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JUDY WOODRUFF: Lawmakers return
went to Capitol Hill this week
after a drawn-out midterm battle

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for power in Congress. Democrats
have retained control of the
Upper Chamber, but a Georgia

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run-off will determine if
they gain a seat or return
to the split-down-the-middle
50/50 Senate.

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The balance of power in the
Lower Chamber is pending,

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and several House races are
still being counted. The
election outcomes and the

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lack of final results have
put several key leadership
issues in flux for Republicans.

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Lisa Desjardins has
more on all of this.

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Hello to you, Lisa.

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You are at the Capitol
it appears. I know you're
glad to be there. So
let's talk about the House

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balance of power. We don't
have all the results in.
Where do things stand.
What are you watching?

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LISA DESJARDINS: Much is
afoot, Judy. What a plotline
we have here in Congress.

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Let's take a look right now
with where the races are for
the House of Representatives,

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the balance of power,
as we know it, as called
by the Associated Press.
Here are the races called,

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the number; 204 Democrats
have had races called for
them, 212 Republicans.

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As we have been repeating, Kevin
McCarthy's Republicans need
218 votes. They do not have

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that yet in the -- in this
chamber. And let's look
at some of these races
that are still close.

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For example, California's 13th
Congressional District, we have
been talking about this. There

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you have John Duarte,
the pistachio and almond
farmer. He is ahead of
Adam Gray, whose family is

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in the dairy business,
by just 84 votes. Can you
believe that, 61 percent
of the expected vote in?

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This is a race where I
think Democrats could come
back and take this seat,

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or it could be Republicans.
Who knows. The count in
California takes a long

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time and we don't know when we
will have the results of that.

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But let me give folks a summary
of where we are overall.
In the race for the House

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of Representatives, we now
have 19 uncalled races left
across the entire country. Now,

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those 19 are nearly split
between Republicans and
Democrats, with Republicans
have just one more,

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10 seats of those nine,
that they're leading in.

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But, overall, we're
waiting mostly for the
West. California has the

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largest number of seats
still. And Arizona also
has two seats left.

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Meanwhile, Judy, I just
came from House Republicans'
meeting. They are holding

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speeches tonight to determine
who their leaders will be
in the next session. And,

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of course, Kevin McCarthy
has spoken, says he wants to
be speaker. No one stood to

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challenge him. But it is
something that I think we're
going to be talking about.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: So, as
you say, you just came
for that meeting. What

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do these numbers mean for
Republicans right now?

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LISA DESJARDINS: Kevin McCarthy
does not have the 218 votes
to be speaker right now.

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But it does appear he has
a majority of the support
from his conference.

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There he is. He did not speak
to reporters as he went in
smiled simply. It's something

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he wanted that no one
spoke against him tonight.
However, we are tracking

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some who may oppose
him. Representative
Andy Biggs of Arizona is
someone from the Freedom

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Caucus who has said he may
challenge or we understand may
challenge Speaker McCarthy.

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And let's talk about it. If
the Republicans have just a
slight-four seat majority,

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that means Kevin McCarthy needs
every Republican to vote for
him, except for four or five.

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So let's talk about some
who have already indicated
openly that they're not on

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board with Kevin McCarthy yet.
That includes Republicans like
Matt Gaetz, also in that group,

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Chip Roy. Also in that
group, Thomas Massie, who
I spoke with tonight, would
not commit either way.

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Kevin McCarthy has no
margin for error here. He
may come out of tonight's
meeting as the nominee,

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so to speak, for speaker, but
it is not clear that he has the
votes left, he has enough votes

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to actually become speaker
in January. He will have
a great deal of work
to do to figure that

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out and to get those votes.
The conservative Freedom Caucus
is asking for concessions.

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Those include some
different kinds of
parliamentary procedures
that would tie his hand,

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give more power to conservatives
and the Freedom Caucus.
They're not the only ones

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asking for concessions,
though. The entire House
Republican Conference
realizes, if you have four

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seats that determine your
majority, everyone has
power, and everyone is
asking for concessions.

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It is a very complicated
and potentially chaotic

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process that the House
Republicans are just
now beginning to enter.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: Reads
like a suspense novel.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.

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(LAUGHTER)

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JUDY WOODRUFF: All
right, Lisa, so, finally,
what about the Senate?

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We know the Democrats did
manage to hang onto the
majority there, but what does

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all of that, do the numbers
there mean for what they're
going to be able to get done?

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LISA DESJARDINS: You know,
it really is only just not
even two days since we know

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that Senate Democrats would
be retaining their majority.

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But, already, the Senate
majority leader, Chuck Schumer,
is making some moves. He has

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announced that, this week,
the Senate will be holding a
vote on legislation to codify

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same-sex marriage in
some ways. Essentially,
that legislation,
which is bipartisan,

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would mean that any
same-sex marriage certified
by one state would be
recognized by all states.

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That is something that we know
some moderate Republicans are on
board. We don't know how many,

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but that's what will come
this week. And I think
it's not an accident, Judy,

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that that is after
Senate Democrats got this
majority. They're saying,

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we have more to do. We're
going to get started now.

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As for Republicans, Judy,
lots of finger-pointing
there, as you would expect,

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some unhappy Republicans
in the Senate. However,
there are a few, including
Rick Scott, who ran the

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Senate Republicans' campaign,
pointing fingers at their
leader, Mitch McConnell,
and saying, we need

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to delay our leadership
elections. We're not sure
that we think McConnell
is the person to do it.

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But I want to report that
they are in the minority.
Mitch McConnell is going

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ahead with elections on
Wednesday And, right now,

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I have no reason to doubt that
he will continue to be the
Republican leader in the Senate.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: So, a lot of
suspense in the Senate too.

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LISA DESJARDINS: Drama.

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JUDY WOODRUFF: Lisa Desjardins
watching it all very closely.

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Thank you, Lisa.

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LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.