Congress
House Democrats commiserate after Harris’ election loss as the blame game begins
House Democrats’ path to the majority is rapidly narrowing. The blame game over what went wrong is only just starting.
In a subdued, somber call, their first since Tuesday’s election, Democratic leaders projected confidence in their party and told lawmakers to wait to see the results of the races that still haven’t been called — as many rank-and-file members are starting to air grievances.
Democrats felt their leadership set expectations for how the call would go when Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told lawmakers to sit tight, according to two people on the call, and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), who was formerly whip of the House Democrats, told Democrats to stand with their leaders but to speak for themselves and their races rather than for the caucus as a whole.
Jeffries in a statement issued just before the caucus call said he congratulated Trump but believed House control was still up in the air.
“It has yet to be decided who will control the House of Representatives in the 119th Congress. We must count every vote and wait until the results in Oregon, Arizona and California are clear,” he said.
One Democratic lawmaker who requested anonymity to speak freely told Blue Light News they believe the call was calm as some incumbent Democrats are finding out they’ve lost their races and added they believed next week’s in-person caucus meeting will be where the real fireworks will happen.
“We need to be much more assertive when we’re telling leadership [what we think went wrong],” the lawmaker said.
But outside of the caucus call, Democrats from all sides of the party have begun sharing their thoughts on why they performed so poorly on Tuesday despite expectations that Vice President Kamala Harris could win and Democrats could flip the House.
One centrist Democrat, Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York, blamed the party’s perceived lean into political correctness for why they lost the election.
“Democrats need to focus more on issues Americans care about, like wages and benefits, and less on being politically correct,” he said in a press release also posted on X. “We failed as a party to respond to the Republican weaponization of anarchy on college campuses, defund the police, biological boys playing in girls’ sports, and a general attack on traditional values.”
Lawmakers are scheduled to return to Washington next week, though House Democrats aren’t expected to hold their leadership elections until the week after. House Democratic leaders had largely been expected to slot up a rung if they took back the House, though being relegated to the minority again could shake up their plans.
Republicans currently have the lead in the vote count, but control of the House still remains in question. Democrats had staked their path to the majority on flipping Republican-held seats largely in New York and California, and so far three of the New York seats have flipped to Democrats. Races in California will take longer to count.
But Democrats’ remaining paths to the majority are closing off after a handful of losses, including incumbents Susan Wild and Matt Cartwright and an open seat in Michigan.
Sen. Bernie Moreno said Thursday he expects the Senate to move a party-line legislative package after the midterm elections — especially if Democrats flip one or both chambers.
“We will do a reconciliation bill — one way or the other we will,” the Ohio Republican told reporters at the Capitol, referring to the simple-majority budget process. “Obviously, if we lose control of Congress, it’ll be the Last Supper.”
Such a bill, he added, would be “giant” and would include “all the Republican priorities that we can get done.”
The House approved a framework for a party-line bill over the summer that includes war funding, farm aid and election integrity incentives. But the push has so far run aground in the Senate
Moreno said the threat of imminent Democratic control of either the House or Senate would jumpstart matters — and potentially push Republicans to include a debt-ceiling increase as well.
The borrowing limit is set to be reached sometime next year, and a Democratic majority could have significant leverage to demand concessions as part of any deal — something the GOP could forestall by acting in the lame-duck session.
“I mean, nobody wants to see a debt default,” Moreno said. “That would be 1929 on steroids.”
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) also told reporters on Capitol Hill that a new reconciliation bill “has to happen” after the election but warned against expanding the scope of the House framework.
“I think you have to go with the one that we’ve got,” he told reporters. “The Senate needs to act and get the job done.”
A senior member of the Armed Services Committee, Wittman said the legislation is “key to restock our weapons magazine” and “should be the main focus when [members] get back.”
Moreno said if Democrats win control of both chambers, Republicans should stay in session nonstop to pass GOP legislation — which could be a tall order given worries about poor post-election attendance.
“If we lose the House and the Senate, we should be here from Nov. 9 until Dec. 31 with no break at all,” Moreno said. “Like, we’ll have turkeys here for Thanksgiving because we have to get this done.”
Authorities are investigating letters containing “suspicious substances” sent to multiple Capitol Hill offices, according to a notice sent to senior congressional staff.
“Law enforcement officials are working to intercept any additional letters before they are delivered, however, it is possible that some letters may reach their destinations,” says a memo from the Senate Sergeant at Arms and obtained by Blue Light News.
The Capitol Police, FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service are involved in the probe, according to the notice, which said additional letters have been mailed to other addresses across the U.S., including lawmakers’ state and district offices.
It is unclear if any of the suspicious letters reached Capitol Hill. Letters and packages sent to congressional offices are subject to off-site screening under a system established after the 2001 anthrax attacks.
The memo includes a photo of one of the suspicious envelopes and warns staff to keep an eye out for warning signs, such as messy handwriting or postmarks that do not match the return address. The memo was first reported by Bloomberg Government.
Suspicious letters were also sent to state election offices and election officials, according to a joint statement Wednesday from the National Association of Secretaries of State and National Association of State Election Directors.
They said they are working with law enforcement to protect “personnel and facilities” and that contingency plans and security measures are in place to respond to threats “while maintaining essential election operations.”
House and Senate mail is processed in two separate Maryland facilities where materials are screened, irradiated and tested for a variety of substances before they are sent to the Capitol complex — a process that can add as much as two weeks to delivery.
The process has proved effective in the past, catching a string of suspected explosive devices sent to prominent Democrats in 2018 and a ricin-laced envelope sent to Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in 2013.
Members’ district and state offices have the option to send mail for screening before it is delivered or to contract with a similar mail security system.
Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers urged President Donald Trump to follow through on the Russia sanctions law he signed last month, warning on Thursday against giving Moscow economic relief as a key enforcement deadline approaches.
In a letter led by Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.) and shared first with Blue Light News, 22 House lawmakers asked Trump to fully implement the sanctions law named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham by Oct. 18 and scrap his administration’s recent Russian diesel deal.
“As Russia prepares to wage a fifth winter campaign against Ukraine, the United States has an opportunity to reinvigorate peace efforts by placing maximum pressure on Vladimir Putin and the governments and networks that finance his war,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter sent to Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The House lawmakers called for the Trump administration to apply sanctions “to their fullest extent and without delay” against Russian officials, oligarchs and banks financing the war — as well as the foreign banks, shadow fleet operators and intermediaries helping Moscow evade restrictions.
Included among the lawmakers who signed Thursday’s letter are Republican Reps. Don Bacon (Neb.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Michael McCaul (Texas), Dan Newhouse (Wash.) and Joe Wilson (S.C.), along with Democrats including Reps. Steny Hoyer (Md.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio) and Jared Golden (Maine) — among others.
The lawmakers’ demands Thursday add to growing bipartisan pressure on Trump over his deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after the president announced on Friday that Russia would supply hundreds of thousands of tons of diesel to the “American and Global Marketplace.”
They also requested details on which sanctions and tariffs will take effect before Oct. 18, whether any provisions will be delayed or waived, and how the administration reconciles the diesel license with the existing statutory ban on Russian energy imports.
“Putin has repeatedly shown that he responds to pressure, not goodwill,” the House members wrote. “This will make clear that American resolve is bipartisan and durable, and that the cost of continuing this war will only grow until Russia comes to the negotiating table.
The White House, the State Department and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Trump defended the agreement Tuesday as “a deal for the world,” saying the diesel would enter global markets rather than go directly to the U.S. The move comes as the president scrambles to try to bring down fuel prices ahead of the midterms.
The Iran war — now in its seventh month — has contributed to the surge in costs, with the average price of diesel peaking at a record $6.53 per gallon in September, according to AAA.
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