Despite its Republican majority, the House of Representatives is "poised to be the biggest likely choke point" for Donald Trump's agenda, according to MSNBC opinion writer Hayes Brown.
Hayes wrote that, "House Republicans will have an extremely narrow margin to work with and a right flank that is more than willing to blow up deals."
This was exemplified Friday when Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) had to fight to retain his House Speakership after Reps. Ralph Norman (R-SC) and Keith Self (R-TX) opposed him — but were finally convinced to change their votes for Johnson. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) remained the sole hold-out, upset over Johnson's handling of the pre-holiday federal budget vote that finally passed with help from Democrats.
Regarding the narrow majority — Republicans won a 220-215 lead in the 2024 elections — the exit of the disgraced former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Trump's appointment of two more Republicans to Cabinet posts (Reps. Michael Waltz and Elise Stefanik) will shrink the majority even further.
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Hayes argued that Democrats need to stop playing nice with Republicans and hold fast to their values if they hope to retake the House in 2026.
"Should the GOP under Trump succeed in slashing the social safety net and otherwise destabilizing the American economy, the landscape will likely look much rosier for the opposition party. It’s important that Democrats’ fingerprints not be all over the scene of the crime of a crashed economy and other results of Trump’s autocratic impulses. An alternative vision and a refusal to cooperate with the party slashing needed programs would set the country on a path toward better policy.
"Standing firm against the majority and good policy outcomes don’t always align. But when they do, it’s an opportunity that can’t be passed up. Congressional Democrats need to be playing the long game, starting immediately. All of which, unfortunately, means that the time to start thinking about November 2026 is now, January 2025," Hayes wrote.