House Majority Leader Hoyer fears 'slimming' Dem majority, as Biden taps members for posts

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) acknowledged concern Wednesday about losing additional Democratic House seats from an already-slim majority in the chamber as the result of members leaving to accept posts in a Biden administration. 

Hoyer's remarks come after Joe Biden announced Ohio Democratic Rep. Marcia Fudge as his choice to be Secretary of Housing and Urban Development should he assume the presidency next month. 

"I'm certainly concerned by the slimming of the majority," Hoyer said Wednesday according to the Independent Journal Review. "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 Congress given the closeness … of our majority." 

Biden, whom many media organizations have anointed as president-elect, has also tapped Democratic Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) to serve as a senior adviser in a Biden White House. Departures by Fudge and Richmond would leave Democrats with just 220 seats in the House, with 218 needed to form a majority. 

To fill a vacancy left by Fudge in solidly Democratic Cuyahoga County, Republican Governor Mike DeWine would issue a writ to the Board of Elections in the state to hold a special election at a time to be determined, as per the Ohio Constitution.

Among the many hoping to succeed Fudge in the seat are State Representative John Barnes, Cuyahoga County Democratic Chair and Councilwoman Shontel Brown, and former State Senator Shirley Smith, just to name a few. 

Also eyeing the potential vacancy is former State Senator Nina Turner, who co-chaired Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' 2020 Presidential run. Turner filed federal paperwork Wednesday showing interest in the seat, but has yet to make a public statement.