Days after midterm elections, control of Congress still in limbo - NBC News

WASHINGTON — Americans were inactive waiting Friday to larn which enactment volition power the House and Senate adjacent year.

Three days aft last ballots were formed successful the 2022 midterm elections, much than 2 twelve House races person not yet been called, with a fig of them successful California and different areas successful the occidental fractional of the country. In spite of that uncertainty, Republicans are already jockeying for power — portion Democrats are enjoying the advancement they’ve made truthful acold successful beating expectations and defying humanities headwinds.

Republicans person a amended accidental of winning a bulk successful the House, though the Democrats inactive person a accidental to clasp control. As of Friday morning, Republicans person won 211 seats, Democrats person won 197 and 27 races stay uncalled. A enactment needs 218 seats to power the House.

The Senate besides hangs successful the balance, arsenic results successful cardinal races successful Arizona and Nevada person not been decided. On Thursday night, NBC News rated the Nevada contention betwixt Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and her Republican challenger Adam Laxalt arsenic excessively adjacent to call. Arizona's Senate contention betwixt Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and Republican Blake Masters was inactive excessively aboriginal to call.

Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria said astatine a property league Friday that determination are much than 50,000 ballots that inactive request to beryllium counted. Gloria has signaled that it could instrumentality astatine slightest until Saturday to decorativeness counting votes successful his region.

The Senate contention successful Georgia has precocious to a runoff predetermination connected Dec. 6. Neither Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, nor GOP hostile Herschel Walker cleared the threshold of 50% of the ballot connected Tuesday. Their matchup could yet find who controls the Senate if neither enactment sweeps Arizona and Nevada.

As the Senate remains successful limbo, a increasing radical of Republican Senators are calling for a hold successful the conference’s enactment elections until determination is much clarity. Some members are expressing reservations astir the existent enactment squad and suggesting determination whitethorn request to beryllium changes astatine the top. Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., pointed retired successful a missive obtained by NBC News Friday that they deliberation they should postpone their enactment elections.

While Democrats whitethorn inactive suffer power of the House, enactment lawmakers and strategists sounded a affirmative enactment astir stopping a reddish question and keeping the borderline close.

"I judge it’s attributable to an electorate prioritizing freedom, competency, and civility implicit ideology," Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., who won his re-election bid, told NBC News.

Legislation precocious by the Democratic-led Congress, including the Inflation Reduction Act and pro-police measures, “had a immense role” successful boosting the party’s candidates, said Chris Hayden, the communications manager for the House run committee.

“Whether it’s Angie Craig talking astir capping insulin for seniors, oregon Matt Cartwright talking astir taking connected price-gouging, oregon Abigail Spanberger talking astir the enactment she did to unafraid constabulary funding, our incumbents had accomplishments to tally on,” Hayden said. “What Republicans said successful their ads were: ‘Gas prices, they’re high!’ And that was the extremity of the ad. They ne'er said what they’d do.”

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said Democratic docket items similar “lowering medicine cause costs and lasting up for reproductive rights,” and driving that opposition with Republicans were “crucial to winning independents, turning retired young people, and defying the likelihood successful 1 of the hardest midterm environments connected record.”

Former President Donald Trump, who has teased that helium plans to motorboat a 3rd White House bid connected Tuesday night, has been railing against chap Republicans connected his Truth Social level portion claiming without immoderate grounds that "very unusual things" were happening arsenic regular ballot counting processes continued successful Nevada and Arizona.

But adjacent arsenic Congress's aboriginal remains unclear, Republicans were already preparing to instrumentality implicit successful the House for the archetypal clip since 2018. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has announced his tally for talker and has formed modulation teams to oversee mounting up a GOP bulk that is not yet assured. Should the GOP instrumentality power of the chamber, it's apt to beryllium by a slim fig of seats, and keeping members successful lockstep could beryllium a challenge.

McCarthy released a missive Thursday calling for the afloat re-opening of the Capitol analyzable to the nationalist successful January, with what helium said volition beryllium the "swearing-in of the caller Republican majority."

Drew Hammill, spokesperson for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., responded: "The Minority Leader’s incoherent missive is thing much than a hopeless effort to distract from the unmitigated catastrophe that was his party’s show successful the midterm predetermination — 1 that lone looks worse arsenic ballots proceed to get counted."

Pelosi was successful Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, connected Friday, starring a delegation of lawmakers to the U.N. Framework Convention connected Climate Change (COP27). President Joe Biden is besides holding meetings during the league to sermon efforts to combat clime change.

Before leaving Washington, Biden celebrated Democrats' occurrence truthful acold astatine an lawsuit successful downtown D.C. connected Thursday. He said the connection voters sent successful the midterm elections is that they privation bipartisanship.

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, wrote successful an op-ed published successful The Wall Street Journal that, successful the adjacent Congress, some parties should enactment connected bipartisan plans to amended the migration strategy and entitlement programs.

In an interrogation Friday connected MSNBC's "Way Too Early," Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., said that careless of which enactment controls Congress, the adjacent 2 years volition beryllium challenging.

"It’s going to beryllium a pugnacious 2 years, period, for whoever is successful power. But determination are things we conscionable person to get done these adjacent fewer years," she said, adding that Democrats person to absorption connected knowing kitchen-table issues and doing a amended occupation of delivering the connection connected jobs and crime.

Dingell said if the GOP wins the House, "The archetypal trial is going to beryllium whether Kevin McCarthy tin go speaker."

Some blimpish House Freedom Caucus members are outright opposed to McCarthy, portion others are demanding concessions from him that would greatly h2o down his powerfulness arsenic speaker.

"You’re already seeing the Freedom Caucus being precise large and precise vocal," Dingell said, "And I deliberation Republicans are going to person a precise hard clip trying to get statement connected anything."

Meanwhile, it’s unclear if the apical 3 Democratic House leaders — Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., each successful their 80s — volition effort to enactment successful their enactment posts.

But a fig of younger Democrats person already jumped into races for lower-tier jobs. On Friday, Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., informed colleagues he’s moving to beryllium the adjacent president of the party’s run arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), successful the 2024 cycle.

Two years ago, helium narrowly mislaid the contention to pb the DCCC to Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who helped his enactment stave disconnected a reddish question connected Tuesday but mislaid his ain spot successful New York. Cárdenas, who represents a heavy bluish territory successful Southern California, should person nary hazard of losing his spot arsenic helium seeks to support susceptible incumbents crossed the country.

As the erstwhile caput of the Hispanic Caucus’ run arm, BOLD PAC, Cárdenas besides has acquisition recruiting and helping to elite Hispanic candidates — a demographic wherever the GOP precocious has made inroads successful Texas and South Florida.

In a missive to colleagues, Cárdenas wrote that if helium becomes DCCC chair, helium volition enactment “to fortify and grow our historically divers Democratic Caucus for the radical who are counting connected america to springiness them anticipation and power.”