Congress
Pete Aguilar announces run for whip
House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar has formally announced his bid for House majority whip.
“With a Democratic majority, we’ll have the tools to rein in this out-of-control administration and investigate the agencies, officials and corporations that have been making life harder and more expensive for our communities,” the California Democrat wrote in a letter to colleagues Thursday. “I look forward to working with each of you to deliver on our affordability agenda.”
Aguilar is currently unopposed for the No. 3 slot in the new House Democratic majority.
As whip, Aguilar will have to stitch together an ideologically diverse caucus that could be as large as 260 members. With such a significant margin, Aguilar would have more cushion to lose votes on key legislation than Republican leaders, who have struggled to wrangle their members on party-line bills over the last two years.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Minority Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts have already announced their candidacies for speaker and majority leader, respectively. They also have no challengers at this time.
Congress
Democrats continue midterm blowout, picking up seats in North Carolina, Virginia and Arizona
Democrats have extended their midterm dominance in North Carolina, notching four more victories — including three flips — in districts affected by Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting push last year.
Democrats Cyril Jefferson, Paul Barringer and Lakesha Womack upset incumbent Republican Reps. Addison McDowell, Brad Knott and Tim Moore, respectively. Elsewhere in the state, two-term Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) defeated Republican Laurie Buckhout in the state’s redrawn 1st District. Democrats have now won eight House seats in North Carolina and could still win two more, despite an October 2025 map redraw that favored Republicans in 11 of the state’s 14 seats.
The wins reinforce Democrats’ yawning House majority, which the party secured relatively early Tuesday, as voters punish President Donald Trump and the GOP for sky-high prices and the continued war in Iran.
Davis’ redrawn district favored Trump by more than 11 points in 2024, and he currently leads it by 10,000 votes with 1% of the vote left to count.
The party flipped several more high-profile seats in other states, The Associated Press projected Thursday, with physician Amish Shah besting former NFL kicker Jay Feely in Arizona’s open 1st District. Democrats have long coveted the suburban Phoenix seat, held in recent years by GOP Rep. David Schweikert.
In Virginia, Democratic prosecutor Shannon Taylor flipped a district represented by GOP Rep. Rob Wittman since 2007.
Sam Forstag, a former smokejumper, became the first Democrat to win a House seat in Montana in decades, claiming victory in a district the president won by nearly 12 points two years ago.
Republicans were still able to hold a handful of seats in longtime ruby-red territory, albeit by significantly smaller margins than expected. New York GOP Reps. Andrew Garbarino and Nick LaLota scraped victories in their Long Island districts. So too did Reps. French Hill (R-Ark.), Matt Van Epps (R-Tenn.), John McGuire (R-Va.) and Blake Moore (R-Utah).
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told GOP committee chairs Thursday to steel themselves for upcoming Democratic investigations into President Donald Trump’s administration and other targets.
“Although they ran on affordability, it is clear the main focus of their new majority will be retribution and unleashing countless witch hunts under the guise of ‘oversight,’” he said of Democrats in the letter obtained by POLITICO.
Scalise told the chairs to take “inventory” of the investigations they believe Democrats could launch under their committees’ jurisdiction and identify administration officials who could be targets.
He also warned Democrats have “signaled they intend to impeach President Trump, but they will not stop there.” He also noted that Democrats are expected to target Trump’s family, cabinet officials and key allies.
“You all will be a key line of defense in this fight, and we must maximize our remaining days in power to prepare for what is coming,” Scalise said in the letter.
The Louisiana Republican is currently in a battle with Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan — known for his oversight and investigations experience — to take over as top GOP leader next Congress. Jordan is arguing to members he is best prepared to counter Democrats, calling himself “battle-tested on the oversight front” in his letter to colleagues.
Rep. Joe Neguse announced a run for assistant speaker in a letter to colleagues Thursday.
“If elected Assistant Speaker, my goals would be straight-forward — to prioritize direct member services for every member of our diverse and talented caucus, and to assist Speaker Jeffries and our incredible Democratic Leadership team,” the Colorado Democrat wrote.
Neguse now serves as assistant minority leader. He currently running unopposed.
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