House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday that his party will “defy history when we grow the majority in the House” in next year’s midterm elections.
“We have a solid, hardworking Republican majority in the House right now — and the Senate — we’re delivering for the people. And I’m very excited to go out and tell that story,” Johnson told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.”
“I’m very excited about the midterm election. You know that we’re going to defy history when we grow the majority in the House, because it’s only twice in the last 90 years that a sitting president has picked up seats for his party in that first election cycle, but we’re going to do it this time,” the Louisiana Republican added.
While Republicans currently hold the House, Senate and White House, Democrats are gunning for the reins of power in the two chambers of Congress after devastating losses in last November’s election.
On Wednesday, Texas Republicans introduced a proposed group of fresh House lines, placing the party closer to snagging five seats next year. The new suggested map will likely mostly directly impact lawmakers situated close to or in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Austin, Houston and near the southern border.
Democratic strategist James Carville said in an interview earlier this month that President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” is going to be seen as a “mass extinction event,” predicting his party will gain over 40 House seats in the 2026 midterms.
“And I like the unified party — every Democrat voted against this. Every Democrat, regardless of the ideology, their ethnicity … we can all rally around this, and we can run on this single issue all the way to 2026. And Paul is right, we‘re going to pick up more than 40 House seats,” Carville said on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”
