Republicans win majority of US House seats in government sweep
Republicans will have at least the 218 votes needed to control the 435-seat House of Representatives, Edison projected, with nine races yet to be called.
President-elect Donald Trump’s Republican Party will control both houses of Congress when he takes office in January, Edison Research projected on Wednesday (13 November), enabling him to push an agenda of slashing taxes and shrinking the federal government.
Republicans will have at least the 218 votes needed to control the 435-seat House of Representatives, Edison projected, with nine races yet to be called. They have had already secured a US Senate majority of at least 52-48 with one race uncalled after the 5 November election.
During his first presidential term in 2017-2021, Trump’s biggest achievement was sweeping tax cuts that are due to expire next year.
That legislation and Democratic President Joe Biden’s signature $1 trillion infrastructure law both came during periods when their parties controlled both chambers of Congress.
By contrast, during the past two years of divided government, Biden has had little success in passing legislation and Congress has struggled to perform its most basic function of providing the money needed to keep the government open.
The thin Republican House majority has been fractious, tossing out its first speaker, Kevin McCarthy, and routinely bucking his successor Speaker Mike Johnson.
Trump’s grip on the party and particularly its raucous hardliners has been far firmer – as evidenced by his success earlier this year killing a bipartisan deal that would have sharply stepped up border security.
His power will also be backed by a Supreme Court with a 6-3 conservative majority that includes three justices he appointed.
More immediately, the Republicans’ victory is certain to influence the House’s post-election “lame duck” session.
The current Congress faces end-of-year deadlines for funding the government to avoid shutdowns at Christmas and extending Washington’s borrowing authority to avoid an historic debt default.
One possible scenario is passing temporary patches to give the incoming Trump administration a say on these two controversial items when it assumes power from the Biden administration on 20 January. The new Congress convenes on 3 January.
‘Cordial’ meeting
US President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, longtime political rivals, discussed Ukraine and the Middle East on Wednesday in a cordial meeting designed to demonstrate a smooth transfer of power despite deep disagreements over policy.
The two American leaders sat side by side before a roaring fire in the White House Oval Office, a peaceful scene that belied tensions between them.
“They discussed important national security and domestic policy issues facing the nation and the world,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “It was indeed very cordial, very gracious, and substantive.”
The meeting lasted roughly two hours, she said.
Biden argued support for Ukraine was good for U.S. national security because a strong and stable Europe would keep America from being dragged into war, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told journalists.
Trump has pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine war quickly without saying how.
Trump told the New York Post he and Biden “talked very much about the Middle East” during their conversation. “I wanted to know his views on where we are,” the Post quoted Trump as saying. “And he gave them to me, he was very gracious.”
(Edited by Georgi Gotev)
