Republicans win the U.S. House, giving Donald Trump and party control of government
Republican victory in Arizona, and one in California, gives party House majority
Republicans have won enough seats to control the U.S. House of Representatives, completing the party's sweep into power and securing their hold on U.S. government alongside U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.
A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories that make up the majority. Republicans earlier gained control of the Senate from Democrats.
As of early Wednesday, the Associated Press projects races for nine seats still up in the air, with Democrats so far projected to win 209 seats.
Republican leaders are envisioning a mandate to upend the federal government and swiftly implement Trump's vision for the country, with the Senate back in the party's control. The incoming president has promised to carry out the country's largest-ever deportation operation, extend tax breaks, punish his political enemies, seize control of the federal government's most powerful tools and reshape the U.S. economy.
But a highly functioning House is also far from guaranteed. The past two years of Republican House control were defined by infighting as hardline conservative factions sought to gain influence and power by openly defying their party leadership, leading to the departure of former speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The margin will again be slim this time, and Trump has named three Republican House members for appointments in his cabinet and administration — Matt Gaetz, Mike Waltz and Elise Stefanik.
Gaetz submitted his resignation from Congress Wednesday, effective immediately, after Trump made the stunning decision to select him as the next attorney general even though the Floridian has been subjected to a House ethics committee probe for sexual misconduct and other allegations.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he hoped the Gaetz vacancy could be filled by the time the new Congress convenes Jan. 3. Replacements for members of the House require special elections, and the congressional districts held by the three departing members have been held by Republicans for years.
Trump rallies House Republicans
When Trump was elected president in 2016, Republicans also swept Congress, but he still encountered Republican leaders resistant to his policy ideas, as well as a U.S. Supreme Court with a liberal majority.
When he returns to the White House, Trump will be working with a Republican Party that has been completely transformed by his "Make America Great Again" movement and a Supreme Court dominated by conservative justices, including three that he appointed.
Trump rallied House Republicans at a Capitol Hill hotel Wednesday morning, marking his first return to Washington since the election.
Johnson, who with Trump's endorsement won the Republican Conference's nomination to stay on as speaker next year, has talked of taking a "blowtorch" to the federal government and its programs, eyeing ways to overhaul even popular programs championed by Democrats in recent years.
The Louisiana Republican has pulled the House Republican Conference closer to Trump during the campaign season as they prepare an "ambitious" 100-day agenda.
"Republicans in the House and Senate have a mandate," Johnson said earlier this week. "The American people want us to implement and deliver that 'America First' agenda."
Trump's allies in the House are already signalling they will seek retribution for the legal troubles Trump faced while out of office. Rep. Jim Jordan, the chair of the powerful judiciary committee in the House, has said Republican lawmakers are "not taking anything off the table" in their plans to investigate special counsel Jack Smith, even as Smith is winding down two federal investigations into Trump for plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The Republican majority also depends on a small group of lawmakers who won tough elections by running as moderates. It remains to be seen whether they will stay onboard for some of the most extreme proposals championed by Trump and his allies.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, meanwhile, is trying to keep Democrats relevant to any legislation that passes Congress, an effort that will depend on Democratic leaders unifying over 200 members, even as the party undergoes a postmortem of its election losses.
While Johnson has received support from Trump to continue in his current role, it will be the entire 435-member House, including Democrats, that will vote on the speaker in January for the next legislative session.
With files from CBC News