- The GOP secured a 220-215 majority with final uncalled race flipping blue.
- Speaker Mike Johnson assured 'bicameral cooperation' and said vacant seats would be quickly filled.
- Despite past productivity struggles, House GOP believe this will improve with trifecta in place.
Speaker Mike Johnson is tasked with running a tight ship with his tiny House Republican majority. On Tuesday night, after the final uncalled race in California flipped blue, Republicans secured a 220-215 majority.
But these numbers don’t tell the whole story, after President-elect Donald Trump plucked several lawmakers from Congress to fill various positions in his Cabinet.
Starting in January, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York will serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida as Trump’s national security adviser. That brings down the number to 218.
But that’s not all. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who received a Cabinet nomination from Trump but later withdrew his name from consideration, said he won’t return to his House seat.
This brings the margin down to 217-215. The New York Times reports the Republican majority is on track to be the smallest in the lower chamber’s history since the Great Depression, leaving little room for infighting and defections.
“We’ve developed an expertise in that we know how to work with a small majority,” Johnson said during a press conference Thursday. In the last two years, Republicans enjoyed a slightly larger majority of 222-213.
“We have nothing to spare, but all of our members know that — we talked about that today, as we do constantly, that this is a team effort that we’ve got to all row in the same direction.”
“In unified government, we’re all on the exact same team,” the speaker added. “This isn’t junior varsity. ... And we have to think that way and operate that way.”
He promised “bicameral cooperation” between the House and the Senate and assured Republicans would fill the soon-to-be vacant seats. The GOP is excited “to be a part of the great reform” that will be welcomed by President-elect Trump, he said.
Republicans struggled to be productive the past few years, and failed to pass spending bills and foreign aid bills on time. With a GOP trifecta in place, it’s possible this trend reverses.