What is the party breakdown in the 118th US House of Representatives?

1. How the headline numbers were reported — a narrow GOP edge

News and reference outlets reported the Republican victory in the 2022 midterms that produced the 118th House as a narrow GOP majority, commonly summarized as 222 Republicans to 213 Democrats following the elections ^[1]. Observers emphasized how thin that margin made governing difficult: 218 votes are needed for a working majority in the 435-seat chamber ^[4].

2. Official CRS snapshot and later tallies: slightly different arithmetic

The Congressional Research Service’s December 12, 2024 profile shows a different snapshot: it lists 220 Republican Representatives and 211 Democrats in the House, plus 2 Republican-aligned delegates and other nonvoting members; it also noted 4 vacancies as of that update ^{[2] [3]}. That illustrates how midterm deaths, resignations, expulsions and special elections altered the precise party count during the 118th Congress ^[3].

3. Why counts diverge between sources

Public tallies diverge because sources use different reference dates and include or exclude nonvoting delegates and temporary vacancies. Wikipedia and media reports commonly cited the post‑election 222–213 split ^[1]. The CRS report, intended as an evolving institutional profile, records membership as of December 12, 2024 with vacancies and delegates tabulated separately, giving 220 R / 211 D plus delegates and vacancies ^{[2] [3]}.

4. Nonvoting members and vacancies matter for interpretation

The House has 435 voting seats plus nonvoting delegates (from territories and D.C.). CRS explicitly counts “plus 2 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico” when presenting party totals, and reports vacancies when they exist ^{[2] [3]}. Those distinctions change how a raw party count should be read: electoral control is set by voting members present and seated, not by delegates or temporarily empty seats ^[2].

5. Events that changed the roster during the 118th

The 118th saw member turnover: CRS and other tracking sources documented deaths, resignations and one expulsion (the expulsion of Rep. George Santos) that affected the chamber’s numerical balance and produced special elections and temporary vacancies ^{[1] [5] [3]}. These events explain why a 222–213 post‑election split did not remain static through the full term ^{[1] [3]}.

6. Competing public tallies and why journalists must be careful

Different outlets—Wikipedia, Ballotpedia, Congressional Research Service and press galleries—serve different audiences and update on different cadences; Wikipedia cited the 222–213 result tied to the election outcome ^[1], while CRS provided an updated membership profile that reflected midterm changes and vacancies ^{[2] [3]}. Reporters and readers should check the date and whether nonvoting delegates or vacancies are included before treating a single figure as definitive ^{[1] [2]}.

7. Bottom line for readers seeking clarity

Available reporting shows the 118th House began with a narrow Republican majority (commonly reported as 222–213), but institutional records later recorded 220 Republicans and 211 Democrats with several vacancies and delegates counted separately as of December 12, 2024 ^{[1] [2] [3]}. For the exact, moment‑by‑moment party composition you must consult dated membership rolls—CRS, the House Clerk or the House Press Gallery—because the totals changed during the Congress ^{[2] [6]}.

Limitations and sourcing note: this summary uses only the provided sources and their dated snapshots; available sources do not mention an exhaustive, day‑by‑day seat‑count table in this packet, so I cite the election‑night and CRS snapshots to show why different authoritative numbers coexist ^{[1] [2] [3]}.