House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s House Democratic Caucus could lose up to three seats on some top House committees after last week’s Republican electoral blitz.

The 12-seat loss election means the party will lose some serious sway in the Capitol – and a shrinking number of committee seats is the most public manifestation in that loss of power.

( Also on POLITICO: Red-state Democrats rise in Senate)

No final decisions on committee ratios have been made – the House doesn’t return until Wednesday evening – but senior GOP and Democratic leadership source and top committee aides tell POLITICO they are preparing to lose as many as three seats on many committees. A final decision might not come for a few weeks.

Decisions of this nature are the subject of lengthy negotiations between Speaker John Boehner and Pelosi. But that Democrats will lose seats on committees is a certainty. House Democrats are going to make a valiant effort to keep seats on the so-called “A committees,” which include Ways and Means, Appropriations and Energy and Commerce committees. Those panels are the most powerful and lawmakers who sit on them raise the most campaign cash.

Both Republicans and Democrats are looking at the historical allocation ratios to determine how many seats Democrats will keep.

The loss in seats is just one thing that is sure to cause angst in a House Democratic Caucus that’s already fuming over its loss of clout. Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) are running for re-election in the closed party leadership contests that will take place Nov. 18. Neither is expected to lose their post.