Kayla Epstein
reporting from New York
As he builds his new White House team, Donald Trump is recruiting from the US House of Representatives for key administration posts.
He has announced he will name New York Republican Elise Stefanik and Florida’s Mike Waltz to his cabinet.
The appointments would be taking two lawmakers off the table when the battle for control of the US House remains razor thin.
Even so, things will probably be fine for Republicans in the House in the long term. Both of those lawmakers are in safely Republican districts, meaning the party has less of a chance of losing the seats to a Democrat. In New York and Florida, special elections will be called to fill the vacant seats.
Holding those special elections however, could take some time – perhaps a couple of months after the new US Congress is gavelled into session. And if partisan control of the US House turns out to be very narrow – as it is predicted to be – once all the races are called, any absence could have an impact during contentious votes.
It remains to be seen how many other sitting members of Congress Trump will choose for his new administration.
Trump also reportedly has plans to nominate Florida Senator Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, but his seat is guaranteed to stay in conservative hands. The state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, gets to name Rubio’s replacement if he is appointed to the cabinet, and it is inconceivable that he wouldn’t pick a member of the same party.
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