A president’s party usually sees major losses during midterm elections.
Since 1934, just Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934, Bill Clinton in 1998, and George W. Bush in 2002 saw their parties gain seats in Congress during the midterms.
Some recent presidents saw significant losses in their first midterm election races. The GOP under Donald Trump lost 40 House seats, yet gained two Senate seats in 2018.
Democrats under Barack Obama lost 63 House seats and six Senate seats in 2010, and before that Democrats under Clinton lost 52 House seats and eight Senate seats in 1994, the Associated Press reported.
Midterms are thought of as a referendum on an incumbent president's administration and its performance.
Every two years, the U.S. House of Representatives has its entire 435 members up for election.
As Reuters pointed out, the party of the president sees its seat count swing regularly, and that has been the case since Harry Truman was in office at the end of World War II.
The House usually doesn't change control during a presidential election year, but every time a House has flipped since 1955, it has been during a midterm election.