Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Evening Report newsletter Subscribe Plus: Trump prepares his return, Dems plot resistance{beacon} Evening Report   ©  Greg Nash Democrats in the wilderness search for answers Democrats are searching for answers after a nationwide shift to the right sent the party to a historic defeat.  Republicans are on the brink of unified control in Washington, after President-elect Trump cut deep into the Democrats’ traditional base of voters, including racial minorities and working class people.  Vice President Harris performed best among wealthy people who went to college, a massive red flag for Democrats in a country where nearly two-thirds don’t have a college degree. Polls consistently showed Americans were fed up with the high cost of living and didn’t feel the economy was working for them. “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said. “While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.” Immigration was another animating issue in 2024, and Democrats failed to convince voters they could be trusted to secure the border.  Latinos voted for Trump in astonishing numbers, even as he promised mass deportations and Democrats condemned his rhetoric as racist.  “This is a realignment,” Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill) told NBC News. “Our country has moved to the right. It’s not center left. Our party needs to grapple with it and find its footing in that world.” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) blamed progressives for dragging the party too far to the left. He said Democrats have lost the ability to speak to ordinary Americans because they’re trapped in a liberal echo chamber.  “Donald Trump has no greater friend than the far left, which has managed to alienate historic numbers of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, and Jews from the Democratic Party with absurdities like ‘Defund the Police’ or ‘From the River to the Sea’ or ‘Latinx,’” Torres tweeted.  “We should expunge from our vocabulary the words: we have a 'messaging problem,' " he added. “When over 70% percent of Americans think we are on the wrong track or headed in the wrong direction, that is not a messaging problem. That is reality problem. Inflation and immigration are not 'messaging problems.' These are realities that produced discontent widespread enough to hand Donald Trump the presidency. We ignore the real-world messages that these realities send at our own peril.” Some Democrats, including Reps. Seth Moulton (Mass.) and Thomas Suozzi (N.Y.), said the party is on the wrong side of hot-button social issues that the Trump campaign highlighted in its ads. “I have two little girls,” Moulton told The New York Times. “I don't want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete. But as a Democrat, I'm supposed to be afraid to say that.”Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky said Democrats have lost the ability to “speak to people like they’re normal.” “When we are too afraid to say that, ‘Hey, college kids, if you’re trashing a campus of Columbia University because you aren’t happy about some sort of policy and you’re taking over a university and you’re trashing it and preventing other students from learning that that is unacceptable.’ But we’re so worried about alienating one or another cohort in our coalition that we don’t know what to say,” Roginsky said.The late switch from President Biden to Harris will hang over the election. “It probably wasn’t great to cover up President Joe Biden’s infirmities until they became undeniable on live TV,” former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote in an op-ed. “It wasn’t ideal that party elders replaced him with Harris, a nominee who had received no electoral votes and had failed decisively in a previous presidential run.” The White House blamed “global headwinds” due to COVID-19, pointing to incumbent governments across the world getting voted out in record numbers. 💡 Perspectives: The Hill: Harris ran on Biden’s unpopular foreign policy. Lee Fang: Democratic consultants deceived donors. The New Republic: Harris lost the voters she needed most. The Liberal Patriot: The shattering of the Democratic coalition. The Free Press: No, the problem isn’t the voters.  Read more:Winners and losers from the presidential election. Democrats play blame game after Harris loss.How Democrats spent $1 billion and lost. Democrats’ election abortion strategy falls flat. Trump builds on Latino support, helping pave way to victory.Latino voters put identity issues aside in 2024.Voters concerned about economy broke hard for Trump. Welcome to Evening Report! I'm Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what's coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.CATCH UP QUICK  The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, the second consecutive cut after a two-year rate hike run to curb post-pandemic inflation. The Department of Justice is moving to wind down the criminal cases against Trump before he takes office. The civil cases against Trump could trudge on despite his victory.  Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) has cancer of the esophagus.  Police are hunting 40 monkeys that escaped from a South Carolina research facility.  NEW THIS AFTERNOON ©  AP Photo/Julia Demaree NikhinsonTrump prepares his return, Dems plot 2025 resistance President-elect Trump and his team are ready to hit the ground running.  The Hill’s Brett Samuels outlines how Trump plans to aggressively use his executive authority to make sweeping changes on day 1. At the top of the list:Stemming the flow of illegal immigration and mapping out plans to deport immigrants in the country illegally. Ramping up oil production and reversing President Biden’s environmental regulations.Assessing U.S. alliances and military involvement abroad.Reversing Biden’s orders on equity.Firing Jack Smith and pardoning Jan. 6 rioters. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Elon Musk made big bets on Trump winning, and that should pay off with key roles in the new administration.  Kennedy is eager to take control of food production, saying this week that “entire departments” at the Food and Drug Administration “have to go.”  See Kennedy's 'pack your bags' post  Musk, whose potential role in the Trump administration remains unclear, posted:   “America’s A team is usually building companies in the private sector Once in a long time, reforming government is important enough that the A team allocates time to government. This is that time.”  Meanwhile, the Democratic resistance to Trump’s policies begins anew. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) issued a proclamation to convene a special session of the state Legislature with the goal of safeguarding the state’s progressive initiatives. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) said her state’s law enforcement would not participate in mass deportations.Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) fumed: “To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans: I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior. You come for my people, you come through me.”💡Perspectives: City Journal: Trump’s victory forges new conventional wisdom. The Hill: Trump just won the greatest jury verdict in American history. The BIG Newsletter: Wall Street celebrates a coming Trump merger boom. The Hill: Trump is the right president to finally tackle the national debt.  IN OTHER NEWS ©  Kevin Wolf, Associated PressGOP favored to win narrow House majority Republicans have an 87 percent chance of winning a narrow majority in the House, according to the latest forecast from Decision Desk HQ.The GOP currently has a 213-200 advantage.There are 22 races yet to be called. Republicans only need to win five of those to have the slimmest majority possible, which is 218-217. Several analysts have forecast Republicans will wind up somewhere in the low 220s.Those odds have House Republican leaders moving forward as if it’s a done deal.  On Thursday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) asked House Republicans to reelect them to their leadership posts. Leadership elections are scheduled for Dec. 13. The GOP already has a lock on the Senate, but the size of the majority remains up in the air. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) held on to her seat in Nevada, narrowly defeating Republican Sam Brown in a presidential battleground state won by former President Trump.That’s one of the interesting dynamics of this election cycle: Trump carried all seven presidential swing states. However, in five swing states with Senate races, it appears Democrats might win four.Democrats are so far projected to win Senate races in Wisconsin, Michigan and Nevada. Races in Arizona and Pennsylvania are still too close to call. GOP candidate Dave McCormick has a very small lead in Pennsylvania, while Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego (D) leads in Arizona.If those races finish where they are now, Republicans would have a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) will need to appoint Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) successor, as Vance moves on to the White House. Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy could be on the list of potential replacements. The battle to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as the next GOP Senate leader is entering the final stretch, with Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) fighting for support.  Via The Hill’s Al Weaver:  “Thune, the Senate GOP whip, has been considered a slight favorite to replace the Kentucky Republican. He is the top vote-counter on the GOP side and has proven an able fundraiser and campaigner. But few are counting out Cornyn, a former whip and top ally to the outgoing leader who is considered to have strong ties with more conservative segments of the conference.”   🖊️  PUNDIT CORNER "Markets called Trump right, but what do they do now?" by Katie Martin for The Financial Times. "Will this election change our political paralysis?," by Don Wolfensperger for The Hill. ⏲️  COUNTDOWN   75 days until Inauguration Day.  UNDER THE RADAR   There a story you think should be getting more attention? Something people should be talking about? Drop me a line: [email protected]  Stay Engaged  You're all caught up! Stay with TheHill.com for the latest and recommend this newsletter to others: TheHill.com/Evening. See you tomorrow.