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 Of the 300 Republicans in Congress - 246 in the House of
Representatives and 54 in the Senate - Trump now had the explicit
support of 11 with the newly announced public backing by
Representatives Jeff Miller of Florida and Bill Shuster of
Pennsylvania.
Trump, a billionaire businessman, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and
Ohio Governor John Kasich were vying for the nomination to represent
the Republican Party in the Nov. 8 general election.
"Donald Trump is the only person who has what it takes to shake up
the status quo and entrenched bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.,"
Miller said in a statement.
 Miller, who will retire from the Republican-controlled Congress at
year's end, capping 16 years in the House, has chaired the House
Veterans Affairs Committee.
Shuster, also in his 16th year in the House, has chaired a powerful
transportation committee.
Trump backers in Congress have argued that many more lawmakers
privately expressed support for Trump, but still have to run in
primaries and so have publicly remained neutral.
Representative Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who endorsed Trump this
month, said in an interview that the Trump campaign was cranking up
its outreach to Congress.
Cruz, a small-government Tea Party favorite, has snared more
endorsements from Congress members.
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The most prominent U.S. Republican lawmakers to publicly endorse
Trump was Senator Jeff Sessions, who has been advising the campaign
on foreign policy.
The others were U.S. Representatives Chris Collins, Duncan Hunter,
Tom Marino, Tom Reed, Scott DesJarlais, Lou Barletta and Renee
Ellmers.
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh
and Jonathan Oatis)
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