US midterms: Republicans take control of the House of Representatives
Kevin McCarthy, the Republican representative from California and previously the House minority leader, has won internal party elections and will be the Speaker of the House
Washington: In one of the few bright spots for the party in the midterm elections, the Republicans have finally taken control of the US House of Representatives with a slim majority, days after Democrats retained control of the Senate.
America heads to a divided Congress from January, with the Grand Old Party (GOP) finally squeezing past the majority mark, winning 218 of the 435 seats in the House on Wednesday. The party’s tally is projected to go up to 222 seats. Democrats have won 211 seats so far and could go up to 213 seats. In the last House, Democrats had a slim majority.
Kevin McCarthy, the Republican representative from California and previously the House minority leader, has won internal party elections and will be the Speaker of the House.
In the Senate, veteran Republican leader from Kentucky, Mitch McConnell, will remain the minority leader. Both leaders faced a leadership challenge from the far-right end of the party, in a sign of the competing pressures that Republicans will have to manage in the Congress.
President Joe Biden has congratulated McCarthy, expressed his willingness to work with Republicans, but also reiterated the redlines for his administration and warned against a return to “political warfare”.
Soon after the results confirmed the Republican win in the House, McCarthy said, “It is official. One party Democratic rule in Washington is finished. We have fired Nancy Pelosi.”
McCarthy’s reference was to the fact that Democrats, from January 2021, have had control over the White House, Senate and the House, with Pelosi serving as the House Speaker. McCarthy had earlier said a Republican win marked the return of checks and balances in the American system and tweeted on Wednesday, “Americans are ready for a new direction and House Republicans are ready to deliver.”
Washington is now preparing to return to an era of deep legislative gridlock, with Republicans expected to block Democratic proposals in the House and push through its own proposals which, in turn, will get blocked by Democrats in the Senate. The GOP is also expected to launch investigations into various aspects of the Biden administration’s policies and conduct, including, possibly, corruption allegations against President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, the US exit from Afghanistan, and the response to the pandemic.
Republicans are also expected to negotiate hard on extending the debt ceiling limit next year, potentially taking the US to a position of default, unless the current Congress in its lame-duck session over the next few weeks - the new House and Senate will only convene in January - raises the debt limit. A Washington Post editorial this week strongly urged Democrats to use the lame-duck session to push through its agenda, including raising the debt limit, stepping up assistance to Ukraine, and passing a legislation to make the election certification process foolproof to prevent a scenario like the one following Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020.
Trump, who announced his candidature for the 2024 presidential polls, looms large in the shadows as he and his supporters within Republican ranks are expected to push the Congressional leadership to take a strong non-compromising stance against the administration.
In a statement, the president said that the elections had “demonstrated the strength and resilience of American democracy. “There was a strong rejection of election deniers, political violence, and intimidation. There was an emphatic statement that, in America, the will of the people prevails.”
This is a reference to the defeat of those who denied and challenged the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election for positions of governors, senators and Secretaries of State.
The president said that voters in the election had clearly conveyed their concerns about the need to lower costs, protect the right to choose and preserve democracy - an acknowledgment of inflation, abortion and need to abide by the norm of peaceful transfer of power as key issues in the election. He added that the future was too promising to be trapped in “political warfare”.
“The American people want us to get things done for them. They want us to focus on the issues that matter to them and on making their lives better. And I will work with anyone - Republican or Democrat - willing to work with me to deliver results for them,” said Biden.
