Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy predicts Democrats will regain control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections, arguing that Republicans have squandered their opportunity to make the case for keeping their majority.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday, McCarthy pointed to a long-standing political trend in which the party holding the White House loses congressional seats during midterm elections.

“I'm not quite sure how big it is, but [Democrats] will probably win the majority,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy, who became speaker after Republicans won the House in 2022 before being removed from the position less than a year later, argued that the outcome would reflect Republican failures rather than Democratic strength.

“It's not that the Democrats are going to win this election,” he said. “Republicans are going to lose it.”

He directed criticism at current House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., over the chamber’s schedule and its limited number of legislative session days. McCarthy argued that Republicans had missed opportunities to pass legislation and demonstrate to voters why the party deserved to remain in power.

“You're only given 24 months in a majority to manage it,” McCarthy said, criticizing the House for holding fewer session days and allowing Democrats to dictate the political agenda.

McCarthy also questioned whether Republicans had offered voters a clear reason to support them in November, saying he could not identify three major initiatives the party would pursue if it retained control of the chamber.

Despite predicting a Republican defeat, McCarthy said Democrats would face their own challenges if they regained the majority. He argued that the party lacked both public support and a clearly defined governing agenda.

“Democrats are not popular. They haven't laid out an agenda on what they'll do,” McCarthy said, adding that Democrats would have difficulty governing in the next Congress.

The election will determine whether Republicans retain control of the House or Democrats gain the power to shape legislation and oversee the Trump administration during the final two years of the president’s term.