The Latest: Republicans take House as Democrats sound alarm over Matt Gaetz as attorney general

Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House, completing the party’s sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside President-elect Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, Trump's pick of conservative loyalist Matt Gaetz to serve as attorney general has Democrats sounding the alarm with Sen. Dick Durbin saying Gaetz “would be a disaster” in part because of Trump’s threat to use the Justice Department “to seek revenge on his political enemies.”

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Here’s the latest:

After losing the White House and both houses of Congress, Democrats are grappling with how to handle transgender politics and policy following a campaign that featured withering and often misleading GOP attacks on the issue.

There's plenty of second-guessing after President-elect Donald Trump anchored his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris with sweeping promises on the economy and immigration. But Democrats also won't soon forget the punchline in anti-transgender Trump ads that became ubiquitous by Election Day: “Kamala is for they/them; President Trump is for you.”

“Week by week when that ad hit and stuck and we didn’t respond, I think that was the beginning of the end,” former Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said of the 30-second spot that was part of $215 million in anti-transgender advertising by Trump and Republicans, according to tracking firm AdImpact.

Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that he'll lead the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where he intends to immediately take up President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to reinstate a policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.

Paul said he'll be the committee’s new chair after Republicans won control of the Senate in this month’s elections. The new role will put Paul — a limited-government advocate and longtime skeptic of surveillance programs — in charge of a committee with broad jurisdiction over government operations, including the Department of Homeland Security. Paul has been the committee’s ranking Republican during Democratic control of the Senate.

Democrat Janelle Bynum won election to a U.S. House seat representing Oregon on Thursday, defeating Republican Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

The district, which includes the Portland suburbs and stretches through Bend, was a top target for Democrats. Democrats lost this seat in 2022, when Jamie McLeod-Skinner defeated seven-term Democratic Rep. Kurt Schrader in the primary but lost the general election. The district took in parts of more conservative central Oregon after 2022 redistricting.

Bynum represents Happy Valley and North Clackamas in the state Legislature. The Associated Press declared Bynum the winner at 12:47 p.m. EST.

Republican and Democratic senators alike on the Judiciary Committee that would review Matt Gaetz’s attorney general nomination are calling for a House Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz to be made available to them.

“I think it’s going to be material in the proceedings,” said Sen. Thomas Tillis, a North Carolina Republican.

Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said, “I think there should not be any limitation on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, including whatever the House Ethics Committee has generated.”

Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democrat who currently chairs the Judiciary Committee, earlier Thursday said in a statement, “We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people.”

Thune did not mention Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard or other Trump picks that have raised deep concerns among several senators.

But he said senators should expect “an aggressive schedule until his nominees are confirmed.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is calling on the House Ethics Committee to preserve information it's gathered on former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s intended nominee for attorney general, and also share it with the Senate.

Trump announced Gaetz as his pick for the post Wednesday and Gaetz immediately resigned from Congress, ending the investigation against him. The ethics panel said several months ago that its review included whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. Gaetz has categorically denied all the allegations before the committee.

“The sequence and timing of Mr. Gaetz’s resignation from the House raises serious questions about the contents of the House Ethics Committee report,” Durbin said Thursday. “We cannot allow this valuable information from a bipartisan investigation to be hidden from the American people.”

The Democrat looking to unseat an incumbent Republican in a close Iowa congressional race, one of a handful yet to be called after Republicans won control of the U.S. House, has asked for a recount.

Democrat Christina Bohannan’s campaign on Thursday requested the recount in her bid against Republican incumbent Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks to represent Iowa’s 1st District. The initial tally puts Bohannan fewer than 1,000 votes — less than a percentage point — behind Miller-Meeks.

The contest is a much tighter rematch of 2022, when Miller-Meeks won by 7 percentage points. Miller-Meeks earned a first term in Congress representing Iowa’s 2nd District when she defeated Democrat Rita Hart by just six votes in 2020.