With President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House in January, Republicans are expected to maintain control of the House of Representatives. The GOP also now has control of the U.S. Senate, giving them complete control of Washington.
By securing its 218th seat on Monday—the number required for a majority in the lower house—Decision Desk HQ predicted the GOP will retain the House, The Hill reported.
The outcome is a significant victory for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who rose from the shadows to become the leader of the House GOP in both legislation and campaign infrastructure.
Republicans defeated a number of vulnerable Democratic incumbents while preserving some of its most vulnerable incumbents, such as Reps. David Valadao (R-Calif.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.). Businessman Rob Bresnahan beat Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.), while state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Pa.) ousted Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.).
Some GOP losses were offset by those outcomes. Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-Ore.) and three first-term New York Republicans, Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, Marc Molinaro, and Brandon Williams, lost their reelection campaigns.
With ballots still being counted for a number of California races, the ultimate House breakdown is still up in the air. However, it is anticipated that Republicans will enter the next Congress with yet another narrow majority.
These precise figures will have a significant impact on Johnson’s political future, the policies that Republicans can implement, and the operation—or lack thereof—of the lower house.
Trump gave the Speaker a shoutout in his victory speech from Palm Beach, Fla., in the early hours of Wednesday: “It also looks like we’ll be keeping control of the House of Representatives. And I want to thank Mike Johnson. I think he’s doing a terrific job.”
The House GOP’s strong commitment to supporting the Trump administration is demonstrated by the fact that House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House GOP Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago to celebrate his victory.
During the first 100 days of complete Republican rule, top House Republicans have been collaborating with Senate Republicans for months on legislative measures that they can quickly forward to Trump. Trump’s first term tax cuts should be extended, border wall money should be increased, climate policies should be repealed, and school choice should be encouraged.
In the event that Republicans gain unified control of the government, the Speaker has made it clear that he intends to run for office once more. However, a few hard-line conservatives have opposed him, and early this year, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) attempted to remove him. That initiative was thwarted by House Democrats.
Johnson must obtain a majority vote on the House floor when it meets on January 3, 2025, which calls for nearly full Republican support, in order to retain the gavel.
In an October campaign trail interview, Johnson told The Hill that he hopes to “have my party’s support for Speaker” on the House floor.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is also significantly denied the chance to become the first Black Speaker of the House as a result of the GOP triumph.
With battlefield districts extending from coast to coast, the majority of which were in places that were not competitive in the presidential election, the contest for the House was regarded as being almost as close as the one for the White House. Democrats had hoped to gain support from voters who were worried about the Republicans’ stance on reproductive rights, as they would have required a net gain of at least four seats to take control of the House.
Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), who is running for reelection, identified a number of areas of concentration for the House GOP campaign arm that gave him optimism about the election in an interview on election day.
“They were able to make every dollar go farther by dividing the cost of television ads with candidates in a way that allowed them to benefit from lower candidate rates,” Hudson said. Additionally, he mentioned that the NRCC has opened over 40 field offices, or “battle stations.”
“I feel like the last couple cycles, national parties have gotten away from ground game, and we made a major investment in our ground game this time around,” Hudson said.