As Democrats take Congress, left portrays a rebuke of Trump – right warns of what comes next
Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, ending Republican majorities in the House and Senate and delivering a heavy defeat to President Donald Trump two years into his second term.
US networks projected the Senate result late on Tuesday night, with Democrats reaching the 51 seats needed for control. They flipped seven Republican-held seats, in Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina. In Texas, James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton, giving Democrats a Senate seat in the state for the first time since 1988. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed won an open seat and became the first Muslim elected to the Senate. In the House, projections put Democrats well beyond the 218 seats needed for a majority, with dozens of races still being counted on Wednesday.
Analysts linked the result to voter frustration over living costs, persistent inflation and the war with Iran. London Mayor Sadiq Khan congratulated Democrats on what he called a “huge victory”.
The change brings practical consequences. Democratic committee chairs will gain subpoena powers, and party figures have said they intend to pursue Trump’s family business dealings, immigration policy and the Epstein case. Trump’s veto and the Senate filibuster will limit what Democrats can pass without Republican support, which may complicate negotiations on major priorities. Republicans now face questions over the party’s direction ahead of the 2028 primary contest.
Both sides agreed on the scale of the result, but their coverage differed on what it meant. Left-leaning coverage presented it as a sweeping rebuke of Trump and MAGA politics, and as the start of a lame-duck presidency. Right-leaning coverage was equally dramatic about the size of the Republican defeat, but turned its attention to what comes next: the investigations Democrats have promised, the issues of inflation and abortion that drove the vote, and whether foreign policy will change at all. One side treated the vote as a verdict on the past two years, the other as the opening of a new confrontation.
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