Control of the US House of Representatives hangs in the balance, with huge implications for Trump’s agenda

WASHINGTON (AP) — Majority in the U.S. House of Representatives was hanging by a thread Wednesday’s balancing act between Republican control, which might usher in a brand new era of unified GOP rule in Washington, and a turn to Democrats as the last line of resistance to Trump’s agenda for the second term of the White House.

A couple of individual seats and even one is enough determine the result. The final rating will take a while, and the decision will likely be postponed until next week – or later.

After the Republicans she made her way into the majority in the U.S. Senate, taking House Speaker seats in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana Mike Johnson he predicted that his chamber could be next.

“Republicans are ready to unite the government in the White House, the Senate and the House,” Johnson said Wednesday.

President-elect Donald TrumpWho he won the Electoral College and the popular vote against the Democratic vp Kamala Harrishe consolidated the growing power around his MAGA movement, supporting the newcomers to Washington and setting the stage for his own return to the White House.

Johnson said Republicans in Congress are preparing “ambitious” 100-day program with Trump, who he said is “thinking big” about his legacy.

Tax cuts, securing the southern border and passing the torch on federal regulation might be top priorities if the GOP takes the White House and Congress. Trump himself has promised mass deportations and revenge on his perceived enemies. Republicans need to push federal agencies out of Washington and retrain the government workforce with outside consultancies, Johnson said, to “get the federal government in order.”

But Johnson has struggled to manipulate the House after only a 12 months in office, and the latest Congress might be no different. Hardliners led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Matt Gaetz and others continuously confronted and overthrew their very own GOP leadership in what was one of the most chaotic sessions in modern times.

If Johnson’s slim four-seat majority were to shrink even further, governing could stall.

Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the House “remains very much in the game.”

After Democrats defeated two Republicans in the House of Representatives in Jeffries’ home state of New York, he said the path to a majority now lies through pick-up opportunities in Arizona, Oregon, Iowa and California, that are still too early to call. .

“We need to count every vote,” Jeffries said.

The House contests remained a fight to the finish, with no dominant path to a majority for either side. Rarely, if ever, have the two houses of Congress turned in opposite directions.

Each party gains and loses several seats, including through the redistricting process, which is the routine redrawing of the boundaries of seats in the House. The reset process applies to North Carolina, Louisiana and Alabama.

The consequence depends largely on the West, especially in California, where several House seats are hotly contested and mailed ballots per week after the election will still be counted. Among those being watched are tight races around the “blue dot” in Omaha, Nebraska and distant Alaska.

Trump will speak early Wednesday morning at his home election night party in Florida, said the results gave Republicans an “unprecedented and powerful mandate.”

He called the Senate defeat “amazing” and praised Johnson, saying he was “doing a great job.”

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From the U.S. Capitol, Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnella pointy Trump critic in private, he called it a “damn good day.”

Senate Republicans marched across the map with Trump, flipping three Democrat-held seats and staying in the race against Democratic challengers who didn’t unseat Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.

In West Virginia Jim Justice, the state’s wealthy governor reversed the position held by retiring senator Joe Manchin. Republicans ousted Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio along with GOP luxury automobile dealer and blockchain entrepreneur Bernie Moreno. Republican Tim Sheehy defeated Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in Montana.

Democrats avoided total destruction by saving seats in blue wall states. Rep. Elissa Slotkin won an open Senate seat in Michigan, and Sen. Tammy Baldwin was re-elected in Wisconsin. The Pennsylvania race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and GOP challenger Dave McCormick was still undecided.

In other developments, Democrats made history by sending two black women to the Senate, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland. There have only been three Black women in the Senate, including Harris, but never two at the same time.

All in all, Senate Republicans have the potential to win their largest majority in years, and that is proof of that McConnellwho has made a profession of charting a path to power, this time allied with Trump, whom he privately called “despicable” in the run-up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

During Wednesday’s news conference, McConnell declined to reply questions on his previous harsh criticism of Trump and said he viewed the election results as a referendum on the Biden administration.

He told reporters on Capitol Hill that a Republican-controlled Senate would “control the guardrails” and stop changes to the Senate rules that might end the filibuster.

“People just weren’t happy with this administration, and the Democratic nominee was part of it,” McConnell said.

It’s still unclear who will lead the latest Republican Senate as McConnell prepares to step down.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 2 Republican, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who previously held the position, are the leading candidates to interchange McConnell in a secret ballot election scheduled for when senators arrive in Washington next week.