If Pelosi and Hoyer play their cards right, they can fracture the House

[KingCharlemagne]

Republican Conference into 1,000 individual shards (technically, 236 shards). The Freedom Caucus of 36 far-right reactionaries has essentially declared its independence from the Republican Conference. That means the newly-trimmed down Republican Party now has only a six-vote lead (200-194) over the unified Democratic Conference.

Looked at another way, Pelosi and Hoyer need only peel off 22 Republicans from the Republican Conference to assemble a working majority of 216 for Democratic policies (and a majority that could elect Pelosi as Speaker).

I'm confident the upcoming battle over tax reform will present Pelosi and Hoyer the opportunity to strike while the opportunity is there.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-freedom-caucus-obamacare-repeal-replace-secret-pact-236507