Welcome to the end-of-year edition of our survey, The Canvass. What’s unique this time is that we’re wrapping up one of the most chaotic and unproductive congressional sessions in recent memory.
We’re also closing the chapter on one very consequential president’s term and ushering in another that will no doubt be consequential too — and chaotic if past is prologue.
Throughout the year, our Canvass community, comprised of senior Capitol Hill aides and K Street leaders, has predicted key policy outcomes, GOP leadership woes, election results and more.
The year in summary: We started 2024 with a fairly new House Speaker Mike Johnson, who had been crowned only two months before the end of last year. A big concern at the time was whether Johnson could survive the rowdy right flank that had ousted his predecessor.
Throughout the year, Canvass respondents rightly predicted that Johnson would keep his job in 2024. He did, and it appears, he will stave off any challengers in 2025.
Still, lots of partisan chaos and intra-party fighting marred the final year of the 118th Congress and hindered its ability to turn bills into law. More on that later in this edition.
On the election front, we had some major hits and — much like the rest of the country — some oopses. No one needs a reminder of just how surprising President-elect Donald Trump’s landslide win was as well as the GOP managing to hold on to its House majority.
Next year will usher in a GOP trifecta that will certainly make for an interesting year for The Canvass.
In the meantime, here’s what we have for you in this edition of The Canvass Year-End Report.
| → | Predictions for the next Congress after a historically unproductive 118th session |
| → | The top financial issues the next Congress is expected to address |
| → | A look back at some of the key Canvass predictions |
| → | The foreign policy stakes in the 119th session |
Here is the full 2024 recap with help from our partners at LSG. You can also find the year’s top takeaways in a one-pager here.
Join the Canvass pool: We’d love to have you as part of our Canvass community. If you are a senior congressional staffer, sign up here to participate in The Canvass Capitol Hill. If you’re a leader downtown, sign up here to take part in The Canvass K Street.
