House Speaker Mike Johnson has more wiggle room in his historically slim majority amid a rapidly changing House lineup.
Johnson could lose two Republican defections on party-line votes but still pass legislation.
The party breakdown is 217 Republican seats, 212 Democratic seats, 1 independent seat and 5 vacant seats. California Rep. Kevin Kiley, an independent who was elected as a Republican, continues to caucus with the Republican Party even though he officially left the party earlier this year.
Florida Democrat Sheila Cherfelers-McCormick resigns ahead of possible ethics sanctions, and Georgia Democrat David Scott dies at 80.
The push for a Republican majority in the House comes as Republican leaders hope to quickly pass a bill with only Republican votes to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol amid the ongoing shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
Special elections for the two open seats are scheduled for June 2 and June 16. Both districts are in California, with Republicans favored in the first and Democrats favored in the second.
At the start of the 119th Congress, Johnson already faced the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years. The tight margin poses a major challenge for congressional Republicans as they try to craft Trump’s legislative priorities without leaving any room for error.
Republicans won 220 House seats in November’s elections to Democrats’ 215, the slimmest House majority since the onset of the Great Recession nearly a century ago.
However, at the start of the new congressional session, the partisan divide stood at 219-215 as former Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz chose not to return to Congress.
Passing a bill in the House requires a majority vote of all members present and voting. If every member shows up to vote and all 435 seats are filled, the magic number is 218, but that number could change if there are vacancies or absences. The tie vote in the House was a failure.
How House Majorities Rank Historically
The last time a minority gained 215 or more seats in the House of Representatives was after the 1930 election, when the Republicans won 218 seats, the Democrats 216, and the Farmer-Labor Party won 1 seat.
The 72nd Congress convened at the beginning of the Great Depression era, officially convening in March 1931, but did not actually convene to conduct legislative work until a few months later, in December 1931.
When the term officially began in March, the margin in the House of Representatives had narrowed further – 217 seats held by Republicans and 216 seats held by Democrats, with one seat held by the Farmers and Labor Party and a vacancy created by the death of a Republican.
However, events took an unusual turn when Congress convened with a significantly altered partisan divide, and a series of additional deaths and subsequent special elections shifted control of the House to Democrats, albeit by a still slim margin.
According to the historical record of the House of Representatives, the 65th Congress was the closest to the partisan divide in American history, but the partisan divide at that time was so small that according to the election results, neither party obtained an absolute majority in the House of Representatives, with the Republicans gaining 215 seats and the Democrats gaining 214 seats. Therefore, when the House of Representatives held a speaker election, a small number of third-party members played a decisive role.
Challenges posed by slim majorities
Johnson won the speakership in a tight vote at the start of the 119th Congress.
The election was held with a 219-215 majority, meaning Johnson could only lose one Republican vote if all lawmakers voted and all Democrats voted against.
The partisan divide in the House has shifted several times since then, as vacancies have been created by the deaths and resignations of members.
Johnson has had more breathing room at times and congressional Republicans have continued to pass major legislation — most notably Trump’s massive tax cuts and spending cuts in July — but uniting their conference has not been without challenges.
Republican leaders lost two Republican votes as the House finally passed the tax cuts and spending cuts bill. Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania joined Democrats in voting against the measure.
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Veronica Stracqualursi and Zach Wolf contributed to this report.
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