With the Final Senate Races Now Settled, Eyes Turn to House - Who Will Be in Charge?
WASHINGTON – One week after President-elect Donald Trump's sweeps of battleground states and a flipped Senate, control of the House still hangs in the balance.
The last two outstanding Senate races have now been called in favor of Democrats Jacky Rosen in Nevada and Ruben Gallego in Arizona. Republicans will control the Senate with a 53-47 majority.
But what about the House of Representatives? As of now, Republicans appear on track to keep their slim House majority, but it's still not settled. They have 214 seats out of the 218 required to win control. With 18 races still to be decided, we may not know the overall outcome for days.
After retaking the Senate, Republican members will vote for a new party leader on Wednesday to replace Mitch McConnell who is stepping aside after nearly two decades at the helm.
"One of the most gratifying results of the Senate becoming Republican, the filibuster will stand. There won't be any new states admitted, and we'll quit beating up the Supreme Court every time we don't like a decision they make," said McConnell who is still the Senate minority leader for two more months.
McConnell, the longest-serving party leader in U.S. history, first won the job to lead Senate Republicans back in 2007. "You guys know how long I've been around. I had really hoped I'd be able to hand over to my successor a majority," said McConnell.
The three main contenders are South Dakota Sen. John Thune, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, and Florida Sen. Rick Scott, whom CBN News Chief Political Analyst David Brody sees as a possible front-runner.
"The energy right now is with Sen. Rick Scott, there's no doubt about it. You got people like Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, others that are in Trump's orbit lobbying for Senator Scott. So that's what makes it interesting, it makes it a wild card," said Brody.
Whoever wins, Donald Trump insists they support his ability to install recess appointments to his cabinet.
Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso is expected to take the number two slot as Majority Whip.
Barrasso told NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday that the Senate will act swiftly. "The mandate are the two things that people care the most about which is the high costs and the open border, and those are the things we're going to start working on immediately," said Barrasso.
As for the House, votes in 18 uncalled races are still being counted, but Republicans are on track to keep their majority next year.
Democrats lost a competitive race in Michigan where Republican Tom Barrett defeated Congressman Curtis Hertel, flipping the state's 7th congressional seat.
The Democrats' last hope for flipping the chamber rests on five Republican-held seats in California, two in Arizona, and one in Iowa where GOP incumbent Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks is likely headed for a recount.
Republicans currently lead in all those races as Democrats also fight to protect the remaining vulnerable seats in California, and Colorado.
Meanwhile, there's one more bit of drama though in the battle for the Senate. In Pennsylvania's hotly contested Senate race, several outlets have declared Republican David McCormick the winner, but with nearly 100,000 ballots left to be counted, Democrat incumbent, Bob Casey hasn't conceded. McCormick currently leads by 35,000 votes.
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