Lisa Desjardins:
That’s a real problem for House Speaker Mike Johnson and his team. They already were struggling with close margins before, but let’s kind of break down what happens here.
Right now, the House, as I said, is on track to pick up one seat, so that would be 222 Republicans. Now, if three members go to the Trump administration, if it’s not more than that, then that would leave Republicans with 219, at least temporarily, Republicans.
And what does that mean? They can only lose three votes on anything. This gives more power to different factions within the Republican Party. And I can report right now talks are under way about that motion-to-vacate rule, whether that should be extended and increased. That would give Speaker Johnson more protection, but there’s no agreement on that yet.
One other note, the House did vote, the House Republicans did vote to install the replacement for Elise Stefanik. Her name is Lisa McClain, representative of Michigan. She will be the new conference leader, the messenger of House Republicans’ message in politics going forward.
