Rep.-elect Tom Suozzi (D-NY) will be sworn into the House of Representatives this week, giving Democrats an additional seat in the lower chamber and further narrowing Republicans’ slim majority for the remainder of the year.
Suozzi will be sworn in by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday evening, bringing the total number of lawmakers back to 432, made up of 219 Republicans and 213 Democrats. Three vacancies remain that are set to be filled in the coming weeks.
Suozzi’s presence comes just two days before a partial government shutdown is scheduled to take effect if a spending deal is not negotiated, making the math slightly more complicated for Johnson as he seeks to keep his party in line.
After Suozzi is sworn in, the magic number to pass legislation through a simple majority will be 217, giving Republicans a two-vote majority, but only if all members are present. That means an absence on either side of the aisle could doom or revive any given piece of legislation, putting pressure on party leaders to ensure all lawmakers in their party are present to either support or shoot down a bill.
It’s not yet clear whether lawmakers will focus on passing its spending bills ahead of the deadline or if they’ll advance a stopgap measure to buy more time. But with such a short window to get legislation through Congress, Johnson is going to need to rely on Democrats to get any funding deal across the finish line.
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If lawmakers do manage to come to an agreement on the four spending bills that are set to expire on Friday, Johnson would likely need to expedite their passage by bringing them to the floor under suspension. Doing so would raise the threshold needed to pass the legislation from a simple majority to two-thirds of the chamber.
There are three other vacant seats that will be filled in the coming weeks that were once held by former Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Bill Johnson, both Republicans, and Brian Higgins, a Democrat. Those seats are not considered to be competitive, so it will provide Republicans a bit more breathing room.
