MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Congress begins a new session tomorrow. That's the first step in shifting full control in Washington to the GOP. President-elect Donald Trump is calling on his party to stay on the same page despite tight margins and threats of intraparty fighting. Joining me now is NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales. Hi, Claudia.
CLAUDIA GRISALES, BYLINE: Hey, there.
KELLY: OK, so Trump's demand for Republicans - stay united, stay on the same page. What is that page? What's the to-do list for this incoming Congress?
GRISALES: Right. It is quite the page. There is plenty on it. They have some big tasks on their housekeeping lists this year - that is, address the U.S. debt limit that will be hit in the coming months, and keep the government's lights on after a stopgap spending plan expires in March. But even sooner than all that, they want to attend to some partisan priorities that were part of their campaign pledges, namely legislation to address the U.S.-Mexico border, curtailing immigration, as well as extending a tax package from President-elect Donald Trump's last term that is set to expire this year. But first, Republicans need to elect leaders in each of these chambers before they can get started on any of this work.
KELLY: Right. And stay with what those elections of leaders are going to look like because we know - on the Senate side, we know how this is going to land. South Dakota Republican John Thune is expected to easily take over as the new majority leader. On the House side, Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson would like to continue as speaker. That looks a little more complex.
GRISALES: Yes, very complex. He faces pretty much an uphill battle at this stage. He was elected to the role about 14 months ago. This was after a tumultuous few months when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the job, and several other GOP candidates lost their bids to replace him. So House Republicans had a bigger margin in all of that, and this year, it's down to one GOP member who can wreak havoc.
KELLY: Well, that's the thing. Republicans controlled the House by a big margin, as you said, but they were constantly fighting in the last Congress. Does that give us any window into how this new Congress may function - or dysfunction?
GRISALES: Yes, we think it does. We saw Johnson struggle to pass even partisan plans in the last term, and some in his own party would just not get on board for various reasons. And often, we saw Democrats bailing him out with bipartisan proposals instead. So with job one for the House tomorrow to elect a new speaker, he's already facing this opposition, and there will be no House business until this gets done. No new members will be sworn in, no legislative business. And we already heard from House Republicans at the end of last year who were not so sure they would vote to reelect Johnson to the speakership. They may stick with this opposition, even with President-elect Donald Trump's recent endorsement.
KELLY: Remind us what the process will actually look like to elect a new House speaker, whoever it may be.
GRISALES: Right. A new House speaker will need a simple majority of the 435-member House, so the magic number is 218 votes. Republicans have just 219 members, so not much breathing room at all, especially since Democrats are not expected to help Johnson or any other Republican get over the line. And we know already Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie - he's been pretty vocal he will vote against Johnson, and that could open the floodgates for other House Republicans to join him. And some Republicans will use this time for attention in the media. Some are unhappy with Johnson's speakership during this last session. Or some may look at this as an opportunity to make a favorable deal for themselves - for example, keep rules that would make it easy for them to kick Johnson out as speaker later, or whoever is elected. And that's something Johnson wants to also change this year.
KELLY: NPR congressional correspondent Claudia Grisales, thank you.
GRISALES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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