Democratic victory in US Congressional elections could lead to a shutdown

A Democratic victory in the US congressional elections will complicate legislators' negotiations on the government budget and could lead to a shutdown, Robert Shapiro, a professor at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York, told RIA Novosti.

The elections, in which Americans will determine the new composition of the House of Representatives, as well as the fate of 35 seats in the Senate, will take place on November 3. Republicans currently control parliament by a small margin.

Shapiro recalled that historically, in midterm elections, the opposition party gains additional seats in the House of Representatives.

“This could complicate budget negotiations and increase the likelihood of a government shutdown,” the expert said of the consequences of a possible Democratic victory.

Congress is responsible for agreeing on the budget, and problems in negotiations on this issue often result in missed deadlines, and then the government finds itself without funds, as a result of which it cannot function fully and a shutdown occurs.

Shapiro emphasized that even the opposition is unlikely to go to such an extreme.

"I don't think any party would want to be in a situation where they could be accused of causing a government shutdown," the professor said.

At the end of 2025, the United States faced the longest federal government shutdown in the country's history. The shutdown lasted 43 days: from October 1 to November 12, federal institutions and departments did not work, 670 thousand government employees were on unpaid leave.

Since 1946, only twice has the party holding the White House won additional congressional seats in midterm elections: 1998 and 2002. The Democrats lost a record in 2010: the party lost 63 seats in the House and 6 Senate seats.