U.S. Rep. Michael Guest, R-Brandon, who represents Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District, sees brighter days ahead after federal elections Tuesday put Republicans on the path to take both the U.S. Senate and Presidential office come January.

The congressman has represented the third district since 2018 and was elected to another two-year term in Tuesday’s election after running unopposed.

“I think what we saw last night was a mandate on behalf of the American people,” he said. “Not only did President Trump win the electoral vote, but he is winning the popular vote. We were able, the Republicans, to flip the Senate, and it looks like there are several additional seats which may be in place still as we allow the votes to be counted and I’m confident the Republicans will have the House.”

Controlling the White House and both chambers of Congress will give the Republican Party a greater ability to move its agenda forward, Guest said, but it will also come with higher expectations for elected officials to make good on their promises. The American people voted for a change, he said, and work must begin now to bring that to them.

“We must be able to hit the ground running in January,” he said. “We must make sure that we’re doing things legislatively that we can get passed out of the House, passed out of the Senate and signed by the President.”

In the new term, Guest said he plans to continue to fight for the Mississippi Air National Guard 186th Air Refueling Wing at Key Field to receive the U.S. Air Force’s new KC-46 tanker aircraft, a selection process that has been ongoing for several years. The 186th currently flies missions using the KC-135 tankers, which were designed in the 1950’s and are due for retirement.

Guest, along with Sens. Roger Wicker and Cyndi Hyde-Smith, has been pushing for the new planes to be stationed at Key Field, which will both increase the strategic importance of the base and spur significant economic development for the surrounding community. With Wicker, who also won reelection Tuesday, now positioned to take over as chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, Mississippi is in an even better position to host the planes.

“That is one of the most powerful committees in all of Congress,” he said. “He will serve as chairman of that committee, and so I think that will help us have a greater impact or greater influence in being able to talk about the reason that Meridian needs to be selected to house those aircraft.”

An advocate for greater border security, Guest said he anticipates swift action to curb immigration along the southern border after Trump is sworn into office. An early step, he said, will likely be a reinstatement of Trump’s remain in Mexico policy implemented during his first term in office.

“That policy says that if you’re coming from a third country, a country other than Mexico, and you’re trying to enter the United States, you have to remain in Mexico until your asylum claims are heard,” he said. “When President Trump put that into effect, we saw border numbers drop dramatically.”

Guest said Congress could also look to pass House Resolution 2, which was passed by the House in May 2023 but reached a vote in the Senate. HR 2, also called the Secure the Border Act of 2023, would make a series of changes to immigration laws including placing new restrictions on who can claim asylum, require work to resume on the border wall, put in place requirements for employers to confirm employees are eligible to work in the United States and more.

Under the Trump administration, Guest said he also expects more efforts to deport people who are in the country illegally and have been ordered deported by the court system.

“Those are the things I think will have a very quick impact on the border, and I think you’re going to see numbers drop dramatically once he’s sworn into office,” he said.

Other priorities for the new term will also include growing the economy, addressing inflation and lowering costs of necessities such as gas and groceries for families, Guest said.