Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer believes that Democrats are likely to lose their control of the House of Representatives in the November midterms, Punchbowl News reported.
In the same exchange he gave Democrats a 60% chance of retaining control of the Senate.
According to the outlet, Schumer made the remarks at an Italian restaurant in Washington, DC, with a group of other Democratic senators.
The remarks were loud and could be overheard by several other patrons, Punchbowl said.
His prediction that Democrats would lose control of the Senate contradicts that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said the party would not only hold the House but increase its majority.
Per Punchbowl, at the dinner Schumer described Pelosi as being "in trouble." If Democrats lose the House, she would also lose her position as speaker.
The predictions are part of a long process of setting expectations for the votes. Pundits only weeks ago predicted a GOP "red wave" that would hand control of both houses back to the Republicans — a significantly more dramatic reversal that that predicted by Schumer.
Republicans have long been expected to win back control of the House in the midterms, in line with the long trend of the party which holds the presidency losing the House in midterm elections.
Redistricting and a number of retirements also make a Democratic majority a long shot.
But in the Senate, Democrats are increasingly optimistic about retaining their slender majority. President Joe Biden's popularity, which was recently polling in the low 40s, is recovering, amid a dip in gas prices and recent legislative successes.
The decision by the conservative majority Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade has provoked a backlash by voters against the GOP, and recent legal scandals embroiling former President Donald Trump have damaged the party's attempts to focus on preferred themes like education and migration.
