Dear {name},

Despite nine races still waiting to be called, Republicans are certain to retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, flipping four seats to the Democrats’ one. Republicans also gained four seats in the Senate, to maintain authority there. 

Add to this President-elect Trump winning the popular vote and the electoral college, suffice to say, there’s little doubt Republicans have been handed a mandate. 

The question is, what is it and can they keep it?

According to National Public Radio, President-elect Trump expanded his coalition by winning 46% of the Latino vote, the highest number ever recorded for a Republican presidential candidate. And with more whites voting, that favored him, too. Polling exit data, opinions and anecdotal evidence suggest these issues fueled the win:

• Inflation and the economy
• Open borders and immigration 
• A rejection of the diversity, equity and inclusion doctrine

Even though apologists for the Biden/Harris administration claim inflation and unemployment are down, that doesn’t match what Americans are feeling. Prices are still up, way up for consumers. 

And earlier this year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced 818,000 fewer jobs than initially estimated. A huge miss! Plus, adding insult to injury, since the pandemic most employment growth has gone to immigrants. 

So, what’s the administration’s mandate going forward? A good place to start is with American First Policy Institute’s America First Agenda, Guide to Issues, which lists dozens of priorities specific to immigration and the economy:

• Finish the Mexico-United States border wall 
• Institute effective border security and immigration enforcement policies 
• Modernize and restore the integrity of our immigration system
• Make ours the greatest economy in the world by 
  • Ending out of control inflation
  • Negotiating trade deals that protect our workers, as well as national security
  • Building supply chains that rely only on American workers and our allies
  • Creating opportunity zones that increase economic activity in our most vulnerable communities

Since caution lies ahead, I offer this refrain from the late singer Jimmy Buffet, as on Wednesday, a group of GOP senators pulled off a coup electing Mitch McConnell’s (R/KY) top lieutenant and Trump critic, John Thune (R/SD) Senate majority leader over Senator Rick Scott (R/FL). 

We're gypsies in the palace, there ain't no wrong or right

We're gypsies in the palace, and a' goin' wild tonight.

There is a clear mandate, and it's a winning one, especially if we include the groundswell of support for making America healthy again. However, we must be able to keep it.

Onward,

Kevin Lynn

Executive Director, Institute for Sound Public Policy

Founder, U.S. Tech Workers

U.S. Tech Workers has always had great engagement on X but the last week was truly extraordinary drawing more traffic than in a typical month. I attribute this to the organization positioning itself as the go-to source for employment visa program information. Congratulations!