President Donald Trump is telling voters to pretend he’s in this year’s midterm elections.
They did it. They staunchly reject his policies and his Republican Party.
NBC News reported that Democrats have taken full control of Congress, and voters have strongly rejected Trump’s agenda while also sending a clear message that Congress has not done enough to check his administration and needs to do more to address affordability and corruption issues.
A swift and decisive victory in the House preceded a Democratic victory in the Senate, where Democrats would have their largest majority in nearly two decades.
Democrats flipped six Republican-held seats in Maine, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. Some of these states Democrats have long dreamed of turning blue, while others weren’t even on their radar a year ago.
In some of those states, Trump hand-picked nominees, sometimes over the objections of members of his own party who feared he would be vulnerable in the general election.
When South Carolina — even a state that many Democrats thought was out of reach — lost early, it was an early warning sign that it was going to be a rough night for Republicans. Democrats cut deep into the heart of MAGA country and achieved results far beyond what they could achieve in the 2018 midterm elections during Trump’s first term.
In an NBC News exit poll, 43% of midterm voters said one of the reasons they voted was to express opposition to Trump, whose job approval rating was lower than any president on Election Day in nearly two decades.
71% of voters – including 41% of Republicans – also said Congress does not provide enough oversight of Trump. Corruption, affordability, immigration and the war with Iran are also key issues.
The results were so dismal that Trump quickly fled from them Tuesday night. Trump said on social media that the fact that he was not on the ballot was the reason why the Republican Party failed: “I was not on the ballot. If I had been, we would have won by a landslide!”
A Democratic takeover would have widespread repercussions. With majorities in both chambers, the Trump administration will now have to deal with the scrutiny and investigations that a compliant Congress in Republican hands avoided. The election results could affect the composition of the Supreme Court, the direction of the 2028 presidential campaign and the fate of Trump’s legislative plans for the second half of his term.
But it will also set up an epic showdown with Trump that will test a constitutional power-sharing arrangement that has survived war and civil strife intact over the past two centuries. With their new majority, Democratic lawmakers will gain a range of oversight powers that they will use to investigate a Trump administration they believe has escaped accountability.
Trump’s presidency, in turn, is rooted in a vision of unparalleled executive power. Neither side appears to be in the mood for compromise, meaning the next two years are likely to see legislative and executive branch conflicts not seen since Watergate.
“What we’re going to do is lower costs, end all rampant corruption, end chaos. Plain and simple,” New York Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said before the election in response to an NBC News question about his priorities if his party wins.
When the midterm campaign season began, a Democratic landslide seemed unthinkable. The party’s victory came despite an unfavorable map, with key battlegrounds passing through red states that Trump won in all three presidential contests. Not since 2006 has a minority party seized control of the House and Senate in a single night. Then-President George W. Bush, faced with strong voter opposition to the war in Iraq, memorably lamented that the results were “shocking.”
Trump is trying to mobilize his core base and maintain Republican slim majorities in the House and Senate by placing himself at the center. He has a packed campaign schedule in the final month of the campaign, but he and his party are beset by low job approval ratings and clear voter frustration with the economy.
House Speaker Mike Johnson attributes Republican midterm election losses to historical trends, telling supporters that maintaining the House majority will require ignoring more than a century of midterm history.
Trump has tried to blame his predecessor, Joe Biden, for rising prices, but voters don’t appear to be buying the problem. After Trump and the Israeli leader launched a war with Iran in late February, natural gas prices soared and Americans disliked Trump’s handling of the conflict, adding another drag on Republican candidates.
The election results are likely to make history, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, set to become the nation’s first black speaker. Democrats are expected to hold an internal leadership election the week of November 16, when Jeffries will become the party’s nominee for speaker. Then, on January 3, he must win 218 votes – a simple majority of all House members – to officially win the speaker’s gavel and become second in line to the presidential succession.
Schumer, who served as Senate majority leader for four years, is expected to return to the top job after exceeding expectations and leading his party out of exile.
Democrats have been on track to win House seats all season. To do so, they would need to flip just three seats held by Republicans, and the president’s party has historically lost dozens of seats on average during midterm elections.
Senate Minority Leader Schumer addressed Democrats after they took control of the Senate and House of Representatives.
But as the campaign unfolds, Democrats are increasingly betting on winning the Senate. One reason is minority voting. Latino voters helped fuel Trump’s political comeback in 2024, but they have rejected him this cycle, citing high prices and his crackdown on immigration. An NBC News poll released Sunday showed Democrats leading by 27 points among Latino voters, a stark contrast from the 2024 election when Trump trailed by just 7 points in the demographic.
The outcome could also leave a mark on the Supreme Court. Before the election, several Senate Democrats doubted they would confirm any of Trump’s nominees if a Supreme Court vacancy arose during Trump’s final two years.
Democrats have full control of the Senate and the ability to block Trump’s nominees.
“Well, given the history of Trump’s nominees, I think there’s almost no support for the nominees of this administration,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview with NBC News before the election. “Because we’ve seen the movie, we know how it ends, which is a politician in a robe doing Trump’s bidding on most major issues.”
Going forward, the election results could recalibrate the race for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. The projected Republican frontrunner is Vice President J.D. Vance. But if the outcome amounts to a rejection of Trump and his brand of politics, Vance may find he has no shortcut to the nomination.
As the minority party, Democrats lack the power to issue subpoenas and schedule oversight hearings. All changes will take place when the new Congress convenes in January. Democratic lawmakers have signaled they will seek to rein in spending and war powers wielded by Trump, with little resistance from the Republican-led Congress.
House Democrats have vowed to pursue aggressive oversight of Trump’s family, business dealings and administration, including the immigration crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as Trump’s pet renovation projects at the White House and other Washington-area landmarks.
At the tip of the investigative spear are Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. Garcia outlined his investigative strategy, focusing on what he called “Trump family corruption,” including how Trump’s wealth has grown by billions since the 2024 campaign, as well as the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Judiciary Committee Democrats said they also have a long list of targets for the investigation, including pardons for “wealthy criminals and MAGA loyalists” and foreign governments “buying influence” through gifts and payments to the Trump family’s cryptocurrency empire.
Jeffries said Democrats are not focused on impeaching Trump, but they haven’t ruled it out either. Trump was impeached twice during his first term, but was acquitted by the Senate both times.
“The cost of living is too high, and Donald Trump — and his sycophantic Republican congressmen — have effectively decided not to do anything about it because many of them are focused on enriching themselves, their families, their friends and their donors. There is a cost to corruption,” Jeffries told reporters before the election.
“As part of our commitment to hold scammers accountable from day one, these are matters that need to be investigated thoroughly,” he said.
Given the election results, Republicans may be able to introduce part of their legislative agenda during the lame-duck session before formally relinquishing control of the House on Jan. 3. They are likely to introduce another party-line “reconciliation” bill to advance Trump’s spending and tax priorities and raise the debt ceiling ahead of a 2027 deadline.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s political future is unknown. He needs a majority of the Senate Republican caucus in a closed-door vote to remain as minority leader. But he has had an up-and-down relationship with Trump, who has become frustrated with him over his failure to clear the way to pass the Save America Act, which would overhaul U.S. election laws.
Another mystery is the fate of Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican who has served as House speaker for the past three years. He may remain as minority leader, but faced with sweeping defeat, some rank-and-file Republicans may demand new leadership.