As I was finishing this newsletter, word came from House Republicans that they settled on Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio to be their new leader as they move into the minority in January.
asserted
they → finish → January
With Speaker Mike Johnson saying he didn’t want the job, the choice came down to Jordan, the in-your-face chairman of the Judiciary Committee and Freedom Caucus cofounder, and the widely liked and relatively milder-mannered Steve Scalise, who has spent nearly four years as majority leader after about a decade as the Republican whip.
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who → say → whip
Jordan and Scalise previously faced off in 2023, clashing over who would succeed Speaker Kevin McCarthy; ultimately, neither had enough support, and the job went instead to Johnson.
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job → face → Johnson
I just shot a quick video on this:
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I → shoot → this
Empire state of mind
Donald Trump’s decision last week to name Stephen Miller as his new White House chief of staff gives the impression that instead of learning from and correcting the policy mistakes of the past two years, the president intends to double down on them.
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president → name → them
Miller has been unapologetically racist, and his prejudices and hatreds have fueled much of the Trump administration’s nativist agenda, especially in the area of immigration enforcement.
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prejudices → fuel → enforcement
He will now hold even more power over the administration’s policy direction.
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He → hold → direction
Naturally I wanted to ask Republican senators, newly returned to Capitol Hill on their first day back in session, for their thoughts on Miller’s promotion.
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I → want → promotion
First, I sought out two of the Republicans leaving Congress at the end of the term.
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I → seek → term
I hoped they would offer some unvarnished honesty, and they did not disappoint.
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they → hop → honesty
“I think it’s the worst possible thing that could have happened this week,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told me.
uncertain
Tillis → think → me
“Look, this guy was deputy White House chief of staff and senior policy advisor and homeland security advisor.
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guy → look → staff
Tell me, what in Homeland Security before Markwayne Mullin got there was going well for this administration?”
“So, for a year, this guy is helping advise on homeland security where we lost the immigration reform and border security issue, right?
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we → tell → issue
And then you take a look at some of the missteps with Greenland and a number of other things,” Tillis added.
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Tillis → take → things
“[Miller is] the last person who should be trying to settle things down.”
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who → try → things
When I asked him whether last week’s election results, a Republican calamity, warranted some reflection on the past two years of GOP policy—with Miller a leading voice developing it—Cornyn jokingly pointed at Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and said, “I’m gonna talk to the expert here and find out.”
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I → ask → expert
Scott, the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman, has received a drubbing over the party’s extraordinary losses in the upper chamber.
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Scott → receive → chamber
What sort of White House will Miller manage?
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Miller → manage → House
Based on the man’s character, rhetorical habits, and political priorities, it’s reasonable to assume he will lead in a combative and unapologetic direction, and in ways that may even surpass the already belligerent stance of the first two years of Trump’s second term.
uncertain
that → base → term
Miller has called critics of Trump’s tariffs “economically illiterate, historically illiterate, and probably functionally illiterate.”
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Miller → call → tariffs
He has encouraged Fox News to fire its pollster, who showed that Trump’s tariffs were unpopular—and he did so during an appearance on Fox News.
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he → encourage → News
He has said Republicans should ignore the “panicans” who were worried about the Iran war.
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who → say → war
He has called Democrats the “jihad party.”
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He → call → Democrats
And he called one senator’s criticisms of ICE’s brutality “unimaginably stupid,” all while proclaiming that the world is governed only by power.
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world → call → power
Encouraged by the departing lawmakers’ honesty about Miller’s appointment, I also asked Republicans whose Senate careers are still in the safe category if they were comfortable with the man Trump was placing at the wheel.
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Trump → encourage → wheel
The answers they gave me varied: Some seemed to be in denial, some refused to see the appointment as their concern, and others defended Miller’s character and record, even to a point of outright sycophancy.
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others → give → sycophancy
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), who just secured another six years in the Senate, told me bluntly, “The president decides who he wants as his chief of staff, and he does not ask us for permission.”
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he → secure → permission
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) coauthored a bipartisan immigration reform bill in 2024 that Miller harshly condemned as a secret vehicle for “amnesty”; Lankford’s Republican colleagues ultimately tanked the legislation at Trump’s urging.
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colleagues → coauthore → urging
Even so, the senior senator from Oklahoma dismissed the idea that Miller’s xenophobia presents a full picture of his personality and policy priorities, telling me, “Stephen is smart and tough, and he has the trust of the president.”
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he → dismiss → president
“I think people should sit down and talk to him,” Lankford added.
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Lankford → think → him
“Quite frankly, I find a lot of people unwilling to actually have a conversation with him.
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lot → find → him
And people that can sit down and have a conversation with him will find a very different person.”
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that → sit → person
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who’s made a name for himself as an unshakeable Trump loyalist, said Miller’s appointment is a signal that the administration is ready for war.
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administration → make → war
“It is definitely a period of reflection,” Moreno said.
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Moreno → say → reflection
“We got our asses kicked.
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asses → get → ?
None of us should try to dance around that very fact.”
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None → try → fact
“The president appointing Stephen Miller is pretty straightforward.
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president → appoint → Miller
It’s I think what Senator [John] Thune said today, which is if Democrats want to actually advance an affordability agenda and actually get things going for the American people and help the lives of working Americans and grow our middle class, I think Republicans are all in to help that,” Moreno added.
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Moreno → ’ → that
“And if they wanna be idiots and put some of these crazy, socialist mantras in place and go back to Biden-era ridiculousness, then we need to go into the arena like gladiators.
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we → put → gladiators
And that’s where Stephen Miller comes in.
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Miller → ’ → ?
…and 36 more, not listed.
The Aporia
