Election 2026 — Epilogue
The Cambridge Dictionary defines epilogue as:
A speech or piece of text that is added to the end of a play or book, often giving
a short statement about what happens to the characters after the play or book.
The “Emperor” Strikes Back
When I began this article, I intended to contrast two possible futures based on two possible directions that the 120th Congress might proceed having secured “blue” majorities in the House and Senate on Tuesday, November 3rd. President Trump’s reactions and action by Friday, November 6th, led me to change my focus from prognostication to warning.
The day after the election, President Trump said that he thought he’d be able to work with the Democrats who would control the next Congress. I was surprised and hopeful, but that didn’t last. On Thursday and Friday, the President’s actions showed that he believes xenophobia and racism are what his supporters want.
During the weeks before the Midterms, President Trump held rallies in several battleground states purportedly to help Republican candidates. He made a point of saying, “Pretend I’m on the ballot.” Apparently, the voters did ,,, but the result was the opposite of what the President expected. To say the least, he was annoyed and immediately looked for anyone but himself to blame.
He found his scapegoat in his Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles. After all. the Chief of Staff is responsible for communicating, managing, and driving a president’s plans and policies. Obviously, the landslide Republican defeat was Susie’s fault. After a contentious “discussion”, she submitted her resignation in order to spare him the “discomfort” of firing her.
The President needed a new Chief of Staff. He decided to promote the Assistant Chief of Staff, the Prince of Darkness, Stephen Miller. Miller is the most vile and hate-filled person in the former and current Trump Administrations. He is the author of the Muslim Ban and Family Separation programs in the first administration and the Mass Deportation and Imprisonment programs in the current administration. In May 2025, Miller and then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem instructed ICE leadership to establish a minimum baseline of 3,000 daily interior arrests. Many of the atrocities committed by I.C.E. agents are the result of the agency’s internal culture rising from Miller’s attitude. If you’re dark-skinned, you’re a potential enemy. For Stephen Miller, cruelty isn’t accidental. It’s part of the design. If you happen to be here legally … even if you’re a citizen … and get caught up in that cruelty, it’s your own fault for “getting in the way”.
The appointment of Stephen Miller to a position as important and powerful as Chief of Staff clearly demonstrates that President Trump has absolutely no interest in “working with the Democrats” on anything.
What’s a Congress to Do?
There is one thing that the Democratic majority of the 120th Congress must NOT do is seek revenge or retribution. The patterns of the past 2 years and, less obviously, for the past 30 years must stop with the 120th Congress. In particular, impeaching President Trump is out of the question.[1] Even the Blue Tsunami has not produced a guarantee of Conviction in the Senate. Besides, getting rid of President Trump would only hand the Presidency over to Vice President J.D. Vance, Given some of his public statements in the past. a President Vance could be much worse than President Trump,
On the other hand. the President isn’t the only member of any administration who can be the subject of impeachment. Cabinet Members can also be impeached,
On November 9, 2026, Republican Representative Thomas Massie introduced articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. This is not retribution and revenge in the new Congress because:
- We’re still functioning under the 119th Congress. The newly-elected members of the 120th Congress are in Washington. DC for orientation, but they will not be sworn in until January 3, 2027. That’s when the 120th Congress convenes for the first time.
- Representative Massie is a Republican. His effort is an attempt at intra-party clean-up; not inter-party retribution/revenge,
- Pete Hegseth is responsible for managing our military. President Trump may have ordered the attacks on “drug runner” boats, the invasion of Venezuela, the war on Iran, etc,. Pete Hegseth made a complete mess of managing the implementation.
- Secretary Hegseth’s archaic and misguided image of what it means to be a man and a warrior have led him to fire a lot of excellent and experienced members of our military’s leadership.
The vote to Impeach Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was held on November 10th, Eleven Democrats missed the vote. Their absences allowed Republicans to refer the measure to the House Judiciary Committee by a vote of 211–204. The potential impeachment will be allowed to rot in that committee until after the installation of the 120th Congress on January 3, 2027. Unfortunately, the one Republican who voted in favor of impeaching Hegseth, Thomas Massie, won’t be in the 120th Congress. He was defeated in the Republican Primary race to became the candidate for his district.
Eleven Democratic representatives missing this vote is a REALLY bad way for their party to head into the 120th Congress. (If even 8 of them had been there, the vote would have gone the other way.[1]) In the next Congress, the Democratic Caucus will have the majority in both the House and the Senate. How many of those who voted for new representatives and senators are likely to think something like, “The Democrats are no better at getting things done than the Republicans are.”[2]
January 3, 2027 and Beyond
Last Paragraph
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Notes
[1]
One of the absent representatives missed the vote for medical reasons; one had a personal emergency. The rest had excuses that ranged from lame to non-existent.
[2]
Many, if not most, ordinary voters don’t really notice the distinction between the 119th Congress (the one they’re throwing out) and the 120th Congress (the candidates they voted for in the Midterms). They’re too busy worry about the cost of groceries, fuel, housing, medical care, etc.
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