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Mike Johnson is facing a new challenge as the Republican speaker of the House with the smallest majority in history. Despite maintaining control of the House, he will have to lead with an even smaller majority while President-elect Donald J. Trump seeks his assistance to push through important agenda items.
Written by Catie Edmondson
Sending updates from the government building
The margin of victory for Speaker Mike Johnson has decreased.
The last House race was decided on Tuesday evening when Representative John Duarte, a new Republican member, accepted defeat to Democrat Adam Gray. This victory secured a 220-215 majority for the Republicans, a slim margin compared to their current 220-213 majority.
The margins will decrease even more in January when Elise Stefanik from New York and Mike Waltz from Florida leave their positions to work in the Trump administration. Matt Gaetz from Florida has also 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 oppose a bill, Mr. Johnson cannot afford any Republicans to vote against it until the vacant seats are filled. Even after the vacancies are filled, only three Republicans can vote against a bill without it failing.
On Wednesday, Mr. Johnson appeared unconcerned about the situation, stating to reporters on Capitol Hill that they are accustomed to working with a small majority.
He stated that there are no extra resources available, but all members are aware of this. It was discussed today, as it is regularly, that everyone needs to work together as a team and cooperate towards the same goal.
He succeeded in managing a small majority by working with Democrats to pass important bills that his own party did not support. However, this strategy may not be possible in the future with Donald J. Trump as President.
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