An infographic showing the number of members of each house of Congress and their parties.

New Congress, New Challenges

Posted by Speakeasy News > Tuesday 14 January 2025 > In the News


The 119th U.S. Congress convened for the first time on 3 January. Although the Republican Party achieved the "trifecta" of the Presidency and majorities in both houses of Congress in the November elections,  divisions within the party mean it won't be simple to pass legislation.

The Republicans have a five seat majority in the Senate (the two independent Senators generally vote, or "caucus" with the Democrats), as well as Vice-President JD Vance's casting vote. But in the House, the already small majority of four is likely to be reduced when two Representatives resign to join Donald Trump's administration.

Despite their majority in the House of Representatives, most people, including the Republican Party, expected Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to struggle to be re-elected as Speaker, the first action the House has to take at the beginning of a new Congress.

Mike Johnson in the Speaker's chair.

In 2023, Johnson was elected in the first round of voting, but only after Republican Kevin McCarthy had been voted out of the Speaker's role and three other Republican candidates had been voted down or withdrew. On 3 January, several Republican members were expected to vote against him. In the end support from Donald Trump saw Johnson scrape through on the first round.

Republican Divisions
It may seem counter-intuitive, but there are deep divisions within the Republican party on many issues and it isn't just because a candidate is Republican that the other members are willing to vote for him or her, or for legislation proposed by the candidate. Mike Johnson, like Kevin McCarthy before him, was tainted in some Republican eyes by having ushered through the finance bill to avoid a government shutdown in December. After days of failed votes, including against a bill backed by Donald Trump, Congress finally passed a bill that was a compromise between Democrats and Republicans, minutes after the deadline. At that point, the Republicans had a slim majority in the House and the Democrats had a slimmer one in the Senate. But Johnson's problems were with his own party, so having a majority in both houses won't guarantee an easy vote for any legislation, particularly anything to do with budgets.

Donald Trump wants to extend, or simply eliminate, the debt ceiling, which stops the government from borrowing more than a certain amount. He will need that to happen in order to introduce tax cuts he has promised. But many Republicans are fundamentally opposed to putting the country into more debt.

Other bills that are expected to be presented to Congress soon after the 20 January Inauguration are on immigration and border control, and tariffs on imports.



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