New Legislators Aim for Big Changes

Since everyone was tuning into the Presidential election on November 6th, many missed the close House and Senate elections throughout the country. With U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, comes a Republican-controlled Congress and a majority in the House of Representatives. This could give Republicans the opportunity to push through tax cuts, border security measures, and energy deregulation. This majority in the House and Senate will also give Trump the ability to execute his agenda and confirm judicial and executive nominees when he returns to office in January.
Prior to the election, key House Republicans had been working with Senate Republicans on legislative plans that they plan on sending to Trump during his first days of office. In addition to tax cuts, climate and border wall initiatives, there will likely be school proposals promoting school choice — which allows families to use public education funds to select alternatives to public schools. Despite this majority, there will still be challenges for the Republicans’ agenda. The history of intraparty disputes, which recently brought legislative activity to a standstill due to a few Republican holdouts, will likely continue in this current climate.
Locally, the election for the House of Representatives was notable this year because California Representative Anna Eshoo’s seat opened up for the first time in over 30 years. The current candidates had large shoes to fill for the coming election based on Eshoo’s legacy in human rights, immigration, and technology legislation. The election was between two Democrats — Sam Liccardo and Evan Low. Liccardo is the former mayor of San Jose; his policies focus on homelessness, cost of living, education, climate, and reproductive rights. Evan Low focuses on LQBTQ+ rights, technology (small business and innovation), reproductive rights, homelessness, education, public safety and gun violence protection. Both of these candidates had many endorsements. Liccardo was endorsed by news outlets such as the San Francisco Chronicle and the Palo Alto Daily Post. He was also endorsed by many organizations like the League of Conservation Voters and California Environmental Voters, Laborer’s International Union of North America, and Everytown for Gun Safety. Evan Low received endorsements from organizations like California Labor Federation, California Teachers Association, Democratic Activists for Women Now, National Nurses United, and many others. Sam Liccardo won the election. Upon his victory, Liccardo stated that his plans for Congress would be to reduce the rate of homelessness through innovative housing solutions and bipartisan collaboration. He hopes to break the partisan divides and address issues on a national scale.
Sophomore Graham Keller worked as an intern for US Representative-elect Sam Liccardo and stated he was interested in working for him because he is “considerably more moderate and result-focused.” Keller further remarked that Liccardo “represented a return to efficiency.” Keller really enjoyed his time as Liccardo’s intern; he was able to gain a deeper understanding of how politics worked and an appreciation for the many people who worked behind the scenes. He stated, “I worked for some of the nicest people I’ve ever met on the campaign.” In particular, he was very interested in “Liccardo’s idea of giving people tax credits when they are buying homes and also for converting empty office space into housing units.” Now that Liccardo has been elected, he will have an opportunity to implement his plan to work toward fixing the problem of housing and homelessness in California and the nation.
As for the Senate election, the Democratic candidate was Adam Schiff while the Republican candidate was Steve Garvey. Adam Schiff focused on public safety, health care, homelessness and immigration, infrastructure, climate/environment, racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights, and foreign affairs. Steve Garvey focused on border security, the cost of living, energy and water policy, national budget, security, K-12 and higher education, housing, and healthcare. Democrat Schiff was endorsed by Nancy Pelosi, thirty-three labor unions, the California Democratic Party, the Los Angeles Times, and the Bakersfield Californian Editorial Boards. Republican Garvey decided to keep his endorsements limited to the law enforcement community and first responders, such as the San Diego Police Officers Association. In the end, Adam Schiff won the Senate seat. Schiff plans to find mutual understanding with the Republican party to help fight climate change along with rising costs and inflation.
The Heartbeat took to the quad to ask a few students their thoughts on this election cycle that yielded a Republican majority. When discussing the Republican majority with a junior, he stated, “I think that any party controlling the entirety of the executive, legislative, and to a certain extent, the judicial branch, is scary. I’m not sure that they will create positive change, but they sure have the votes to do what they want. I’m scared about Republican legislative control enacting their ‘project 2025,’ which seems racist, backwards, and a borderline threat to American rights.” Another sophomore student stated that he’s “concerned that the Republican majority can allow for the President to have any bills that he proposes in the House and Senate to be passed, which will allow for too much power in the executive branch.” He also shared his belief that “the employment rate and job creation will increase with this new majority while the crisis at the border and abortion laws will worsen.”
Social Science Co-Department Head, Mr. Daniel Allari, also weighed in regarding his thoughts on the new Republican majority. When asked what will happen to policies and legislation in this current climate, he stated that the majority will “eliminate or defund the Department of Education, which will impact financial aid and Title IX” (Title IX is a landmark civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in all schools or educational programs that are federally funded). When asked if he thinks any previous legislation would be reversed, he immediately answered yes and stated that “climate, food, water, air safety, and education are the things that [he thinks] are going to change.”
With the Republican majority being confirmed, the state and nation are in an unprecedented time of change. Only time will tell how this change will affect our country, yet as St. Rose Philippine Duchesne said, “Strength of character is certainly needed to face life in the world and to stand by right principles, especially in the age in which we live.”