FROM THE HILL
119th Congress – New Congress Update
HOUSE
SLIM REPUBLICAN MAJORITY In the 2024 elections for the 435- seat House of Representatives, Republicans won 220 seats, while Democrats won 215. If all members of the House are present and voting, and if the Democratic minority is unified, then Republicans can afford to lose two defectors and still win an otherwise party-line vote, 218-217. The problem for Republicans is that, at least for a couple of months, their margin will be even narrower. President Donald Trump has tapped two House members for his administration: Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., as ambassador to the United Nations, and Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., as his national security adviser. He tapped a third, Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, to be his attorney general; while Gaetz eventually withdrew from consideration, he preemp- tively resigned from the House seat. And once Stefanik and Waltz resign from the House, the Republican majority will shrink again to 217-215, barring the emergence of any Democratic vacancies.
LEADERSHIP House Agriculture Commit- tee – will be led by Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson from Pennsylvania and ranking member Angie Craig from Minnesota. Craig beat out Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA) for the role by a vote of 121 to 91. She will become the first wom- an ranking member of the House Agriculture panel and is part of a larger generational shift among House Demo- crats, who have forced out a number of aging committee leaders in the wake of their November election losses.
Craig’s election marks an in- credibly rare development on Capitol Hill: Two Minnesotans poised to lead their party on the Agriculture Committees. Craig’s fellow Minnesotan Sen. Amy Klobuchar is already set to take over as the top Demo- crat on the Senate Agriculture Committee.
House Appropriation Com- mittee – will remain the same, with Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) and Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) leading the committee.
House Judiciary Committee – Judiciary will continue to be chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. For the new Congress, Democrats have chosen Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland for the top slot on the judiciary committee. Although seniority has long been a cherished commodity on Capitol Hill, especially among House Dem- ocrats, some caucus leaders quietly believed the erudite and media-savvy Raskin would be a more suitable choice than Nadler for the ranking mem- ber slot on Judiciary under the present political circumstanc- es. The top Democrat on the panel will regularly have to do battle with the chair, Rep. Jim Jordan, a voluble and pugilistic conservative closely aligned with President Trump.
SENATE
A new Republican majority, spearheaded by a new Republican leader, as Senator John Thune of South Dakota replaces Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. There will be 12 new Senators from the following states: MD, IN, UT, DE, ZA, WA, NJ, PA, OH, CA, MT, and MI. Six Democrats and six Republicans.
REPUBLICAN MAJORITY Republicans will have a 53-47 majority (including two inde- pendents – Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine — as Democrats, since they caucus with the party and are allocated Democratic committee seats).
Republicans were able to flip seats in Montana, Ohio, Penn- sylvania, and West Virginia. Effectively, Republicans can lose three votes on legislation requiring a majority, because Republican Vice President JD Vance could break a tie (which recently transpired in late January – in the confir- mation vote of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, former Republican leader Senator Mitch McConnell, Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Senator Susan Collins).
LEADERSHIP Senate Agriculture Commit- tee – The Senate’s agricultural committee will be led by Arkansas’ John Boozman and Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota. Both leaders have several ties to the agriculture community.
Senate Appropriations Committee – The Senate’s appropriations committee will remain the same with a swi- tchover in power. Senator Su- san Collins of Maine will Chair the Appropriations committee and Senator Patty Murray of Washington will become the Ranking Member.
Senate Judiciary Committee – Senator Chuck Grassley from Iowa will be the Chairman and Senator Dick Durbin from Illi- nois will become the Ranking Member. TE
By Karla Segundo Martinez, Senior Manager of Government Relations and Manager of NALP PAC
This article was written on Jan. 28. For the most current information email Karla Segundo (karla@landscapeporfes-
sionals.org)
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