Mike Johnson plans to step down as top House Republican after midterms

Pending Alaska and Mississippi results could lift Democrats to 54 Senate seats

Mike Johnson plans to step down as the top House Republican in the new Congress after a tough defeat for his party, according to a source familiar with his plans who was not authorized to discuss them publicly. NPR reported the planned departure in its Up First newsletter.

Senate results from Alaska and Mississippi are still pending. If those races favor Democrats, their majority could grow to 54, plus the two independents who caucus with them. A few tight House races also remain uncalled.

NPR’s Tamara Keith told Up First that the swing toward Democrats already rivals the post-Nixon Watergate backlash. She highlighted two notable race surprises this week. One was in Nevada’s 2nd District, which has been Republican since the 1980s; Democrat Teresa Benitez-Thompson claimed victory overnight. The other was in Alabama’s 2nd District, where Democrat Shomari Figures overcame redistricting that favored Trump by 14 points and won by more than seven points.

Voters in 39 states, Washington, D.C., and the Northern Mariana Islands decided on 146 ballot measures covering issues like taxes, transgender rights, traffic cameras and data centers, according to NPR.

Democrats won this week in districts and states that Trump carried by double digits just two years ago. The party now has its largest Senate majority since the passing of the Affordable Care Act during Obama’s early presidency.

For more than a year, Democrats urged voters to elect them to lower costs and eliminate corruption. Now, the party must act to fulfill its campaign promise. The new Congress is unlikely to see much major legislation signed into law, but Democrats plan to launch investigations in the House and Senate. Democratic Party leaders and political analysts shared their insights with Morning Edition on the midterm election results, discussed the impacts of mid-decade redistricting efforts and outlined the party’s next steps.

Most legislation still requires 60 votes to pass the Senate, and Trump has fluctuated between saying he would be Mr. Veto and expressing willingness to work with Democrats, NPR’s Sam Gringlas said. Democrats are interested in restoring enhanced ACA health subsidies, reversing Medicaid cuts, asserting control over tariffs and pushing to end the war with Iran. Gringlas said this election has intensified pressure on Democrats, and he pointed to a voter he met this summer, who said that if Democrats gained control, they would have to enact real changes, otherwise it wouldn’t matter who they nominated for president in 2028.

Trump focused on his East Wing ballroom construction project during his first public appearance after Republicans lost the House and Senate. When asked about the election, he said he wasn’t to blame for his party’s losses.

NPR’s Emily Feng said Trump quickly pointed out that he wasn’t actually on the ballot, but he did urge voters to imagine he was. Voters associated his signature policies, like tariffs and the war in Iran, with rising inflation and gas prices. After Vice President JD Vance posted on social media the previous day suggesting that the war in Iran contributed to Republican losses, Trump somewhat agreed. The president cited its impact on pump prices but doubled down on the war, saying he would act the same way again if he had to.

With a Democratic Congress, Trump will encounter greater legislative gridlock, and Democrats could wield stricter funding controls on issues like immigration enforcement and the ongoing conflict in Iran, Feng said.

NPR also reported that a new Democratic majority could pressure Trump to end the war in Iran, but that directly influencing fuel prices, which are tied to the complex international oil market, will be challenging.

In Ukraine’s Kherson region, a brief ceasefire brokered by first lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo last week allowed hundreds of residents to evacuate from a Russian-occupied town and provided a rare few days of peace in a frontline city. Russia and Ukraine agreed to the deal to help Oleshky, a town near Kherson that was occupied by Russian troops in 2022. The troops had mined the land around it, and food and medicine were rarely able to reach the people. The short pause in hostilities let families fill the sidewalks, shoppers hurry to stock up and cafe-goers enjoy art-filled spaces. NPR’s photographs captured a brief glimpse of everyday life for those residents.

Three other items highlighted in the newsletter: at Connecticut’s Old State House, the annual Election Cake Bake-Off has been celebrating the sweet civic tradition of election cake for more than 250 years, a dessert that has evolved from what it once was, a tough fruitcake often soaked in alcohol. Chemical manufacturer 3M reached a $7.35 billion settlement to resolve thousands of personal injury claims related to toxic chemicals found in firefighting foam, via PRE News & Ideas. And a new study shows loon populations declining across the birds’ southern breeding range, but Maine stands out with a slight increase in loon productivity, according to Birds Canada, via Maine Public.

The newsletter’s Life Kit section offered guidance from Kacy Paide, a professional organizer with more than 20 years of experience. Paide advised focusing on the closest pile and separating it into active and inactive items — active documents require follow-up like calls or bill payments, while inactive ones do not — and clearly marking the due date on active documents with a bold, permanent marker on a sticky note. She recommended saving important documents like birth certificates, passports, product manuals, tax papers and medical records, and choosing a method that suits individual habits: alphabetize, color-code or simply label, with vital documents placed in a brightly colored folder for easy access. The Federal Trade Commission advises destroying documents containing sensitive information, such as account numbers, birth dates, passwords, signatures and Social Security numbers, to protect against identity theft. Paide also suggested starting small by dedicating just 25 minutes to decluttering, and noted that organizing is an ongoing process that needs regular maintenance and adjustments.

Brittney Melton wrote the Up First newsletter, and Suzanne Nuyen edited it.