With US House election gains, Republicans close in on unified power

Republicans are five seats short of a majority in the House of Representatives, with 20 races still uncalled.

Republicans are edging closer to unified control of the United States government after winning another seat in the US House of Representatives.

Incumbent Congressman Eli Crane, representing Arizona’s second district, won re-election on Saturday, the Associated Press projected. His victory brings the Republican party to 213 of 218 seats needed for a majority in the House.

With Donald Trump’s win in the November 5 presidential election and with the Republicans also securing control of the Senate or upper chamber of Congress, retaining the House would give Republicans a powerful mandate. The party would have a greater chance of being able to push through a broad legislative agenda focused on tax and spending cuts, energy deregulation and tighter border security.

Meanwhile, the Democrats secured 202 seats in the House, after the party’s April McClain Delaney won a hard-fought race in Maryland’s sixth congressional district.

Twenty races for the 435-seat House remain uncalled, with most of the outstanding contests in western states where vote-counting is typically slower. At least 14 of these seats are considered competitive, though Democrats would need to effectively win them all to block Republican control.

Republicans hold narrow leads in several of the tightest uncalled races in Arizona, Colorado and Iowa. Democrats are ahead in close contests in Ohio, Maine and Oregon. In California, where six close races are still up for grabs, Republicans are leading in four.

“Even Democrats admit that Republicans are on track to keep their majority in 2025,” reported US news site Axios.

Trump sidelines Pompeo, Haley

Eyeing unified power, Trump has continued meeting with candidates for future government roles. However, he ruled out bringing back two senior figures from his past administration known for their hawkish foreign policy views.

Writing on his Truth Social social network, Trump said he “will not be inviting” former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley to join his team.

Trump has repeatedly boasted that he could end the war in Ukraine in his first 24 hours in power and criticised US aid to Kyiv in its fight against Russia – a position that diverges from Pompeo’s.

“I very much appreciated working with them previously and would like to thank them for their service to our country,” Trump wrote of Pompeo and Haley.

Separately, Trump said the 2025 presidential inauguration will be co-chaired by real estate investor and campaign donor Steve Witkoff and former Senator Kelly Loeffler.

Trump will be inaugurated on January 20 to start his second, non-consecutive term as US president.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies