Fact Check: Have Republicans Retained Control of the House?

While Donald Trump’s White House victory was established early, the wait for the final results for the House of Representatives has reached nearly a week, with thousands of votes still to be counted.
In 2022, it took over a week to declare a Republican majority in the House, with California holding back the final result.
However, social media posts early this week began claiming that the GOP had taken the lead, giving Republicans full control of Congress.
The Claim
A post on X, formerly Twitter, by political commentator Benny Johnson, posted on November 11, 2024, viewed 2.7 million times, said: “BREAKING: Republicans officially retain control of the House of Representatives.” The post included a map of the U.S. showing Republicans clinch 218 seats, securing the House majority.
The post was shared by Infowars founder Alex Jones.
The Facts
It appears increasingly likely that Republicans will secure their majority in the House again, if only by a slim margin. With only a small majority it may make some of Donald Trump’s plans harder to realize should more moderate Republicans side with House Democrats on key decisions.
As of Tuesday morning ET, November 12, 2024, the results had not been called by The Associated Press, with 214 Republican and 205 Democrat seats won and 16 more awaiting conclusive counts.
According to Reuters, Edison Research has not called results either.
To regain control of the chamber, Democrats would need most of the remaining seats. As of Tuesday morning, most Republican candidates in the remaining seats were leading.
Notwithstanding the advantage the Republicans seem to have, Johnson’s claim the House race has been called is not baseless.
Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), another elections result provider, projected the House win this week, handing 219 seats to Republicans and 210 to Democrats.
As reported by projection site 270 to Win, it called Arizona’s 6th District for Republican Juan Ciscomani on Monday, who was reelected for a second term.
DDHQ states it “incorporates both reported votes and estimates of remaining uncounted ballots to refine its predictions, providing a dynamic look at each race as election night unfolds.”
By contrast, The Associated Press says it “does not make projections or name apparent or likely winners.”
“If our race callers cannot definitively say a candidate has won, we do not engage in speculation,” it states in its guide on how it declares election winners.
While AP has provided international newsrooms with election results for decades, DDHQ provides its calls to many outlets including The Hill and Vox, and has helped make calls earlier than other analysts. NewsNation, using data from DDHQ, was the first to call the presidential election results last week, reported the Los Angeles Times.
The Ruling
Needs Context.
Benny Johnson’s claim is based on a projection by Decision Desk HQ, an election result analysis firm used by a number of media outlets. The race has not been called by other analysts such as The Associated Press and Edison Research.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team