Republicans locked down a trifecta for 2025. They'll still have to walk a tightrope in Congress.
WASHINGTON – Republicans may have secured a trifecta for at least the next two years, but tight majorities in the House and Senate mean they'll need to be unified to pass GOP priorities.
And working together hasn’t always come easily for the party.
Even as Republicans have controlled the House since the beginning of 2023, bitter infighting between right-wing and more moderate GOP members have sparked fights over government spending and rebellions among the right.
A handful of GOP lawmakers voted with Democrats to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from his post last year, effectively freezing the lower chamber for weeks while Republicans chose a new leader.
House Republicans are expecting a 220-215 majority in 2025, an even slimmer lead than they currently hold. In the Senate, Republicans have a 53-47 majority, but the 60-vote threshold required to pass legislation means they also have little room to split.
“I think this is probably a time for us to come together pretty closely,” said Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas. “We have the House and the Senate and the presidency because of President Trump. So if we're going to fight and bicker over what the American public voted for, that would be to our peril.”
'I’m not really up here to make friends'
Some of the Republican lawmakers who have occasionally broken from their party in recent years said they're not planning on changing their calculus in 2025. It could complicate what's already a fragile scenario for the GOP.
One main focus for lawmakers next year will be getting twelve spending bills passed to avoid a government shutdown. Over the last year, lawmakers have approved continuing resolutions, or temporary measures to keep the government funded until a certain deadline, which some Republicans have objected to.
In September, 14 Republicans including Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., voted against a resolution backed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and a majority of the GOP conference. If the House tries to enact another continuing resolution next year, Mace said she won't budge.
“I won’t stick with my party if I don't think it's the right thing to do,” she said. “I will not vote for an omnibus. I won't vote for a minibus, and I have not yet voted for a continuing resolution. It's not something I've done yet. I'd have to be really compelled… and it's gonna be really difficult to compel me when both Republicans and Democrats alike have spent until oblivion.”
Government spending is set to expire on Dec. 20. Johnson has said he expects the House will pass another continuing resolution kicking the can to next year when Republicans control both chambers of Congress.
But Burchett said he expects passing crucial spending bills won’t be smooth sailing – even under a trifecta.
“I don't know that a lot of that's going to change,” he said, adding that he hopes the House passes a "legitimate budget” or single spending bills instead of combining them into one massive bundle.
Either way, he said, “I vote my conscience…I’m not really up here to make friends.”
'The president is going to be the most important voice'
Republican lawmakers told USA TODAY they do expect to unite around one thing in 2025: Trump's agenda.
“We have an obligation to deliver now so that necessarily changes things. And I think the president is going to be the most important voice in, you know, ensuring that we at least do the best we can to get into the boat and row together,” said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., one of Trump's most vocal allies, said he expects that business in the House will get done quickly under a Republican administration. “It’s not like we’re having to deal with the White House that we don’t agree with philosophically,” he said.
Some of Trump's top agenda items include ramping up border security, cutting some taxes and axing environmental regulations. Congress will play a critical role in implementing his wishlist, particularly in providing immigration resources as the president-elect promised to launch mass deportations.
Republicans also said they see the top GOP lawmakers in Congress, newly voted Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Johnson, focusing on appeasing dissenters.
“When Senator Thune ran for leader a couple of weeks ago, he pledged that he would work to unite the caucus around the agenda that President Trump just ran and won on, and I think that’s the point of unity,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said.
Johnson has walked a tightrope in Congress and could continue doing so in January as he’s faced criticism from conservative firebrands like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., over foreign policy spending and other issues. But he did win unanimous GOP support for a second term.
“I don’t agree with Mike Johnson on everything, but…he’s done an admiral job. He works hard,” Mace, who voted to oust McCarthy last year, said.
It’s all about compromise
At the end of the day, a narrow majority means the need to compromise among the right, Republicans said.
“Anytime you get a collection of people that are trying to work on challenging issues as governance is…you’re going to have a diversity of views that are represented,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who has repeatedly bucked her party.
“And that’s great. And so how we work through it, how we discuss it, and how we argue that, how we resolve it, is just like the legislative process," she added.
Donalds said that “everything in this town is negotiable, even amongst Republicans."
But lawmakers said that doesn't mean friction will disappear next year.
“Something's gonna blow up. I mean, we're people representing. We don't have a, you know, monarch just choosing what we do. It's supposed to have a little spice, you know. We'll figure out how to come together more, because, you know what, we have to,” Roy said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Republicans, with a narrow majority in Congress, unify in 2025?