MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Donald Trump is returning to the White House. Republicans will control the Senate. We don't yet know who will control the House of Representatives. NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh and political correspondent Susan Davis are here with us down to tell us more. Good morning to you both.
SUSAN DAVIS, BYLINE: Good morning.
DEIRDRE WALSH, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: Sue, let me start with you. A Republican Senate is a big deal for Trump's ability to govern and shape his agenda. Say more about how.
DAVIS: It's a big deal at this hour. He's guaranteed at least a 52-seat Senate majority. That could climb to 54 or 55 seats, depending on how a remaining five races are called. The bigger the majority, the easier it is for Donald Trump to get his agenda through the Senate. In the short term, I think that the 2017 Trump tax cuts were a big question in this agenda - are in a very good position to be extended with Republicans in control. And also, with that kind of a majority, Trump cabinet nominees are likely to sail through the Senate. Any dissent will probably be minimal because I think the thing to keep in mind about Republicans in Congress today - they are much more unified behind Donald Trump, and there's much fewer voices of dissent that would object to his agenda.
MARTIN: And who is likely to lead this new Senate majority, Deirdre? Do we know? I know that Mitch McConnell, the long-serving senator from Kentucky, had already announced that he would step down as leader of the Republicans no matter who was in charge of that chamber. Do we have any sense of who will succeed him?
WALSH: We don't know yet, but we will know a week from today. Senate Republicans are going to have a closed-door, secret-ballot election for their new majority leader. There are three declared candidates - John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida. This is really actually seen as a race between Thune and Cornyn. Both, right when the Senate was called, put out statements touting, to Sue's point, their relationships with Trump and their commitment to passing his agenda. He could weigh in on the race. It's unclear what effect that would have. But to Sue's point, I mean, this is going to be a very unified Senate Republican conference, and they're going to hit the ground running.
MARTIN: Do we have any sense of - is there any daylight between any of them and Donald Trump's agenda? I mean, Mitch McConnell (inaudible***) deeply conservative. He is the person who laid the groundwork for Trump's ability to control the federal judiciary - or at least to influence the federal judiciary to the degree that he had by holding open those Senate - those vacancies by refusing to move forward, you know - first, you know, Merrick Garland, when he was nominated by President Obama. But he is the person who kind of laid the groundwork, but he did have some differences with Trump, particularly on Ukraine, for example, or in the NATO alliances. Do these candidates have any of those differences in their records so far?
WALSH: I mean, I think, in their past voting records, they did differ with Trump on the issue of Ukraine. But I think, going forward, it's pretty clear that's going to be a much different issue for the Republican conference. I do think one thing there'll be some friction on between Trump and Senate Republicans is he could call for eliminating the filibuster. You know, top Senate Republican leaders have resisted those calls. But they could still come, and that could cause some friction. But to Sue's point about the size of their majority, they will have enough votes to get major things done - things like their tax bill.
MARTIN: One of the things that we've talked about this morning, Sue, is that one thing that stands out is just how few mixed Senate delegations are left. By that, we mean that there was both a Democrat and a Republican in the same delegation. How do - what do you see - what do you think that means?
DAVIS: Americans don't split their tickets anymore - not in federal races. They still will often do it for governors. There's still a different way people view state politics than federal politics. But a fascinating stat going into election night last night, Michel, is that, in 68 of the 69 Senate races in 2016 and 2020 - went the exact same way as the presidential at the top of the ticket. The way that these races - they haven't all been called; they're on track - it looks like all Senate races will fall in line with the top of the ticket, maybe an exception in Wisconsin.
It's huge. We're a hyperpolarized country. We've said it consistently over time, but the red has gotten redder. The blue has gotten bluer. And I believe there may be only two states in the entire country that have senators from opposing parties representing them. There's Maine and Wisconsin, but Wisconsin could change depending on the outcome of Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin's race.
MARTIN: And, of course, we're focusing on the Senate because the House has not yet been called, so they still have a number of races outstanding. So Deirdre, with that being said, do you have a sense of what kinds of things the next Congress will focus on?
WALSH: Well, House Speaker Mike Johnson has basically pledged to move Trump's agenda if they keep their narrow majority. It's possible that they will be able to do that. We're still waiting on that. He's talking about a border security vote right at the top, renewing Trump's tax cuts right away, and he's talking about taking a blowtorch to the regulatory state, undoing a lot of the Biden-Harris regulations.
MARTIN: That is Susan Davis and Deirdre Walsh. Thank you both.
DAVIS: You're welcome.
WALSH: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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