![Rep. Hakeem Jeffries "very confident" Democrats will retain majority in midterms](https://cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2022/05/22/e84ec2b3-e39d-44f6-bc20-3dec5b442527/thumbnail/1200x630/800791726985487f044df991862688e7/jeffries1.jpg)
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries "very confident" Democrats will retain majority in midterms
CBSN
Despite a new CBS News poll showing growing concern about inflation and President Biden's handling of the economy, Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries expressed optimism Sunday that his party could still hold on to its narrow majority in Congress in November's midterm elections.
The New York lawmaker, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, told "Face the Nation" that the president's early actions to fight the COVID-19 pandemic helped create millions of new jobs and "rescued the economy." His assessment came shortly after the release of the CBS News/YouGov survey showing that nearly 70% of Americans say the economy is bad — including 52% of Democratic respondents.
Democrats are widely expected to lose seats in the midterms, with Republicans hoping to retake both the House and the Senate. Jeffries, on the other hand, said he is "very confident that we will be able to hold on to the majority."
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More employees of the Environmental Protection Agency were informed Wednesday that their jobs appear in doubt. Senior leadership at the EPA held an all-staff meeting to tell individuals that President Trump's executive order, "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which was responsible for the closure of the agency's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, will likely lead to the shuttering of the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights as well.
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In her first hours as attorney general, Pam Bondi issued a broad slate of directives that included a Justice Department review of the prosecutions of President Trump, a reorientation of department work to focus on harsher punishments, actions punishing so-called "sanctuary" cities and an end to diversity initiatives at the department.
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The quick-fire volley of tariffs between the U.S. and China in recent days has heightened global fears of a new trade war between the world's two largest economies. Yet while experts think the battle is likely to escalate, they also say the early skirmishes offer hope for an agreement on trade and other key issues that could head off a larger conflict.