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House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday there will be a peaceful transfer of power after next week’s midterms, while insisting Republicans won’t actually have to hand anything over because they’re going to keep the House.

Getting into it: Johnson was campaigning in Orangeburg, New York yesterday with Republican Rep. Mike Lawler when MS NOW reporter Mychael Schnell asked whether he’d commit to a peaceful handoff in January no matter the results. Johnson called the question “a little silly” and said he’d follow the Constitution by swearing in every member whose state certifies their election when the new Congress starts Jan. 3, adding that he may not like some outcomes but that’s how the system works.

“Of course we’ll have a peaceful transfer of power, but it will not be transferring, because we are going to keep the majority, and I’m going to be the Speaker of the House, and I will keep steady hands at the wheel,” Johnson said.

Notably, Johnson was one of Trump’s biggest backers in Congress when Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election.

Despite all of this, the forecasts aren’t on his side. Decision Desk HQ gives Democrats an 80% chance of taking the House, and they need to flip just three seats to do it.

Johnson has argued the polls are undercounting Republicans who refuse to answer surveys, though polling in recent midterms has been close to accurate, missing by zero points in 2018 and slightly underestimating Democrats in 2022, according to Nate Silver’s analysis. Republicans have also cut spending in some battleground districts, including two Trump won in 2024.