The Republicans are only two seats away from a majority in the United States House of Representatives as they aim to secure sweeping power in Congress to strengthen Donald Trump’s hand in the White House.
Here’s how things could look after Trump bagged the presidency in last week’s elections and his Republican Party flipped control of the Senate, ending four years of Democratic leadership in the upper chamber.
How many seats do the Republicans need to win the House?
The Republicans need two more seats to win control of the 435-member House of Representatives.
The party that wins at least 218 seats wins the House majority. So far, Republicans have won 216 seats while Democrats have won 207.
All House seats were on the ballot in Tuesday’s elections. House representatives are elected for two-year terms.
Which House races are yet to be called?
Twelve House races were yet to be called as of 7am on the US East Coast (12:00 GMT) on Wednesday.
In the 22nd congressional district in the southern part of California’s Central Valley, Republicans are leading by 7.2 percentage points after 76.6 percent of the results were reported, according to The Associated Press news agency.
Which party has controlled the House in recent US history?
The Republicans have held a majority in the House since 2022.
They have largely controlled the House in the past three decades. Democrats won the House just four times since 1994: in 2006, 2008, 2018 and 2020.
Here is a recent history of House election results:
- 2022: Republicans won 222 House seats, compared with the Democrats’ 213.
- 2020: Democrats were in control of the chamber with 222 seats, compared with the Republicans’ 213.
- 2018: Democrats were in the majority with 235 seats. The Republicans held 199 seats.
- 2016: While Republicans lost some seats, they still held a majority with 241 while the Democrats held 194 seats.
- 2014: Republicans held the majority with 247 seats, compared with the Democrats’ 188.
What power does the House have?
The House is responsible for creating and passing federal legislation. The chamber exclusively has the power to:
- Initiate revenue bills
- Impeach federal officials
- Elect the president in case of an Electoral College tie
To pass legislation and send it to the president to sign it into law, the House and the Senate need to pass the same bill with a majority vote.
If the president vetoes the bill, the House and the Senate can vote on it again, but they need a two-thirds majority to override the veto.
What does a Republican trifecta mean for the US?
Trump’s win, coupled with Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress, could mean he could easily enact his legislative agenda.
“At least in the first year or two, the Republicans are likely to support almost anything the president requests,” George C Edwards III, a political science professor at Texas A&M University, told Al Jazeera.
“This legislation could be on immigration, trade, taxes, healthcare, environmental protection, and a host of other policy areas. The Senate will certainly defer to him on judicial and executive branch nominations.”
In recent years, US presidents have struggled with passing legislation because they have narrow congressional majorities, the other party controls Congress or control of Congress is split between Democrats and Republicans.
In the first two years of President Joe Biden’s four-year term, for instance, his Democratic Party narrowly controlled both chambers of Congress, and in the second half, the Republicans won back control of the House.
As a result, in May, Republicans blocked a bill that would have made significant changes to immigration law. In June, Republicans blocked a bill put forth by Democrats that would have guaranteed women access to contraceptives.
On several occasions in the first half of Biden’s term, some of his legislative proposals were blocked by the Senate. This was despite the fact that Democrats held a Senate majority.
