Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., holds the gavel onstage ahead of the start of the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
Republicans will keep control of the House of Representatives, NBC News projected Wednesday.
The projection comes a week after President-elect Donald Trump, a Republican, claimed a decisive victory against Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election and the GOP gained majority control of the Senate.
Going into the election, House Republicans aimed to expand their razor-thin majority of 220 seats, compared to the 212 held by Democrats.
That threadbare GOP majority gave Democrats high hopes to flip the chamber. They needed to gain a net of just four seats to seize back control, because the vacancies leave the chamber with fewer than 435 total votes.
Democrats outraised their Republican rivals in all but one of the 26 House races rated to be a “toss-up” by the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, according to an NBC News analysis of October campaign finance data. Democrats also outspent Republicans in crucial races from July through September.
Despite the massive fundraising effort, Democrats failed to gain the 218 seats needed for control of the House.
In Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, Republican Rob Bresnahan unseated incumbent Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright, and in the state’s 7th District, Republican Ryan Mackenzie defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Susan Wild, two particularly competitive races.
In the battleground state of Michigan, Republican Tom Barret grabbed an open seat in the 7th Congressional District that formerly belonged to Democrat Elissa Slotkin, who declared victory in her Michigan Senate race.
The one-party-controlled Congress will have an abundance of key issues to legislate, including whether to extend the $3.3 trillion Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, much of which is set to expire next year. Trump signed the initial bill into law in 2017 and has said he wants to not only extend the tax breaks, but also pursue deeper cuts.
Also on tap for Congress is the extension of enhanced subsidies under former President Barack Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act, which expire at the end of 2025. A debt ceiling fight is also coming up.