US President-elect Donald Trump’s Republican Party has won enough seats to retain control of both houses of Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate – and solidified its lead in the 2024 United States elections. In Washington DC political parlance, when a president’s party also controls Congress, it is called the “governing trifecta.”
With Republicans tightening their grip on the “Washington trifecta,” Mr Trump will have much broader authority next year to enact his legislative priorities after taking over the Oval Office, including imposing immigration controls and deregulation. Also included are major election promises to reduce. on Wall Street and the energy industry, among others.
Had he not won a majority in Congress, Mr Trump’s landslide victory over Democrat rival Kamala Harris would have given him significant control over the formation of the federal government and US foreign policy, both of which are likely to see a significant shift during his administration. . However, with a governing “trifecta,” the incoming president will also be able to more easily gain approval for his nominees for positions in his administration – something he struggled with during his first term in 2017 when Republicans Internal resistance within the party was quite high.
How does the US Congress work?
There are a total of 535 members in the US Congress, including 100 representatives in the Senate and 435 members in the House of Representatives. Each of the 50 US states sends two senators to the US Senate. However, the state’s representation in the House of Representatives is based on its population. For example, a small state like Vermont has one representative while a large state like California has 53 representatives.
Members of the House of Representatives serve a two-year term and all 435 seats are up for re-election every even year. This is in sharp contrast to the Senate, the upper house of Congress, where senators serve six-year terms. Senate elections are held in even years, so only about 1/3 of the Senate is up for re-election in any given election.
Single-party control of Congress, once common, has become rare and small over the past few decades, with the party in power losing seats when midterm congressional elections are held every two years. Former President Trump and President Joe Biden both enjoyed “trifectas” for their first two years in the White House, but the dynamics changed after the midterm elections.
Does the ‘trifecta’ guarantee full potency?
The ‘trifecta’ is no guarantee against political infighting. Despite the Biden administration having the “trifecta” from 2021 to 2023, internal dissent has disrupted some policy priorities, with figures such as independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona contradicting party orthodoxy.
A major obstacle to full control by any party is that it needs a three-fifths majority – or 60 out of 100 votes – to pass a bill in the Senate. Therefore, to circumvent the filibuster or tradition of unlimited debate, a party needs a healthy majority in the Senate. Therefore, if a party has a simple majority in the Senate, it must cross the House to pass the bill.
According to a New York Times report, Mr. Trump is likely to get a good majority in the Senate this time. However, despite this, they may not have the magic 60 seats that would allow them to overcome opposition efforts to delay the legislation.
Furthermore, there are already signs that Donald Trump may not get his way all the time, with his party selecting John Thune as Senate majority leader, while Rick Scott has reportedly been nominated for the position by Trump. Was liked for.
Although Mr Trump did not officially endorse Scott, US media are viewing Mr Thune’s selection as a sign that some Republican lawmakers are asserting their independence.
How the “trifecta” could benefit Trump
All told, if managed deftly, the “trifecta” could open the way to the possibility of significant legislative initiatives. A majority in both houses of Congress could give Mr Trump an advantage in pursuing his right-wing agenda and major campaign promises such as the largest deportation of migrants in history, sweeping tariffs on foreign imports and rolling back environmental protections.
According to the NYT report, using the law to achieve these goals would make it much harder to overturn them in the courts, especially when the judicial landscape is also in Mr. Trump’s favor. In his first term, the former president was able to put three conservatives on the Supreme Court – solidifying a two-thirds majority for years to come. He nominated more than four dozen judges to federal appeals courts, tilting several circuits toward more conservative leanings.
