Election 2016: Republicans projected to retain control of the US House of Representatives
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Version 2 of 5. The Republican party will keep control of the US House of Representatives, according to news network projections. It is as yet unclear how many of its 247 seats in the 435-member House the GOP will retain, but the 2016 race did not provide a sufficient number of swing districts to offer Democrats a realistic path to a majority. Democrats were expected to pick up some seats, but even a depleted Republican majority could make governing difficult for a President Hillary Clinton, by blocking her legislative agenda – especially if the Senate also remains with the GOP. A Republican Congress working with a President Donald Trump, by contrast, would face little to no opposition in enacting sweeping policy change. The lower house of Congress always looked likely to remain in GOP hands for at least the next two-year cycle, with RealClearPolitics predicting the day before the election that 225 seats leaned at least somewhat Republican - seven more than the 218 required for a majority. Paul Ryan, the Republican House Speaker, has indicated that he intends to stay in the role. More follows... |