With one week until the midterm elections, the majorities of both houses of Congress are in play as voters weigh a midterm check on unified control of government in Washington — President Donald Trump’s hold on the White House and Republican majorities in the House and Senate the past two years.<\/p>\n
Republicans hold slim majorities in both the House and Senate and are rallying to preserve them with just days until Election Day.<\/p>\n
Democrats on the other hand are trying to make inroads into some traditionally red areas in hopes of picking up crucial seats.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"AP](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/51cf13de-c003-4ca1-80c4-8ee5ef6ac606\/johnson-jeffries-ap-gmh-261013_1791920709372_hpMain_square.jpg?w=375 "\\"AP")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>Speaker of the House Mike Johnson in Washington, July 21, 2026 and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in Washington, July 13, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the House, all 435 seats are on the ballot on Nov. 3 for two-year terms in the 120th Congress. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana currently holds a historically narrow majority: 218 Republicans alongside a single independent, Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, who filed for reelection without party affiliation but continues to generally support the speaker on the floor. Democrats hold 214 seats.<\/p>\n There are also two vacancies in the House following the April resignations of lawmakers with ethics issues — former Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales and former Florida Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who attempted a comeback but was rejected by voters in an August primary.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a lengthy way to explain that on Election Night, Johnson effectively begins with a 220-215 edge over Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.<\/p>\n While Johnson and Republicans defend their legislative record amassed over the past two years — including the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, formerly known as Trump’s “One, Big Beautiful Bill” — the closing message from the GOP has also starkly warned voters not to embrace \u201cMamdani madness,” a reference to New York City’s democratic socialist mayor and the success of some democratic socialist candidates in Democratic primaries this year.<\/p>\n “We are bringing down the cost of living. We are providing more jobs and opportunity for more people. The facts show it and the records show it,” Johnson told CBS during a recent interview. “The success goes on and on.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Across the aisle, Jeffries, a Brooklyn Democrat, is striving to become the first Black speaker in U.S. history, campaigning largely on a plank of affordability and anticorruption that directly takes aim at Trump.<\/p>\n “The American people are fed up,” Jeffries told reporters this month, adding his belief that Democrats are “on track” to win the House majority.<\/p>\n For Jeffries to get a chance to take the speaker\u2019s gavel, Democrats must attain a net gain of three seats, pushing their numbers to at least 218 — a simple majority.<\/p>\n Sen. Majority Leader John Thune in Washington, Sept. 23, 2026 and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in Washington, June 2, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the Senate, 35 of the upper chamber\u2019s 100 seats are on the ballot for six-year terms, including 13 Democratic and 22 Republican seats sprinkled across the political landscape.<\/p>\n Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Republicans currently hold a 53-45 edge over Senate Democrats, who also have two independents that caucus with them, pushing the current minority to 47 seats.<\/p>\n Thune could afford to have a net loss of three GOP seats and still retain the majority, given Vice President JD Vance\u2019s constitutional power to break tie votes in the Senate.<\/p>\n For Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrats to flip the majority, however, they\u2019ll need to amass a net gain of four seats.<\/p>\n Early voting is underway in many states and Election Day is Nov. 3.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nHouse<\/h3>\n
![\"Chuck](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/da6e8cb0-276f-4560-a2db-826137eda955\/thune-schumer-ap-gmh-261013_1791921209433_hpMain_square.jpg?w=375 "\\"Chuck")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>Senate<\/h3>\n