USA, what powers will the Democrats have against Trump after his victory in the Midterms?

The Midterm elections in the United States saw the Democrats triumph, even in historically Republican states: they now have a majority in both the House and the Senate. A new political phase therefore opens for President Donald Trump and the GOP until the end of his mandate in 2028: what will the Dems be able to do with control of the new Congress (which will take office in January 2027)? This was also discussed in the episode of Numeri, an in-depth analysis by Sky TG24, on 4 November.

It is not the first time that a US president has found himself having to work with the entire politically opposed Congress. It has already happened in the past with nine other presidents, starting from Truman (1945-1947) up to Obama (2015-2017). This is also why the midterms exist, to give the American people the opportunity to express themselves every two years based on their appreciation of the current presidency.

So what will be the powers of the Democrats at the helm of Congress? First of all, they will be able to block the legislative proposals that come from the current administration. Trump immediately announced that he will make extensive use of the presidential veto power, in turn blocking the laws approved by the House and Senate, only to then soften and say that he will try to negotiate with the Democrats.

Without the Democrats, Trump will not be able to approve the budget and therefore allocate resources to the various federal agencies. In 2027 the debt ceiling must also be renewed, therefore the authorization to get into further debt. If an agreement is not reached, the government will go into shutdown: federal agencies will close and their workers will not receive their salaries.

Whoever has the majority in Congress - in particular the Senate - can then block the appointments of members of the administration, federal judges, Supreme Court judges and the heads of federal agencies.

And again, the Dems will be able to launch parliamentary investigations, summon members of the administration to hearings, request and publish documents (even those that may put Trump's team in difficulty or embarrass).

On impeachment, i.e. the power to impeach and remove the president or other members of his administration, the Democrats have the numbers in the House, which can vote on the charges with a simple majority (i.e. propose them). In the Senate, to effectively condemn a member of the administration, two thirds are needed, which the Democrats will not have, because they will be able to reach a maximum of 56 seats, but they would need 67.