By President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of two House Republicans to serve in his administration could pose issues if the GOP’s majority in the chamber ends up critically thin.
Trump has selected House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., as his ambassador to the United Nations, while a source told Fox News Digital that he picked Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., to be his National Security Adviser (NSA).
Both represent Republican stronghold districts that have little chance of falling into Democratic hands in special elections.
But those special elections could take place weeks or months after the new term begins in January 2025 – which could slow down Trump’s plans for an ambitious first 100-day agenda.
‘That’s an agenda we’ve been working on with President Trump for months now. We didn’t wait until the day after the election to start planning this, and this shows the relentless focus of Donald Trump,’ House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said during a press conference on Tuesday.
‘I know he’s already pulled a few really talented people out of the House – hopefully no more for a little while until special elections come up, but it shows you the talent that we have and the ability we have.’
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., similarly said he did not believe Trump would select any more House members for his administration and said he and Trump broached the topic in discussions.
‘President Trump fully understands and appreciates the math here, and it’s just a numbers game. You know, we believe we’re going to have a larger majority than we had last time. It’s too early to handicap it, but we are optimistic about that,’ Johnson said.
‘But every single vote will count, because if someone gets ill or has a car accident or a late flight on their plane, then it affects the votes on the floor. So, I think he and administration are well attuned to that. I don’t expect that we will have more members leaving, but I’ll leave that up to him.’
House Republicans are on track to win a single-digit majority in the chamber.
It’s not much different than it was during the 118th Congress, but GOP leaders will likely face more pressure to keep members in line when working to enact Trump’s will.