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Welcome to the Stephen Miller–Jim Jordan Administration
The blue tsunami has turned into a news tsunami. More than a week after the election, the results are still shaking up American politics, and both parties are bracing for the next two years. Republica
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The blue tsunami has turned into a news tsunami. More than a week after the election, the results are still shaking up American politics, and both parties are bracing for the next two years. Republicans are doing it by doubling down on Trumpism, despite voters’ complete repudiation of Trump and his demagogic politics of hate, division, and bigotry.
“I want to laugh, I want to cry. This is like generals fighting the last war,” Stress Test co-host David Corn says of House Republicans this week selecting Jim Jordan as their new leader. “We don’t want this, voters said. And the House Republicans, the lesson they learned from this [election] was: We’re going to give you more.”
Jordan’s election, along with Trump’s replacement of chief of staff Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller, the architect of his most draconian policies, shows a party desperately clinging to MAGA extremism. “I think we will have a Steve Miller de facto presidency,” David says. “So we can call this the Stephen Miller–Jim Jordan administration.”
Democrats, meanwhile, are experiencing growing pains and tussling over who should lead them in the upcoming Congress: Chuck Schumer, the longtime leader and establishment standard-bearer, or Chris Van Hollen, the more liberal and somewhat younger senator challenging Schumer for the majority leader post. The contest raises big questions for the party. “Have they learned the right lessons? Are they prioritizing the right constituencies?” co-host Garrison Hayes asks. “And are they willing to be bold enough to actually push for change?”
David and Garrison also dig into Scott Colom’s extraordinary win in Mississippi, the season’s biggest upset. “The last time a Black man was elected to the United States Senate from Mississippi,” Garrison points out, “that man was born a slave.” But if the past is any guide, he warns, progress like this rarely goes unanswered: “We know that there will likely be a whitelash. We know that there will likely be a backlash to this moment.”
And Mother Jones reporter Abby Vesoulis joins the show to assess what’s next for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after House Republicans thwarted an impeachment push led by one of their own, Rep. Thomas Massie. Will impeaching Hegseth be on the Democrats’ agenda come January? Might a criminal prosecution await him? And how long will Trump stand by him?