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Mike Johnson is facing a new challenge as the Republican speaker, as he now has the smallest House majority in history. Despite maintaining control of the House, the majority is even smaller, which could make it harder for President-elect Donald J. Trump to pass his key agenda items without Johnson’s support.
Written by Catie Edmondson
Providing updates from the government
The margin of victory for Speaker Mike Johnson has decreased.
The final House race was officially decided on Tuesday night when Representative John Duarte of California, a newly elected Republican, accepted defeat and conceded to Democrat Adam Gray. This victory secured a slim majority of 220-215 for the Republicans, which is only slightly larger than their current margin of 220-213.
In January, the margins will decrease even more as Representatives Elise Stefanik from New York and Mike Waltz from Florida step down to join the Trump administration. Another 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 controlling margins in history. If all Democrats are present and united against a bill, Mr. Johnson cannot afford any Republicans to defect until the vacancies are filled. Even after the vacancies are filled, only three Republicans can go against the party without causing a bill to fail.
On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson appeared calm and unconcerned about the situation, expressing confidence to reporters at Capitol Hill that his party is experienced in managing a small majority and it is something they are familiar with.
He mentioned that there is no extra resources available. Everyone in the group is aware of this and it was discussed during their recent meeting. They emphasize the importance of working together as a team and moving forward in unity.
He didn’t bring up the fact that a lot of his ability to lead a small majority in the past year came from working with Democrats to pass important laws that his own party wouldn’t support. This strategy may not be possible in the future with Donald J. Trump as President in the next Congress.
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