Donald Trump will assume the presidency of the United States with absolute control over the legislature. The Republicans manage to maintain a very slim majority in the House of Representatives, the Associated Press reported this Thursday. The seats that are dyed red – the color of the Republican Party – in Colorado and Michigan, as well as the two in Pennsylvania, already guarantee the surpassing of the majority of 218. Added to the control of the House is the control that they have already recovered. in the Senate, which means control of the entire legislature.
On the other hand, the Democrats only obtained 208 seats. Even if Democrats managed to win every seat they could, they would get 213 seats.
The victory of the Republicans in both houses – Congress and Senate – is the latest blow to the Democratic Party, plunged since last week into a deep crisis after seeing Kamala Harris lose to Trump in all key states (including the blue country ). wall, as was the case for Hillary Clinton in 2016), but also in the popular vote –72.4 million against 75.5–.
The result predicts two very dark years for Democrats until the 2026 midterm elections, and the opposite is a Trump with the legislative apparatus at his disposal and a Supreme Court with a conservative majority. In the Senate, the Republicans now also hold a majority of 53 deputies, three more than the minimum of 50.
Although it was by a very small margin, the victory in the House of Representatives gives even more strength to the party. speaker Mike Johnson, who, during his term as Speaker of the Lower House, faced attacks from the most extremist sector of the Republican caucus. When he moved to advance the vote on the military aid package to Ukraine and Israel, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch Trump supporter, unsuccessfully introduced a motion to impeach him.
Although he has been harshly criticized by the most Trumpist sectors of the party, the truth is that Johnson has a good relationship with Trump. This morning, during a meeting with Republican lawmakers, the now-president-elect praised Johnson, calling him a “great guy.” Undoubtedly, the victory in the House of Representatives will further improve Trump’s perception of Johnson.
The outcome in the Legislature came on the same day that Trump was heading to the White House to meet with outgoing President Joe Biden. The Democrat restored the tradition that the Republican broke in 2020, when he lost to Biden and refused to accept the results. The meeting, which lasted more than two hours, was “cordial” and resulted in an “exchange of views” between the two leaders, as the White House press secretary later explained, Karine Jean-Pierre.
Alongside the meeting between Biden and Trump, Republican senators also voted to elect the new leader, with a majority in the Senate. Until now, the position was held by Democrat Chuck Schumer, since Democrats controlled the House.
The Republican senator from South Dakota, John Thune, 63 years old and moderate in profile, will be the new majority leader. Thune is one of the few new positions after Trump’s victory that is not part of the president-elect’s most loyal sector. In fact, Thune beat Trump’s nominee, Florida Sen. Rick Scott.
Now, just because he’s not a full-fledged MAGA doesn’t mean Thune isn’t responsible for putting the Senate under Trump’s orders. Recently, on Fox, he defended the need to keep the mogul’s electoral promises so as not to disappoint voters. “If we fail to meet President Trump’s priorities, we will lose his support,” he said. “They entrusted us with their votes. Now we have to roll up our sleeves and get to work,” he insisted.
