Democrats win control of Congress, rebuking Trump in midterms
Seven Lights
American voters stripped the Republican Party of control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections on Tuesday. The result returns the Democratic Party to full control of Congress for the first time since 2023 and opens the final two years of President Trump’s term under divided government.
Democrats captured seven Senate seats held by Republicans, in North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Kansas, Iowa and Maine, and held a contested seat in Georgia, according to a tally of race calls by The Associated Press analysed by NPR. In the House, Democrats took at least three Florida districts that the state’s Republican legislature had redrawn to favour their party’s candidates, and unseated four Republican incumbents in swing districts across Pennsylvania, every competitive race in that state. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York is expected to be sworn in as the first Black speaker of the House when the new Congress convenes on January 3.
“From sea to shining sea, the American people have spoken and made clear they’ve had enough of the extremism, enough of the corruption,” Mr Jeffries said at his election-night gathering in Washington. Representative Robert Garcia of California, in line to chair the Oversight Committee, posted two words on X after the projections: “LAWYER UP.”
The campaign turned on voters’ frustrations with the cost of living and on perceptions of public corruption, and the results were widely read as a referendum on Mr Trump’s immigration crackdown, his eight-month war with Iran and tariffs on American allies. The president, who had urged voters to treat him as though he were on the ballot, declared on social media after the losses: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”
Democrats will take command of House committees in January, gaining subpoena power over the administration, its family interests and its business ventures. Mr Garcia said his panel would examine what he called “Trump family corruption,” including the president’s cryptocurrency ventures, which have earned him more than $1 billion, and conduct scrutiny of immigration enforcement and the Jeffrey Epstein files. Mr Jeffries told NBC News that Democrats “haven’t ruled anything in and we haven’t ruled anything out” on a third impeachment inquiry. He has said Democratic legislation will target Medicaid cuts, Affordable Care Act credits, congressional authority over tariffs and the war with Iran.
Mr Trump retains the veto, so much of the Democratic agenda may serve as a platform for 2028 rather than near-term law. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, a close Trump ally, faces a decision on whether to stay on as minority leader.