With the official swearing in of North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong on Friday, the House margin currently sits at 219-211 (Republicans to Democrats, respectively) with five vacancies, Punchbowl News reported Monday.
Rep.-elect Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., will take over Armstrong's House seat, as he won the gubernatorial election to replace President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet pick Doug Burgum. Burgum was chosen to head the Interior Department.
North Dakota has just one at-large House seat, and Fedorchak will be sworn in Jan. 3, 2025.
The 219-211 current balance of the House is noteworthy, as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., weighs options on a continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown this Friday, Punchbowl reported.
Johnson earned the gavel on the GOP hopes of avoiding can-kicking CRs, and Johnson faces a Jan. 3 House speaker vote.
"Johnson has spent his entire speakership vowing to avoid year-end, catch-all, 'Christmas tree' legislation," Punchbowl's Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan wrote Monday. "He's resisted pleas from Democrats and Republicans alike to try to assemble an omnibus that would keep the federal government funded until next Sept. 30. Or even two minibuses. Or whatever entity or vehicles were necessary."
"But it's now Dec. 16, with Johnson and other Hill leaders readying a CR that will fund the federal government until mid-March alongside a number of provisions that have little to do with broader federal operations," Sherman and Bresnahan continued.
"This legislation is going to attract a lot of opposition from House Republicans. Be ready for a food fight."
Gov. Armstrong beat Democrat state Sen. Merrill Piepkorn and independent candidate Michael Coachman. Armstrong, a 48-year-old attorney, was in his third term in the House. He now has become the first member of Congress in 52 years to be elected the state's governor.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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