Republicans will retain their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, overcoming the odds after a chaotic two years in power and securing a trifecta in government by seizing control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Republicans passed the threshold to secure a majority of seats in the House for the upcoming 119th Congress, according to Associated Press projections.
Heading into November, Republicans controlled the lower chamber by the narrowest of margins, with 220 members to Democrats’ 212 and a few seats sitting vacant. The breakdown is likely to look similar after the remaining 2024 races are called.
The new election results deal a major blow to Democrats, who were thought to have a strong chance of flipping the House blue this year and felt similarly hopeful about their chances of winning the presidency. The Democratic Party last controlled the House from 2019 to 2023 under Nancy Pelosi’s leadership, ultimately losing their majority as a result of the 2022 midterms.
Pelosi resigned from leadership after the midterms and positioned New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, now 54, to lead the House Democratic Caucus in her place, helping him become the first Black party leader in Congress’ history. Jeffries would have become the nation’s first Black House speaker if the Democrats had won back the majority.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, on Nov. 17, 2022. Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO via AP Images
The House GOP held a vote on Nov. 13 to determine who they wanted to steer their conference through the next two years, ultimately reelecting Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson as the Republican House leader.
Johnson is now on track to become speaker of the House again when all 435 House members convene on Jan. 3, so long as he can avoid another intra-party fight like former GOP leader Kevin McCarthyexperienced during his 2023 speakership election, which required 15 rounds of voting.
In the 118th Congress, which began in January 2023 and ends in January 2025, Republicans’ narrow House majority prevented them from governing effectively. The slim margin meant that the party needed almost every Republican on board in order to get things done.
In effect, that gave the furthest-right faction of Congress disproportionate negotiating power; if their concerns weren’t reflected in legislation, they could simply vote against it and derail its chances of passing.
Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers is restrained after getting into an argument with Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz on Jan. 6, 2023.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty
In 2023, Congress had its least productive year in modern history when the Republican infighting led to a rebellion that ousted Speaker McCarthy from his position and left the House without a leader for weeks, preventing business from getting conducted during a time that should have been dedicated to finalizing the 2024 budget.
After proposing several replacements for McCarthy, one candidate finally received enough GOP support to become speaker: the little-known Johnson, whose most notable achievement at the time was leading a congressional effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Donald Trump’s favor, which earned the support of more than 100 House members.
