Republicans win 218 seats in the US House of Representatives, giving Donald Trump and the party control of the government

WASHINGTON – Republicans won enough seats to control the U.S. House of Representatives, ending the party’s rise to power and securing control of the U.S. government with the president-elect Donald Trump.

The Republican House victory in Arizona, along with a victory in free-for-all California earlier on Wednesday, gave the GOP a majority-constituting 218 House victories. Republicans previously took control of the Senate from Democrats.

With a hard-fought but narrow majority, Republican leaders envision a mandate to upend the federal government and quickly implement Trump’s vision for the country.

The future president promised to carry out the largest in the history of the country deportation operationextend tax breaks, punish his political enemies, take control of federal power government’s most powerful tools and transforming the American economy. Republican election victories will ensure that Congress will support this agenda, and Democrats will be almost powerless to check it.

When Trump was elected president in 2016, Republicans also took control of Congress, but he still faced Republican leaders resistant to his policy ideas, as well as a Supreme Court with a liberal majority. Not this time.

Once back in the White House, Trump will work with a Republican Party that has been completely transformed by his “Make America Great Again” movement and with a Supreme Court dominated by conservative justices, including three of his appointees.

On Wednesday morning, Trump met with House Republicans at a hotel on Capitol Hill, marking his first return to Washington since the election.

“I guess I won’t run again unless you say, ‘He’s good, we have to come up with something else,’” Trump told a room full of lawmakers, who laughed in response.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, who endorsed Trump won the nomination of the Republican Conference to remain speaker next year, he talked about turning the “torch” to the federal government and its programs, looking for ways to change even popular programs that Democrats have championed in recent years. The Louisiana Republican, a staunch conservative, has brought the Republican Conference closer to Trump during the campaign season by preparing an “ambitious” 100-day agenda.

“Republicans in the House and Senate have the mandate,” Johnson said earlier this week. “The Americans want us to implement and implement the ‘America First’ program.”

Trump’s allies in the House are already signaling they will seek revenge for the legal problems Trump has faced in his absence. The future president said yes on Wednesday nominate Rep. Matt Gaetza fierce loyalist, for attorney general.

Meanwhile, Republican Jim Jordan, chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, said GOP lawmakers are “taking nothing off the table” in their plans to investigate special counsel Jack Smith, even as Smith wraps up two federal investigations into Trump. conspiracy to invalidate the results of the 2020 presidential election AND collecting secret documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Still, despite several races that have yet to be decided, Republicans could hold a majority by just a few seats when the up-to-date Congress begins. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the House of Representatives for positions in his administration – Rep. Gaetz, Mike Waltz AND Eliza Stefanik so far – could complicate Johnson’s ability to maintain his majority at the start of the up-to-date Congress.

Gaetz resigned on Wednesday, effective immediately. Johnson expressed hope that the seat could be filled by the time the up-to-date Congress convenes on January 3. Replacing House members requires a special election, and congressional districts held by the three departing members have been held by Republicans for years.

With a tiny majority, the good functioning of the Chamber cannot be guaranteed. The last two years of Republican control of the House were defined by internal struggles while hardline conservative factions attempted to gain influence and power by openly opposing their party’s leadership. While Johnson – sometimes with Trump’s aid – largely does he suppressed open rebellions despite his leadership, the right wing of the party is gaining ground and ambition following Trump’s election victory.

The Republican majority also depends on a tiny group of lawmakers who won hard-fought elections by running as moderates. Time will tell whether they will stick to the most extreme proposals supported by Trump and his allies.

Meanwhile, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is trying to keep Democrats relevant to any legislation Congress passes, and that effort will depend on Democratic leaders uniting their more than 200 members even as the party reels from electoral defeats.

In the Senate, GOP leaders, fresh from winning a convincing majority, are already working with Trump to confirm his Cabinet picks. Sen. John Thune of South Dakota won an internal election Wednesday to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving party leader in Senate history.

Thune has been critical of Trump in the past, but has praised the up-to-date president during his leadership bid.

“This team of Republicans is united. We are on one team,” Thune said. “We are excited to regain the majority and begin working with our colleagues in the House to implement President Trump’s agenda.”

The GOP’s 53-seat majority in the Senate also gives Republicans leeway to confirm cabinet positions or Supreme Court justices if there is a vacancy. Not all of these confirmations are guaranteed. Republicans were in disbelief on Capitol Hill on Wednesday that Trump would nominate Gaetz as his attorney general. Even Trump’s close allies in the Senate distanced themselves from supporting Gaetz, who was struggling House Ethics Committee Investigation in connection with allegations of sexual misconduct and illegal drug use.

Regardless, Trump on Sunday every Republican leader demanded it must allow him to make administrative appointments without a vote during the Senate recess. Such a move would mean a noticeable shift of power away from the Senate, but all leadership candidates quickly agreed to the idea. Democrats could potentially fight such a maneuver.

Meanwhile, Trump’s supporters on social media, including the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, loudly protested against choosing a traditional Republican to lead the Senate chamber. Thune worked as a top lieutenant for McConnell, who once called the former president a “despicable man.” in his private notes.

McConnell, however, made it clear that the days of Republican resistance to Trump were over on Capitol Hill.