AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Control of the U.S. House of Representatives is still up in the air, with some races like California not - like some, in California, not called yet. For now, it seems like Republicans will hold on to power with a narrow majority. For more on what this might mean for the next Congress, let's bring in NPR's Barbara Sprunt. Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Good morning.
RASCOE: So how significant would it be for Republicans to have the White House, the Senate and possibly the House?
SPRUNT: Well, unified government would give Republicans the opportunity to aggressively pursue and pass a very partisan agenda. House majority leader Steve Scalise laid out the vision for President-elect Trump's first couple of months of office on Fox News.
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STEVE SCALISE: We've already talked to President Trump about this - a bill called budget reconciliation. And there are a lot of things you could put in that. We laid it out as a first hundred-day agenda, and we would put things like renewing the Trump tax cuts, many of those which expire, that we passed in 2017. We want to renew those cuts.
SPRUNT: He said other agenda items are cutting regulations, implementing new energy policies and taking actions along the southern border.
RASCOE: House Speaker Mike Johnson has had the thinnest of majorities the last few years. Do you expect as much infighting among Republicans in the next Congress?
SPRUNT: In many ways, no. I mean, look - could there be disagreements and factions within the conference? Absolutely. But remember, they are mostly unified by President-elect Trump and the mandate that came from him winning by the margins that he did. They're going from being the one Republican-controlled element of government under the Biden administration to being potentially part of unified government. And that's a big culture shift, and it's a completely different power dynamic. Trump will be leading a lot of the policy agenda, and this Congress will be in charge of executing that agenda. And that's very different than what has been going on, which was Republican members debating and choosing an opposition strategy against Democrats in the White House.
RASCOE: So how so?
SPRUNT: Well, you might remember that Speaker Johnson had a difficult task in satisfying groups within his conference, like the far-right House Freedom Caucus. That came into play when Johnson was trying to avoid a government shutdown. And to do that, he had to negotiate with Democrats. The same was true with negotiations around the debt limit and funding for Ukraine.
RASCOE: But before they turn the page to 2025, Congress is back in session this week, and they do have some work they have to get done, right?
SPRUNT: They do. Well, Congress has to take some actions to keep the government open later this year. But for now, the big-ticket item is a leadership election. So Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell is stepping down from leadership. We don't yet know who exactly will take his place, but it's a pretty fair bet that his first name will be John. The top two contenders are Senator John Cornyn of Texas, Senator John Thune of South Dakota. Cornyn previously served in leadership. Thune is currently the second highest-ranking Senate Republican. And Florida Senator Rick Scott is also running to be leader. He's a Trump loyalist who challenged McConnell for that top post a couple of years ago.
And then, of course, you have the House. Johnson has been vocal for a while now about his intention to remain speaker. He's expected to be reelected this week. And House Democrats will hold their own leadership elections the following week.
RASCOE: That's NPR's Barbara Sprunt. Thank you so very much.
SPRUNT: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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