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Mike Johnson is facing a new challenge as the Republican speaker with the smallest majority in history in the House. Despite retaining control, he will have to navigate an even smaller majority during a time when President-elect Donald J. Trump will rely on his support to push through key agenda items.
Written by Catie Edmondson
Reporting live from the seat of
The margin of victory for Speaker Mike Johnson has decreased, making his majority even more narrow.
The final House race was determined on Tuesday night when Representative John Duarte from California, a new Republican member, acknowledged defeat to Adam Gray, a Democrat. This solidified a 220-215 majority for the Republicans, which is even narrower than their current majority of 220-213.
In January, the margins will decrease even more as Representatives Elise Stefanik from New York and Mike Waltz from Florida leave their positions to work in the Trump administration. Additionally, Former Representative Matt Gaetz from Florida has 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 proposal, Mr. Johnson will not be able to have any Republicans vote against it until vacant seats are filled. Even after the vacancies are filled, only three Republicans can vote against a bill without it failing to pass.
On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson seemed calm about the idea and assured reporters on Capitol Hill that his team is experienced in working with a slim majority. He mentioned that this is a common practice for them.
He mentioned that they do not have extra resources to give. However, all of their members are aware of this. They discussed this today and continuously emphasize the importance of teamwork and everyone working together towards the same goal.
He didn’t talk about how he achieved success in working with a small majority by teaming up with Democrats to pass important laws that his own party didn’t back. This strategy might not work in the future with President-elect Donald J. Trump in charge.
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