Politics and views in the United States

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushes back against impeachment talks, calls grow for Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer not to lead Democrats in the new Congress, and political analysts say this election will be studied for years to come.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Regardless of how people feel about the war, which I believe is a courageous and historic effort that will ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon, we need to continue, as President Trump did in his first term, to rebuild our military.

Amid calls for his impeachment, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is doubling down on his work.

Kentucky Republican Representative Thomas Massey has been leading the charge to impeach Hegseth, saying he poses a threat to the Constitution if allowed to remain in office.

The Iran War and how it's added to the nation's ongoing affordability crisis are a primary reason Democrats won wide majorities in both chambers of Congress.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other top party leaders support Massey's move, but it's uncertain if Jeffries will remain a leader in the chamber.

Petitions and calls for him and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer not to lead either chamber in the next Congress are gaining momentum.

Critics say the two aren't progressive enough and are part of Washington's Democratic establishment.

But Iowa Democratic Representative-elect Sarah Trone Garriott supports Jeffries as the next House Speaker.

We know those priorities.

He's expressed the same priorities as me taking on the corruption, lowering costs, and getting to work on the things that matter the most to our neighbors, which is what we heard in this election.

President Donald Trump has made longtime advisor Stephen Miller his new chief of staff, with Susie Wiles moving to Trump's political operation.

Miller's rise to the post is seen as a doubling down on the administration's less-than-popular policies like aggressive immigration raids, which Miller himself has championed.

Political analysts are weighing how the midterm election could redefine the future of American politics.

Polls show younger voters and other groups swung back toward Democrats, while historic election victories and a surge of younger candidates point to a changing of the political guard.

University of Illinois-Chicago associate professor E.J. Fagan says these are all signs political scientists look for when studying major shifts the election spectrum.

This has all the hallmarks of the election that we write articles about for 100 years.

In hindsight, we might call these realignment elections.

He warns it'll take time to know the full impact of this year's midterm election.

The next test will be the 2028 election as presidential hopefuls begin positioning themselves.

Previous polls cast Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the top 2028 candidates, but after the midterms, former Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is being seen as the likeliest Republican to win the nomination in two years.

The election is emboldening conservation groups after control of public lands shifted to the left, politically speaking.

This comes as the current Congress and the Trump administration have tried rolling back key elements of the Endangered Species Act and reorganizing the U.S.

Forest Service and other land management agencies.

Steve Pettery is with Oregon Wild.

There's a real mandate for the next Congress coming in, not just to try and undo some of that damage, but to really leapfrog it and put our parks and public lands in a better, safer place for generations to come.