Republican majority in the US House of Representatives is shrinking

Another Republican will unexpectedly leave the US House of Representatives. This means that the party’s already narrow majority will become even narrower – and the group will be even more blackmailed by the right wing.

Ken Buck has nothing good to say about the House of Representatives: “It’s the worst year of my nine years and three months in Congress. And former members say it was the worst year in the last 40, 50 years.”

The 65-year-old Republican had already announced that he would not run again in November. Now, quite surprisingly, Buck is resigning from his position at the end of next week. The frustration with everyday politics in his group is huge, as he made clear on CNN. Many conflicts between Republicans are personally motivated. Instead of working professionally, this place has turned into “this bickering and this nonsense” where work is not being done for the American people.

Buck is one of the ultra-conservatives in his group, but he has publicly opposed party members who spread the lie about the stolen election or trivialized the storming of the Capitol. He said on News Nation that he would not lie about his presidential candidate or his party.

Lots of conflict, hardly any progress

For Mike Johnson, the leader of the House of Representatives, the job will now become even more difficult. Two other MPs have already resigned. A third, Georges Santos of New York, was fired for his lies and replaced by a Democrat in the byelection. It is now 218 Republicans to 213 Democrats. This means that even two dissenters endanger the majority – in a faction that is characterized by trench warfare between moderates and ultra-conservatives.

Patrick McHenry, Republican from North Carolina, also no longer wants to run in the fall and points to the mood in parliament. “The loudest, stupidest person” is considered the most conservative, progressive or liberal. And it has nothing to do with politics, everything to do with scoring political points or collecting money, McHenry said on CBS. In fact, the House of Representatives has only passed 42 laws since the 2022 midterm elections, fewer than ever before.

Trump has great influence

What makes things even more complicated for the Republicans is that Donald Trump is now unbeatable as a presidential candidate and has taken over the opinion leadership. Trump has already killed a law that would have provided money for Ukraine and to secure the US southern border. Any Republican who signs this should be ashamed, Trump said on Fox. The law has been stuck in the House of Representatives ever since. Even if Mike Johnson, the chairman, claims that he and not Trump is in charge here.

For Hakeem Jeffries, leader of the Democratic faction, it is clear that nothing more can be expected here before the election. The direction is that Donald Trump’s influence will bury any possibility of progress between the two parties – on an issue that is clearly important to the American people.

So there will hardly be any political decisions until November. Because the two candidates have now been decided, it will be the longest election campaign in decades.