When Republicans gained control of the House in November 2022, many in Washington wondered how they would be able to govern effectively with one of the slimmest majorities in history. Some Democrats even speculated if they might be able to take back the House before the term ended.

Sixteen months later, as the Republican majority has shrunk even further, House Speaker Mike Johnson is admitting that possibility. He told Fox News on Monday that there is a slim chance he could lose the speakership to Democratic House leaderĀ Hakeem JeffriesĀ in the next few weeks amid a wave of early retirements. "Thatā€™s a risk,ā€ Johnson said of Democrats taking control of the House.

Already three Republican lawmakers have resigned from their posts mid-termā€”Reps.Ā Kevin McCarthy, Bill Johnson, and Ken Buck. A fourth Republican, Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, is expected to step down in mid-April, bringing the partyā€™s former nine-seat majority down to just 217-213 as Republicans lost a fifth seat afterĀ George SantosĀ was expelled from the House.

  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    I think losing the house would be a godsend to the Republicans. It would be yet another fire under the asses of voters to ā€œsave Americaā€ from the Democratsā€¦

    How would that logic work?

    GOP Reps: ā€œYou need to vote us Republicans in so we get majority control of Congress !ā€

    GOP voters: ā€œerr, we did. You guys quit in massive droves after passing the least amount of legislation in history. So you didnā€™t do your jobs, then you quit, and you want us to vote you back in? Wonā€™t you just quit again?ā€

    • Jimmyeatsausage@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      It would work the same way itā€™s worked for the last 30 yearsā€¦Fox News will make some shit up and theyā€™ll believe it.

    • EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      6 months ago

      They donā€™t care about what actually happens in the government. They would happily get torched under a flamethrower if they could hold a couple of immigrants down underneath them while it happens.

      Or, as my grandfather used to say, and my boss when I was a teenager, ā€œIā€™m a Republican. I vote for the nominee.ā€

    • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      6 months ago

      you are making a massive fatal flaw in logic in this comment: youā€™re assuming repubitard voters have enough braincells to use logic, or object permanence from more than 1 week ago

      they only ever react to whatever the current fox news outrage is

    • Soulg@sh.itjust.works
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      6 months ago

      Mostly because republican voters are absolute dipshits with the memory of a goldfish who believe everything theyā€™re told on right wing TV without a second thought

    • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      Talk to a Boomer who was around in the 1970s, and theyā€™ll bend your ear telling you about how they could live well off of minimum wage.

      Then ask them if Reaganā€™s ā€˜trickle downā€™ ever worked for them. Theyā€™ll really go off telling you how great Reagan was.

      [Apologies to all those who voted for Jimmy Carter et al]