House GOP Leaders To Trump: Fill Rest Of Cabinet From Somewhere Else, Please

Source: Huff Post

Nov 12, 2024, 12:59 PM EST | Updated 6 hours ago


House Republican leaders on Tuesday suggested President-elect Donald Trump not look to their ranks for any more picks for his White House Cabinet, acknowledging their cushion for votes will be narrow. “He’s already pulled a few really talented people out of the House. Hopefully, no more for a little while until special elections can come,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) at a Capitol Hill press conference.

Republicans are likely, though not guaranteed, to hold on to control of the House after last week’s elections in which all House members were on the ballot. In a full 435-member House, 218 is a majority. Going into the election, Republicans held 220 seats, meaning they could lose two members of their side and still win floor votes in a full House where everyone votes according to their party.

The Associated Press, as of early Tuesday, had 16 House races outstanding, with Republicans having a much easier path to a majority than Democrats. The AP had called 214 races in favor of the GOP and only 205 for Democrats, meaning they would have to win almost all of the yet-to-be-called races to get to 218.

The GOP’s narrow margin in the current 118th Congress has been a consistent source of problems for leadership. In addition to eight Republicans voting with all Democrats to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), there were times in 2024 when Mike Johnson (R-La.), the current House speaker, had to rely on Democrats to get his priorities across the floor.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/house-gop-leaders-trump-cabinet_n_67338cf0e4b07ebab742a5b2