Welcome to the online edition of From the Politics Desk, an evening email that provides you with the most recent coverage and commentary from the campaign trail, Capitol Hill, and the White House by the NBC News Politics team.
In today’s broadcast, a veteran national political reporter discusses the mistakes made by Democrats in the 2024 election with the newly appointed 35-year-old chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Jonathan Allen, a senior national political writer, also explains why Pete Hegseth has a very difficult road ahead of him in his bid to become the next defense secretary.
Register here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox each daily.
Where House progressives new leader thinks Democrats went wrong
By Sahil Kapur
Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, the recently elected chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, claims that the Democratic Party needs to make a drastic change in direction in order to regain its reputation and prioritize winning over doing the right thing. He claims that the party made a mistake in the 2024 election.
Casar outlined his vision for the future in a comprehensive interview with NBC News on Wednesday, the day before he was formally chosen as chair. He stated that Democrats must go back to their origins as the working class party. This entails not coming out as preachy or disengaged and accepting voters who hold different views from the left on cultural matters.
The congressman stated that Democrats must refocus their core identity on assisting workers and raising wages, but do so without putting vulnerable people at risk, in the wake of a crushing setback to President-elect Donald Trump that Casar maintains was preventable.
He disagreed with the idea that Democrats should become anti-immigrant or anti-transgender after Trump used these topics extensively during his campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris. According to Casar, Democrats ought to veer away from their goal of assisting the wealthy in their pursuit of wealth by refocusing such attacks and blaming the GOP of inciting culture wars against district people.
There must be a shift in the progressive movement. According to Casar, whenever some of these cultural war topics are raised, we must reiterate the importance of fundamental economic concerns. Therefore, I believe that the progressive reaction to Republican attacks on LGBT Americans should be that a large corporation, assisted by Republicans, denied your health insurance claim, not a transgender person.
“People need to understand that the Republican Party’s fixation on these culture war issues is motivated by their desire to divert voters’ attention and make them ignore them while Republicans enrich themselves,” he continued.
Austin native Casar, 35, campaigned unchallenged for progressive chair to succeed term-limited Representative Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington. The native Texan, the son of Mexican immigrants, has risen quickly. Prior to earning his second term in the House last month, he was a labor organizer and member of the Austin City Council.
Casar’s comments fuel a heated debate within the Democratic Party, with some blaming Harris’ loss on left-wing excesses and social litmus tests that turned off a sizable portion of working-class voters. Some of Harris’s positions from her first presidential campaign in 2019 plagued her, most notably her support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming treatment for prisoners, including those who were in the country illegally, which Trump exploited to paint her as being out of touch with regular Americans.
Casar acknowledged that the median voter is more culturally conservative than his party, at least in the present, and he thinks that the ordinary voter leans left on economic concerns. According to him, the answer is to take the lead on social concerns without going too far ahead of the voter.
Casar stated, “I believe we should be in the lead, but we should never be more than an arm’s length ahead.” You are susceptible to Republican charges if we surpass the nation by more than a few arms’ length.
View other excerpts from the interview.
A bad sign for Pete Hegseth s prospects
By Jonathan Allen
The fact that Pete Hegseth is now vowing not to consume any alcohol if the Senate confirms him for the position is a negative indication for his campaign to become defense secretary.
The Senate previously rejected a Pentagon nominee, former Senator John Tower, in 1989 after alcohol-related issues came to light. Alleged conflicts of interest were another problem with Tower.
Additionally, Hegseth’s selection is in serious jeopardy because he is engaged in a multifront conflict. He has unconventional qualifications for the position. He has never held a senior military position or overseen an organization close to the scale of the Pentagon.
His detractors are now attacking him on at least four fronts rather than just one: Hegseth has disputed the accusations of sexual assault, reports of alcohol misuse, alleged inappropriate handling of women, and lack of qualifications.
If any of those are accurate, they may be sufficient grounds for a candidate to be rejected by the Senate. Senators can vote against a nominee for any number of reasons; they are not compelled to select just one.
More significantly, if the majority leader does not present a nomination to the floor, they are not required to vote or even make any public statements.
As was the case with Matt Gaetz’s appointment to head the Justice Department, some Republican senators undoubtedly think that silent threats to vote no will be sufficient to thwart the choice without them having to vote against President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee.
However, baggage tends to multiply, so even if Hegseth receives a vote in January, it’s still a good idea to keep an eye on the Senate. On any one of the accusations made against Hegseth, senators might be prepared to defend him. All four, though?
Many people in Washington will be shocked if he is confirmed.
Today s top stories
-
DOGE bites man:
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy met with congressional Republicans to discuss ways they could slash federal spending and regulations, but they have their work cut out for them.Read more
-
Getting heated:
The acting Secret Service director and a GOP congressman from Texas got into a screaming match during a hearing of a House task force that is investigating the assassination attempts against Trump.Read more
-
Deportation preparation:
The incoming Trump administration is preparing a list of countries to which it may deport migrants when their home countries refuse to accept them.Read more
-
On the road again:
Vice President-elect JD Vance is expected to travel Friday to Fairview, North Carolina, to survey Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. It will mark his first trip since the election outside of meetings and events surrounding Trump transition efforts.Read more
-
NFT party
: Trump is claiming credit for Bitcoin eclipsing $100,000.Read more
-
On the sidelines:
Justice Neil Gorsuch is recusing himself from an environmental case that will be argued in front of the Supreme Court next week after consulting the court s new ethics code.Read more
-
Surprise, surprise:
Politico reports the Senate Democrats top super PAC helped fund a group that was boosting Nebraska independent Dan Osborn s candidacy, a new campaign finance report shows, despite the party s repeated public pronouncements they weren t helping his bid to defeat GOP Sen. Deb Fischer.Read more
For now, that’s all from the Politics Desk. For comments, likes, or dislikes, send an email to [email protected].
Additionally, if you’re a fan, please tell everyone. They are able to sign here.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!