Politics and views in the United States

Calls grow for Hakeem Jeffries not to be the next House Speaker, groups worry about what the new Congress’ agenda will focus on, and experts say this election is proof campaign finance laws need reform.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Mike Johnson was correct.

The polls were wrong.

It wasn't simply a blue wave.

It was an American tsunami.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats' midterm election success was a victory for the American people.

Democrats have a 253 to 155 seat majority in the House with 27 races left to be called.

Infighting among Democrats, though, is leading to calls for Jeffries to step down as a party leader in the 120th Congress.

Some progressives consider him part of the Democratic establishment and unable to do what's necessary for this historic moment.

As the dust settles from Election Day, President Donald Trump is threatening Democrats' agenda with vetoes if they're, quote, destructive.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says this could endanger Republicans' chances of taking back Congress and retaining the White House in the 2028 elections.

Let me be clear to my Republican colleagues.

You heard the same voters I did.

Americans want us to act on these issues, and we are going to do it, with you or without you.

If you block solutions Americans want, they will know precisely who stood in the way.

While two of the biggest issues in the election were affordability and corruption, some groups are urging the next Congress to primarily focus on reducing costs.

Paco Fabian with Our Revolution, an independent advocacy group, says taking Trump to task could backfire.

If they focus on investigations and fighting corruption or trying to impeach Donald Trump, we're going to end up where we were just a couple of years ago with another Trump-like candidate running and potentially winning.

But some groups want lawmakers to investigate the Trump administration.

Represent Us is a grassroots anti-corruption group that's calling for lawmakers to look into the self-dealing President Trump and his family have engaged in, like the $500 million investment a United Arab Emirates royal put into the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture before artificial intelligence chip exports to the UAE were approved.

Maria McFarlane Sanchez Moreno is the CEO of Represent Us.

She says affordability and accountability efforts go hand in hand, given it's what drove voters' choices in this election.

I don't think the Democrats should just assume this last election was a vote of confidence in them.

I think it was a cry of fury about the corruption and abuse of power that people are witnessing, and they want somebody to do something about it.

Campaign finance experts say the midterm show how little current campaign finance laws regulate the flow of money into elections.

Open Secrets data estimates $12 billion was spent nationwide, including almost $4 billion from groups outside of individual candidates' campaigns.

Northwestern University law professor Michael Kang says the unprecedented amount of money put into this election underscores what he calls the, quote, practical collapse of campaign finance regulations and the need for reform.

If you've looked at what we've tried to accomplish through campaign finance regulation over the last half century.

We would want better disclosure of what's going on and where the money's coming from, even if you don't have a problem with the amounts of money spent.

I'm Edwin J. Viera for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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