Sunday shows preview: GOP prepares to take over House; Colorado Springs shooting reignites calls for gun control

The GOP’s imminent takeover of the House and renewed calls for gun control in the wake of the Colorado Springs shooting are likely to dominate this week’s Sunday shows circuit.

The Republican Party is set to take over the House next year after securing a slim majority in the midterm elections earlier this month. 

Two midterm races remain uncalled by the Associated Press, as of Saturday afternoon. However, if both go in favor of Republicans — as they are currently leaning — the GOP will land at 222 seats and Democrats at 213 seats in the new Congress. 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) secured the Republican nomination for the Speakership last week but now faces an uphill battle to secure enough votes to officially win the position on the floor on Jan. 3.

As McCarthy wrestles for control of the House, the top Republicans in each of the lower chamber’s committees are preparing to take the reins of their respective committees.

Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Mike Turner (R-Ohio) — who are set to take over as chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence — will join ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday to discuss “the war in Ukraine, the future of U.S. aid and the foreign policy priorities for the new GOP-led House.”

House Republicans suggested multiple times during the midterm elections that they planned to reign in aid to Ukraine if they retook the lower chamber of Congress, with McCarthy promising not to write a “blank check” to Ukraine. 

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), who is expected to become the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, will also chat about the incoming GOP majority’s priorities with NBC’s “Meet the Press” this weekend.

Comer has previously indicated that he plans to investigate Hunter Biden’s business activities abroad, the origins of COVID-19 and the Biden administration’s management of the southern border as head of the Oversight committee.

The recent shooting in Colorado Springs and renewed calls for gun control will also likely be a major topic of discussion on this weekend’s Sunday talk shows. 

Five people were killed and 18 more were injured in a shooting at Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo., last weekend. Just days later, another six people were killed in a shooting at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va. 

The recent spate of shootings has reignited calls for Congress to act on gun control. President Biden said on Thursday that he aims to pass a bill banning assault rifles during the lame-duck session before the new Congress takes over in January. 

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D), who will join both NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday to discuss gun policies, denounced the mass shooting in his state as an “act of evil.”

“This was just a place of safety for people,” Polis told CNN last weekend. “It was a place where people could, in a conservative community, often get the acceptance that too many of them might not have had it at home or in their other circles.”

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif), who is set to appear on CNN’s “State of the Union,” took aim at Republicans following the two shootings.

“I’m heartbroken for the Chesapeake community,” Schiff said in a tweet on Wednesday. “Not even a week after the last shooting, more innocent people killed in another tragically preventable crisis. We don’t have to live like this — don’t ever let Republicans in Congress convince you otherwise.”

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a vocal advocate for gun control measures, is also set to join CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:  

ABC’s “This Week” — Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Mike Turner (R-Ohio); Dr. Ashish Jha, White House COVID-19 response coordinator.

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Gov. Jared Polis (D-Colo.); Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.); Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s chief medical adviser

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Fauci; Polis; Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.); Jeh Johnson and Michael Chertoff, former homeland security secretaries 

CNN’s “State of the Union” — Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.); Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.); Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.)

“Fox News Sunday” — Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.)

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.); Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Ronny Jackson (R-Texas); Sen.-elect Ted Budd (R-N.C.); Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R)