Political Wire

  • Front Page
  • Trending News
  • Polling Dashboard
  • Trial Balloon
  • Membership
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
  • Sign In
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / House of Representatives / Mike Johnson’s Zero-Seat Cushion

Mike Johnson’s Zero-Seat Cushion

December 4, 2024 at 6:58 am ET By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Punchbowl News: “The final House results are 220-215 in favor of Republicans. The GOP controlled 222 seats after Election Day 2022. This means Democrats netted a two-seat gain but still couldn’t claim the majority. Democrats flipped three seats each in California and New York, although it wasn’t enough to offset GOP gains in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.”

“You won, so now welcome to your nightmare, Speaker Mike Johnson. For the first several months of 2025, Johnson will have a 217-215 seat majority when factoring in the resignation of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and the expected departure of Reps. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for Trump administration posts. Johnson, quite literally, has no margin for error.”

Washington Post: Trump to have very narrow GOP House majority to implement agenda.

Filed Under: House of Representatives

« Hegseth Faces ‘Absolutely Critical’ Day
Democrats Can’t Just Be About Opposing Trump »

Your Account

Members

For the full experience, sign in.

Become a Member

  • Join Political Wire
  • Gift a Membership

Members Only

  • Republicans Face a Turnout Problem
  • The Hidden Battles Shaping the Ballot
  • When More Money Stops Mattering
  • America First?
  • Weekly News Quiz

Word of the Day Political Dictionary

Fifth Column

A “fifth column” is a group which operates in secret, usually within enemy lines, in order to help further a cause which they secretly support.

Read the definition →

Yesterday’s Word of the Day: Speaker Emerita

Show me a random term

Think You Know Politics?

  • The Way It Was →
  • Yea or Nay? →
  • Split Decision →
  • Pollster →

About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

Copyright © 2026 · Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy | Corrections Policy

Political Wire ® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC