Congressional Leadership Takes Shape for Next Session

Although there are a few outstanding midterm races that are still being tallied, most Congressional races from the 2022 elections have now been called. Republicans have officially taken the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives by reaching the 218-seat threshold. As more election results are finalized, we will soon know what the Republicans’ slim majority will look like in the 118th Congress. In the U.S. Senate, Democrats have secured 50 seats to the Republicans’ 49 seats. The runoff election in December for Georgia’s Senate seat will determine whether Democrats can widen the lead and take the additional seat, or whether the Senate will function as it has for the past two years with a 50-50 split.

This week, Republicans in the House voted to nominate Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to be Speaker of the House and in the Senate voted for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to continue his role as minority leader. The current Speaker of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), announced she would step down from her leadership position and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) will be running for the minority leader spot.