Political Wire

Archives for 2026

Quote of the Day

· Leave a Comment

“Take, for example, the French Revolution. Remember when Marie Antoinette said, ‘Let them eat cake’? Now, is that a problem of accountability and tyranny, a corrupt government? Or is it a problem of affordability and standard of living? It’s both! Authoritarianism and tyranny are extremely expensive for the people. And it’s the exact same thing when you go down the line with Donald Trump. So, are we going to go after the corruption? Yeah, you’re damn right. And are we going to go after affordability and making people’s lives easier? Yeah, you’re damn right. We’re going to do both of them.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by CBS News.

Democrats to Focus on Healthcare and Ending Iran War

· Leave a Comment

“House Democratic leaders are placing an early emphasis on healthcare as they discuss their immediate priorities upon the swearing-in of the new Congress on Jan. 3,” the Associated Press reports.

“Early votes in the House next year are expected to focus on boosting Medicaid and restoring an enhanced tax subsidy that is designed to lower the cost of Affordable Care Act health plans for millions of enrollees.”

“Democrats are also promising swift action on legislation to stop the war with Iran and to reverse some of President Donald Trump’strade tariffs.”

Said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): “We’re going to get out of the gate fast.”

Trump Hasn’t Called Jeffries

· Leave a Comment

“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Sunday that he has yet to hear from President Donald Trump, though he is expected to be the next speaker of the House,” Politico reports.

Said Jeffries: “I have not spoken to President Trump. It was a big night for the American people. A tremendous repudiation of MAGA extremism, and a cry out for dramatic change.”

Trump’s Defense Budget to Be Blocked by Democrats

· Leave a Comment

“Republicans’ midterm defeat is crushing any remaining hopes that Congress would approve President Donald Trump’s unprecedented $1.5 trillion defense budget request amid an unpopular war in the Middle East,” Bloomberg reports.

“Democrats, who won solid majorities of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, were already largely opposed to the 44% increase from the previous fiscal year and are now signaling they will block any efforts to push it forward.”

“At the same time, Republican lawmakers returning to the lame-duck session before the new Congress is seated in January may not be able to muster the support or political will to ram through the massive defense spending package, especially amid the Pentagon’s unpopular war against Iran that cost many of them their jobs.”

Susie Wiles Knew About Vance’s Post Blaming Iran War

· Leave a Comment

The Independent: “The online post marked the first time Vance openly advocated for concluding the war.”

“Three individuals familiar with White House and vice-presidential communications said the vice president was not breaking with Trump, adding that White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had advance knowledge of Vance’s message.”

“On Friday, however, Trump restructured his senior White House team, replacing Wiles with Stephen Miller—a movement suggesting the administration intends to double down on several hardline positions…”

“It could not be confirmed whether Trump was informed of Vance’s statement beforehand.”

How Democrats Will Try to End Trump’s Tariffs

· Leave a Comment

“The battle for Congress is over. The war over President Donald Trump’s tariffs is about to heat up,” CNBC reports.

“The knotted web of tariffs that Trump spent the last two years weaving could soon face its biggest threat, as Democrats prepare to unload their new legislative firepower against the Republican president’s signature policy.”

“Democrats have made no secret of their plans to bombard Trump and his associates with investigations as soon as the next Congress is sworn in. They are also preparing a first-100-hours legislative blitz, putting forward a series of bills that would unwind much of Trump’s agenda.”

Adam Hamilton Rejects Two Years of Trump Investigations

· Leave a Comment

“Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton, who flipped deep-red Kansas for Democrats, said Sunday that he hopes to prioritize lowering costs for his constituents in the next Congress and that he would be ‘deeply disappointed’ to spend two years investigating members of the Trump administration,” NBC News reports.

Said Hamilton: “The bigger priority for me, and I think for most people in America, especially people living paycheck to paycheck, is ‘please help us with the cost of living,.'”

Shapiro Wants to Prioritize Healthcare, Food Assistance

· Leave a Comment

“Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he hopes Democrats prioritize healthcare and food assistance when they take control of Congress in January, though he urged them not to forget to hold the Trump administration accountable,” NBC News reports.

Said Shapiro: “I hope one of the first things that the Congress does is to stop these Medicaid cuts, stop the SNAP cuts, roll back the cuts, the effective cuts in the Affordable Care Act.”

Jeffries Announces Support for Hegseth Impeachment

· Leave a Comment

“House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) came out in support of impeaching Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Sunday, telling ABC News he’s a ‘hard yes,'” ABC News reports.

Said Jeffries: “I’m a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution. The so-called secretary of defense has abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe.”

Axios: House poised to impeach Pete Hegseth after GOP midterm defeat.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Charts 2028 Path

· Leave a Comment

“As Republicans reel from devastating midterm losses, one Southern governor who survived the blue wave — Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas — might represent the party’s path forward from the wilderness,” Bloomberg reports.

“Sanders, the daughter of U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and a press secretary during Donald Trump’s first term, can’t fully escape the shadow of a president who voters currently find deeply unpalatable, in no small part because of a war in Iran that has driven up prices.”

“But her experience behind the podium for Trump taught her to channel his populist appeal while sanding down the sharper edges.”

“Furthermore, Sanders’ time outside of Washington offers not distance and space to develop her own governing model away from the national spotlight — just in case 2028 calls.”

Republican Voters Still Aren’t Blaming Trump

· Leave a Comment

Sarah Longwell: “Last week we assembled a focus group of Republicans who voted for President Trump in both 2020 and 2024, and who, except for some local elections, voted straight-ticket Republican in this year’s midterms.”

“In my conversation with these voters, one thing became abundantly clear in their cacophony of cope: They were not blaming Trump. Instead, they were blaming the GOP candidates on the ticket for being terrible. They were blaming social media for pushing Trump Derangement Syndrome. And they were blaming their fellow Americans, who they insisted were just too brainwashed and emotional to just hold their noses and vote for the terrible candidates that Republicans offered them.”

There Will Be No Trump Pivot

· Leave a Comment

James Pindell: “Imagine this scenario: Trump is a transactional politician and human. Ideology has always taken a back seat. He can run for president slamming China and then court the communist dictator looking to make deals. He can encourage White nationalists on the presidential debate stage and also lobby for and sign criminal justice reform. He can even agree with Bernie Sanders on a number of populist issues, including a critique of Kamala Harris’s corporate backers and the government being a part owner in Intel, a private company.”

“It’s not impossible to think that a president like this, particularly one in legacy mode as Trump has been for months, would try to find a way to put his name on bills that the populist MAGA base and the populist left would celebrate.”

“After all, wasn’t the entire point of the Jared Kushner meeting with likely incoming House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries in September? To find some common things Trump and Democrats could do together?”

“But, no. By picking Miller, Trump has double-, triple-, and quadrupled-down by making the most important staffer the one who might be the most ardent MAGA supporter still left.”

Missing Memory Card Could Flip Georgia House Race

· Leave a Comment

“A missing memory card discovered in southwest Georgia could cost Democrats a seat in the state House and narrow their newly won majority before they even take power,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

“State election officials said Friday they uncovered a discrepancy in Seminole County’s vote totals that led them to an uncounted memory card.”

“Once the votes were uploaded, Republican state Rep. Gerald Greene went from trailing Democrat Harry James by 58 votes to leading by 262.”

Beto O’Rourke Urges Texas Democrats to Deliver

· Leave a Comment

“Beto O’Rourke has a clear message for Texas Democrats following their historic victories Tuesday: deliver,” the Dallas Morning News reports.

“O’Rourke, whose narrow loss to GOP Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 foreshadowed that flipping the state from red to blue was possible, believes Democrats should pass three policies that could appeal to Texans across party lines in the 2027 legislative session. Expand Medicaid. Raise the state minimum wage. Increase public school teacher salaries.”

Said O’Rourke: “Those are three things that would be felt by everybody, Republican or Democrat, rural or urban.”

Trump Doubles Down with Stephen Miller

· Leave a Comment

Jonathan Chait: “Trump dwells in a zero-sum world, divided between winners and losers. His instinct in a moment of defeat is to empower an aide who he himself recognizes has at times gone too far. But Trump cannot admit he has failed, or bring himself to show any weakness. Better to go too far than not far enough.”

Flashback Quote of the Day

· Leave a Comment

“The Democrat Party does not fight for, care about or represent American citizens. It is an entity devoted exclusively to the defense of hardened criminals, gangbangers and illegal alien killers and terrorists. The Democrat Party is not a political party. It is a domestic extremist organization.”

— White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, quoted by the Daily Caller, on August 26, 2025.

Turning Point USA Bet On the Midterms and Lost

· Leave a Comment

New York Times: “In the days since Republicans’ blowout loss, Turning Point leaders have been left to sift through the rubble of the ‘red wall’ they had pledged to build in Arizona, Nevada and New Hampshire, states they view as critical battlegrounds. Despite the group’s significant investment, the only high-profile candidate in those three states who won with its backing was Kelly Ayotte, the incumbent governor of New Hampshire.”

“Turning Point and its allies have defended the group’s strategy, blaming Republican losses on a brutal national political environment stemming from President Trump’s deeply unpopular war with Iran. And they note that many other Republican candidates who ran without Turning Point’s backing lost by similar margins.”

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

More about Taegan Goddard →