WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republicans have won enough seats to control the United States House of Representatives, completing the party’s sweep to power and securing its dominance in the government alongside President-elect Donald Trump.
A Republican victory in Arizona, along with a win in California, which had a slow vote count, gave the Republican Party the 218 seats in the House of Representatives that constitute the majority. Republicans had also previously gained control of the Senate, where they will have 52 or 53 senators.
What can Trump do with executive and legislative control?
With tight majorities, but won in a tough fight, Republican leaders are envisioning a mandate to transform the federal government and quickly implement Trump's vision for the country.
The incoming president has promised to carry out the largest deportation operation ever seen in the United States, extend tax cuts, punish his political opponents, take control of the most powerful tools of the federal government, and reshape the nation's economy. Republican electoral victories ensure that Congress will support this agenda, and that Democrats will be almost powerless to counter it.
When Trump was elected president in 2016, Republicans also swept Congress, but even so, the magnate encountered Republican leaders resistant to his political ideas, as well as a Supreme Court with a liberal majority. It won't be like that this time.
This time, Trump will work with a Republican Party that has been completely transformed by his "MAGA" movement and a Supreme Court dominated by conservative judges, including three that he appointed.
The president of the lower house, Mike Johnson, who with Trump's support won the Republican Conference nomination to continue as president of the lower house next year, has talked about applying a "blowtorch" to the federal government and its programs, considering ways to even review popular programs advocated by Democrats in recent years.
"The Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate have a mandate," Johnson said this week. "The American people want us to implement and deliver that 'America first' agenda."
How will the remaining moderate Republicans act?
Still, with some electoral contests still undecided, Republicans could retain the majority by just a few seats when the new Congress begins its session. Trump's decision to select members of the House of Representatives for positions in his government—representatives Matt Gaetz, Mike Waltz, and Elise Stefanik so far—could complicate Johnson's ability to maintain a majority in the early days of the new Congress.
Gaetz submitted his resignation on Wednesday, effective immediately. Johnson said he hoped the seat would already be filled by the time the new Congress meets on January 3. Replacements for members of the lower chamber require special elections, and the legislative districts held by the three departing members have been in Republican hands for years.
Due to the narrow margin by which the Republicans achieved the majority, it is far from guaranteed that the House of Representatives will be highly functional. The last two years of Republican control of the lower house were defined by internal struggles as uncompromising conservative factions sought to gain influence and power by openly challenging their party leadership.
The Republican majority also depends on a small group of legislators who won difficult elections by running on moderate agendas. It remains to be seen whether they will support some of the more extreme proposals advocated by Trump and his allies, considering that the House of Representatives will be completely renewed in the legislative elections of November 2026.