Who controls the House of Representatives? Learn who has the majority

Table Of Content

• Partisan mix of the House by state
• Special elections
• ‘Rivers in the sky’ have drenched California, yet even more extreme rains are possible
• Leadership posts
• Who controls the House? Get to know the balance of power in the 118th Congress
• Legislation considered under suspension of the Rules of the House of Representatives during the week of April 29, 2024

The party with a majority of seats in the House is known as the majority party. The speaker, committee chairs, and some other officials are generally from the majority party; they have counterparts (for instance, the "ranking members" of committees) in the minority party. Each of the two political parties also elect a “Whip”—the Majority Whip for the party with the most seats, and the Minority Whip for the other party—from their House delegations. The whip’s official role is to count potential votes for bills being debated for the party leaders. Starting with Republican Nicholas Longworth in 1925 and continuing until 1995, all majority leaders have directly ascended to the Speakership after the incumbent surrenders the position.

Partisan mix of the House by state

The opposition to the Israel aid represented a minority of Democrats, but reflected the deep resistance to unconditional aid and the divisions in the party on Gaza. Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland represented a notable new “no” vote among Democrats, and other standouts included Representatives Donald S. Beyer Jr. of Virginia, Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and John Garamendi of California. Because of redistricting, it is not possible to do a one-to-one match for every seat, but some newcomers who align more closely with the far right were elected to seats previously held by Democrats or Republicans who voted to impeach Mr. Trump or to create the Jan. 6 commission. The Constitution empowers the House of Representatives to impeach federal officials for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors" and empowers the Senate to try such impeachments. The House may approve "articles of impeachment" by a simple majority vote; however, a two-thirds vote is required for conviction in the Senate. A convicted official is automatically removed from office and may be disqualified from holding future office under the United States.

Special elections

For example, under Democratic rules for the 106th Congress, the minority leader may call meetings of the Democratic Caucus. They are a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee; names the members of the Democratic Leadership Council; chairs the Policy Committee; and heads theSteering Committee. Examples of other assignments are making "recommendations to the Speaker on all Democratic Members who shall serve as conferees" and nominating party members to the Committees on Rules and House Administration. Republican rules identify generally comparable functions for their top party leader. From an institutional perspective, the rules of the House assign a number of specific responsibilities to the minority leader. The minority leader also has other institutional duties, such as appointing individuals to certain federal entities.

‘Rivers in the sky’ have drenched California, yet even more extreme rains are possible

States entitled to more than one representative are divided into single-member districts. This has been a federal statutory requirement since 1967 pursuant to the act titled An Act For the relief of Doctor Ricardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for congressional redistricting.[18] Before that law, general ticket representation was used by some states. Jimmy Gomez (born November 25, 1974) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 34th congressional district since 2017. His district includes the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Eagle Rock, Boyle Heights, Downtown Los Angeles, Koreatown, and other communities.

These duties involve an array of institutional and party functions. Before examining the institutional and party assignments of the minority leader, it is worth highlighting the historical origin of this position. More than 50 representatives have cosponsored articles of impeachment against Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, so far this session. Hard-line Republicans intent on attacking the Biden administration see Mr. Mayorkas as the face of failures at the border.

Johnson’s historically narrow House majority shrinks further after Democrat Tom Suozzi sworn in - CNN

Johnson’s historically narrow House majority shrinks further after Democrat Tom Suozzi sworn in.

Posted: Wed, 14 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

“The vital US aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger,” Zelenskyy said on X. The Democratic-majority Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week, sending it to President Joe Biden to sign into law. GOP state Rep. Alexander Kolodin likewise accused the body, including the Republicans joining with Democrats, of moving forward because of political pressures and likened abortion to the killing of "infants." "This total ban on abortion that the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled on is out of line with where the people of this state are," Lake said in a video statement on social media earlier this month. But leading conservatives like Trump, former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Senate candidate Kari Lake have touted their general support for abortion restrictions but said the 1864 ban goes too far.

The committees also play an important role in the control exercised by Congress over governmental agencies. Cabinet officers and other officials are frequently summoned before the committees to explain policy. The Constitution (Article I, section 6) prohibits members of Congress from holding offices in the executive branch of government—a chief distinction between parliamentary and congressional forms of government. The House is also served by several officials who are not members. The House's chief such officer is the clerk, who maintains public records, prepares documents, and oversees junior officials, including pages until the discontinuation of House pages in 2011.

Who controls the House? Get to know the balance of power in the 118th Congress

A look at House Republicans' razor-thin majority - Spectrum News 1

A look at House Republicans' razor-thin majority.

Posted: Wed, 24 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Most committee work is performed by twenty standing committees, each of which has jurisdiction over a specific set of issues, such as Agriculture or Foreign Affairs. Each standing committee considers, amends, and reports bills that fall under its jurisdiction. Committees have extensive powers with regard to bills; they may block legislation from reaching the floor of the House.

CBO estimates the effects of those bills on direct spending and revenues. There is no central listing of member office public e-mail addresses. Each member of Congress establishes their office's policy related to the processing and management of e-mail.

One of the most competitive races in the nation is an Orange County district being vacated by Rep. Katie Porter, who is running to replace retiring U.S. Despite the state’s liberal bent, California has the most competitive congressional races in the nation — an anomaly created by the state’s independent map-drawing process and sheer size. Early results showed Tran was a distant second, followed by Nguyen-Penaloza. Early results showed Friedman with a strong lead in first place, Republican candidate Alex Balekian in second place and Portantino not far behind Balekian in third.

Minority leaders may engage in numerous activities to publicize their party's priorities and to criticize the opposition's. The minority leader has a number of formal and informal party responsibilities. Formally, the rules of each party specify certain roles and responsibilities for their leader.

The redrawing of district lines resulted in the inclusion of a large number of liberal and gay voters in the Palm Springs area. Rollins is gay and regularly campaigns with his husband; Calvert has a history of voting against LGBTQ+ interests and his allies outed a Democratic rival in a 1994 campaign. Calvert, who said his view on gay rights has evolved and he now supports same-sex marriage, beat Rollins by fewer than 5 points last year, a result that may prompt national Democrats to invest in the race. We need to have the candidates who can message, knock on doors and can generate voter enthusiasm and who can deliver these votes,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. Voters will have two separate elections in the span of two weeks for the seat.

Speakers have a role both as a leader of the House and the leader of their party (which need not be the majority party; theoretically, a member of the minority party could be elected as speaker with the support of a fraction of members of the majority party). Under the Presidential Succession Act (1947), the speaker is second in the line of presidential succession after the vice president. Take the 26th House, which convened on Dec. 2, 1839, and promptly ran aground on the question of which of two competing New Jersey delegations, six Democrats or six Whigs, should be seated. After several acrimonious days of debate, the House (which under the Constitution is the sole judge of the “elections, returns and qualifications” of its members) decided to defer the whole New Jersey question, which would seem to have given Democrats the upper hand.

Two Republican senators have already said they will support the repeal effort, signaling the House bill should pass that chamber and then go to Gov. Katie Hobbs' desk to be signed into law. At the request of the Majority Leader and the House Committee on the Budget, CBO estimates the effects of those bills on direct spending and revenues. CBO has limited time to review the legislation before consideration. Although it is possible in most cases to determine whether the legislation would affect direct spending or revenues, time may be insufficient to estimate the magnitude of those effects.

The 222 House Republicans are shown here on a scale of least to most conservative based on their voting records, according to the American Conservative Union. Some lawmakers have not been rated because they are new to Congress or have not voted enough. The tumult that broke out last month during the election of Kevin McCarthy for speaker illustrated the potential for profound dysfunction in the new House Republican majority.

While a narrowly divided House may make passing major legislation harder, it doesn’t automatically condemn Congress to achieving nothing of significance. A review of past Congresses suggests that having same-party control of all three legislative actors – the House, Senate and presidency – certainly helps, as can the spirit of unity engendered by wars or other crises. With a narrow majority in the House, we look ahead to what Republicans can accomplish and what their control of the chamber means for the Biden administration's agenda. Special elections will be held during the 118th Congress to replace members of Congress who leave office for any reason.