“In the House as a body, it’s majority rule,” said John Weber, webinar speaker and principal at Monument Advocacy. “It’s from the top down, and whoever controls the gavel, really controls the landscape.”
According to Weber, the last time House margins were this tight was 1917 and 1931. Weber noted his surprise at the unexpected and historically tight margins, leading him to conclude that candidate quality matters — people are voting for the individuals, not necessarily the party. Additionally, primaries matter.
“In cases in Oregon and Washington state, we saw longstanding, productive members who have held seats for a long time, go down in the primaries to more progressive and more conservative members in the right and left,” Weber said. “Both those members went on to lose their seats in the primary elections.”
With Republicans holding the House majority for the first time in years, a shift in agenda is anticipated. Weber expects the House’s priority will be “extensive, extensive” oversight of the Biden administration. Additionally, the House will likely emphasize committees’ oversight, marking up of bills and tension issues unresolved from previous years. He added that meat and poultry processors can expect talk of increased line speeds.
“I think something you’re not going to see in ag committee under Republican leadership is bills that are unveiled that are going to take industry by surprise,” Weber said. “There’s going to be a collaborative outreach. Whether it’s food safety, whether it’s trade, whether it’s labor issues that may be outside the jurisdiction of the committee but impacts processors, you’re going to see a lot of collaborative effort to bring in industry experts.”
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