US midterms: Republicans on the cusp of retaking control of the House with a slim majority World news
Republicans are on the verge of regaining control of the House on Monday, just one victory shy of the 218 seats the party needs to secure a majority, narrowing the way for Democrats to keep the chamber and raising hopes of divided government in Washington.
Democrats have already taken control of the Senate, securing 50 seats including a runoff in Georgia next month that could give President Joe Biden’s party an additional seat. The GOP comes into the election needing to gain a total of just five seats for control of the House.
Nearly a week after the midterm elections, Republicans are closing in on a majority, giving conservatives the power to challenge Biden’s agenda and prompt similar investigations. But the slim numerical advantage will pose immediate challenges for GOP leaders and complicate the party’s ability to govern.
The full extent of the party’s majority may not be clear for several more days – or weeks – as votes in the contested races are still being counted. However, the party is on track to achieve 218 with seats in California and other states too early to call.
Even achieving 218, though, means that Republicans will probably have the largest majority of the 21st century. He can compete in 2001, when the Republicans had a majority of nine seats, 221-212 with two independents. That’s shorter than the sweeping victory that Republicans had predicted heading into this year’s midterm elections, when the party hopes to reshape the agenda on Capitol Hill by capitalizing on economic challenges and Biden’s popularity.
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Instead, Democrats were able to attack the GOP’s expected big vote, holding moderate, rural counties from Virginia to Minnesota and Kansas. The results could complicate House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy’s plans to become speaker as some conservative members have asked whether to support him or have imposed conditions on their support.
Narrow margins have upended Republican politics and pointed the finger at what is wrong. Some in the GOP have blamed Donald Trump for the worse-than-expected result. The former president, who is expected to announce a third White House bid on Tuesday, raised candidates during this year’s primaries who struggled to win during the general election.
Despite its unfortunate showing, the GOP will still see its power in Washington grow. Republicans will take control of the House committees, giving them the power to draft legislation and launch investigations of Biden, his family and his administration.
There is significant interest in investigating the overseas business dealings of President Hunter Biden’s son. Some of the most conservative lawmakers have raised the prospect of impeaching Biden, although that would be very difficult for the party to achieve with a majority.
Any legislation that emerges from the House could face high odds in the Senate, where a Democratic majority will often be enough to kill GOP-led legislation.
With such a slim majority in the House, there is potential for legislative chaos. Effectiveness in particular gives each member a greater influence on shaping what happens in the room. That could lead to an even trickier situation for GOP leaders as they try to win support for must-pass measures that keep the government funded or raise the debt ceiling.
The GOP’s failure to realize more gains is especially surprising because the party went into the election benefiting from congressional maps that were redrawn by Republican lawmakers. There is also history on the Republican side: The party that holds the White House has lost congressional seats during every first term of a new president in the modern era.
If he is chosen to succeed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the top post, McCarthy will lead what will be a contentious gathering of House Republicans, most of whom align with Trump’s political fingerprint. Most Republicans in the incoming Congress rejected the results of the 2020 election, although claims of widespread fraud were disputed by the courts, election officials and Trump’s attorney general.
In the first national election since Jan. He won a seat long held by Democrats in Wisconsin.
