democrats saying they will impose the package because of that. you are saying and interplay between the more moderate and liberal wings, and you also see that on the republican side. the freedom caucus has been a thorn in the side for a long time and they will represent a bigger chunk of the house gop now as a lot of the republicans lost more centrist members. host: who are you watching? who are some of the new faces you will be watching? --st: everyone has an idea has and ion alexandria causey are cortez. she is one of the two house democrats who says she will oppose the package. we should see a lot from her in the coming weeks and months. host: you can follow christina reported --i guess that is all'o say. host: thank you for the call.

joining us now from inside the capital is the senior congressional correspondent with the washington post. he spent a lot of time roaming the hallways of congress. how do you describe the dynamic of this new senate? the makeup of these new sensors joining those that were reelected? guest: good morning. this is a different senate than we have seen in some time because you now have a republican senate with the d3, up from 51 and it is the makeup of those 53 that is much different this time around. -- really in that sort of anti-trump crowd or at least very willing to criticize trump when they felt necessary, especially when he went against traditional republican orthodoxy.

now a lot of those folks are gone. corker is retiring, jeff flake is retiring. john mccain passed away. there really is a different sense of this senate or you have incoming people like kevin cramer and marsha blackburn who are replacing those folks who are very much on the pro-trump side of the republican party. into that midst, we cast this massive overwhelming presence known as mitt romney, former governor of massachusetts and now senator of utah to a couple days ago, using the washington post platform, blasted trump. it looks as if you were going to see a different dynamic, a more pro-trump dynamic in the senate but this one voice who has a bigger megaphone than almost anybody else. host: is he a coalition of one or might we see some republicans who are up in 2020 joining him

in opposing the president? ofst: he is not a coalition one, just a coalition of mitt. he is his own entity right now. he might create some room and some space for other folks like cory gardner, like thom tillis , who has beenllis critical of trump, especially in his threatening tone toward the mueller investigation. right now there just isn't this big force of people beyond mitt romney. susan collins has gone back and forth into which cap she has been a part of. lindsey graham, the same thing. host: are there freshman to watch? guest: i definitely think there are. he isolly of missouri, the statement -- state attorney

general. somemes in and gives breath of fresh air to younger conservatives. marsha blackburn of tennessee, keep your eye on her. she is a house member for 18 years before getting sworn in today in the senate. she is going to be on the judiciary committee, that has previously only had zero women republicans on it. she is going to be a presence on that committee. you will see her in the fbi hearings, attorney general hearings next week. host: democrats have control of the house. republicans have control of the senate. power that minority leader chuck schumer has over the next two years. how does that dynamic play out between the senate, nancy pelosi

and the white house? it is a reverse image of what happened eight years ago when republicans took the house and you still had harry reid in the senate and president obama in the white house. 2014, majority leader mitch mcconnell did a lot of work in which he was able to tie up the senate and sort of --w it down, if not democrats say he was obstructing entirely, the senate and their needs for 60 votes on most forms of legislation. the senate minority leader is an important figure. , ife can hold the line pelosi can send stuff over to the senate and mcconnell tries to push his own sort of legislation that he wants to get through, schumer can hold everyone together and bottle up the place and it requires some

form of compromise, middle ground between the two sides. that is the way it worked in 2011 32014 when this dynamic plays out in reverse. this is definitely a different 2014 when2011 through this dynamic plays out in reverse. this is definitely a different era. host: -- and what sort of agenda could those folks have? guest: the two i singled out earlier, armed services and foreign relations, are much different. john mccain was sort of his own whaton of mitt romney or mitt romney might be, a fierce critic of donald trump, especially on foreign policy. he has been replaced by an oklahoma republican who is much closer in line with trump administration and in foreign relations, the shift from bob corker who was a media savvy,

some critics would say media hungry chairman who was always on tv criticizing the trumpet administration is now replaced , who was ah of idaho much more withdrawn figure in the capital. he is not somebody who is racing to cameras and he is not taken many positions against trump. the well card is going to be judiciary. lindsey graham becomes a committee chair for the first time since getting elected in 2002. -- took him6 years 16 years. he is a force of nature. you never know which way he is coming down. going to bes railing against trump or supporting trump. all of his judicial nominees are going to have to run through the lindsey graham gauntlet. it is going to be interesting to say the least. host: paul kane has