Washington. US voters punished President Donald Trump's Republicans and gave the Democratic Party control of Congress. According to projections, the Democrats won the majority not only in the House of Representatives, but also in the Senate - something that was considered unlikely just a few months ago. The vote became a referendum on Trump's policies, which voters blame for rising prices.
The loss of the congressional majority is a bitter defeat for Trump and will make it more difficult for him to govern. Democrats will set the tone for legislation starting in January. Candidates for important government positions and judges must be confirmed in the Senate.
In addition, the Democrats in Congress can initiate investigations against the president and his administration. They have had numerous topics in their sights for a long time: the Trump family's business activities, the sometimes fatal actions of officials in the raids against migrants or controversial renovation and construction projects in the capital Washington.
What is particularly relevant is that this also gives them the opportunity to torpedo Trump's budget plans. The Democrats could use this lever to pressure Republicans to accommodate their party's concerns. Leading Democrat Hakeem Jeffries is now on track to become the first Black Speaker of the House.
The Constitution also grants the House of Representatives the right to initiate impeachment proceedings. The Senate then decides on the actual impeachment - but this requires a two-thirds majority, which is difficult to achieve. The Democrats had recently shown little ambition to start impeachment proceedings against Trump again. In his first term, the impeachments failed in the Senate.
Trump announced that he would accept the results of the congressional elections. "We will work with the Democrats, and we look forward to it. We will probably find a solution," he told the New York Times. There had previously been speculation about whether Trump would recognize the outcome of the election. He can block Democratic legislative initiatives by veto. On election night, he posted a picture of a red hat with the inscription “Veto” on his Truth Social platform.
The Republicans currently have a majority of 53 votes in the Senate - after the Democrats suffered a defeat in the election two years ago. To gain control of the Senate, the Democrats had to take a net four seats from the Republicans. While counting was still underway in some close races, they had already recorded five mandate changes.
The first “flip” was achieved in North Carolina by former Democratic governor Roy Cooper. Then comes South Carolina, where Trump-backed Darline Graham Nordone lost her seat to Democrat Annie Andrews. In Texas, James Talarico became the first Democrat to represent the state in the U.S. Senate in nearly 40 years. He won against President Donald Trump-backed Republican candidate Ken Paxton. Tech billionaire Elon Musk supported Paxton's election campaign with more than $150 million.
In Kansas, Adam Hamilton won the first Senate seat for the Democrat since 1932. In Ohio, Democrat Sherrod Brown won the seat once held by current Republican Vice President JD Vance. In Georgia, Democrat Jon Ossoff, who was once considered a shaky candidate, easily defended his seat.
US voters went to the general election with enormous dissatisfaction with Trump. In a large survey of voters, 62 percent blamed the president's policies for the country's price rise, US television reported. 37 percent were dissatisfied with the situation in the country - and 38 percent were even angry about it.
According to the survey, the economic situation was the main issue for 39 percent of voters. The Americans are particularly concerned about the sharp rise in fuel prices as a result of Trump's Iran war. They grew particularly rapidly - in some cases by more than 70 percent - in the middle of the country, where Republicans have traditionally done better.
In the voter survey, 40 percent said the economic situation in the United States was “not so good” and 35 percent said it was bad. Nearly two-thirds said Trump's import tariffs had hurt the economy. Unlike before, 43 percent are more likely to trust the Democrats to get the economy going - compared to 38 percent for the Republicans.
According to CNN, around 100,000 voters were surveyed for the survey commissioned by major media outlets. Information from voters on election day was combined with information from early and postal voters who were surveyed online or by telephone since October 19th.
Trump had become a central figure in the Republican election campaign. He traveled tirelessly from state to state, always carrying the same message to his supporters: “Imagine if I were on the ballot.” But on election night he didn't want to hear any more about it: "I wasn't on the ballot," he wrote.
