Speaker Mike Johnson is hanging on to his GOP majority by a thread as he faces tough maneuverings to fund the government after parts of it shut down over the weekend.
House Republicans’ already slim margin dropped by another seat Monday night after the swearing-in of Democratic Rep. Christian Menefee, who won Texas’ blue 18th District special election runoff on Saturday. The House Republican majority now stands at 218-214, meaning leadership can afford to lose only one GOP member for party-line votes.
Menefee’s Houston-area seat had been vacant for nearly a year, giving Johnson and Republican leadership a little more wiggle room to muster support for partisan votes. Now, three vacancies remain in the House: New Jersey’s 11th District, for the seat Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill vacated after she was elected governor; Georgia’s 14th, where Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned on Jan. 5; and California’s 1st, where the GOP incumbent, Doug LaMalfa, died on Jan. 6.
