Trump to Take Office With Unified Government as GOP Secures Slim House Majority
The Democratic Party’s hopes of stymieing the ambitions of Donald Trump during his second term in office were dashed Wednesday after Republicans secured a narrow majority in the House of Representatives.
Following victories in California and Arizona, Republicans attained the necessary 218 votes needed to hold a majority in the House. However, The New York Times reported Wednesday that though a few tight races remain to be called, Republicans are unlikely to enlarge the already razor thin majority they currently have.
The situations is complicated — slightly — by the surprise resignation of Rep. Matt Gaetz. The right wing Florida congressman isn’t resigning because of the multiple accusations of sexual misconduct however, but because Trump intends to nominate him for Attorney General.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed that even if the party itself was surprised, Gaetz resigned so that his seat might be filled before Trump takes office. And Gaetz, who represents a deep red Florida district, is very likely to be replaced by a Republican.
“I think out of deference to us, he issued his resignation letter immediately to accommodate us a little bit. That caught us by surprise a little bit. But I asked him what the reasoning was and he said, ‘Well, you can’t have too many absences,’” referring to Florida state law that dictates that a vacant political office must be filled within eight weeks,” Johnson said Wednesday.
But even if the majority remains slim, Republicans, for now at least, do not have the problem with disloyalty that plagued Democrats under Biden, whose agenda was often stymied by members like Senators Kirsten Sinema and Joe Manchin — who often acted with painfully obvious bad faith that Democratic leaders seemed curiously unwilling to punish.
As for Trump himself, so far his second-term Cabinet is set to include Stephen Miller as Deputy Chief of Staff, Kristi Noem as Head of Homeland Security, Fox News host Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary, Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence and Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, to name a few.
Additionally, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have been named as co-leads of the still-to-come Department of Government Efficiency.
In short, it’s going to be a bleak few years at minimum for Trump’s opponents, and likely a literal party for Team MAGA.
