The Latest: More than a dozen races left to be called to determine control of Congress
Control over the U.S. House of Representatives still hangs in the balance, teetering between a Republican or Democratic majority with more than a dozen races left to be called.
Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
Here’s the latest:
Why California takes weeks to count votes, while states like Florida are faster
One week after Election Day, control of the U.S. House rests on just over a dozen races where winners haven’t yet been determined.
Nine states have at least one uncalled House race, some of which are so close they’re headed to a recount.
Then there’s California. About half of the yet-to-be-decided House races are in the state, which has only counted about three-quarters of its votes statewide.
This isn’t unusual or unexpected, as the nation’s most populous state is consistently among the slowest to report all its election results. Compare it to a state like Florida, which finished counting its votes four days after Election Day.
These differences in how states count — and how long it takes — exist because the Constitution sets out broad principles for electing a national government, but leaves the details to the states. The choices made by state lawmakers and election officials as they sort out those details affect everything from how voters cast a ballot to how quickly the tabulation and release of results takes place.
▶ Read more about how states count votes
Trump picks former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel
President-elect Donald Trump will nominate former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel, Trump announced Tuesday.
Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.
“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years,” Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”
▶ Read more about Trump’s transition to the White House
Vice President Kamala Harris says there’s still work to get done
She told a crowd of supporters gathered outside the White House she was grateful for them, as cheers erupted from the staircase at the Eisenhower office building adjacent to the White House.
Her arrival for a private lunch with President Joe Biden coincided with Israeli President Isaac Herzog walking out of the West Wing to address reporters and the cheering briefly drowned him out.
Harris said: “Let’s get back to work because we still have work to get done.” She said she was sending “all my love and thanks.”
Trump has promised to ‘save TikTok’. What happens next is less clear
After a tumultuous year filled with anxiety and a legal battle about its future in the U.S., TikTok may have just been thrown a lifeline by the man who was once its biggest foe: Donald Trump.
President-elect Trump, who tried to ban the social media platform the last time he was in the White House, has repeatedly pledged during his most recent campaign to oppose a ban on the short-form video app, which could happen as soon as mid-January if the company loses a court case that’s currently underway in Washington.
For months, TikTok, and its China-based parent company ByteDance, have been embroiled in a legal battle with the U.S. over a federal law that forces them to cut ties for national security reasons or stop operating in one of their biggest markets in the world. The measure, signed by President Joe Biden in April, gives ByteDance nine months to divest its stakes, with a possible three-month extension if a sale was in progress. If that happens, the deadline could be extended into the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency.
▶ Read more about Trump and TikTok
Wall Street makes wagers on the likely winners and losers in a second Trump term
Wall Street is already making big bets on what take two for a White House led by Donald Trump will mean for the economy.
Since Election Day, investors have sent prices zooming for stocks of banks, fossil-fuel producers and other companies expected to benefit from Trump’s preference for lower tax rates and lighter regulation. For retailers, meanwhile, the outlook is murkier because of uncertainty about whether they’ll be able to absorb any of the higher costs created by tariffs.
Professional investors are warning about the risk of getting carried away by the momentum. While strong rhetoric on the campaign trail can cause these big swings, not all of the promises turn into actual policy. Plus, the broad U.S. stock market tends to move more on long-term growth in profits than anything else.
▶ Read more about the effect of Trump’s reelection on the stock market
Johnson says he expects to be at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate this weekend to talk about a policy roadmap
The comment from House Speaker Mike Johnson came in response to a question about whether he’s talked to Trump about funding the federal government beyond the current Dec. 20 deadline.
“My plan is to be at Mar-a-Lago all weekend to iron out details on the plans ahead,” Johnson said.
Johnson said it will be an ambitious agenda, but he declined to go into specifics.
“I told President Trump many times, as we’ve all discussed. We believe we could be the most consequential Congress in the modern era, and he’s the most consequential president, because we quite literally have to fix almost every metric of public policy. Everything is a mess. Everything.”
Will more House Republicans join Trump’s administration?
Speaker Mike Johnson says he doesn’t expect more House Republicans to join President-elect Donald Trump’s administration in the near-term because of the effect it would have on Republicans having enough votes to get priorities passed.
But he adds, “I’ll leave that up to him.”
Johnson says he expects Republicans to grow their slim House majority when all the votes are counted, but it would still be a slim one.
Johnson addressed the issue after it was disclosed that Trump has asked Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to be his United Nations ambassador and Michael Waltz, R-Fla., to be his national security adviser.
“Every single vote counts,” Johnson said.
Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson says he won’t be joining Trump’s administration
Paulson said it in a statement Tuesday, nixing speculation that he would serve as Trump’s treasury secretary.
“My complex financial obligations would prevent me from holding an official position,” he said in the statement. “However, I intend to remain actively involved with the President’s economic team and helping in the implementation of President Trump’s outstanding policy proposals.”
Paulson is the founder of the New York-based hedge fund Paulson & Co. The 68-year-old money manager made his fortune betting against subprime mortgages ahead of the Great Recession. He was a major fundraiser for Trump’s latest presidential campaign.
Former George Soros money manager Scott Bessent, Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin are among other names floated for the treasury secretary role.
Trump will meet with Speaker Mike Johnson at the Capitol on Wednesday
Johnson says he plans to meet with Trump in the morning before Trump goes to the White House.
The visit comes on the same day as House and Senate Republicans each have their own elections to determine their leadership in the next Congress.
Johnson has kept in close contact with Trump throughout the election cycle, discussing campaign strategy and efforts Republicans would undertake in the first 100 days of a second Trump presidency.
Speaker Mike Johnson: Republicans are ‘ready to deliver’ on Trump’s mandate
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that Republicans are “ready to deliver” on President-elect Donald Trump’s mandate, ensuring they’re more prepared for a second-term agenda.
Standing on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with the House GOP leadership team, the Republican speaker said there would be no time wasted on Trump’s “America First” agenda of securing the southern border and other priorities in what he expects will be unified government, even though House control is still too early to call.
“We are ready to deliver on America’s mandate,” said Johnson.
▶ Read more about Congress
Judge delays ruling on whether to scrap Trump’s conviction in hush money case
A judge is postponing a decision on whether to undo President-elect Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money case because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
New York Judge Juan M. Merchan had been set to rule Tuesday. Instead, he told Trump’s lawyers Tuesday he’d delay the ruling until Nov. 19.
According to emails filed in court, Trump’s lawyers asked for the delay over the weekend, arguing there are “strong reasons for the requested stay, and eventually dismissal of the case in the interests of justice.”
▶ Read more about Trump’s hush money case
Supreme Court rejects push to move Georgia case against ex-Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows
The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to let former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows move the election interference case against him in Georgia to federal court.
Meadows was one of 19 people indicted in Georgia and accused of participating in an illegal scheme to keep then-president Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election. Trump was also charged, though after he won reelection last week any trial appears unlikely, at least while he holds office. Both men have denied wrongdoing.
It’s unclear what affect the election results could have on others charged in the case, which is largely on hold after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case.
▶ Read more about Mark Meadows’ case
The lesser choices of voters for losing candidates could decide a Maine US House seat
A ranked choice tabulation to determine the winner of a House race in Maine was beginning Tuesday, after neither Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden nor Republican Austin Theriault won more than 50% of first-place votes.
Maine voters rank candidates in order of preference on ballots, and if necessary to reach a majority, the lesser choices of the last-place finisher’s supporters are reallocated.
Ballots from the 2nd Congressional District were brought to a building in the state capital where election workers will scan them and reallocate any valid votes on the more than 12,000 ballots that didn’t name Golden or Theriault.
But that won’t be the end of it. A requested recount will begin after the process determines a majority winner. Election workers will try to complete both tasks before the state’s Nov. 25 certification deadline.
South Korean president takes up golf again to forge a bond with Trump
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has dusted off his golf clubs in an attempt to forge a bond with President-elect Donald Trump, an avid golf lover.
The presidential office said Tuesday that Yoon began practicing the game for the first time in eight years in preparation for a possible round of golf with Trump.
Since his election, Trump’s “America first” approach has raised concerns it could negatively affect the U.S. defense commitment to South Korea and hurt the trade interests of the Northeast Asian country in various ways, including increased tariffs.
Some experts say it’s important to build a close personal friendship with Trump during the transition period before he formally takes office in January.
▶ Read more about South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol
Congress returns to unfinished business and a new Trump era
Congress returns to a changed Washington as President-elect Donald Trump’s hard-right agenda is quickly taking shape, buoyed by eager Republican allies eyeing a full sweep of power on Capitol Hill while Democrats are sorting out what went wrong.
Even as final election results are still being tallied, the House and Senate leadership is pushing ahead toward a second-term Trump White House and what he’s called a “mandate” for governing, with mass deportations, industry deregulation and wholesale gutting of the federal government.
Trump is already testing the norms of governance during this presidential transition period — telling the Senate to forgo its advise-and-consent role and simply accept his Cabinet nominees — and he is staffing his administration and finding lawmakers willing to bend those civic traditions.
▶ Read more about Congress
California Gov. Gavin Newsom will spend part of week in DC as he tries to Trump-proof state policies
California Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to meet with the Biden administration this week to discuss zero-emission vehicles and disaster relief — issues that have been targeted in the past by President-elect Donald Trump.
The Democratic governor is leaving for Washington on Monday and will return home Wednesday, his office said. Newsom will also meet with California’s congressional delegation.
He is seeking federal approval for state climate rules, a $5.2 billion reimbursement for emergency funding during the COVID-19 pandemic and updates to the state’s Medicaid program, along with other priorities.
The trip comes days after Newsom called for state lawmakers to convene a special session in December to protect California’s liberal policies ahead of Trump’s return to office in January.
▶ Read more about the governor’s upcoming trip
Judge set to rule on whether to scrap Trump’s conviction in hush money case
A judge is due to decide Tuesday whether to undo President-elect Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money case because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
New York Judge Juan M. Merchan, who presided over Trump’s historic trial, is now tasked with deciding whether to toss out the jury verdict and order a new trial — or even dismiss the charges altogether. The judge’s ruling also could speak to whether the former and now future commander-in-chief will be sentenced as scheduled Nov. 26.
Just over a month after a jury convicted Trump of falsifying business records, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for actions they took in the course of running the country, and prosecutors can’t cite those actions even to bolster a case centered on purely personal conduct.
▶ Read more about the upcoming ruling
By The Associated Press
