Transfer of Power in Washington is Already Beginning One Week After Election Day

FAIR Take | November 2024

President-elect Trump is moving quickly to fulfill his campaign pledges on immigration, an issue that he made central throughout his campaign. Congressional leadership elections are also set for this week in both branches of Congress, where Republicans won a clear majority in the Senate and are almost certain to retain their majority in the House of Representatives.

Executive Branch

Today, reports surfaced that President-elect Trump will nominate South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to be his next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Noem, who has served as Governor since 2019, also previously served as a member of the U.S. House for South Dakota. If confirmed for Secretary of Homeland Security, she will oversee more than 260,000 employees, including the critical immigration agencies that make up the department: Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Noem has taken strong positions on immigration, declaring that the country faced an invasion, backed reinforced physical barriers at the border, and said the government needed to better screen refugees.

On Sunday, President-elect Trump announced his intention to appoint former ICE Acting Director Tom Homan as Border Czar. According to Trump, Homan will oversee border, maritime and aviation security, along with a deportation program to remove the millions of illegal aliens already in the country. Trump said there is “nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders.” America First Legal (AFL) president and founder Stephen Miller, a key figure in the first Trump administration, is also expected to be announced as White House deputy chief of staff for policy.

President-elect Trump’s transition team is reportedly considering a host of policy changes to quickly ramp up removals of illegal aliens. On border security, in addition to reprogramming funding to resume border wall construction, it’s possible that the new administration will declare a national emergency to employ Department of Defense (DOD) personnel and resources. The incoming administration is also reportedly aiming to reinstate the Remain in Mexico policy, which would require illegal aliens to remain outside the U.S. while their asylum claims are pending, and to renegotiate Safe Third Country Agreements with other countries to accept more asylum seekers. During its first weeks in office, the Biden-Harris administration rolled back both border policies. 

The transition team is also reportedly considering beefed-up enforcement of our immigration laws, including rescinding ICE guidance directing officers to not pursue certain illegal aliens. The incoming administration is set to first remove those with criminal convictions and charges, as well as prioritizing the roughly 1.3 million illegal aliens with final orders of removal who are still in the country.  Responding to pushback over the potential costs of a widescale removal program, Trump remained firmly committed and said that it was not a question of price.

In a statement from the Trump transition team, a spokeswoman said: “The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver.”

Senate

In addition to taking back the White House, Republicans also regained control of the Senate. Republicans won a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Along with the three Senate seats claimed from Democratic incumbents last week in Ohio, West Virginia, and Montana, Dave McCormick has now defeated longtime Democratic incumbent Bob Casey, Jr. in Pennsylvania. In Arizona, Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego won the open seat after Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema opted not to run again. And, in Nebraska, Republican incumbent Deb Fischer survived a challenge from independent candidate Dan Osborn.

Current Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is set to resign from his leadership position after holding that job since 2007.  The election to succeed him will be conducted by secret ballot this Wednesday. Frontrunners in that race include Republican Senators John Thune (S.D.), John Cornyn (Texas), and Rick Scott (Fla.). On Sunday, President Trump weighed in on the race, arguing that any Senate Majority Leader must act quickly to confirm presidential appointments, including allowing appointments during Senate recesses.

Most Republican Senators have not publicly endorsed any candidate in the election, though some have spoken out about the contest. One Republican Senator speaking anonymously said: “President Trump won decisively, and he deserves to have someone with actual experience who can get his agenda enacted.” Those comments are in reference to the previous leadership experience that Senators Thune and Cornyn both held under Leader McConnell. Other senators, including Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Ron Johnson (Wis.), have backed Senator Scott.

House of Representatives

Nearly 20 races remain to be called in the House of Representatives, but it appears almost certain that Republicans will retain the majority there as well. The current margin for the next Congress stands at 214-205 in favor of Republicans, with 218 needed for a majority. Of the remaining races, more than half are in California, where the state allows ballots postmarked on Election Day to arrive up to seven days later. So far, Republicans have picked up two seats in Pennsylvania, one in Michigan, and three in North Carolina after Democratic incumbents chose not to run for reelection. Democrats were able to flip three seats in New York claimed in the 2022 election by Congressmen Marcus Molinaro, Brandon Williams and Anthony D’Esposito, along with another seat in Louisiana that had been redistricted.

Leadership elections are also set for Wednesday in the House via secret ballot. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who easily won reelection, is again running for the Speaker nomination. In a statement, Johnson said, “[i]t has been the honor of my lifetime to serve with you thus far, and I look forward to playing the biggest offense of our lives.”  Should Johnson be elected as the Republican candidate for Speaker, and Republicans retain control of the chamber, he will face a House-wide election in January when the 119th Congress convenes.  Republicans’ internal election is expected to proceed despite the fact that not all incoming Representatives will be present as several races have yet to be decided.

While no Representatives have announced that they intend to run against Speaker Johnson, he does face some lingering doubts following protracted legislative and funding battles this year.  According to Texas Congressman Chip Roy, an influential House Freedom Caucus (HFC) member: “We’ve got to deliver, no more excuses. That’s what I want to hear out of the Speaker. But he’s got a lot of Republicans who are still concerned…We’ve got to figure out how to get everybody on the same page.” Some House Republicans, including Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), who led a failed effort to oust Johnson earlier this year, have sought to delay the election.

Other House leadership races are also being decided Wednesday. After Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (N.Y.) was tapped by President-elect Trump to serve as ambassador to the United Nations (UN), the race to replace her as Republican Conference Chair also picked up. Republicans Lisa McClain (Mich.), Kat Cammack (Fla.) and Erin Houchin (Ind.) have all formally announced their intent to run for the post, the fourth-ranking position in the House. Majority Leader Steve Scalise (La.) and Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minn.) are expected to retain their positions.

Moving Forward

In this year’s presidential election, voters clearly rejected the Biden-Harris administration’s open-borders policies and gave President-elect Trump a mandate to secure the border and enforce our immigration laws. The Trump administration should immediately take steps to restart construction of the border wall and to restore effective policies that discourage illegal immigration, such as ending mass catch-and-release policies, reinstating Remain in Mexico, and employing expedited removal on a large scale. Terminating illegal parole programs and enforcing the rule of law to remove illegal aliens already in the country must also be priorities.

Voters have also given Congress a mandate to act and implement permanent policies to prevent future Presidents from abusing our immigration system, as we have witnessed the past four years. Congress should immediately pass substantive immigration legislation that codifies sound immigration policy, not simply throw more money at a broken system.  The most important bill in that respect is the comprehensive, FAIR-supported H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act.  That bill passed the House of Representatives in May 2023 but was completely ignored by the Democratic-controlled Senate. Congress should also prioritize protecting the integrity of our election system and work to pass H.R. 8281, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, and H.R. 7109, the Equal Representation Act.

The American people made it clear: President-elect Trump and the 119th Congress must roll back the open-borders, anti-enforcement agenda that has been devastating communities across the country for the past four years. FAIR looks forward to working with the incoming presidential administration and hopes to see President-elect Trump take decisive action to restore our borders and ensure that our immigration laws are respected and enforced. Likewise, FAIR will work closely with the 119th Congress to enact strong, comprehensive immigration reforms focused on putting an end to abuses in the parole authority and asylum system, and bolstering interior enforcement to remove the millions of illegal aliens already in the country.