It’s official. Hawaii’s all-Democratic congressional delegation will face a Republican trifecta when the 119th U.S. Congress convenes in January as the GOP takes over the White House and the Senate while maintaining control of the House.

With federal programs and Hawaii’s priorities potentially at risk, U.S. Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda are preparing for the challenges posed by a Republican-controlled federal government and balancing a forward-looking strategy with the lessons of the recent election. They recently sat down with me to talk about how they see things unfolding.

 Tokuda describes the mood in the Democratic caucus as determined yet reflective.

“I think there’s a recognition that the plan hasn’t changed,” she says. “There’s a lot that we have to do for our constituents and our country. We’ve just got to keep moving forward.”

However, Tokuda emphasizes the need to understand the party’s losses.

“We do need to take moments to pause and look at this election and what happened, and our ability, quite frankly, to connect with the very people we are trying to help and communities that we are trying to lift up,” she says. “We’ve got to approach this with a lot of humility and ask ourselves some very basic questions of what we stand for, what we have been fighting for, and how we do better.”

Case, who served in Congress during President George W. Bush’s presidency when Republicans also had control of both houses of Congress, expresses confidence in his ability to adapt.

“This is not new for me,” he says. “I’ve done it all different ways. I’ve definitely been in Republican trifectas before. On balance, I would prefer a Democratic trifecta. But you deal with what you’re dealt by the country. Of course, it changes things. I mean, parties have differing priorities. They have differing views. They have differing goals. But it doesn’t change the basic mission of helping Hawaii, helping the country, and helping constituents.”

But Case acknowledges the unpredictability of Donald Trump’s presidency.

“This is a new Trump presidency,” Case says. “So you can’t just automatically predict that what happened in the last Trump presidency is going to happen in this Trump presidency. It’s completely unpredictable. So I have to deal with extra uncertainty, and that changes my approach.” 

Opportunities For Bipartisanship

Tokuda admits she has concerns.

“All of the safeguards that we had in the two years I’ve been in office no longer exist,” she says. “That really, I think, just ups the stakes for everything that we are doing.” 

Nevertheless, Tokuda remains hopeful that bipartisanship will prevail on key issues.

“I remain very optimistic that we will be able to cross the aisle when it comes to taking care of our constituents,” she says.

She notes her participation in the Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus, which addresses disparities in healthcare access that impact red and blue states alike.

Tokuda also points to the formation of a Coffee Caucus.

“Next year we’re going to start up the Coffee Caucus, which will also be bipartisan by the way, to talk about how we support domestically grown coffee,” she says. “I think this is actually not the time to shy away from bipartisanship. It’s time to double down.” 

For Case, national defense issues provide an opportunity for bipartisan cooperation with Republicans to continue focusing on the Indo-Pacific.

With the incoming government, Case says, “We might even see increased focus because this president has been fairly consistent about the perceived threat by the People’s Republic of China. And the Republicans in Congress, who are in control, share that vision, and most of the Democrats do as well.”

Tulsi Gabbard’s Controversial Nomination 

The nomination of former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard to serve as director of national intelligence adds another layer of complexity to the coming session. As House members, Case and Tokuda won’t have a vote in the Senate’s confirmation process. However, their opinions still carry weight, and neither is speaking up in Gabbard’s favor.

“I don’t support her nomination,” Case says. “I hope that the Senate rejects it.”

Case expresses concerns about Gabbard’s fit for the role, particularly in light of the increased tensions with China and the importance of maintaining strong relationships with allies in the Indo-Pacific. 

“The concerns that I’m focused on are specific national security concerns as to the combination of the specific person with the specific position,” he says. “It may well be that she is suited for another job, but I don’t think this is the job that she’s suited for.”

Tokuda echoes those concerns, emphasizing the role’s importance and Gabbard’s various political reinventions of herself.

“This is one of the most important positions in a presidential cabinet if you ask me,” Tokuda says. “They literally hold world secrets. This is too important a position for the United States Senate to placate the president-elect.”

“At the end of the day, knowing the evolution Tulsi has gone through from the very first day she took office, even before she took office and was a community advocate, the basic question I have is ‘Who is Tulsi Gabbard?’ Tokuda says. “Who is Tulsi, and what guides her? We need an impartial Senate to do its job and ask the tough questions to say whether or not she should be the keeper of this much knowledge and advising the president on what is literally some of the most important information he will receive each morning and each day.”

Gaining Seniority For Hawaii 

With a large incoming freshman class, both Case and Tokuda will make gains in seniority, which they aim to leverage for the state’s benefit.

Case notes the value of his growing responsibilities and increased seniority on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, saying, “I expect to be taking on much more responsibility in terms of our country’s overall involvement, engagement actions in the Indo-Pacific generally and as it affects Hawaii and defense specifically.”

Tokuda remains focused on wrapping up key initiatives before this session adjourns, including disaster aid, advancing the Lahaina Heritage Act, and renaming the Captain Cook Post Office after a Vietnam war hero, 1st Lt. John Kuulei Kauhaihao of Hōnaunau.

Her reminder that there’s still time to pass legislation before the next session begins and the president-elect takes office is something we should all keep in mind. Our current Congress has more to get done this year, with the opportunity to enact measures that will help protect and boost Hawaii’s priorities.

“This lame duck session doesn’t have to be lame,” Tokuda says.