WASHINGTON – Majority of the US House hanging in the balance On Wednesday, teetering between Republican control that would usher in a new era of unified GOP rule in Washington or a swing to Democrats as the last line of resistance to a Agenda for the second term of the Trump White House.

A few individual seats, or even one, will be determine the outcome. Final counts will take some time, likely pushing the decision into next week – or beyond.

After the Republicans tight in the majority in the US Senate by picking up seats in West Virginia, Ohio and Montana, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson he predicted that his room would fall in line next.

“Republicans are ready to have a unified government in the White House, Senate and House,” Johnson said Wednesday.

President-elect Donald TrumpWHO won the Electoral College and the popular vote against the Democratic vice president Kamala Harrisconsolidated his growing power around his MAGA movement, supporting newcomers to Washington and setting the stage for his own return to the White House.

Johnson said congressional Republicans are preparing a “ambitious” 100-day agenda with Trump, who he said is “thinking big” about his legacy.

Tax cuts, securing the southern border and cracking down on federal regulations are at the top of the agenda if the GOP sweeps the White House and Congress. Trump himself has promised mass deportations and punishment against his perceived enemies. And Republicans want to push federal agencies in Washington and revamp the government workforce with the help of outside think tanks, Johnson said, to bring the federal government “to heel.”

But Johnson, after only a year on the job, had trouble governing the House, and the new Congress would be no different. Hardline parties led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Matt Gaetz and others often clashed and changed GOP leadership in what was one of the most chaotic sessions in modern times.

If Johnson’s slim four-seat majority shrinks further, the government could grind to a halt.

Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the House “remains very much in the game.”

With Democrats defeating two House Republicans in Jeffries’ home state of New York, he said the path to a majority now lies through takeover opportunities in Arizona, Oregon, Iowa and California, which are still too early to call. he called them.

“We have to make every vote count,” Jeffries said.

The House contests remained a tit-for-tat battle to the end, with no dominant path to the majority for either party. Rarely, if ever, have the two houses of Congress flipped in opposite directions.

Each side gains and loses some seats, including through the redistricting process, which is the routine redrawing of House seat lines. North Carolina, Louisiana and Alabama seat reset process.

Much of the outcome hinges on the West, particularly in California, where a handful of House seats are hotly contested and mail-in ballots arriving a week after the election will still be counted. Among those watched are the grueling races around the “blue dot” in Omaha, Nebraska and as far away as Alaska.

Trump, speaking to him early Wednesday election night party in Florida, said the results provided an “unprecedented and strong mandate” for Republicans.

He called the Senate impasse “unbelievable” and praised Johnson, saying he was “doing a great job.”

From the US Capitol, the GOP leader of the Senate Mitch McConnellprivately a harsh critic of Trump, called it “a damn good day.”

Senate Republicans marched across the map with Trump, flipping three Democratic seats and facing Democratic challengers who failed to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas and Sen. Rick Scott in Florida.

In West Virginia, Jim Justice, the state’s wealthy governor, flipped the seat held by retiring Sen. Joe Manchin. Republicans unseat Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio with GOP luxury car dealer and blockchain entrepreneur Bernie Moreno. And Republican Tim Sheehy defeated Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in Montana.

Democrats avoided a total wipeout by saving seats in “blue wall” states. Rep. Elissa Slotkin won an open Senate seat in Michigan and Sen. Tammy Baldwin was re-elected in Wisconsin. The Pennsylvania race between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick was still undecided.

In other developments, Democrats made history by sending two black women, Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, to the Senate. Only you black women, including Harris, have served in the Senate, but never two at the same time.

In all, Senate Republicans have the potential to achieve their strongest majority in years — a testament to McConnellwho has made a career out of plotting his path to power, this time aligned with Trump whom he privately called “despicable” in the run-up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

During a news conference Wednesday, McConnell declined to answer questions about his past harsh criticism of Trump and said he saw the election results as a referendum on the Biden administration.

He told reporters at the Capitol that a Republican-controlled Senate would “man the railings” and prevent changes to Senate rules that would end the filibuster.

“People just weren’t happy with this administration, and the Democratic nominee was a part of it,” McConnell said.

What is still unclear is who will lead the new Republican Senate as McConnell prepares to step down from office.

South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the No. 1 Republican. 2, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who previously held the position, are the favorites to replace McConnell in a secret ballot scheduled for when senators arrive in Washington next week.

___

Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Kevin Freking and Farnoush Amiri contributed to this report.