Two special elections Tuesday for House seats from Florida will be a test of the popularity of the first 70 day of President Donald Trump’s second term and will decide whether or not Republicans can maintain their already slender margin of control in the House of Representatives.
The stakes are high. With four seats currently vacant, Republicans have a narrow 218-213 majority in the House; meaning, they can already afford little dissent in their ranks if they are to pass an ambitious budget reconciliation plan in the coming months.
One sign Republicans are wary of a further reduction in their House majority is the withdrawal of Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., from consideration to be United Nations ambassador.
Trump justified withdrawing her nomination by saying he didn’t want to risk a hit to Republicans’ “very tight majority.”
Falling on the same day as
