WASHINGTON – Republicans will retain their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and regain control of the Senate when Congress convenes in January, positioning the party to potentially make major policy changes over the next two years.
The GOP had only reached the 218 seats needed for a majority in the House behind schedule Wednesday, according to The Associated Press, the news organization that States Newsroom relies on for election calls decades of experience, so-called control of the chamber. The AP has so far called for 208 seats for the Democrats, nine of which had not yet been determined as of Thursday morning.
Combined with President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the election results will have far-reaching implications for the country’s future and give the former president a chance to add one or more justices to the Supreme Court.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said during a press conference Before the AP predicted Tuesday that the GOP would retain its majority, he said he had spoken with other GOP lawmakers for months and laid out a plan for unified control of government, although he declined to provide details.
“Over the past year, I have worked with our committee chairs and our Senate colleagues to lay the foundation for this America First agenda,” Johnson said. “It will grow our economy and reduce inflation. It will secure our borders. We will restore America’s energy dominance. We will enforce freedom of education and drain the swamp. And that’s just the beginning of the agenda.”
The AP predicted Republicans would hold 53 Senate seats after seats in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia flipped from blue to red. However, there was an extremely slim chance that the Keystone State could flip back to the Democrats.
Incumbent Democratic Senator Bob Casey had not yet conceded the Pennsylvania Senate race to Republican Dave McCormick, and that was the case heading for a recount.
Who ultimately wins the outstanding races will determine how often GOP leaders have to rely on Democratic votes over the next two years and how often they can go it alone.
House Republicans have faced hurdles over the past two years as they tried to push bills through that chamber without Democratic support, largely due to forceful divisions between centrist and far-right members of the GOP conference.
That’s unlikely to change in the next Congress, especially since Republicans are on track to maintain their razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.
Tax cuts are a priority
Republican lawmakers are likely to utilize unified control of Congress to address core aspects of their 2017 tax law that are expiring or have already done so and to make significant changes to the country’s health insurance market, particularly by overhauling the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
For these and possibly other tasks, leaders will likely utilize the complicated budget reconciliation process to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster and ensure they don’t need Democratic support.
Republicans also must keep up with the annual to-do list in Congress, including crafting the dozen annual federal funding bills and the annual defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act.
Republicans, who regularly grapple with the annual deficit and accumulated national debt, must find a way to raise or suspend the country’s debt limit, which expires on January 1.
They will have to implement so-called “extraordinary measures” on the debt limit for a few months while they negotiate a deal, but they must reach an agreement if they want to prevent the country from defaulting on its debt for the first time. History and the beginning a global financial crisis.
Johnson is on track to remain at the helm of the House of Representatives after helping the party retain a majority, although he must go through the formality of a plenary vote in January.
John Thune, Senator from South Dakota will become his chamber’s next majority leader after a secret, closed-door vote by Republican senators on Wednesday.
The two GOP leaders and relevant committees will embark on a two-year sprint to address as much as possible before voters go to the polls again in November 2026, potentially shifting the balance of power once again.
Last updated 6:51 am, November 14, 2024
