Wang Hongren International Column》After the Democratic Party’s victory, new worries about American governance

The 2026 U.S. midterm elections have been announced, with the Democratic Party regaining control of the House and Senate and making breakthroughs in areas with traditional Republican advantages such as Texas and Georgia. The victory reflects voters' dissatisfaction with the Trump administration's tariffs, cost of living and Iran war policies. However, the Democratic Party's victory has also brought new worries, including the rise of Muslim political power, the leftward shift of progressives, the expansion of technology industry regulations, and the political confrontation between Congress and the White House.

Michigan's newly elected Senator Abdul El-Sayed is the first Muslim federal senator in the United States. (Bloomberg file photo) First of all, whether there is political "Muslimization" in the United States deserves attention. Michigan's newly elected Senator Abdul El-Sayed is the first Muslim federal senator in the United States. He has a doctorate in public health from Oxford University and a doctorate in medicine from Columbia University. His political philosophy is close to that of Senator Bernie Sanders. He advocates universal health insurance and opposes unconditional military aid to Israel. New Jersey’s newly elected Congressman Adam Hamawy also has a Muslim background and is also critical of the United States’ Israel policy.

This kind of Muslimization does not mean that the United States will move toward Islamic religious rule, but that Muslim politicians and voters have gradually increased their organizational mobilization and policy influence within the Democratic Party. Especially in areas with concentrated Arab populations such as Dearborn, Michigan, the Gaza war has become an important political issue. If the Democratic Party pays more attention to the diplomatic demands of Muslim voters in the future, it may change the relatively stable pro-Israel policy alliance in the past and intensify the contradiction between progressives and moderates within the party.

Secondly, the Democratic Party may return to left-leaning and inefficient governance. Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa advocates suspending the approval of new AI data centers, while Ohio Governor-elect Amy Acton requires companies to bear the cost of new power facilities. Democratic governor-elects in Georgia, New Mexico and other states have also proposed similar restrictions. It is estimated that about 40% of the planned data center capacity in the United States is located in states that advocate development moratoriums.

Texas Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa advocates suspending the approval of new AI data centers. (Reuters file photo) Environmental review and protection of residents’ rights and interests are certainly necessary, but if states continue to increase public hearings, administrative licensing and local rejection procedures, corporate investment will inevitably face higher time costs and policy uncertainty. Ironically, this is one of the issues that American Republicans have often criticized European countries for in the past. At a time when the United States is engaged in fierce AI technology competition with China, if states governed by Democratic parties repeat the mistakes of some European countries where large-scale construction approvals are lengthy and decision-making efficiency is inefficient, it may weaken the United States' own technological competitiveness.

What is even more alarming is that the U.S. technology industry is facing the risk of China’s continued expansion of intelligence penetration. Recently, the relationship between NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang and company executive Alice Huang, who is suspected of being recruited by Chinese intelligence agencies, has attracted the attention of the U.S. Congress. According to the New York Times report, U.S. intelligence officials believe that China is trying to get close to Huang Jen-Hsun through personal and business networks to collect intelligence and influence China’s export policy of advanced AI chips.

The political significance of this incident is that China may not only gain competitive advantage through technology theft, but also try to influence the business decisions and government policies of key US companies. When U.S. domestic technology investment is subject to more administrative restrictions, adversaries may use transnational business networks to obtain technology and intelligence, and the United States faces the risk of imbalanced allocation of regulatory resources. How to strengthen corporate intelligence security and export control while protecting local interests is a more important policy issue.

Recently, the relationship between Huang Renxun and Huang Le, a business executive suspected of being recruited by Chinese intelligence agencies, has attracted the attention of the U.S. Congress. The picture shows Huang Renxun (left) and Huang Le (right) having a meal at Sanliu Restaurant in Taipei in May 2025. (File photo, taken from @CollinRugg’s photo at X) Another concern is that congressional oversight may evolve into political revenge. Robert Garcia, who is expected to take over the House Oversight Committee, is already preparing to investigate the Trump administration and related companies. Garcia even publicly asked Trump's newly appointed White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller to "go find a lawyer." Congressional investigations are a necessary mechanism for democratic checks and balances, but if one party continues to resist with investigations, subpoenas, and judicial actions, budget negotiations, executive appointments, and legislation on people's livelihood may be squeezed out. If the Democratic Party interprets its victory as a comprehensive pursuit of Trump's political mandate, it will ignore the economic issues that voters really care about.

Finally, it’s worth thinking about, did the Democratic Party’s election victory come from voters’ support for Democratic policies, or did it come from a rebound after being disappointed with Trump’s policies? U.S. stocks fluctuated violently immediately after the election, with the Nasdaq index plunging 5.56% on November 5, reflecting investors' concerns that the Democratic Party may strengthen regulation of the AI ​​industry. It also reminds Democrats that an anti-Trump vote does not equal a mandate to support leftist policies.

Elections can punish a government, but they cannot prove the governance ability of another political party. If the Democratic Party is still unable to effectively respond to issues of concern to voters such as prices, social security, illegal immigration, and Chinese technology competition in the next two years, it may not be able to win the White House in 2028 even if it has a majority in Congress and the power of more state governments. After all, just because voters are willing to give the Democrats a chance this time does not mean they are willing to vote for the Democrats again on the same issue two years later.

Even if the Democratic Party has a majority in Congress, it will still be unable to effectively respond to issues such as prices, social security, illegal immigration, and Chinese technology competition in the next two years, and it may not be able to return to power in 2028. (European News Agency file photo) (The author is a professor of the Department of Political Science at National Cheng Kung University and the executive director of the National Policy Research Institute)