Republicans are close to winning a majority in the House of Representatives

Republicans are getting closer to taking control of the House of Representatives in the next Congress, which begins work in January.

In the fight for a 218-seat majority in the 435-seat House, Republicans have already won 212 seats, while Democrats have won only 204.

Analysts, however, believe the scales will likely tip in the Republican’s favor in the remaining 19 districts, allowing them to eventually take control of the chamber from the Democrats.

Democrat President Joe Biden acknowledged this, telling reporters at a news conference in Indonesia, “I think we’re getting very close [to getting a majority] in the House of Representatives. Very close. But I don’t think we’re going to succeed.”

Given the routine counting of mail-in ballots, it could be several days before Republicans officially win a majority of 218 seats.

A Republican majority in the House would likely give Biden’s opponents an opening to investigate the administration’s blunders in his first two years in the White House, such as last year’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and the continuing influx of thousands of migrants across the border into Mexico.

The House majority, though much more modest than party officials had predicted before the vote, will also allow Republicans to enter into negotiations with Democrats in the Senate and the White House on government spending, the climate agenda, further aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia and others.

It became clear over the weekend that Democrats won the 50th seat in the 100-seat Senate, thus retaining control of the chamber, since the deciding vote belongs to the chairwoman, Vice President Kamala Harris, when the vote is split evenly in half.

The Republicans won 49 seats in the next Senate.

The fate of the last seat, the 100th, will be decided on December 6, when Georgia will hold a runoff election in which Democratic Senator Rafael Warnock will face Republican former professional soccer player Herschel Walker.

Most American political analysts predict that when the remaining votes are counted, Republicans will win a very slim majority, 219 to 222 seats, and Democrats, 213 to 216 respectively, even though before the election, Republican leaders predicted a margin of up to 30 seats.

“We succeeded against expectations,” Biden told reporters in Cambodia, where he was attending an Asian summit, before heading to Indonesia for the G-20 summit.

“I’m in a good mood, and I’m looking forward to the next two years,” he added.