Republicans win 218 US House seats, giving Donald Trump and the party control of government
Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump. A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories that make up the majority. Republicans earlier gained control of the Senate from Democrats. With hard-fought yet thin majorities, Republican leaders are envisioning a mandate to upend the federal government and swiftly implement Trump’s vision for the country. The incoming president has promised to carry out the country’s largest-ever deportation operation, extend tax breaks, punish his political enemies, seize control of the federal government’s most powerful tools and reshape the U.S. economy. The GOP election victories ensure that Congress will be onboard for that agenda, and Democrats will be almost powerless to check it. Joining us this morning on AirTalk is Catie Edmondson, congressional correspondent for The New York Times, and Pete Peterson, dean of the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University.
With files from the Associated Press.
The specific and overlooked grief of never becoming a grandparent
As an increasing number of millennials are deciding to live out their lives “child free,” many would-be grandparents are left with a surprising feeling – grief. Parents often dream or at least imagine the day their own children will become parents, and grant them the great honor of stepping into a new and exciting role as grandparent. But falling birth rates tell a different story and many would-be grandparents are navigating a new reality that for some, can feel like a personal rejection. Joining us today on AirTalk is Claire Bidwell Smith, licensed therapist and grief expert; author of the book Conscious Grieving: A Transformative Approach to Healing from Loss and Maggie Mulqueen, licensed psychologist in Boston, MA where she has a private practice. We want to hear from you. If your adult children are deciding to be child-free, how do you feel about that? Are you experiencing grief around not becoming a grandparent? Call us at 866-893-5722 or email us at atcomments@laist.com.
The future of DACA under a new Trump administration
President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on promises to implement stricter immigration regulation. One such immigration program that may be under threat is DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. DACA protects undocumented immigrants who entered the U.S. as children from deportation and authorizes them to work and go to school. Back in 2017, during his first term as president, Trump tried to repeal DACA and halted authorization of advanced parole, a way for DACA recipients to leave the country without fear of being denied re-entry. Now, as Trump prepares to take office again, many DACA recipients fear that history will repeat itself and that they may soon be at risk for deportation.
Today on AirTalk, we're joined by Grace Alano, an immigration attorney based in San Francisco, to discuss the future of DACA and what it's dismantling may mean for current recipients. We'll also talk to Brian De Los Santos, host of How to LA. If you are a DACA recipient and have questions about the future of the program, give us a call at 866-893-5722. You can also email us at atcomments@laist.com.
TV Talk: ‘Bad Sisters,’ ‘Dune: Prophecy’ ‘Silo’ and more
Have you felt completely overwhelmed when deciding what new show to watch these days? Us too. There’s just so much content out there between network TV and numerous streaming platforms. Each week, we will try to break through the noise with TV watchers who can point us to the must-sees and steer us clear of the shows that maybe don’t live up to the hype. This week, listeners will get the latest scoop on what’s worth watching with Jen Chaney, television critic for Vulture, and Saloni Gajjar, staff writer covering TV at the A.V. Club.
