Voting in the Lower House of the US Congress is complicated this year for Republicans after the death of Doug LaMalfa, a 65-year-old representative from California, due to the reduced majority they already held in the chamber.
His loss reduces the slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives, since now, with an advantage of 218 to 213, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, cannot afford more than two defections (the majority currently stands at 216 seats) in votes in which all congressmen are present.
LaMalfa, known for his expertise on water and agriculture issues, was serving his seventh term representing a rural district in northeastern California.
This Tuesday, posthumously, he received a tribute from US President Donald Trump, who referred to him during a speech before the Republicans in the House of Representatives, highlighting him as a safe and reliable vote for his people.
“And by the way, he wasn’t one to call at three in the morning,” Trump said, referring to Republican lawmakers who need presidential persuasion for crucial votes. “With Doug, I never had to call him. He was with us from the beginning.”
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His absence predicts more tension and uncertainty in the crucial votes that lie ahead in the coming weeks and months in the House, including those necessary to approve budget items that avoid a new Federal closure on January 30.
Added to this loss is now the hospitalization of another Republican representative from Indiana, Jim Baird, who has suffered a serious traffic accident.
It was Trump himself who broke the news this Tuesday in his speech before the Republican representatives, highlighting the concern in the ranks of the conservative formation about the balance of forces in the Chambers.
With information from EFE
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