DEMOCRATS TAKE BACK CONGRESS

Two years into President Donald Trump’s unruly presidency plagued by endless lawlessness, corruption, self-dealing, executive branch overreach, a lethal immigration enforcement operation and an unauthorized war that has tanked the economy, House Democrats successfully took back control of the House, and, as a result, Congress.

The Associated Press made the call at 1:25 a.m. EST after Democrats officially secured 218 seats and the majority, hours after Democrats’ flip of the Senate became official. 

There were signs early on Tuesday night that Democrats were hitting a historic stride in flipping battleground House seats — even flipping some that were not expected to be at risk for Republicans. 

Not long after Roy Cooper flipped the Senate seat held by retiring-Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) early Tuesday night, Democrats flipped a crucial House seat in the state as well. North Carolina District 11 was previously held by Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC), who dropped out of the race after facing allegations of sexually harassing young female staffers. Democrat Jamie Agler flipped the seat with over 60% of the vote. 

Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District was also an early flip for Democrats. Democratic candidate Zach Dembo flipped the seat that was held by Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) — who won the race to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in the Senate. Dembo, a former federal prosecutor and Navy veteran, defeated Republican Ralph Alvarado, a former state senator with more than 52% of the vote.

A Democrat flipped New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District early on Tuesday night, as well. The seat was held by Rep. Tom Kean (R-NJ) who was hospitalized for depression for months over the summer and who flipped the seat for Republicans in 2022 (though that was only after the seat went to a Democrat for the first time in decades in 2018). 

Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District also flipped with a Democrat gaining control. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti defeated incumbent Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA).

Not all the House races have been called and we still don’t know what the seat-to-seat breakdown of what Democrat’s majority will be. 

Crucially, with the gavel back in hand, Democrats will take back control of the House committees and the power of oversight, ensuring that Trump’s allies in the White House will soon be brought before Congress to answer for the administration’s most flagrant wrongdoings. 

Democrats were also able to defy expectations and take the upper chamber. Now they can attempt to pass bills they want to prioritize, though they will have to bypass a Republican filibuster in the Senate. Even if they are able to pass legislation by overcoming the filibuster, President Trump, of course, still can and will veto anything that Democrats pass on their own, or with minimal GOP support. He already vowed to do so, even before Tuesday night’s historic blue tsunami. 

While Democratic leadership in the House and Senate has tiptoed around the possibility of any impeachment proceedings, the possibility of an impeachment in the House and a trial in the Senate is much stronger now that Democrats will soon have the majority in both chambers. 

Historically, the sitting president’s party tends to have a hard time in midterm elections, often losing control of one or both chambers. History repeated itself on Tuesday.

The expected incoming Speaker of the House Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and House Democrats will now have a fighting chance to disrupt some of the Trump administration’s most egregious actions and lawlessness. And they will once again be able to issue subpoenas for testimony and documents, which many have indicated they will take advantage of. 

There will be an aggressive oversight push starting almost immediately after the new speaker takes the gavel. House Democrats have said they will investigate a long list of what they describe as rampant self-dealing and corruption the Trump administration has engaged in — including probing Trump and his family businesses and practices of several departments under the executive branch. The list of investigations Democrats have already hinted at includes looking into Trump’s cryptocurrency platform and schemes around it, his stock trades and vanity projects — the White House ballroom, the triumphal arch, the reflecting pool and knocking down the East Wing of the White House, just to name a few. 

Democrats have also mentioned looking into the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files, the Department of Defense’s handling of the Iran war and deadly boat strikes, the Department of Homeland Security’s lethal immigration enforcement practices and more.