WEBVTT 00:02.066 --> 00:04.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: So how much congressional support will Mr. Trump have to implement his 00:04.333 --> 00:08.533 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% agenda? That remains to be seen with more than a dozen congressional races yet to be called. 00:10.433 --> 00:13.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Republicans hoping to maintain their majority in the House, and if they do, 00:13.133 --> 00:17.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% it would lead to Republicans holding a political trifecta over Washington. 00:17.633 --> 00:22.333 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Our Lisa Desjardins has been following the latest and joins us now from our PBS News super screen. 00:22.333 --> 00:25.966 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% All right, Lisa, so where do things stand in the race to control the House of Representatives? 00:25.966 --> 00:27.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% LISA DESJARDINS: We have had more races called over the weekend. 00:27.900 --> 00:30.933 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Right now, as it stands, according to the Associated Press, Republicans 00:30.933 --> 00:34.700 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% have 214 seats they have won in the House. As many of our viewers know, 00:34.700 --> 00:39.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% that means they need four more in order to clinch control, keep control. How many 00:41.766 --> 00:44.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% races are left? There are 17 races left to be called around the country at this hour. 00:46.866 --> 00:49.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% They're all over the place. There's a couple that are going to overtime, Maine and Alaska. 00:49.766 --> 00:54.233 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Those are ranked-choice elections, where we're going to go into the next phase of that. There's 00:54.233 --> 00:59.200 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% a couple that are getting official review, potentially recounts possible in Ohio and Iowa. 01:01.400 --> 01:04.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But the largest number still, looking at you, California, 10 races left in the Golden State. 01:06.633 --> 01:10.333 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% And that will decide who wins and also the margin. So let's take a look at some of those. Here's a 01:10.333 --> 01:15.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Republican race critical for Republican control. David Valadao, incumbent here, 01:15.233 --> 01:20.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in House district 22. That's up here, sort of in the center of California. Right now, 01:21.966 --> 01:24.633 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% he's out ahead of Rudy Salas, looking good. Republicans like that. 01:24.633 --> 01:29.633 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Not as good news for Republicans, better news for Democrats in District 27. That 01:31.400 --> 01:34.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% is Northern Los Angeles County, right around there. George Whitesides, 01:34.100 --> 01:38.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% former chief of staff at NASA, is now leading. He pulled ahead over the weekend. This could 01:38.833 --> 01:42.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% go back and forth, but Democrats think they're going to hold on to this lead. 01:42.133 --> 01:44.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: And, Lisa, you have been looking at the data surrounding 01:44.500 --> 01:47.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the House results. What do you see when you look more deeply? 01:47.400 --> 01:50.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: Yes, there is something historic that happened in this election. 01:50.866 --> 01:54.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Took my spreadsheet, looked at all of the competitive races that had incumbents in 01:54.666 --> 01:57.500 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% them. These are the ones that have been called by the Associated Press. 01:57.500 --> 02:01.866 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% You look at all of these dots representing Democrat incumbents, Republican incumbents. 02:01.866 --> 02:06.866 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% Of all of these, only five of these incumbents lost their races. The rest of them were winning 02:09.000 --> 02:14.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% incumbents. It's a 98.5 percent win rate for incumbents, according to Open Secrets. 02:16.100 --> 02:19.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% That is a modern record. This is one reason Democrats have had trouble. Incumbents have 02:19.866 --> 02:24.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% just had incredible staying power. So right now, Republicans essentially are up one. 02:26.933 --> 02:30.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Democrats really have a lot of catching up to do if they're going to get -- they need 02:30.066 --> 02:34.200 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% to swing five more seats in order to get control. Republicans feeling good. 02:34.200 --> 02:36.700 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: All right, let's shift our focus to the Upper Chamber. We know 02:36.700 --> 02:40.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Republicans will control the Senate. The question now is by how much. 02:40.100 --> 02:42.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% LISA DESJARDINS: Right. Let's look at it. 02:42.133 --> 02:44.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% OK, here we are. The Senate, according to the Associated Press, to their calls, 02:44.666 --> 02:49.666 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% 53 Republican seats right now in their hands. The remaining decision is in Arizona, 02:51.233 --> 02:54.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and we are waiting to see what happens there. So, this week, 02:54.333 --> 02:58.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Republicans will vote on their majority leader replacing Mitch McConnell. That happens 02:58.466 --> 03:03.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Wednesday. To win that, you need a majority of the sitting Republicans, more than half. 03:05.533 --> 03:08.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Who's in that race? John Cornyn of Texas, John Thune of South Dakota, both have served as the 03:10.700 --> 03:14.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% number two Republican in the past. But a lot of conversation about Rick Scott of Florida, 03:14.466 --> 03:19.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% who has entered the race, saying he represents the MAGA wing of the party. And some from that 03:19.300 --> 03:23.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% MAGA wing have been endorsing Rick Scott in the last couple of days, Elon Musk, 03:23.433 --> 03:28.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Tucker Carlson, podcaster Charlie Kirk, RFK Jr. and Vivek Ramaswamy. 03:28.400 --> 03:33.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Now, talking to my sources, however, this is a secret ballot vote, Geoff. And everyone can 03:33.266 --> 03:37.300 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% say what they want about Rick Scott in public. Behind the scenes, I hear more 03:37.300 --> 03:42.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% senators inclined not to vote for him at this moment, but he's really making a run of it. 03:42.233 --> 03:44.900 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% GEOFF BENNETT: It's an interesting point because the Senate has typically been 03:44.900 --> 03:48.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% insulated from outside pressure. That has to do partly with the way 03:48.100 --> 03:51.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the founders designed it. I mean, does that still hold true in this Trump era? 03:51.966 --> 03:56.900 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% LISA DESJARDINS: We have seen Donald Trump clearly wants to push control of the Senate right now. He 03:56.900 --> 04:01.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% sent out this post on X just over this weekend, saying that he is expecting any Republican 04:03.933 --> 04:07.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% senator who wants to have the leadership position must agree to recess appointments. 04:09.233 --> 04:11.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% What does that mean? Recess appointments is a way that you get around Senate 04:11.266 --> 04:15.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% confirmation. And you have to have both chambers in order to do it. A reminder, 04:15.633 --> 04:20.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the president appoints more than 1,200 total positions. And high-level nominees 04:20.633 --> 04:24.533 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% usually face hearings in scrutiny, but a recess appointment would get around that. 04:24.533 --> 04:27.533 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So this is also a decision that Republican senators will have to 04:27.533 --> 04:31.033 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% make. Trump wants them to give him sort of carte blanche on his appointments. 04:31.033 --> 04:33.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa Desjardins, thanks to you, as always. 04:33.200 --> 04:34.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.