Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy predicted Republicans will lose the House and blamed House Republican leaders under his successor, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), of letting Democrats “dictate.”
McCarthy made the prediction in a Bloomberg Television interview with anchor Haslinda Amin two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
McCarthy did not name Johnson, but the speaker sets the House floor schedule, and Johnson canceled votes for the last two weeks of September, ABC News reported. That left the House just four days of legislative business before the midterms.
“I think chances are the Democrats will win over the House, and it’s a 100% chance of that happening,” Amin told McCarthy.
“They’ll get a majority,” McCarthy replied, referring to Democrats. “I’m not quite sure how big it is, but they will probably win the majority.”
“The real battle is for the Senate,” he said, adding that “the real part Democrats are gonna have a victory in are governorships.”
“What went wrong?” Amin asked, after saying polls consistently show Republicans lagging behind.
“It’s history,” McCarthy answered. “You really wanna look at the generic ballots.”
“It’s to do with the wars! It’s to do with the cost for the consumers, cost for the Americans, the economy!” Amin cut in.
“Well, that’s what you think,” McCarthy shot back.
“In the House, [Republicans] didn’t… You’re only given 24 months in a majority to manage it. They were in the fewest amount of days,” the former speaker complained.
The House voted on just 65 days from January through August, the fewest of any midterm year in more than three decades, according to the centrist group No Labels. After Johnson canceled the September votes, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) wrote on X that the House would be in session “only 4 full days from July 24th to November 8th.”
At the time, the House still had to pass nine of the 12 annual government spending bills, according to the outlet.
Back in the interview, McCarthy said, “They let the Democrats dictate.” He added, “I’m the one who helped win the majority.”
“So you have to give a reason why to win,” McCarthy said. “What are the three things Republicans will do if they win the majority? I can’t tell you what that is.”
The 119th Congress has enacted 121 laws, the second fewest of any Congress in four decades, according to the Pew Research Center, which found that Congresses from 1987 to 2009 averaged 440 laws each before Election Day.
“It’s not that the Democrats are gonna win this election. Republicans are gonna lose it,” McCarthy asserted.
“And Republicans will be losing. It will be on President Trump, is it not?” Amin pressed.
“Okay. I know that’s what your talking points are, but I live it every day and watch the races and am in the middle of the races,” McCarthy snapped. “So to sit back and say, oh, it’s on President Trump. President Trump is spending $400 million.”
“[Voters are] upset about the high price of gas. That’s a problem, and we’re the Republicans in the majority,” McCarthy acknowledged.
“They’re upset about — not that it’s inflation like under Biden. That was terrible. Republicans secured the border like they promised they would,” he continued. “They’re upset about what’s happening in Iran, and they’re upset at the price of fuel.”
President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to tackle inflation, but inflation is higher now than when he took office. The annual rate hit 3.7% in September as gas prices jumped 9.1% in a single month, CNN reported. It was 3% in January 2025, when Trump returned to the White House, according to Axios.
The House is not scheduled to return until mid-November, after Election Day.
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