Trump Aides Concede House Control Is Likely Lost for Republicans
Aides to US President Donald Trump see almost no way for Republicans to keep their House majority in the November midterms, Wired reports, and are shifting focus to defending the Senate. Party-aligned groups have already pulled ads in several districts.
Aides to US President Donald Trump see almost no path for the Republican Party to keep control of the House of Representatives in the November midterm congressional elections, according to three sources familiar with the situation who spoke to Wired. The White House is therefore turning its attention to defending the Senate majority. Republicans could thus lose one chamber of Congress while still fighting to hold the other.
The sources say the House battle is widely viewed as lost. Districts that Republican leaders once hoped to flip in order to offset Democratic gains are no longer seen as attainable. The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with House Speaker Mike Johnson, has pulled ad buys in Democratic-held districts in Michigan and Ohio, and in Nebraska, where Republican Don Bacon is retiring. It has also begun cancelling remaining ad reservations in two races in New Jersey and Iowa where Republicans are seeking reelection.
The Senate remains in play
The Senate outlook is also considered problematic, though less so than the House, and polling models and prediction markets agree. Aides believe the chamber is still contestable because early mail-ballot returns in key Senate battleground states are relatively strong and comparable to 2024 presidential election levels. Officials at MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump political group, have privately discussed that winning some combination of seats in Alaska, Iowa and Ohio would form a firewall complicating the Democrats' path to Senate control. In North Carolina, however, Republicans appear to have conceded a win is unlikely: the party's Senate campaign arm has paused ad spending there since early October.
Wired says the climate has worsened because of high gas and living costs linked to the war with Iran. With 20 days until the election, Trump's team wants to maximize turnout among the party's base rather than court swing voters, whom polls show are not breaking for Republicans.
White House spokesperson Liz Huston said Trump is committed to maintaining Republican majorities in both chambers. Trump has been campaigning in Ohio and Alaska, is due in Arizona and Kentucky, and will later host a $1 million-per-plate MAGA Inc. fundraising dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club.
