U.S. within the past 24 hours.
First up, there’s been some significant turmoil in South Korea, as President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law late in the evening, citing threats from North Korea and accusing the opposition party of anti-state activities. This led to armed troops being deployed to the National Assembly building in the capital city of Seoul. However, the martial law order was quickly rescinded after lawmakers, undeterred by the military presence, convened and voted to reject the order. Since then widespread protests have been calling for President Yoon’s resignation or impeachment.
Meanwhile in Europe, France’s far-right and far-left lawmakers defined the concept of strange political bedfellows, and joined together to vote out Prime Minister Michel Barnier, largely due to his proposed budget. This is the first time a French government has been taken down in this fashion in 60 years, and marks Barnier as the shortest-service prime minister in modern France’s history. This will force French President Emmanuel Macron to appoint a new prime minister for the second time since his party’s massive losses during elections this past July.
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