What A Day - And Then The Majority Was 2

Episode Date: January 8, 2026

There are 435 members of the House of Representatives — and after the resignation of Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and the passing of California Representative Doug LaMalfa, the GOP���s majority is down to 218. It’s thin, even without discussing the number of Republicans that are going to leave office to retire, run for other positions, or just get away because being in Congress sucks right now. At the same time, Congress is struggling to get much done — whether it’s about healthcare, the President’s war powers, or more routine topics like permitting reforms. So what does all of this mean for Congress in 2026? To find out, we spoke to Burgess Everett. He’s the Congressional bureau chief at Semafor.And in headlines, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shoots a Minneapolis driver in broad daylight, the Pentagon confirms it’s reviewing the “effectiveness” of women in ground combat roles, and the Trump administration moves forward with its plan for Venezuelan oil.Show Notes:Check out Burgess's work – semafor.com/author/burgess-everettCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's Thursday, January 8th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is What a Day? The show that can think of a shorter answer to this question for Energy Secretary Chris Wright here on CNBC Wednesday. Is there a narrative in Venezuela that you are stealing our way? I have not heard that narrative. I've seen celebrations in the street, Libre Venezuela out. I think people are thrilled. They've lived under between Chavez and Maduro, 26 years in a brutal dictatorship that's only devastated that country and hurt the whole hemisphere. So I've not heard that narrative at all. And of course, if it's that narrative's out there, it's untrue.

We're just controlling the flow of revenues from their oil. Just say yes next time. On today's show, an immigration and customs enforcement officer, fatally shoots a Minneapolis driver in broad daylight, and the Trump administration moves forward with its plan for Venezuelan oil. Let's start with Congress. And let's start with some very important numbers. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives. And as of today, the GOP House majority is down to 218, after the resignation of Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Green and the passing of California Representative Doug Lamalfa. With vacancies reducing

the total number of House seats, legislation would require two 2016 votes to pass. That means Speaker Mike Johnson could only lose two Republicans on any party line vote. And then there's the hospitalization of Indiana Representative Jim Baird following a recent car accident. And Kentucky Representative Thomas Massey being, shall we say, not a sure vote for GOP legislation. The GOP House majority is razor thin, even without discussing the number of Republicans soon to leave office, whether it's to run for other positions or just because being in Congress sucks right now. So keeping the House majority in the midterms seems pretty unlikely,

which is tough news for President Donald Trump, for one reason he made very clear during remarks to congressional Republicans on Tuesday. You got to win the midterms. Because if we don't win the midterms, it's just going to be, I mean, they'll find a reason to impeach me. I'll get impeached.

The funny thing is that it's not like House Republicans have big plans going forward. On Venezuela, Trump seems to believe that Congress is an obstacle he can avoid entirely. And honestly, he's right because he's getting away with it. And on issues like health care, the GOP is woefully divided, even from Trump, who suggested Tuesday Republicans be, quote, flexible on allowing federal funds, like those that go into Medicaid, be used to pay for abortion coverage. Republicans are not going to be flexible on abortion coverage.

So what does all of this mean for Congress in 2026? To find out, I spoke to Burgess Everett. He's a congressional bureau chief at Semaphore. Burgess, welcome back to what today. Hey, Jane. Thanks for having me. Congress returned this week after the news that President Trump had captured, then Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the middle of the night without telling Congress. What are you hearing from representatives and senators?

Yeah, I mean, it's been a big shock being back. It was a shock to everybody that this happened. I mean, even the Senate Majority Leader told us he didn't know beforehand, which he said was appropriate because he basically said this mission's too sensitive to let members of Congress know. I would say that aspect of it has fallen on a party lines a little bit. And now, you know, we're entering a moment where the Senate, at least, is actually going to have to vote on this. There's a war powers resolution vote coming up on Thursday. That would limit the use of military force in Venezuela absent

a authorization from Congress, which, as you know, as a student of politics, Congress has really shirked its duty in terms of weighing in on matters of war and peace, basically since the Iraq and Afghanistan resolutions 25 years ago. Senator Kane's been really creative enforcing votes on the Senate floor, and this is kind of his baby and his attempt to kind of put Republicans on the record, because, as you know, Democrats are in the minority in both chambers of Congress. So this is one of these tools they have to actually force Republicans to vote on some of Trump's policies. Now, let's say, hypothetically, in a universe that maybe is on Earth, too, that war powers resolution actually passed Congress.

Would Trump listen to it? Well, I think it's a great question that I don't know the answer to. I mean, one of the stories of this Congress has been how little the president seems to care about what Congress wants to do or says, especially when it comes to Democrats. I mean, this is an administration that had the Senate rewrite its rules, basically. basically to confirm Trump nominees more quickly. So no, I don't think it's a given that the president would follow a resolution like that, even if it were passed and sent to his desk. And even if he vetoed it and they overrode that veto, I think it's an open question whether he would follow it. Now, Congress ended 2025 with a focus on health care, health care, health care. But not a lot

has actually gotten done. And they seem, especially the Republicans and the majority, seem very divided on the issue of health care, despite Trump saying we're going to own this issue because that's what's going to save me in the midterms. What's the latest on health care legislation entering the new year? So we've got kind of a split screen going on here. In the Senate, there's like a bipartisan group that is talking about reviving these subsidies. It's an interesting group, Bernie Moreno, who I'm not sure I would have predicted a year ago. This would be a situation he'd find himself in. He's kind of like the leader on this, him and Senator Collins, on the Republican side. trying to revive these subsidies, making some changes to them, income caps, and no more zero-dollar

plans, things like that. And so, I mean, people like him are actively working in a bipartisan way. It could pass the Senate. I'm not saying it definitely will, but they're getting pretty close to putting a draft out, which would honestly, in this Congress, be a pretty big accomplishment because there really hasn't been many of these famous Senate gangs doing much. Then across the Capitol and the House, there's not that much appetite for this, although they have forced the issue onto the House floor. It's a three-year extension of the Affordable Care Act's enhanced subsidies. The Senate's already voted on this. They rejected it. Four Republicans voted to advance it. So you can see the three-year extension without the changes, that's not going to become law.

But if it passes the House with a pretty big vote and the Senate has some momentum here, I wouldn't totally rule out the possibility of a deal on these ACA subsidies. Last year, the government shut down for the longest period in history over health care. We're approaching a deadline for multiple spending bills at the end of the month. Is there any appetite from Democrats for a repeat? I don't sense that. I did a bunch of reporting on this recently, talking to Democrats. Like, you know, let's recreate the same scenario that we just had.

You don't revive these ACA subsidies. Is that enough for you to shut the government down? They're saying, no, we're not talking about doing that strategy again. I think if there were to be a shutdown, it would probably be from more run-of-the-mill congressional inaptitude waiting too long or losing. a vote on the House floor or something like that that surprises. I don't feel like Democrats are engineering an entire strategy based around using their funding leverage to make healthcare a big issue. I think they made their point. And then I would also say like this may give Democratic

leaders a little pause on whether to fully engage on the Affordable Care Act subsidies because I think they think they won that fight in the shutdown that Republicans look bad and divided right now. and they may not want to bail them out, frankly. Congress looks different than it did even a year ago or even a month ago. A lot of people have resigned or retired. We've had a California Republican member pass away. There's an Indiana Republican member who has been hospitalized after a car accident. So considering all of that, does it feel to you like House Republicans aren't going to try to do anything?

Because a party line vote is, you know, they can only lose two votes. and you've got multiple members of the House who seem like kind of not a sure bet. I think they're going to try. Speaker Johnson has indicated this week he wants to try to do a reconciliation bill, which is that party line bill that you're talking about. I think there's a lot of skepticism in the Senate about whether that can pass. Given the math that you just talked about in the House is challenging. It's also challenging in the Senate.

You have a handful of moderates. You got Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, got retiring Yolo Tom Tillis, And you got retiring Yolo Mitch McConnell. So I just don't know that it's guaranteed that you can pass anything through either one. However, there's a little bit of like buyer's remorse from the last time Republicans were in charge back in 2017 and 2018. They didn't try to implement more of their agenda. So I do think there's a little bit of a feeling among these, a lot of these folks that they should at least try to do more. And also little subtext here, Trump wants to kill the filibuster in the Senate.

There's not the votes for that. So what is the only other way to pass something without Democratic votes? It's these party line reconciliation bills. So that's kind of what's leading to this talk about it. But I agree with you. It's really difficult. I wouldn't rule it out entirely. But if I had to bet on it, I'd bet against one passing this year.

It's funny because I feel like the redistricting conversation to me really changed at the end of last year, especially when you saw one, Virginia start to be like, well, Democrats can do it too. And you also saw Indiana stand up to Trump on this issue. But on Wednesday, Florida entered the redistricting conversation because Florida governor, Ron DeSanta, says he plans to call a special session in April for the state legislature to draw new congressional districts because we all need more to do. This would potentially hand the GOP more house seats. What are the chances this happens ahead of the midterms? And how would it impact the party's chances, especially given that redistricting was kind of the story of 2025, but it didn't seem to work in the way Republicans thought it would. No, I mean, it's sort of led a little bit to a stalemate. I think maybe they have like a slight one or two seat advantage as it's all played out so far.

But as you just referenced, Jane, like the story's not over. If Florida moves and appears like it's going to be successful, I would think like Virginia might get more aggressive. I don't know if you could totally discount Maryland trying to draw out Andy Harris, who's the one Republican there. So it does feel like it could end up being a wash. I wouldn't totally rule out Florida redrawing these districts, but that's awfully late in the process to be doing that. Some states will have already had their primaries over at that point. So I think that sounds like an uphill battle for me to me, but they may have the votes to be able to do it. I think that would be an unprecedented late redraw of these districts. And people are going to run out of districts to redraw eventually. I mean, a lot of the country is already pretty damn jerrymandered, if you ask me.

I hope so because, good Lord. It's just like it's very hard to keep track of. It really is. And it's also difficult to keep saying the word redistricting. But more importantly, what other issues are at the top of Congress's docket this year? You know, I never would have thought I'd say this a week ago, but like Greenland is a big issue now. Like, I'm not even kidding. No, no, no. I know you're not kidding. And I'm only laughing because that's horrifying. I mean, the Danish ambassador is coming to Capitol Hill this week to meet with senators about the Trump administration's talk of taking over Greenland and Republicans are pushing back against it. So, you know, I mentioned this all just to say, like, in a typical election year, you know, not a lot's going to happen. But I think things are, like, fairly unpredictable now. I do think there's been this bucket of bipartisan bills like permitting reform or even new transportation bills that I think, like, theoretically, Congress. can kind of look past its divisions and do this sort of routine legislating, even if it's not a

must-pass bill. I'm not sure there's a lot of appetite for Democrats to make a deal on other small-ball issues. So, you know, I wouldn't totally rule out some bipartisan action, but that has not been the story of this Congress. It's been partisan power plays, party-line bills, and government shutdown. Like, that's been the story of this Congress. So I don't think we can predict quite what Congress will be doing five or six months from now, but, you know, we're going to see an early reconciliation play. We're going to see where this health care goes and whether there's another government shutdown. And then maybe there's time to do a handful of other things. But at some point, Democrats may feel the wind is at their back. And any deal that they cut, they get better

terms a year from now. Burgess, as always, thank you so much for joining me. Indeed. Thanks, Jane. What a day. What a day. That was my conversation with Burgess Everett, Congressional Beard. chief at Semaphore. We'll get to more of the news in the moment, but if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube, and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. What a day is brought to you by Smalls. Cats do not care about the New Year, or politics, or pretty much anything besides being a cat and getting fed. Small's cat food is protein-packed recipes

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advantage of their New Year's special and get 60% off your first order plus free shipping when you head to smalls.com slash wad. One last time, that's 60% off your first order plus free shipping when you head to smalls.com slash wad. Here's what else we're following today. Do you have no decency? We have someone dead in their car for no reason whatsoever. And I don't want to be right about this, but I said if they do this, they're going to create a chaotic situation where someone innocent is going to get killed. And they did it.

Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz was outraged on Wednesday after an immigration and customs enforcement officer fatally shot a driver in Minneapolis. The Department of Homeland Security defended the officer's action in a statement, saying the officer, quote, fearing for his life, the lives of his fellow law enforcement and the safety of the public fired defensive shots. But the video of the incident doesn't look like that at all. The victim, Renee Good, was a 37-year-old American citizen. She is the fifth reported person killed in ICE operation since 2024.

Ferry's bystanders posted different angles of the shooting on social media, which appeared to contradict ICE's account of what happened. Walt said he had reviewed the video himself and urged the person. public quote, don't believe this propaganda machine. Democratic mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frye, flatly rejected DHS's account of what happened and didn't mince words when addressing ICE on Wednesday. There's little, I can say again, that'll make this situation better, but I do have a message for our community, for our city, and I have a message for ice. To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis.

Within hours, thousands of protesters gathered in response to goods killing. This is the second time in the last few months that ICE operations have surged in Minneapolis. DHS announced Tuesday that it was sending roughly 2,000 officers into the city. At a press conference, DHS Secretary Christy Knoam was asked whether ice operations are paused as a result of what happened. Noem responded, quote, no, we're still out on the streets. The way that we control Venezuela is we control the purse strings. control the energy resources, and we tell the regime, you're allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America's national interest.

Vice President J.D. Vance and normal person told Fox News's Jesse Waters, that's how the U.S. will, quote, exert incredible pressure on Venezuela without endangering American lives. His comments come as the White House announced that U.S. forces boarded two sanctioned tankerships on Wednesday. DHS Secretary Kristy Nome said on Twitter that both ships were, quote, either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it. One vessel, which had been trying to evade U.S. capture for weeks, was seized in the North Atlantic Sea. According to shipping databases during the pursuit, the vessel had been renamed and flagged to Russia.

The second ship was in international waters near the Caribbean. After the announcement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to reporters on Capitol Hill about the administration's plans for Venezuela's oil. I mean, Venezuela. Step one is the stabilization of the country. We don't want it descending into chaos. Rubio said the U.S. is working on a deal to take up to 50. million barrels of oil, sell it, and disperse the money in a way that benefits Venezuelans. For comparison's sake, that's about two weeks of oil coming out of the Permian Basin in Texas. He said the second recovery phase would involve making sure American companies have fair access

to the Venezuelan market. The last step would be a transition phase. I hope I'm alive to see it. Nearly a decade after women were authorized into ground combat roles, the Pentagon confirmed its reviewing how effective they've been in those roles after NPR obtained a memo. All of this follows Secretary of War slash little boy Pete Hegseth's September remarks lamenting women and fat soldiers who can't meet, quote, the highest male standard of fitness. About 3,800 women currently serve in the Army's infantry, armor, and artillery units, including more than 150 who have completed ranger training. Roughly 10 women have also qualified as green berets, and I invite Pete Hegsuff to tell them they're not qualified to their

faces. A Pentagon spokesperson told the Hill, quote, the Institute for Defense announced is reviewing the effectiveness of having women in ground combat roles to ensure standards are met and the United States maintains the most lethal military. Pete Higgsath clearly thinks there are some domains exclusively for men and others for women. Strange for a man who ordered a makeup studio constructed in the Pentagon so that he could look good on TV. And don't worry, tax dollars aren't paying for a makeup artist because, according to a defense official, Pete, quote, does his own makeup. The Trump administration took another. sledgehammer to the environment, gutting regulations in a major environmental law in the name of hurry up. On Wednesday, the White House scrapped regulations in the National Environmental Policy Act,

also known as NEPA, which requires federal agencies to weigh a project's environmental impact before granting approval. A spokesperson for the council declared that under Trump, NEPA's quote, reign of terror has ended. So yes, Trump is making threats to friends and enemies alike, but don't forget the real terrorizer. Paperwork asking if a pipe, plane might poison a river. The action comes as Congress is currently debating legislation. Lawmakers in both parties agree that decades-old law has grown sluggish. The Republican-led House introduced a bill to accelerate project approvals, shorten review timelines, and narrow the ability to challenge decisions in court. Democrats warned the proposal weakens public

input on projects and limits judicial oversight. Last month, bipartisan permitting reform stalled when Democrats lost trust in negotiations after Trump paused five offshore wind projects. citing unspecified national security concerns. Knowing him, his national security concern is the wind. And that's the news. One more thing. Food! Personally, I'm a big fan.

And so are most people. But as you may know, figuring out what foods are healthiest and what foods aren't can be confusing, especially since our immediate environment advantages loud people on the internet who want to tell you about the horrifying effects of, say, oatmeal. Oatmeal is one of the worst foods that you can put in your body. So I understand why Health and Human Services Secretary and Dead Bear enthusiast Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to make life easier for Americans and finally settle, once and for all, what Americans

should be shoving into their metaphorical pie holes. On Wednesday, he announced revamped dietary guidelines, including a new food pyramid, which is basically the old food pyramid upside down. Today, the lies stop. The new guidelines recognize that whole nutrient-dense food is the most effective path to better health and lower health care costs. Protein and healthy fats are essential, and we're wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines. We are ending the war on saturated fats. That's right, we're protein maxing. As Kennedy said in his fallen angel voice, the new food pyramid emphasizes meat, dairy, cheese, fruits, and vegetables, and discourages consuming sugar and processed food. Congratulations to CrossFit coaches and people who track their macros everywhere. Actually, I'll be serious. This is good, but also bad. I'll explain. Yes, protein is good, especially if you work out a lot and also if you don't. Whole foods, as in foods that are not processed or refined are good. Whole grains, including yes, oatmeal are good for you.

Fat is also good in moderation, and sugar, as we've been learning, is not very good, but also delicious. But there's a big fly in the high-protein ointment. This is the Trump administration, and the Trump administration does not love nutrition. It loves money. See, if you grew up like I did in the 1990s, you remember that dietary fat was supposedly the worst thing in the history of time, a recommendation that came straight from the government,

which resulted in companies trying to make money from it. Sometimes by making fat-free cookies like snack wells, Here's an ad from 1993. Excuse me. Do you make these delicious fat-free snack while double-scoop cookies? Why, yes, I do. You want to tell us why we can't find them in the stores anymore? What is this?

You got some explaining to do cookie man. Or by making new products, like Olestra, known as O'Lean, a fat substitute added to products like potato chips in the mid-1990s and promoting it in ads like this. The farmers have been bringing us their harvests for 45 years. Then the farm co-op brought me something different. News, that soybeans like ours could be used to make a cooking or fry up snack chips without adding any fatter calories. At Crisco, they figured without all the fat of regular chips, this O'Lean could help lots of people eat a little healthier.

All I say is doing good starts right in your own backyard. Use that for O'Lean, a good place to start. But it turns out that Snackwell's cookies weren't any better for you than normal cookies, and O'Lean had some extremely unpleasant side effects. Now, despite R of K's rhetoric about, quote, corporate profit-taking, he is palling around with dairy corporations who brag about removing food dyes from ice cream. He's encouraging burger joints to cook their fries and other foods in beef tallow. Because processed foods like ice cream and fries are fine if they're make America healthy again processed, I guess. So we're not going to see a burgeoning whole foods revolution.

Instead, we're getting more protein popcorns and protein waters and tallow and pretty much everything. Because money. The real issue with the new food recommendation, isn't the food recommendations. It's that RFK Jr. is full of shit. Before we go, you've heard the headlines out of Venezuela, now hear directly from Venezuelans. On today's episode of Runaway Country,

Alex Wagner is on the ground talking with people about their hopes and fears for what comes next. She's also joined by John Favro and Ben Rose to break down Trump's escalating imperial ambitions. Listen now in the runaway country feed or on YouTube. and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review.

Congratulations to Mafuko, the Congolese Mountain Gorilla, who gave birth to twins, which is massive news for the survival of the rare species and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading, and not just about how Mafuco is beating the odds. She's an endangered mountain gorilla living in Africa's largest national park, a swath of which is under rebel control as Congo contives. a struggle with civil conflict, but observers say her babies look happy and healthy, like me. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash

subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and good guerrilla news is good news for everyone. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Desmond Taylor. Our associate producers are Emily Four and Chris Alport. Our producer is Caitlin Plummer. Our video editor is Joseph Tutra. Our video producer is Joseph Tudra. Our video producer is Joe Hannah Case. We had a production help today from Ethan Oberman, Greg Walters, and Matt Burke. Our senior producer is Erica Morrison, and our senior vice president of News and Politics is Adrian Hill. Our theme music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Cantor. We had helped today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.