Republicans win majority in US House of Representatives

The Republican Party has managed to win control of the US House of Representatives, according to a projection by CNN. While the Senate has been retained by the Democratic Party, the GOP’s control of the House means that the United States is heading towards a divided government that might have detrimental effects on the agenda of President Joe Biden.

Kevin McCarthy has already won the GOP nomination to become the House Speaker, and with 218 seats under their control, McCarthy should not have much trouble in succeeding current Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

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More than a week after Election Day, Republicans secured the 218th seat needed to flip the House from Democratic control. The full scope of the party’s majority may not be clear for several more days — or weeks — as votes in competitive races are still being counted.

But they are on track to cobble together what could be the party’s narrowest majority of the 21st century, rivaling 2001, when Republicans had just a nine-seat majority, 221-212 with two independents. That’s far short of the sweeping victory Republicans predicted going into this year’s midterm elections, when the party hoped to reset the agenda on Capitol Hill by capitalizing on economic challenges and Biden’s lagging popularity.

The Republicans had hoped for a “red wave” in the 2022 midterm elections, but the race ended up becoming a tightly fought contest. 

The news of the Republicans’ win comes in the wake of former President Donald Trump announcing his plans to run for the presidency once again in 2024.

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Trump holds considerable influence over his followers in the GOP conference, and will be encouraged to go full-throttle in his campaign now that Republicans have managed to make a dent in the Democrat-controlled United States government.

Despite Trump’s announcement, a number of Republicans have spoken out against such an early declaration of candidacy. The most vocal was Ron DeSantis, the newly re-elected Florida governor who is most likely to become Trump’s chief competitor in the GOP primaries.

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DeSantis said regarding Trump’s declaration, “I mean, seriously. We just ran an election,” further adding, “We have this Georgia runoff coming, which is very important for Republicans to win that Georgia runoff.”