Republicans win majority in U.S. House

Republicans won control of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, returning the party to power in Washington and giving conservatives leverage to blunt President Joe Biden’s agenda and spur a flurry of investigations. 

More than a week after Election Day, Republicans secured the 218th seat needed to flip the House from Democratic control. The full scope of the party’s majority may not be clear for several more days — or weeks — as votes in other competitive races are still being counted.

It's short of the sweeping victory the GOP predicted going into this year’s midterm elections, when the party hoped to reset the agenda on Capitol Hill by capitalizing on economic challenges and Biden’s lagging popularity.
Instead, Democrats held on to moderate, suburban districts from Virginia to Minnesota and Kansas. 

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., celebrated his party having “officially flipped” the House on Twitter on Wednesday night, writing, “Americans are ready for a new direction, and House Republicans are ready to deliver.”

Biden congratulated McCarthy, saying he is “ready to work with House Republicans to deliver results for working families.”

Republicans will take control of key committees, giving them the ability to shape legislation and launch probes of 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 Biden, though that will be much harder for the party to accomplish with a tight majority.

Any legislation that emerges from the House could face steep odds in the Senate, where Democrats won the barest of majorities Saturday. Both parties are looking to a Dec. 6 Senate runoff in Georgia as a last chance to pad their ranks.




House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., speaks with journalists after winning the House Speaker nomination at a House Republican leadership meeting, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)