Republicans get thin majority in House of Representatives

Washington, November 17

Donald Trump's Republican Party has wrested control of the 435-member US House of Representatives from the ruling Democratic Party with a razor-thin majority, setting the stage for a showdown with Joe Biden in the next two years of his presidency.

The victory gives Republicans the power to rein in Biden’s agenda, as well as to launch potentially politically damaging probes against his administration and family, though it falls far short of the “red wave” the party had hoped for.

Will work with anyone: Biden

• US President Joe Biden on Wednesday congratulated Republicans for winning the majority in the House of Representatives
• “I will work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, willing to work with me to deliver results,” the President said ANI

The final call came after more than a week of ballot counting, when Edison Research projected Republicans had won the 218 seats they needed to control the House. Republican victory in California’s 27th Congressional district took the party over the line.

The party’s current House leader, Kevin McCarthy, may have a challenging road ahead as he will need his restive caucus to hold together on critical votes, including funding the government and military at a time when former US President Donald Trump has launched another run for the White House.

“Americans are ready for a new direction, and House Republicans are ready to deliver,” Kevin McCarthy said on Twitter.

The loss takes away some of Biden’s power in Washington but on Wednesday he congratulated McCarthy and said he would work across the aisle to deliver results.

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to hold that powerful post, said on Thursday she will step down as the chamber’s Democratic leader as her allies prepared a passing of the torch to Representative Hakeem Jeffries.

Pelosi announced in a spirited speech on the House floor that she will step aside after leading Democrats for nearly 20 years and in the aftermath of the brutal attack on her husband, Paul, last month in their San Francisco home. “Now we must move boldly into the future,” Pelosi said. — Agencies

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