President-elect Donald Trump has named several Republican lawmakers to his administration, complicating the GOP’s slim majority in the Senate and potentially the House as the temporary vacancies could hamstring the party’s agenda.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson welcomes U.S. President-elect Donald Trump onstage at a House ... [+]
Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., was appointed national security adviser, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., was named United Nations ambassador, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is expected to be named Secretary of State, and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, was elected as Trump’s vice president.
Other GOP lawmakers are on the speculative shortlists for additional positions, including Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, for attorney general, and Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., for treasury secretary.
The Senate seats are likely safely in GOP hands, for now, as the Republican governors of Florida, Ron DeSantis, and Ohio, Mike DeWine, will be tasked with appointing replacements for Vance and Rubio (if he’s appointed) until 2026, when special elections would be held to fill the remainder of their terms through 2028.
The process for filling vacancies in the House requires special elections in most states and could leave the seats open for weeks or months, complicating the GOP’s expected single-seat majority in the lower chamber.
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul is required to set a date for a special election to fill Stefanik’s seat—in a solidly red upstate district—within 10 days of the vacancy and it must take place within 70 to 80 days after the date is set.
In Florida, DeSantis will set the date for a special primary election and general election to fill Waltz’s seat in the 6th congressional district, also in a solidly red Northeast Florida district, a process that will likely take several months to complete.
The winner of both House special elections will serve out the remainder of Waltz’s and Stefanik’s terms until the next election in 2026.
The vacancies could complicate Republicans’ slim majorities in the Senate and presumably the House, where the GOP is two race calls away from retaining the majority. The GOP has won 216 seats so far to Democrats’ 207, with results pending in 12 races, according to the Associated Press. Republicans won control of the Senate, 53-47, gaining four seats. The temporary vacancies will likely make it more difficult for Republicans to shore up votes to approve items on their agenda. The GOP had a slim majority in the House (currently at 221-213) that often created major hurdles in passing legislation when small coalitions of right-wing members banded together to block bills that didn’t include their policy priorities and force through their demands, a dynamic that led to the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Whether Rubio will be tapped for the post. Multiple outlets reported this week that he was Trump’s likely pick, but Trump has not officially announced a decision. Secretary of State is subject to Senate confirmation.
Florida politicos have speculated since Rubio was a possible contender for Trump’s running mate that DeSantis might appoint himself or his wife, Casey DeSantis, to fill his Senate seat, though Politico reported in May that DeSantis had ruled out the idea, citing people close to the governor. Trump allies, including Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., advocated this week for Trump’s daughter-in-law and Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump to replace Rubio, if he’s appointed. “She just got off a historic win," Britt told Axios, calling Lara Trump a “tremendous pick.” Luna tweeted she would “keep the seat and avoid a messy primary for Florida.”
Trump has made a flurry of appointments in the week since winning the election. He tapped South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary, Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth as Defense secretary and named Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency. Trump returned to Washington on Wednesday for the first time since winning the election, where he met with President Joe Biden and addressed Republican congressional leaders.
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