ALISON STEWART, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND ANCHOR: Since winning the election six weeks ago, Donald Trump has nominated most of his cabinet and picked top White House staff, all key players in shaping U.S. policy. He’ll also have Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress on his side.
Joining me to analyze the balance of power in Washington is “NewsHour Weekend’s” Jeff Greenfield.
Inauguration Day about a month away, but the 115th Congress convenes first on January 3rd. The Democrats have a new reality.
What is it?
JEFF GREENFIELD, NEWSHOUR WEEKEND SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Bleak. They are at their weakest in House of Representatives since I believe 1930. They only picked up a half of dozen seats, they were hoping to do much better. It’s closer in the Senate, 52-48. But thanks to the fact that Harry Reid when the Democrats were in the majority, abolished the filibuster for a lot of judgeships and appointments, they don’t have that power that they used to.
In addition, a whole bunch of Democrats are up in two years and some of the red states, in the nation, in West Virginia, Montana, North Dakota, Indiana. So, either that those Democrats will stay with the majority or the minority to help fight Trump, they may be under a lot of pressure to not to do it. And if you think that’s bad, if you look at the state level, 25 states in total Republican control, only six in Democratic control, which means that on key issues like labor, abortion, taxes, education, the Republicans basically hold sway. So, if you’re a Democrat, you’re looking up for from a very deep hole.
STEWART: When it comes to the Republicans, it is a mixed bag however when you talk about alliances with this future president.
GREENFIELD: This is where the new Congress can get really interesting. Yes, there are 52 Republicans in the Senate, a majority, but I think 11 of them refuse to endorse Trump during the campaign and there are plenty of them that have serious opposition to what some of Trump’s appointees apparently are planning to do in terms of Russia, the new secretary of state designate. John McCain, and Lindsey Graham are very hostile to that idea. I don’t think Susan Collins is going to be very happy about the new EPA nominee and his approach to the environment.
So, if the Democrats could stay united on appointments and issues, the way the Republicans did under Obama, it would only take three Republicans crossing the aisle to block some of Trump’s initiatives. And then you’re going to have a shifting balance because there are some conservatives — fiscal Republicans who are not going to like the idea say if Trump launches a big infrastructure project. So, the numbers themselves may not tell the story of the Republicans.
STEWART: We talked a lot about the Supreme Court during the campaign. But you think we need to pay special attention to the federal court.
GREENFIELD: Yes, because if you look back over the eight years of Obama, some of what he wanted to do was blocked by lawsuits, filed either by state attorneys general or, actually by congressional Republicans, in areas like immigration, and their lawsuits against Affordable Care Act, helped that be act constricted in terms of Medicaid expansion.
So, you can imagine, either Democrats in Congress or attorneys general in California, New York, strong Democrats, trying to block Trump in courts because when Reid abolished the filibuster, it let Obama put several hundred judicial nominees on the district and appeals courts, appeals courts right below the Supreme Court. And they now have a majority.
So, until Trump can fill the vacancies that exist or until he gets his nominee on the high court, the courts could be an obstacle to Donald Trump’s various initiatives.
STEWART: Jeff Greenfield, thank you for the analysis.
GREENFIELD: Thank you.
