Republicans Win Majority At The House; What Will Be The Implications of GOP's Thin Majority?

Republicans have secured control of the US House of Representatives. The final results are not out yet and they might not be out for some more days or even weeks, but, GOP has secured 218 seats necessary to have a majority at the House. 

The majority is a slim one and it will increase the importance of individual Congressman/woman. The GOP is now vulnerable to people from their own party refusing to fall in line with GOP's certain decision. A major priority for the GOP is to control the federal spending, which has gone up considerably due to Biden's embrace of industrial policy. 

However, if individual Congressmen/women decide they are for a bill being pushed by the Biden administration, they might chose to back the bill instead of blocking it. Biden is hoping he that the new House has enough GOP members who share some of his policy priorities, which will ensure the House is not able to block Biden's spending proposals. 

Another significant impact of the House going to GOP might be on America's support for Ukraine in Russia-Ukraine war. GOP's Kevin McArthy is all set to be Speaker of the House. Before the midterms, McArthy had said that he is not in favour of writing blank cheques to Ukraine. The Biden administration might have to push Ukraine for diplomacy to reflect the change in US Capitol Hill. 

Republicans secured the 218th seat needed to flip the House from Democratic control thanks to Representant Mike Garcia, a former Navy fighter pilot who was elected to a third term in a Democratic-leaning district in California. It was Garcia's third consecutive victory over Democrat Christy Smith, a former legislator.

The House also feels another challenge, how to deal with Donald Trump. Now that he has announced that he is running again, he might attack the GOP controlled House is they do not act in a manner he wants them to act. It is quite likely that this will happen, considering the number of times it has happened during Trump's tenure. 

Will the GOP represent Trump's GOP, establishment GOP or help in building Ron DeSantis' GOP? Answers to this questions will emerge with the passage of time. 

Despite GOP's slim majority, the party will not hold significant amount of power. Republicans will take control of key committees, giving them the ability to shape legislation and launch probes of Mr. Biden, his family and his administration. There’s particular interest in investigating the overseas business dealings of the president’s son Hunter Biden. Some of the most conservative lawmakers have raised the prospect of impeaching Joe Biden, though that will be much harder for the party to accomplish with a tight majority.

In the Senate, Democrats have a slim majority. Both parties are not focused on the December 6 Senate runoff in Georgia. If GOP manages to win that Senate seat, it will give GOP more leverage.