Republicans complete election sweep by retaining House control

Republicans have retained control of the U.S. House of Representatives maintaining the majority in the chamber over Democrats following a fierce 2024 election for a few dozen House seats.

A House Republican victory in Arizona, alongside a win in slow-counting California earlier Wednesday, gave the GOP the 218 House victories that make up the majority.

Republicans earlier gained control of the Senate from Democrats, which means the GOP has completed an election sweep of the White House and control of Congress.

It's a big accomplishment for House speaker Mike Johnson, who is expected to keep the role he took just over a year ago, after showing that he can lead a Republican conference that has often been contentious.

"When the House returns in January, one of the first and most crucial things it will do is to certify the results of the presidential election. This became really contentious in 2020 when Donald Trump tried to overturn the results of that election," said AP Congressional reporter Stephen Groves.

"Besides that, the other things on the to-do list for the House include funding the government, as well as a debate over whether to extend tax cuts that were passed during Trump's first term," Groves added.