Controlled By The Republic, The US New Congress Begins To Trial Today

UNSPLASH/Lexi ILLUSTRATION Zotomayor

JAKARTA - The 119th United States Congress newly elected is scheduled to begin trial on Friday (3/1), with Republicans, for the first time since 2019, taking full control of the House of Representatives and Senates.

In the election which took place on November 5, 2024, the Republican Party won a majority of 220-215 seats in the House of Representatives and 53-47 seats in the Senate.

However, Republican Matt Gaetz said he would not be inducted into a new Congress thereby reducing Republican advantages to 219-215.

After the official inauguration of new members, the first agenda in the House of Representatives is to elect the Speaker of the House of Representatives (House Speaker).

Shortly after the November 5 elections, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, was unanimously nominated by his party to remain in the position.

Johnson hopes to continue his term of office after receiving full support from President-elect Donald Trump.

"DPR Speaker Mike Johnson is a good man, hard worker and religious. He will do the right thing, and we will continue to win," Trump said through his Truth Social platform.

Separately, tech billionaire Elon Musk also gave his support to Johnson.

However, Johnson needed a simple majority, namely 218 votes, to be re-elected.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party is expected to vote for Leader of Minority Hakeem Jeffries.