Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with two dozen House seats yet to be called with the Republicans needing seven and the Democrats needing 15 to flip the House, preventing Trump from taking the trifecta

of the White House Senate and House of Representatives.

Joining us to examine the margins in these races as the votes get counted

in the Western States is James Thurber, the University Distinguished Professor of Government

and founder and former director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies

at American University of Washington, D.C. He's the author of numerous books and more than 80 articles and chapters

on Congress, interest groups and lobbying, and campaigns and elections, and he's the author of

Congress and Diaspora Politics, the influence of ethnic and foreign lobbying, and most recently

campaigns and elections American style.

Then we'll assess the frightening and less frightening contenders for Trump's White House and cabinet positions and speak with Jeff Hauser, the executive director of the

Revolving Door Project at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, who works to increase

scrutiny on executive branch appointments and ensure

that political appointees are focused on serving the public interest rather than personal

professional advancement.

Then finally we'll examine the global trend the Democratic Party has unfortunately joined

in as left and social democratic parties in Europe and

elsewhere have lost ground to far-right anti-immigrant and despot-friendly parties, some of whom

have captured power, as in Orban's Hungary, which has become a model of MAGA ambitions.

Joining us is Michael Kazan, a professor of history at Georgetown University and editor

emeritus of Dissent magazine.

...