‘It’s going to be miserable’: A former Republican representative predicts Congress’s future under GOP rule

Former Republican Virginia Representative Denver Riggleman had a grim outlook about the upcoming Trump administration, starting from the first day of Congress. Simply put, Riggleman thinks it’s bound to be a “shitshow.”

Joe Mathieu from Bloomberg anticipated that the first day of Congress would be exciting for any Representative. He asked Riggleman if he shared the same sentiment, but Riggleman shut that thought down immediately. “It’s going to be miserable. Miserable. I think it’s going to be a miserable day.” Riggleman said, recounting his own experience of exhaustion when he was sworn in office.

He continued, “I think they have to ramp up their lobbying efforts pretty hard to get everyone on board.” Riggleman was referring to securing enough votes to secure Mike Johnson’s position as Speaker of the House. Although he has President-elect Donald Trump’s endorsement, a few detractors from the GOP could bar Johnson from winning the role.

“Just to elect a speaker? Not even to pass a piece of legislation?” Mathieu clarified, to which Riggleman agreed. “Just to elect a speaker. Legislation is going to be a shitshow.” Both Mathieu and Riggleman ended up laughing about it live, but it seems that even Republicans aren’t quite united among themselves. Although Republicans won 220 House seats in Congress, the incoming Representatives will have the smallest majority in 100 years. If Republicans want to pass legislation, they would have to be absolutely united—which may be a challenge, given that the party appears to be split between Trump’s diehard MAGA base and Republicans who are mainstream or moderate in their views.

January 6th Pardons

When Mathieu asked if Trump would pardon the January 6 offenders, Riggleman believed that most would be let off the hook. “I think they’re going to pardon, I would say, the majority of the January 6—most of those who were convicted.” He speculates that this would include those who’ve trespassed the Capitol building. Nonetheless, Riggleman thinks that it would still be difficult to justify giving clemency to those who’ve assaulted Capitol Police. It seems that chaos will be the upcoming administration’s theme.