NEW YORK, Nov 09 (Reuters): Donald Trump's Republicans held on to a narrow edge on Friday as election officials tallied the final votes that will determine control of the US House of Representatives, though Democrats succeeded in flipping a pair of New York state seats.
Republicans have secured at least 211 seats, seven short of the majority in the 435-member chamber, with 24 races left to be called, according to projections by Edison Research. Republicans are set to hold a majority of least 53 seats in the Senate.
Full congressional control by Republicans would give Trump great leeway to pursue policies including sweeping tax cuts, energy deregulation and border security controls. Should Democrats succeed in capturing a majority, which would require them to win 18 of the 24 as-yet uncalled seats, it would give them a bulwark to push back against him.
Democrats' hopes of capturing the House run through parts of California and New York, where challengers overnight succeeded in flipping two Republican seats. Laura Gillen unseated Republican US Representative Anthony D'Esposito to represent a section of New York City's Long Island suburbs and Josh Riley beat Republican US Representative Marc Molinaro in the state's Catskills region.
In Nebraska, centrist Republican US Representative Don Bacon held off a challenge by Democrat Tony Vargas in a liberal-leaning Omaha-area district.
Republicans' majority in the Senate will allow them to confirm Trump's appointments of cabinet members, judges and other personnel, though they will not have the 60 votes needed to quickly pass most legislation.
The other uncalled competitive Senate races are in Nevada, where incumbent Democrat Jacky Rosen led Republican challenger Sam Brown by 1.3 percentage points with 96% of the expected vote counted, and in Arizona, where Democrat Ruben Gallego was leading Republican Kari Lake by 1.7 percentage points with 74% of the expected vote counted.
Putin, the Russian president, hailed Trump as "courageous" for the way he handled himself following an assassination attempt at a rally in July, and said he was "ready" to hold discussions with him.
Billionaire Trump later told NBC News that he had not talked to Putin, the authoritarian leader whom he has repeatedly praised over the years, since his victory but "I think we'll speak."
It marked a seismic shift from the icy silence that has existed between Biden and Putin since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and underscored Trump's criticism of US support for Kyiv.
The president-elect has previously said he would push through a peace deal in that conflict -- but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who spoke to Trump on Wednesday, said calls for a ceasefire were "dangerous."
Chinese President Xi Jinping had earlier joined the list of foreign leaders congratulating Trump, who was criticized by Harris during the election campaign for being too friendly with autocrats.
Trump doubled down on his plans for mass deportations of undocumented migrants, telling NBC he had "no choice" and that there could be "no price tag" that was too much.
As Trump began to work at his Florida resort on his transition team, Biden pledged a peaceful and "orderly" transfer of power.
Biden, 81, urged Americans in a solemn televised address to "bring down the temperature," in stark contrast to Trump's refusal to accept his 2020 election defeat.
The Democrat has invited Trump for talks at the White House. But Biden's spokeswoman said Trump's team had not yet signed key documents allowing the legal transition process to start.
In his speech from the Rose Garden of the White House, Biden called for unity while urging Democrats not to lose hope, saying: "Remember, a defeat does not mean we are defeated."
Yet finger-pointing has already erupted in the party over Biden's initial decision to run for a second term despite his age, before dropping out at the last minute in July and handing the reins to Harris, his vice president.
The White House denied Biden had any regrets. "He believed it was the right decision to make at that time," Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
Trump's election in the face of a criminal conviction for fraud, two impeachments and the fact that he is the oldest-ever elected president at 78 reflected voters' desire for change from the Biden years.
