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Mike Johnson is facing a new challenge: having the smallest House majority in history. Despite remaining in control of the House as the Republican speaker, he will now lead an even smaller majority. This comes at a crucial time as President-elect Donald J. Trump will rely on his support to push through important agenda items.
Written by Catie Edmondson
Reporting live from the government building
The speaker, Mike Johnson, who had a slight majority, now has an even smaller margin of support.
The final House race was decided on Tuesday night when Representative John Duarte of California, a new Republican member, accepted defeat to Adam Gray, a Democrat. This victory solidified a narrow 220-215 majority for Republicans, a slight increase from their current 220-213 majority.
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 for the Trump administration. Additionally, former Representative Matt Gaetz from Florida has announced that he will not be coming back.
After the special election, Republicans will have a slim majority of 217-215 in the House, which is one of the closest margins in history. If all Democrats vote against a measure, Mr. Johnson will need every Republican present and in agreement, and even then, only three Republicans can vote against the bill without it failing. This delicate balance will remain until the vacant seats are filled later this spring.
On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson appeared unbothered by the idea and reassured reporters on Capitol Hill that they are accustomed to working with a small majority.
He mentioned that there is no extra resources available. However, all members are aware of this. They discussed this today, as they always do, emphasizing the importance of working together as a team and moving forward towards the same goal.
He didn’t talk about how he achieved success in managing a small majority in the past year by working with Democrats to pass important laws that his own party didn’t support. This strategy may not work in the upcoming Congress with President-elect Donald J. Trump in power.
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