Congress
Top House Republican: Trump ‘unfavorability’ led to losses
Rep. French Hill, a senior Republican who barely won reelection in Little Rock this week, said President Donald Trump’s “unfavorability” is to blame for sweeping GOP losses.
The Associated Press called the race for Hill on Thursday after the six-term lawmaker and House Financial Services Committee chair faced off against Democrat Chris Jones. Hill won by less than 2 percentage points.
“President Trump’s unfavorability had a lot of impact on races across the country,” Hill said in an interview. “I think that’s evident by some of the exit polling. We had, in my judgment, recruited good candidates who had good funding for their campaigns. But it was a wave election, and we lost a lot of really good, constructive members of the House.”
It was the closest race yet for Hill, who struggled to win even as he outspent Jones, a former Arkansas gubernatorial candidate, 3 to 1. As House Financial Services chair, Hill has been instrumental the last two years in enacting bipartisan housing and cryptocurrency legislation.
During the campaign, Hill was willing to distance himself from Trump, especially when it came to touting the housing bill that the president refused to sign.
In the interview Wednesday, Hill suggested that Republicans could break further with Trump during the final two years of his term.
“He will be considered a lame duck, and that often has members of both political parties looking out at who will be the standard-bearers in the 2028 presidential election,” he said. “So, I think certainly that will influence policymaking and politics inside the House and Senate.”
Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, formally announced his bid to chair the powerful investigative panel in a letter to colleagues on Thursday.
The California Democrat, who this week issued a wide message for the Trump administration and other oversight targets to “lawyer up,” made the case for his leadership by promising to hold power to account, take on corruption and lower costs for Americans.
“Accountability and affordability go hand in hand. When the government is corrupted for personal gain over the public interest, Americans lose trust and taxpayer dollars are wasted,” Garcia wrote. “Our Committee must expose that corruption, protect the public, and help deliver a government that works for everyone, not just the wealthy and well-connected.”
Garcia has said he wants to probe the federal contracts awarded to members of President Donald Trump’s family; the series of pardons Trump granted early in his second term; cryptocurrency-related profits collected by the president; and Trump’s acquisition of a Qatari 747 jet to serve as an interim Air Force One.
He also plans to ramp up the House investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as well as those who facilitated his crimes.
Garcia has signaled he intends to investigate Trump’s inner sanctum as well, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief Stephen Miller, along with Trump’s son-in-law and foreign envoy Jared Kushner. He has mentioned Corey Lewandowski — along with Lewandowski’s old boss, former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, as ripe targets for inquiry over allegations of a pay-to-play scheme.
“I love this country,” Garcia said over the summer in describing how he sees his role in bringing “accountability” to the executive branch. “It’s sad to me what government, what the Congress, what the president, has done to it.”
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.
Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts officially announced her bid for majority leader in a letter to colleagues Thursday.
Clark, currently the No. 2 to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, is widely considered a shoo-in among her colleagues. She is currently unopposed, and if she wins, she would be the first woman with the title and most progressive member of the top leadership trio that is also expected to include Jeffries as speaker and Rep. Pete Aguilar as whip.
In line with leadership’s campaign message, Clark emphasized “Affordability, Affordability, Affordability” in her pitch to the caucus. Specifically, she named “ending the reckless war in Iran, rescinding Trump’s tariffs, reversing Republicans’ catastrophic cuts to healthcare and food assistance, curing off their giveaways to the Epstein Class, and pursuing rigorous oversight of this corrupt administration.”
To wrangle House Democrats’ massive majority — which is tracking to reach over 255 seats — Clark vowed to members: “At every decision point, I intend to work closely with you to understand the needs of your district and maximize your ability to deliver for your constituents.”
“Democrats will succeed by working as a team.” she added.
Clark will get a vote during House Democratic leadership elections scheduled for Nov. 18 and 19.
- Robert Garcia makes Oversight chair bid official
- Pete Aguilar announces run for whip
- Top House Republican: Trump ‘unfavorability’ led to losses
- Hegseth expands DC National Guard presence
- RFK Jr. ally Russell Brand found guilty of rape and sexual assault
- Katherine Clark launches majority leader bid
- Trump loyalists face off to lead a decimated House GOP
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