WASHINGTON ,D.C. – Friday at noon, the new 119th Congress will begin. Republicans will have the majority in both the House and Senate. It will be a Republican trifecta in Washington when President-Elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.
The Republican members we’ve talked with are very excited about the 119th Congress. They feel that with majority control, Republicans will be able to tackle issues and priorities important to them but their thin majority margin, especially in the House, could complicate things.
Republicans won about 220 seats compared to Democrats winning about 215 seats in the House. The incoming Trump administration has named a few House members to be part of his administration, essentially shrinking the House Republican majority even more. This leaves very little room for any members to cross party lines when it comes to voting on everything and anything. If Republicans in the House want to successfully move forward with their policies, they not only have to make sure all of their members are on board with it, but that all of their members are also present to vote or else the Democrats could sink the measure.
Senate Republicans also have a slim majority in the Senate. However, with this new congress, it also means new leadership in the Senate. Senator John Thune of South Dakota will take the reins as Senate Majority Leader after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R- KY) is stepping down from his leadership position.
As far as policies go, we expect the new congress to start off with an easy win, which is most likely going to focus on tax cuts. We can expect members to possibly move forward with extending some Trump-era tax cuts.
Republicans have also said they want to tackle issues related to immigration but political scientists say it might not be an easy win.
“We know that immigration has been a very, very difficult thing for Democrats and Republicans to compromise on,” said Dr. Todd Belt, Professor and Director of Political Management at George Washington University. “It’s not easily done through the budget reconciliation process. We know Donald Trump blew up the budget compromise before. This is going to be very difficult because they’re putting in new things like the H-1B visas, the Dreamers, as well as border deportations which will have to be funded. That’s going to be difficult.”
The 118th congress will wrap up around eleven Friday morning. The first order of business will be the Speaker elections at noon with the new 119th congress before House members will sworn in.
