House Democratic Leader Hoyer says he's 'concerned by the slimming of the majority' after GOP wins

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House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Wednesday that he is "certainly concerned" about the fact House Republicans have flipped 12 blue seats to red so far, shrinking Democrats' majority in the body and leaving President-elect Joe Biden with little margin for error when pushing his legislative priorities through Congress. 

Those concerns have been heightened by Biden choosing members of the House for posts in his administration. Those members will have to be replaced by special elections and will temporarily leave vacant seats. Biden's most recent pick was Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

"I'm certainly concerned by the slimming of the majority. I've indicated to the administration very early on that I wanted to be very careful in terms of the members that they appointed from the Congress given the closeness of the, of our majority," Hoyer, D-Md., said.

The veteran lawmaker however said that he still believes Democrats will be able to pass their priorities, despite the fact their thin edge in the body may get a little more tenuous as the administration poaches members from his caucus. 

In this image from video, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., takes his face covering off as he speaks on the floor of the House of Representatives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Thursday, April 23, 2020. (House Television via AP)

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"We're going to be a very unified caucus as we were this past Congress," Hoyer continued. "In many of our bills, as you probably know, we passed unanimously without any losing any Democratic votes. And, in others, we [lost] just a few. But I think members will be focused on how close the majority is now or in the future"

Many Republicans have expressed optimism about the House in the upcoming Congress after netting a gain of nine seats as of Monday after the GOP was predicted to potentially lose double-digit seats ahead of Election Day. They say they believe they may be able to form a coalition at times with moderate Democrats to block progressive priorities or even pass bills. 

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said on "Sunday Morning Futures" late last month that Republicans may be able to "get five to six more Democrats to join with us and then we'll be able to run the floor."

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There are still two races that as of Monday have not been called, one in Iowa and one in New York. Slim margins and challenges in those races have prevented Fox News from officially adding the seats to either party's tally yet. As things stand, the Democrat majority in the House is 222 to 211, with two uncalled races. 

Hoyer, in off-camera comments, also addressed a variety of topics, including coronavirus negotiations and the fact that most Republicans still have not agreed to call Biden the president-elect. 

"It is time now for the President of the United States and his supporters to focus on stabilizing our democracy," Hoyer said, "it is a very sad scene that we survey."

Fox News' Chad Pergram, Jason Donner and Talia Kaplan contributed to this report.