Republicans are expected to have control of the U.S. House of Representatives next year after the Associated Press projected that Rep. Mike Garcia of California’s 27th Congressional District would win his re-election bid.

Garcia’s expected victory, which has not been certified by state officials yet, means that Republicans will represent at least 218 House districts, the minimum required to wield a majority in the 435-member legislative body.

The ultimate size of the Republican majority is yet to be determined as there are still 8 more seats which have yet to be called by news organizations, much less be officially certified.

Even if Republicans were to win all of the close races, however, they will be presiding over a much smaller caucus than GOP politicians and operatives predicted ahead of the Nov. 8 elections in which many promised a “Red Wave” of support.

Who will lead the Republicans is not yet determined either. On Tuesday, Garcia’s fellow Californian, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, won a preliminary vote to head the House Republican conference. The result was not unanimous, however; 31 members of the party voted for Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, a leader of the far-right Freedom Caucus.

The lack of unanimity means that McCarthy will likely be forced to make major concessions to Republicans’ most extreme members ahead of a vote of the full chamber which requires a minimum of 218 votes for someone to become Speaker of the House.

It’s a treacherous situation for McCarthy since Freedom Caucus members have become infamous for forcing government shutdowns in pursuit of massive and unpopular budget cuts, and for their staunch opposition to the Affordable Care Act, former president Barack Obama’s signature health care bill that has become popular since it was passed in 2010.

Forced to choose between electorally suicidal policy prescriptions and not becoming speaker, McCarthy has been looking for allies anywhere he can find them, including among Democrats. On Tuesday, Rep. Henry Cuellar, a conservative Texas Democrat, said that he had been approached by McCarthy lieutenants to switch parties. He declined.

Even if he were able to reach a deal with Freedom Caucus members, McCarthy will likely regard the arrangement with caution since the far-right group has already deposed previous Republican speakers John Boehner and Paul Ryan for not acceding to continually shifting demands.

With such a small majority, Republicans will have great difficulty passing legislation. Although even before they obtained their tenuous control over the House, the GOP’s top members expressed much more enthusiasm for investigating President Joe Biden on a laundry list of conspiracy theories and barely specific grievances.

For his part, Biden congratulated his partisan rivals on their victory but signaled that he did not view it as any sort of mandate from voters.

“I congratulate Leader McCarthy on Republicans winning the House majority, and am ready to work with House Republicans to deliver results for working families,” he said in a statement. “In this election, voters spoke clearly about their concerns: the need to lower costs, protect the right to choose, and preserve our democracy.”

"In this election, voters spoke clearly about their concerns: the need to lower costs, protect the right to choose, and preserve our democracy,” Biden said in a statement. “I will work with anyone — Republican or Democrat — willing to work with me to deliver results for them.”

TYT National Correspondent Matthew Sheffield reports about politics, media, and technology. Follow him on Twitter: @mattsheffield.