House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called to congratulate apparent President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday, according to their aides.
Aides said Pelosi, a California Democrat, and Schumer, a New York Democrat, called Biden around 12:45 p.m. “to congratulate him on a tremendous victory.” Major media outlets called the race for Biden after he crossed the 270-electoral vote threshold Saturday.
Biden’s victory brightened a disappointing election outcome for House and Senate Democrats. The House will remain under Democratic control in January, but the party lost more than a half-dozen seats.
Republicans are in charge of the Senate pending runoff elections for two Georgia Senate races.
Democrats in the House and Senate fell short of polls predicting greater gains and an outright takeover of the Senate.
A clean sweep of Congress and the White House would pave the way for passage of a Democratic agenda, but if Republicans maintain control of the Senate, the party will likely block Biden and the House from passing Democratic initiatives.
Pelosi, Schumer, and Biden are in a celebratory mood, aides said, and Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, also participated in the call.
“It was a happy call in which Dr. Biden also participated,” aides said. “Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Schumer look forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration to achieve great things for the American people.”
Pelosi announced Friday that she will seek a fourth term as House speaker. Schumer is likely to remain minority leader, even if the Senate does not flip to the Democrats. If Democrats prevail, he will likely become majority leader.
