Republicans may now control the House of Representatives – but there’s a catch

The lack of a significant majority will come back to bite the GOP, says Chris Stevenson

House of cards: fragile alliances mean unrest could happen inside the US Capitol chambers (AP)

Many days after Republicans hoped to announce they had taken control of the House of Representatives, the threshold has finally been passed – but the crowing tweets from GOP leadership seemed a little forced given the slim majority the party will hold.

While the Republicans have taken the House from the Democrats, the Senate remains with Joe Biden’s party – indeed, the Democrats may even increase their majority by one if the run-off in Georgia falls their way next month – and the absence of a clear majority in either chamber makes things difficult for both parties.

Control of the House allows the Republicans to put up significant roadblocks to President Biden’s legislative agenda, with their majority allowing the GOP to block any bills passed by the Democratic Senate from getting a vote on the House floor (let alone being voted through), a hurdle that must be jumped in order for bills to be passed to the White House for signature into law. The new House speaker (Nancy Pelosi will probably be replaced by the GOP’s Kevin McCarthy) will also be loath to hand Biden and the Democrats any policy wins ahead of the presidential election in 2024, lessening the likelihood of the bipartisan cooperation needed to get bills passed through both chambers.