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Mike Johnson is facing a new challenge as the Republican speaker: the smallest House majority ever. While he was able to maintain control of the House, he now has an even smaller majority. This comes at a crucial time when President-elect Donald J. Trump will rely on his support to push through important agenda items.
Written by Catie Edmondson.
Providing coverage from the legislative
The margin of victory for Speaker Mike Johnson has decreased.
The final House race was decided on Tuesday night when Representative John Duarte from California, a first-term Republican, admitted defeat to Adam Gray, a Democrat. This solidified a 220-215 majority for Republicans, which is even narrower than their current 220-213 majority.
The margins will decrease even more in January as Representatives Elise Stefanik from New York and Mike Waltz from Florida leave their positions to work in the Trump administration. Former Representative Matt Gaetz from Florida has also announced that he will not be coming back.
The Republicans will have a slim majority of 217-215 in the House, which is one of the smallest margins in history. If all Democrats are present and united against a measure, Mr. Johnson cannot afford any defections on the House floor until vacancies are filled in the spring. Even after that, no more than three Republicans can go against the party without causing a bill to fail.
On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson appeared unconcerned about the possibility and assured reporters at Capitol Hill that they are experienced in working with a small majority and it is something they are used to.
He mentioned that they don’t have any extra resources to offer, but all their members are already aware of that. They discussed this during their meeting today, as they always do, emphasizing the importance of working together as a team towards a common goal.
He didn’t talk about how he achieved success in managing a small majority by working with Democrats to pass important laws that his own party didn’t support. This strategy may not work in the future when President-elect Donald J. Trump is in office.
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