Republicans won the 218 seats needed to control the House; it will give the GOP the “trifecta”—a clean sweep of all three levers of legislative power in Washington.
The House Republicans have won 219 seats needed for control, while Democrats hold 213 seats. Three seats remained undecided. However, Rep. Elise Stepanik (R-NY) has accepted an appointment as the new Administration's U.N. Ambassador, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) as the President-elect's National Security Advisor and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) resigned when nominated for Attorney General before withdrawing from consideration. That will open those seats up again for special elections, but all are usually reliably Republican districts, so they should not change the count ultimately.
All-Republican control of the White House, Senate, and House sets up both risks and diminished potential challenges. On taxes, all-GOP control means the massive 2025 tax bill needed to prevent expiration as of 2026 of current law individual income tax rules may avoid the adverse offsetting revenue provisions that would have been more likely under Democratic control or divided government.
Prospects: All-GOP control of the legislative process improves chances for extension of the Section 199A deduction for qualifying noncorporate business income, leaving untouched (or reducing) the corporate income tax rate, and avoiding most if not all of the Democratic-supported “tax-the-rich” proposals.
NAIFA Staff Contacts: Diane Boyle – Senior Vice President – Government Relations, at dboyle@naifa.org; or Jayne Fitzgerald – Director – Government Relations, at jfitzgerald@naifa.org; or Michael Hedge – Senior Director – Government Relations, at mhedge@naifa.org.