Democrats take US Congress in midterms as Musk's $474 million push fails

The vote and the result

Americans voted on Tuesday, 3 November 2026, in midterm elections that renewed all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 35 Senate seats and 36 governorships. By Wednesday, 4 November, the Democratic Party had won control of both the House and the Senate, ending the Republican majority in Congress. Democrats also carried Republican strongholds where they had not won for decades. The new majority now has significant power to restrain the president over the two remaining years of his term.

Musk's spending and the markets

Elon Musk spent at least $474 million on the midterms, and $224 million of that went to Texas. In Texas, Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton and Governor Greg Abbott lost to Democrats. SpaceX shares fell 4.6% and Tesla shares fell 4.4% in premarket trading on Wednesday, 4 November. AI-related stocks were mixed, with Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft rising at the open, while investors weighed whether state-level limits on data centers could delay projects in key markets. Dan Ives, a partner at Yorkville Ives & Co., said the midterms would slow the pace of data center development in the United States. SpaceX is building several gigawatts of data center capacity, including projects in Texas.

Total, at least474

Spent in Texas224

Total, at least

474 USD million

Spent in Texas

224 USD million

Data from the article text

SpaceX-4.6%

Tesla-4.4%

SpaceX

-4.6 %

Tesla

-4.4 %

Data from the article text

Trump's response

Trump told reporters at the White House that he was not even slightly worried about impeachment, even though Democrats now control Congress. He said an impeachment without cause would destroy the Democratic Party and pointed to the country's success. The Senate had acquitted him when he was impeached in 2019 and 2021. On Iran, he agreed that the war had pushed up gasoline prices briefly and had contributed to the Republican losses, but said it was worth it and that Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. On Tuesday evening he posted on Truth Social that the party would have won had he taken part in the elections. On Wednesday afternoon, at the construction site of the White House ballroom in the East Wing, he made his first public appearance since the results and described a bunker five floors beneath the building. He said he was willing to work with Democrats if they did not obstruct him, but he kept his veto power.

Vance's critique of the campaign

J. D. Vance, a possible 2028 presidential contender, posted a long message on X on Wednesday, a day after the defeat, in which he did not spare Trump. He wrote that the war with Iran was the reason for the defeat, a view that runs against Trump's own analysis, and said many Trump voters from 2024 were angry and considered voting Democratic. He cited a pollster's four most frequent answers from voters who had left the party: ending the war, a focus on the cost of living and inflation, putting America first, and changing the relationship with Israel. Vance also wrote that the economic message had not been punchy enough in the final stretch. Several figures of the MAGA movement, including Tucker Carlson, have turned against Trump over the past two years.

Democrats' oversight plans

Robert Garcia, who is set to become chair of the House Oversight Committee, told Republicans to hire lawyers, The Hill reported. Committee Democrats have opened several investigations of the Trump administration, including an inquiry into Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender, which has bipartisan backing and is expected to continue. They have also opened a review of the Department of Government Efficiency, formerly led by Elon Musk, and requested information from several immigration agencies. Officials accused of profiting from their government posts, including in connection with the president's cryptocurrency business, are also under scrutiny. The committee has asked Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former US ambassador to Greece, for information after reports that she asked an ally of Trump for money to pay credit card debts before her confirmation hearing. Kamala Harris, the former vice president, welcomed the Democratic takeover and urged her party to use all levers of power to support working families and hold the administration accountable.