While Republicans are thrilled by Donald Trump’s solid victory in the presidential contest and delighted about their new Senate majority, the fulfillment of their most avaricious dreams depends on maintaining control of the U.S. House. That’s because a House–Senate–White House trifecta will enormously streamline the legislative process compared to the constant tug-of-war and messaging battles associated with divided government. It will also unlock the magic powers of budget reconciliation, which let the majority party enact massive amounts of legislation in a single bill without the minority party being able to block it by a Senate filibuster.
As Joe Biden might say, it’s a BFD (and he would know, since most of his administration’s legislative accomplishments occurred during the two years when his party held a trifecta).
So how close are Republicans to nailing down House control? Close, but it’s by no means a done deal. The GOP went into this election controlling 220 House seats to the Democrats’ 212 with two Democratic-held seats and one Republican-held seat vacant. This means they essentially had a four-seat........