2024 Election Concludes
The 2024 federal election has finally concluded with Republicans winning 220 House seats to Democrats’ 215. That represents a two-seat loss for Republicans as compared to the size of their majority after the 2022 elections. It is the second-smallest House majority in history, percentagewise, and the smallest in more than 100 years. The Republican majority likely will shrink to 217 seats in the early part of next year, thanks to already announced and expected Republican resignations. So, for some period of time in the first quarter of 2025, House Republicans will not be able to pass legislation without the support of every member of their conference or help from Democrats, assuming full attendance. Near perfect attendance is unusual in the House, and the House Republican conference does not always stick together on votes. So Democrats could have opportunities to block Republican legislation on the floor if they can get all of their members to D.C. for votes.
On Monday, December 9th, Reps. Kim (D-NJ) and Schiff (D-CA) both resigned from the House and currently, the chamber has 220 Republicans and 211 Democrats with four vacancies, giving Republicans a four-vote majority. That same day, interim Sens. George Helmy (D-NJ) and Laphonza Butler (D-CA) resigned. Helmy was appointed to the Senate by the New Jersey Governor to fill the seat held by Bob Menendez (D) until he resigned in August. The California Governor appointed Butler in October 2023 to fill the seat vacated by the death of former Senator Diane Feinstein (D). The states’ Governors respectively appointed prior House members and Senators-elect Kim (D-NJ) and Schiff (D-CA) to fill the vacancies. Both were sworn in this week to serve through the end of this Congress. Seating them before the end of the current congressional session gives them seniority over others elected to the 2025 freshman class.