House Republicans could start the new year with a one-seat majority, a A dangerously slim margin President-elect Donald Trump actively gunned down the first 100 days of the 119th Congress.
Last-minute GOP losses and departures in favor of the new administration mean Republicans could start the term with precious little room for dissent, and a congressional race could decide the difference between a one- or two-seat majority.
Johnson blasts Dems who vowed to end Obamacare as ‘dishonest’
House Speaker Mike Johnson could preside over a one-seat majority next year. (Fox News)
In California’s 13th Congressional District, Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., is fighting for his political life against Democrat Adam Gray.
As of Monday afternoon, Gray leads Duarte by a few hundred votes — roughly a 0.1% margin. California state law requires counties to certify their election results by December 5.
If Democrats flip the seat, the House will go into the new year with 220 Republicans and 215 Democrats.
However, the departure of three Republican lawmakers is expected to further dampen that. Now-former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned from the 118th and 119th Congresses amid consideration to be Trump’s attorney general.
Rep. John Duarte is fighting for his political life in one last uncertain House race. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, RN.Y., has been tapped to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and R-Fla., Rep. Mike Waltz, appointed National Security Adviser.
All three legislators represent deep-red districts, so there is little concern about their seats falling to Democrats.
However, with special elections scheduled for April 1 to replace Gaetz and Waltz and Stefanik not yet scheduled, the GOP could spend their first 100 days controlling Washington’s power centers with a one-seat majority in the House.
House GOP Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., in a recent television interview on Fox Business shrugged off concerns about the chances of holding onto a one- or two-seat edge.
Republicans are slated to keep control of the House as Trump prepares to implement the agenda
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer dismissed concerns about a narrow majority. (Stephen Mechurn/Getty Images)
“We’ve had that for the better part of the last year,” Emmer told “The Bottom Line.”
Click here to get the Fox News app
“I have to tell you, I’m not going to say it’s 222, 225, 218. As long as we have a majority, we can deliver to the American people with Donald J. Trump.”
Finally, there is little daylight between a one- or two-seat majority, but the 118th Congress There is no indicationHouse Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., faces a tricky political situation.
House Republicans’ slim margins over the past two years have allowed various factions of the GOP to sometimes paralyze the chamber floor over disagreements over government funding. Other critical legislative struggles.
