Once-Bullish GOP Now Sees Smaller House Majority

“House Republicans are starting to grow pessimistic about their chances of winning a massive majority in the midterm elections, putting some allies of GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy on edge over his future,” CNN reports.

“While GOP lawmakers are still confident they will be able to recapture the House this fall — thanks to a map and historical trends that are both in their favor — there are new concerns inside the party that Democrats might be able to minimize the GOP’s gains in November, according to interviews with nearly a dozen Republican lawmakers and aides.”

“And the size of the GOP’s majority matters — both for McCarthy’s ability to secure the speaker’s gavel and his ability to govern a Republican conference that has swung increasingly to the right while a crop of the party’s moderates and dealmakers have headed for the exits.”

Paul Kane: Has the political environment shifted? Alums of 2010, 2018 wave midterms urge caution.