Christian Menefee Sworn Into the House, Shrinking GOP Majority

The Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives has shrunk after Rep. Christian Menefee (D-Texas) was sworn into the body on Feb. 2.

Menefee won a special election to Congress on Jan. 31 in Texas’s 18th congressional district after the previous officeholder, Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), died in office on March 5, 2025. Menefee’s entry to the House brings the Democratic Caucus to 214 members, which gives the Republican Conference of 218 members a one-seat majority in a body of 432 members.

Menefee was sworn in on the House floor on Feb. 2 by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and proceeded to deliver his first remarks to the House.

“It’s been more than 330 days since the people of the 18th congressional district had representation, had a voice, in Congress,” Menefee said. “When this body took on important votes—about whether to cut SNAP benefits, about whether to make it more difficult to access Medicaid, important issues—this district had no voice in Congress.”

Menefee referred to the House’s vote on a budget bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025. That law, known informally as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, changed eligibility for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, and for Medicaid, a federal-state health insurance program for low-income citizens. The reforms included adding work requirements to get benefits under either program.

Menefee’s campaign focused on his opposition to Trump’s policies, reforming the immigration system, and support for criminal justice reform measures, such as banning “for-profit prisons” and expanding job training and reentry programs.

Menefee previously served for five years as the County Attorney of Harris County in Texas, which made him the chief non-felony state attorney in the Houston metropolitan area. In that role, he sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to challenge conservative statewide policies.

Since the beginning of the 119th Congress on Jan. 3, 2025, the House Republican Conference’s majority has been small. It began with 220 seats, giving them a two-seat majority, which has varied over time with vacancies.

General elections to the 120th Congress will be held on Nov. 3. Many states have sought to redistrict their congressional district boundaries ahead of the elections, which could affect the makeup and majority of the House in 2027.

There have been nine vacancies in the House during the ongoing 119th Congress. Six of them have been filled by special election, leaving three seats vacant. They are New Jersey’s 11th congressional district, previously represented by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Georgia’s 14th congressional district, vacated by former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), and California’s 1st congressional district, which was represented by Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) before his death on Jan. 6.

Special elections to seats currently vacant have been scheduled. Besides Turner’s, other members’ deaths have left vacancies as well.

In the case of Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.,) his daughter, Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.), was elected to fill the vacancy on Sept. 23, 2025. A controversy occurred after Johnson refused to swear in Grijalva for 50 days, until Nov. 12, citing the U.S. government shutdown that was occurring during that time. Democratic members of Congress criticized Johnson for the delay, and the State of Arizona filed a lawsuit to compel her swearing in to the House.