House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said he is worried the incoming Biden administration’s move to recruit House Democrats will further reduce an already narrow majority in 2021.
“I’m certainly concerned by the slimming of the majority,” the Maryland Democrat told reporters on Wednesday. “I made the case to the administration early on that I wanted them to be very careful in terms of the members that they appointed from the Congress given the closeness of our majority.”
President-elect Joe Biden has so far chosen two House Democrats to serve in his administration: Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana will join as a senior adviser, and Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio will be nominated to serve as secretary of housing and urban development.
The seats will remain vacant until special elections are held to replace the two lawmakers, which means House Democrats must govern with an even narrower majority.
As of Dec. 9, House Democrats control 222 seats with two unresolved races. House Republicans will have as many as 212 lawmakers in their conference.
Legislation can only pass with a majority, which is approximately 218 votes, depending on absences and vacancies.
The narrow majority means Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, will have to pass key party legislation with nearly unanimous agreement from the Democratic caucus, since Republicans typically oppose the Democratic policy agenda.
Special election dates have not been set in either state to replace the two departing Democrats. Both lawmakers are from relatively safe blue districts.
Hoyer, acknowledging the party’s slim margin in the House, said he believes Democratic lawmakers will stay unified but has “urged the committee chairs to work in a bipartisan fashion so we will have legislation that will be acceptable to a significant number on both sides of the aisle.”
Hoyer said he is hoping both parties work together because the public is faced with the dual crises of the coronavirus and the economic consequences and said that “they expect us to come together as a Congress on their behalf, not on behalf of the Republican Party, not on behalf of the Democratic Party … and not turn our backs and say, ‘You’re on your own.’”
