In a closed-door meeting with lawmakers, the chair of the Senate GOP's campaign arm made the case that the party can still outrun a difficult political environment and hold on to the Senate in the November midterms, multiple people in the room confirmed to CBS News.

"We're in the fight for our lives with a record number of toss-up races," Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), told his colleagues during Wednesday's meeting, CBS News has learned.

With just under six weeks until the midterms, Scott said the group will focus its future spending on a handful of tight races where it is either defending GOP-held seats or attempting to flip Democratic seats, the people said.

Scott pointed to Maine, Texas, Ohio, Iowa and Alaska as among the seats the party is defending. As for opportunities to go on offense, he named New Hampshire and Michigan.

The meeting came as Republicans aim to defend their narrow majorities in the House and Senate — and prepare to face down political headwinds wrought by President Trump's sagging approval ratings, tied in part to voter dissatisfaction with the cost of living and frustrations with the Iran war. Democrats have sought to capitalize on the political environment, mounting strong challenges against GOP Senate candidates in red states like Ohio, Texas, Iowa and Alaska.

Historically, the party that controls the White House almost always loses ground in the midterms. During his closed-door presentation, Scott argued Republicans could follow a trajectory similar to the one their opponents traced in 2022, when Democrats gained a Senate seat despite losing the House and struggling with then-President Joe Biden's rough approval ratings.