'Can’t take anything for granted': GOP senator predicts Dems will 'reunify' ahead of midterms

25 January

Even though President Donald Trump was elected to a second term with Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress and is fulfilling his campaign promises, one high-ranking Senate Republican isn't so sure that Democratic opposition has been quelled.

Politico's Eugene Daniels recently interviewed Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), one of Trump's biggest supporters and the longest-serving sitting U.S. senator. The 91 year-old Republican also chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will be ground zero for many of Trump's wish-list items like immigration crackdowns and Supreme Court appointments.

Daniels asked Grassley how confident he felt about his ability to shepherd Trump's legislative agenda through his committee, given his party's recent victory in November. Grassley pushed back, saying that the GOP "ought to be cautious about what appears to be disarray in the Democratic Party." He opined that his own party was more fractured and prone to infighting than the Democratic caucus.

"I think they have the ability to reunify and get back. They’re going to be a strong minority. They don’t look like it today on January 22, but I’ll bet January 22 of 2026, it’ll be a whole different show," Grassley said. "It’ll take them a while to get there, but we can’t take anything for granted that we’re going to have a weak Democratic Party."

While Republicans enjoy a 53-47 majority in the Senate, they're still short of the 60 votes needed to bypass filibusters. This limits Republicans to having to rely on the budget reconciliation process, in which legislation can pass with 51 votes provided it deals with strictly budgetary matters. But even that isn't a sure thing, given that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth needed a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance to get confirmed after three Republicans — including former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — voted against him. Just four Republican defections could sink a judicial appointment, a Cabinet confirmation or a reconciliation bill.

"They have the ability to sing off the same song sheet," Grassley said of Democrats. "That’s something Republicans are very bad about. I mean, it may not appear to you today that it’s that bad of a situation for Republicans. But I’m telling you, Democrats are more unified and on the same message. It may not appear today, but they’ll get back there and get back fast."

In the 2026 midterm election, Democrats are defending 13 seats, while Republicans will attempt to keep 20 of their own. Outside of Sens. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the Democrats vying for another six-year term are from relatively safe blue states. However, four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — may face competitive opponents in both the Republican primary and the general election. Democrats could reclaim control of the Senate by flipping three of those four seats.

Click here to read Grassley's full interview in Politico.

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