Johnson attributed the Republicans' defeat to a historical trend

U.S. House Speaker, Republican Mike Johnson, stated that in order to retain control of the lower chamber of Congress, his party would have had to overcome a trend more than a century old related to the results of midterm elections.

"Over the past 90 years, it has happened only twice that a sitting president in midterm elections held during the first two years of his presidential term was able to maintain or increase the number of his party's seats. It is extremely, extremely difficult to overcome this trend. Tonight, history will repeat itself," Johnson noted.

Johnson himself is winning his own House race, but the Republicans have lost their majority in the lower chamber of Congress, which deprives him of the opportunity to retain the speaker's post.

According to CNN, the next Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives will likely be Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. If elected, he will become the first African American in the country's history to hold this position.

Sources: NBC news, CNN