Republicans won control of the U.S. House of Representatives but Democrats retained majority in the Senate, a scenario that has well been anticipated by politicians and analysts, exit polls showed Tuesday night.

People walk into a polling station in Manhattan of New York, the United States, Nov. 2, 2010, the U.S. Midterm Election Day. [Shen Hong/Xinhua]

House races

Republicans needed to make a net gain of at least 39 seats to become House majority. CNN, citing exit polls, projected they would end up picking up at least 60 seats -- the largest swing since 1948. MSNBC and Fox News also projected Republican win of the lower chamber.

U.S. mid-term elections

"Virtually every major network has projected that we will take control of the House, and that sure feels good," Republican Congressman Greg Walden said at a victory party in Washington Tuesday night.

The shakeup in the House will mark an end for Nancy Pelosi's job as the first female U.S. House Speaker, and the current Republican House Minority Leader John Boehner is on track to take over her job after the new Congress is sworn in next year.

House Republican whip Eric Cantor is likely to become majority leader in the new Congress.

In a prepared remarks Tuesday night, Cantor promised to repeal the healthcare reform law and cut federal spending to rein in deficits.

"We will get to work right away to reduce the deficit by cutting federal spending next year down to 2008 levels. That will save 100 billion dollars in the first year alone," he said.

Experts said Democrats and Republicans were all but certain to have more confrontations on budget-related legislations, as the House, under U.S. constitution, has special power in writing tax-related laws.