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Washington (AFP) – The Republican Party won control of the US House of Representatives, according to media projections on Wednesday, narrowly achieving a basis for opposing President Joe Biden’s agenda over the next two years.
The Republican majority in the lower house of Congress will be much smaller than the party expected after it failed to win control of the Senate in last week’s midterm elections.
NBC and television networks projected victory for Republicans with at least 218 seats in the 435-seat House of Representatives, the number needed to gain control.
This came a week after millions of Americans went to the polls for the midterm elections, which usually involve a rejection of the party in the White House.
Biden congratulated Republican Kevin McCarthy, chosen Tuesday by his peers to be his House party leader, on “the victory of the House majority Republicans.”
The Democratic president said he was “ready to work with Republicans in the House of Representatives to get results for working families.”
Last week’s vote, he added, was “a strong pushback against election deniers, political violence and intimidation” and demonstrated “the strength and resilience of American democracy.”
On his side, McCarthy spoke out on Twitter shortly after the screenings: “Americans are ready for a new direction, and House Republicans are ready to deliver.”
The news comes a day after former President Donald Trump, whose endorsement appears to have doomed some of his party’s candidates, announced his 2024 presidential bid.
With inflation rising and Biden’s popularity ratings falling, Republicans hoped to gain control of both chambers and thus be in a position to effectively block most of Biden’s legislative plans.
Instead, Democratic voters turned out in droves, buoyed by the Supreme Court’s nullification of abortion rights and wary of Trump-backed candidates who openly reject the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
And Republicans lost ground with candidates rejected by moderate voters as too extreme.
“In the next Congress, House Democrats will continue to play a leading role in supporting President Biden’s agenda, with strong influence over the Republican slimmajority,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Democratic majority in the upper house
Biden’s party flipped a key Senate seat in Pennsylvania and kept two more in the battleground states of Arizona and Nevada, giving Democrats an unassailable majority in the upper house with 50 seats plus the runoff vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. .
The second round of Georgia’s Senate elections, scheduled for next month, could see Democrats improve their majority in the upper house.
The Senate oversees the confirmation of federal judges and cabinet members, and having this 100-seat body on his side will go a long way for Biden.
Meanwhile, McCarthy won his party’s leadership vote in the House of Representatives by secret ballot, paving the way for him to become House chairman in January.
The 57-year-old California congressman, a senior member of the House Republican leadership since 2014, defeated his co-religionist Andy Biggs, a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus group.
But possible defections from the far right could complicate his path when the full House votes in January.
McCarthy must win the vote in the plenary session on January 3, when the 435 new members of the lower house, Republicans and Democrats, will choose the “speaker” (president), the third most important position in American politics after president. and vice president.
