Political Leadership Dynamics in a Divided Congress

Divided government appears poised to return to Washington. In the midterm elections, the Republicans seem likely to manage to eke out a majority in the House, but they will have a historically small margin of control.

The Republican majority will be very conservative, made up of longtime members — some of whom have drifted more to the right — and a small but influential group of hard-right Republicans who are quite allied with former President Donald J. Trump and helped lead the effort to try to overturn the 2020 election.

What can we expect from this new Republican-controlled House?

Guest: Julie Davis, congressional editor for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• After the midterm elections, the Republican ranks in the House have grown more extreme and slightly more diverse.
• Republican rebels are trying to make their leaders sweat after a worse-than-expected outcome in the elections.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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