House GOP edge shrinks after Republican’s 'sudden' death and another hospitalized

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s razor-thin majority took three hits on Tuesday. They include the effective date of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation, the unexpected passing of U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), and the hospitalization of U.S. Rep. Jim Baird (R-IN).

“It’s about the math,” reported Fox News Chief Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram.

Baird’s condition is stable, Fox News reported. But, as another shutdown looms, Johnson — at least temporarily — may have to pass legislation with a 217-213 majority.

Before the news of Baird’s hospitalization, Johnson had a two-seat majority. With Congressman LaMalfa’s death, it was just 218-213, as NBC News Capitol Hill Correspondent Melanie Zanona reported.

Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman reported, “80-year-old Indiana Rep. Jim Baird is in the hospital after a car crash. So House Republican attendance is a massive, massive problem right now.”

He also suggested that within Johnson’s GOP conference it was already effectively a “One-vote margin” with GOP Rep. Thomas Massie “mostly against the House Republican leadership.”

Pergram also noted that, “Two Texas Democrats are in a runoff for a House seat later this month. So Democrats gain a seat there. With 432 members then, it goes to 218-214.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, the House Majority Whip, announced the news of Congressman LaMalfa’s passing, saying he was “devastated” by “the sudden loss of our friend, Congressman Doug LaMalfa. Doug was a loving father and husband, and staunch advocate for his constituents and rural America.”

“At the start of the 119th Congress, Johnson was already facing the narrowest House majority in nearly 100 years,” CNN reported on Tuesday. “The tight margin has created a major challenge for congressional Republicans as they seek to enact Trump’s legislative priorities, leaving little room for error.”