Democrats take control of Congress, a sharp rebuke to Trump in the midterms

A decisive night for Democrats

Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections held on Tuesday, 3 November, and their margin exceeded what the polls had anticipated. LaVanguardia reports that Democrats also won in states that had long backed Republicans, including Texas, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, South Carolina and North Carolina. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed is set to become the first Muslim senator in the country's history. Eldiario.es notes that no Democrat had won a national office in Texas, Kansas or South Carolina in decades, and that Kansas had gone nearly a century without Democratic senators.

Seats and the Senate race

RTVE reports 231 House seats for Democrats against 144 for Republicans, while noting that the results still await official confirmation. In the Senate, the same outlet gives Democrats 54 seats and Republicans 44. Eldiario.es says Democrats could reach 55 Senate seats and more than 250 House seats.

Democrats231

Republicans144

Democrats

231 seats

Republicans

144 seats

Data from the article text

Democrats54

Republicans44

Democrats

54 seats

Republicans

44 seats

Data from the article text

Chuck Schumer, who has until now led the Democratic minority in the Senate, told reporters after voting in Brooklyn that few had expected his party to retake the chamber. He pointed to recruiting candidates in states where Republicans were assumed to be unbeatable. He also cited campaign themes such as fuel prices and the cost of the weekly grocery shop.

Trump's response

Trump told Fox News in a live telephone interview that he did not regard the result as a setback for himself, according to the BBC, and said he was somewhat surprised by it. He blamed Republican candidates who failed to inspire turnout, adding that he had not been on the ballot. The BBC lists Darline Graham in South Carolina, Ken Paxton in Texas, Michael Whatley in North Carolina and Mike Collins in Georgia among the candidates who lost. The network also reports that he ruled out changes to his cabinet and acknowledged that higher gasoline prices influenced the vote. In a telephone interview with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday night, he conceded that the war with Iran was part of the defeat, while saying he had acted correctly and would do it again.

What a Democratic Congress can do

Democrats will chair the investigative committees, with bigger budgets and staff and the power to summon witnesses. Jamie Raskin, a candidate to lead the House Judiciary Committee, said in September that the party would use every tool at its disposal. Priority targets include business dealings linked to the Trump family, ties to the cryptocurrency industry and the activities of Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law. Democrats also want to know whether the government handled the Jeffrey Epstein case properly and to examine the financial transactions involved. Until now the courts were the only real check on Trump, and RTVE notes he can keep governing by decree and block legislation he dislikes, while Democrats can condition spending. In a New York Times interview Trump said he accepted the results and expected to find a solution with Democrats, but he has also warned that he will use his veto power.

Iran and the backlash

Iranian embassies around the world posted AI-generated images mocking Trump within hours of the results, according to El Periodico. One from the embassy in India showed men in suits throwing Trump into a container labelled Hazardous Waste. Another from the embassy in Bulgaria showed Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu looking defeated before a Strait of Hormuz closed with a chain, with the word DEFEATED on screens behind them. The accompanying post argued that the war against Iran had carried a high political cost for both leaders. Eldiario.es notes that no president had entered a midterm election with approval this low in decades, and that the precedent usually cited is Harry S. Truman in 1946.