Democrats win Congress in overwhelming rejection of Trump

Democrats took control of both the Senate and the House this Tuesday (3), winning landslide victories in Republican strongholds for the first time in generations. Tens of millions of voters sent a scathing criticism to President Donald Trump.

Voters in conservative strongholds, which had carried the president to his second term just two years ago, have drastically switched sides in favor of Democrats, driven by frustration over the unpopular war with Iran, the high cost of living and anger at the way Trump has governed the country.

Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a century ago. In South Carolina, a state where Trump won by almost 18 points in 2024, Democrats defeated his hand-picked Senate candidate.

In Texas, the largest Republican state, Democrats ended a decades-long losing streak in devastating fashion, winning a Senate seat and unseating Governor Greg Abbott, who was serving his third term.

The results will usher in a new era of divided government in Washington, after two years in which the Republican-controlled Congress rarely exercised its power to restrain Trump.

Once they take office in January, Democrats are expected to use their power to investigate the Trump administration, his family and his allies, as well as demand concessions on important bills. The Democratic Senate could block Trump's nominees, including any United States (US) Supreme Court justices, if a vacancy arises.

"There is now a generational reshaping of the Senate map that will change America," said Chuck Schumer, the party's Senate minority leader. "Americans voted for change, and now Democrats must deliver."

Trump, who is barred by the US Constitution from running for a third term, has exercised iron control over his party for most of the last decade. But the new balance of power in Washington could accelerate his status as an outgoing president, as attention turns to the 2028 presidential race and potential successors begin to vie for political influence in a post-Trump world.

Despite Democrats' concerns that Trump might try to overturn the election results, as he did in 2020, the president accepted the result, congratulating Democrats in an interview with Fox News. He also said he would work with Democrats on issues like immigration, although he threatened to veto any "insane" bills they passed.