Donald Trump plans to address Republican legislators on Wednesday in a visit to Capitol Hill, following a meeting with the president Joe Biden that traditionally begins the transfer of power from one administration to another.
The speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, referenced Trump’s intent to meet with Republicans on Tuesday at a press conference where House leaders trumpeted taking a trifecta in last Tuesday’s elections. “We’re working out the details of him gathering with us potentially tomorrow morning before he goes to the White House,” Johnson said.
Trump has been poaching Republican legislators for his cabinet, naming Marco Rubio, the Florida senator, as his intended secretary of state, the New York representative Elise Stefanik as ambassador to the United Nations and Mike Waltz, the Florida representative, to serve as his national security advisor. Republicans currently hold a razor-thin four-seat majority in the House, and if the outcome of vote counts remains as it stands today, a Republican speaker in 2025 would also have a four-seat majority.
Johnson said he expects Republicans to end up with a larger majority. But each Republican appointment or resignation from the House – as governor-elect Kelly Armstrong must do – diminishes that majority.
“We have an embarrassment of riches,” Johnson said. “We have a really talented Republican conference. We’ve got really competent, capable people here. Many of them could serve in really important positions in the new administration, but president Trump fully understands and appreciates the math here, and it’s just a numbers game.”
Trump’s meeting with Biden is set for 11am ET. Biden said he told Trump “that I would direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. That’s what the American people deserve.”
The traditional meeting is generally photographed with the outgoing and incoming president sitting side by side in the White House. Reflecting the acrimony of the 2020 election, Trump eschewed the meeting after being defeated by Biden.
