House Republican Tim Burchett has urged his colleagues to “get off your victory lap” and realize that the GOP is “1 flu season away” from losing their majority, an apparent reference to the virus’ mortality rate.
Newsweek reached out to Burchett via phone for comment on Tuesday.
Why It Matters
The Republicans have only a wafer-thin majority in the House of Representatives, with 218 seats versus 213 for the Democrats and another four seats vacant.
In addition to securing the White House in November, Republicans also took the Senate, where they now have 53 senators against 47 who caucus with the Democrats.
However, they could lose one or both chambers of Congress at the November 2026 midterm elections, at which point it would become significantly harder for them to pass bills into law. The GOP had a majority in both chambers during the first two years of Trump’s first term, from 2017-19, but lost the House in the 2018 midterm elections.
What To Know
Burchett wrote on Monday in a post on X (formerly Twitter): “Get off your victory lap. We are 1 flu season away from losing our majority. Make us follow thru with codifying @realDonaldTrump agenda.”
Since his inauguration on January 20, President Donald Trump has signed a slew of executive orders, including declaring a national emergency at America’s southern border, stating the U.S. government will only recognize “male” and “female” as genders and renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
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Several of Trump’s executive orders, including a bid to fire probationary federal employees and to end birthright citizenship, have been stalled by legal challenges.Passing the orders through Congress as primary legislation would give them added legal protection and make them more difficult for a future Democratic president to reverse.
Since the 2024 elections, four members of the House have resigned or died, leaving their seats vacant and to be filled in special elections.
Florida Republican Matt Gaetz resigned on November 13 and thus didn’t take an oath of office for the 119th Congress after being nominated as Trump’s attorney general. He later withdrew himself from consideration after a backlash from within the GOP.
Similarly, Florida Republican Mike Waltz resigned to become Trump’s national security adviser, while Democrats Sylvester Turner of Texas and Raul Grijalva of Arizona died on March 5 and March 13, respectively.
Earlier this month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis criticized congressional Republicans for their lack of progress toward passing Trump’s agenda as primary legislation, asking his GOP colleagues, “What have they done?”
What People Are Saying
Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, in response to Tim Burchett’s X post: “Good point.”
Colorado House Republican Lauren Boebert replied to Burchett’s post with three clapping emojis.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said during a roundtable: “So much of the modern Congress is just performative. It’s just political theater. It’s not substantive. They’re not engaged in the business of accomplishment. It’s all about putting on a show to get returned to office and stay there as long as possible.
“It’s one of the reasons I think we need term limits for members of Congress. You turn on cable news, and you’ve got these guys jabbing. It’s like, what have you done? I know you like to jab. I know you like to talk.”
What Happens Next
To help secure his legacy, Trump is likely to want Congress to pass his more executive orders into primary legislation while the Republicans control both the Senate and the House. However, he could face time constraints, and the GOP’s slim majority in both chambers means only a small number of Republican rebels would have to vote with the Democrats to frustrate Trump on any given issue.
