Results: Republicans win control of the US House of Representatives

• Republicans needed to flip just five seats to gain control of the House.
• Results: Republicans win control of the US House of Representatives.

On election night, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told GOP supporters that when they woke up the next day, they would "be in the majority and Nancy Pelosi will be in the minority."

This result took longer than expected — the predicted GOP "red wave" failed to appear on Election Day — but after a week of waiting, the Republican Party won control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.

Several races have yet to be called by Decision Desk HQ, however, it's predicted that Republicans will only hold a slim majority in the 118th Congress.

McCarthy, who faced a leadership challenge from Rep. Andy Biggs and the House Freedom Caucus, was elected by his peers on Tuesday to continue his role as leader of the GOP. He's poised to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House in January, although that's not guaranteed.

McCarthy has pointed to his party's "Commitment to America" as a blueprint for how the House GOP will operate. But the sparse document is silent or vague on some of the key issues that lawmakers will face in the coming months. 

At the top of the list will be raising the federal debt ceiling. Conservatives have vowed to use the vote as leverage to force the Biden administration to cut spending. A similar stand-off during the Obama administration led credit agencies to downgrade the federal government's credit, illustrating how even threatening debt default can have calamitous economic consequences.

Republicans have promised for months that they would champion probes into Hunter Biden, the Biden administration's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the origin of the COVID-19 virus. It is unclear how confrontational they plan to be after emerging from the midterms with a much smaller majority than they anticipated. Before the majority was assured on Tuesday, a reporter observed top GOP lawmakers huddling over how to proceed with COVID-related probes. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right member from Georgia, has also led calls to impeach Biden. McCarthy has thus far dismissed such a push, but a number of conservatives view impeachment as retaliation for Trump's two impeachments. 

McCarthy has also promised to restore committee assignments that were stripped from Greene and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona. In an act of reprisal, the top House Republican has also vowed to strip Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell and Adam Schiff of California and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota off of top committee assignments.

The 2022 midterm elections were the first to be conducted following the redistricting and apportionment that occurred after the results of the 2020 Census. 

Apportionment led to six states — Oregon, Montana, Texas, Colorado, Florida, and North Carolina — gaining additional districts. Seven states — West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, New York, California, and Illinois — lost congressional seats.

Each of the 435 seats in the US House of Representatives is up for grabs this Election Day. Democrats currently hold a narrow majority in the chamber — 220 seats compared to the Republicans' 212 seats.