After the election last year, the Republicans had a small majority with 222 mandates against the Democrats’ 213.
But a week ago, George Santos was fired after a scathing report of lies and deception, and a few days later McCarthy announced his resignation at the end of December, becoming the first speaker ever to be fired from his post.
The majority has thus been reduced to 220 against 213 mandates. And thus the Republicans cannot do without more than three votes if they are to have a decision through, against four votes so far.
And the majority could be further reduced to 220 to 214 if a Democrat wins the special election in New York that will be held in February after Santos was fired. The constituency has normally been dominated by the Democrats.
In addition, another Republican has announced that he is withdrawing. Bill Johnson of Ohio is expected to leave Congress no later than March to become president of a university. The majority can thus shrink to 219 against 214.
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A reduced majority means that it will be more difficult for the Republicans to get their priorities through Congress, and it also gives the individual congressional representative greater opportunities to push through concessions.
– It just makes everything more difficult. It’s that simple. You have to have a full house to get something passed, and there has to be full agreement, which is damned difficult to achieve, says Tom Cole from Oklahoma.
2023-12-07 22:21:12
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