Family-Friendly Economic Policies Will Be ‘Front and Center’ in New Congress: Scalise
As President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team gears up to take office in 10 weeks, a Republican-led House is also preparing to hit the ground running when the new Congress convenes on January 3, with a leading Republican remarking that family-friendly economic policies and overhauling the Department of Justice will be top priorities.
According to the latest tally provided by Decision Desk HQ, Republicans have a 92.9% chance of recapturing the House majority. With 218 seats needed for a majority, the GOP has so far secured 216 seats, while the Democrats have 204. DDHQ has projected that Republicans will ultimately end up with 222 seats, which would exceed their current total by two.
On Thursday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” to discuss his projections for the upcoming 119th Congress and what the Republican agenda will look like.
“[W]hen you look at the races that are outstanding, it’s a number of races in California that haven’t been called yet,” he noted. “But if you look at most of those races, our candidate is leading the way right now. … We still have a few opportunities to flip seats. The state of Alaska is still out, although we’re ahead right now. [W]e have a real opportunity to flip that seat from Democrat to Republican. [There’s] another similar seat in California, where we’re leading in a seat that is currently held by a Democrat. So we could even grow the majority. But I feel very confident we’ll hold the majority, and that’s the most important thing.”
Scalise went on to lay out what the priorities of the House will be in the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency.
“[W]e’ve got a very unique opportunity with unified government,” he observed. “Doesn’t happen often. … [W]e’re going to make the most of it by going and fighting for those families who are struggling. We ran on a very strong agenda of getting our economy back on track, of securing America’s border, standing up for our allies around the world, getting rid of these crazy regulations, promoting more American energy. We’re going to be focused on doing those things in the first 100 days.”
Scalise continued, “When you think about literally starting in January, the first 100 days— delivering on some really big things and getting the economy moving again, lowering costs at the grocery store, at the gas pump — I think you’re going to see this economy turn around quickly. Look, the day after the election, the stock market took off like something we hadn’t seen since 2022, because people are optimistic and excited again, because the Marxists, the communists, were defeated. This direction they were trying to take our country — we couldn’t sustain the spending, the radical policies, the open border, all the things they were doing. And now we’re going to finally have an opportunity to turn around. We’re not going to blow this opportunity.”
The House majority leader further emphasized how tax and financial policies designed to benefit middle income families will be “front and center.”
“One of the first things we do is make sure we don’t have a tax increase,” he underscored. “President Trump was very clear about this. … [W]e will all be on the same page. We don’t have the luxury of spending a few months trying to figure it out. We are going to start bullish on day one with a bold conservative agenda. Keep tax rates low … no taxes on tips and no taxes on overtime.”
“You know,” Scalise elaborated, “Democrats, unfortunately, walked away in 2017 from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Not a single Democrat voted to cut taxes. Of course, it turned our economy around. It was great for the American people, but the Democratic Party just doesn’t believe in giving you more of your money back. We do as Republicans. … [W]e’re going to be working with a small majority, but we’re still going to be a focused majority working with President Trump to deliver some big wins for those hard-working families who are struggling.”
Scalise concluded by forecasting that the president-elect will make revamping the controversial Department of Justice a priority.
“Donald Trump’s going to clean house,” he predicted. “He’s going to get rid of all the dirty cops. And it needs to happen because I think people really want … a restored faith, and they deserve a restored faith in these agencies that we used to trust. With law enforcement agencies at the federal level that used to stand for law and order, that started focusing on their political enemies [instead of] keeping Americans safe — that has to change. I think that’s going to be front and center in the things President Trump does when he appoints an attorney general and other people in those positions. It’s going to be critical who he picks, because he’s going to need to bring in tough people who want to clean house.”
Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.