WASHINGTON (AP) — The blowout midterm elections have ushered in a new era in Washington, with Democrats in Congress looking forward to meeting the voter change requests while the Republicans saw their majorities evaporate after a revolt against President Donald Trump and his ruling party.
Democrats Republicans ousted from coast to coastwith many surprising places in between, in a decisive rejection of unified GOP control for the promise of something different for the country. Their majorities will be bolstered by unusually wide margins in the House and Senate.
These stunning results set up a closely divided government, with an emboldened Congress poised to reassert itself as a co-equal branch when Democrats take power in the new year. They are ready to get started a 100 day diary lower the costs of gas, groceries and health care and conduct extensive monitoring and investigation of Trump and his administrationwith an option of indictment.
“We hear you,” the House Democratic leader said. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who would go down in history as the first black speaker of the House if his colleagues elect him to the position when the new Congress begins on January 3, 2027.
Jeffries called the election a “stunning rebuke of MAGA extremism” and a “great victory for the American people.”
Democratic Leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer acknowledged the political reality that voters may have been more willing to reject the party of Trump than to embrace Democrats.
“Many of those who voted for us yesterday are still skeptical, and that’s OK,” the New York senator said on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.
He said the historic magnitude of his party’s victories — winning far-flung Senate seats in South Carolina, Texas and Kansas — creates “the opportunity to prove that we are worthy of their trust.”
Overall, the results demonstrate a fundamental reshaping of power in Washington, with new openings and new challenges for governing. The tally was staggering in the scale of the Democratic gains and the scale of the Republican losses, which indiscriminately wiped out Republican Party firebrands, moderates and seasoned conservatives across the country. The growing majorities, with some elections still too early to call, underscored a deep sense of anger and concern among voters over the economy and the state of democracy.
Trump struck a conciliatory tone, suggesting he could work with Democrats, but he also warned of a coming stalemate by threatening to use the power of the presidential veto to overturn their agenda.
“I don’t want to sit there for two years vetoing everything,” he told Politico.
He later acknowledged that the war in Iran had impacted the midterm elections, suggesting voters were frustrated by soaring gas prices as a result of the eight-month-old conflict.
“We had to do the Iran file and we continue to do it,” Trump told reporters.
He said he had no plans to replace Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, despite voters’ dissatisfaction with the war, saying Hegseth was “doing a great job.”
Vice President JD Vance, often seen as Trump’s likely successor in the White House, is clearly blamed. the president’s war in Iran for the mid-term elimination of the Republicans.
President of the House Mike Johnson of Louisiana will not seek re-election as leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, according to two people familiar with his decision, setting up a potentially brutal leadership battle after Democrats crushed the party. The people who briefed The Associated Press on Johnson’s decision insisted on anonymity in disclosing it.
Democrats promise 100-day agenda, Trump investigations
House Democrats plan to quickly launch efforts to unseat Trump’s Republican Party. cuts to the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid health programs. They are also ready to dive in a robust environment monitoring program to, as Jeffries puts it, “hold the crooks accountable.”
The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia of California, issued a one-sentence warning: “Attorney stand.”
Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, issued his own one-word missive: “Subpoenas.”
Democrats will be under pressure to quickly show they have solutions to voters’ anger and frustration over high prices, the war in Iran and unease about the direction the country is taking. About 7 in 10 voters nationally believe Congress is not doing enough to ensure a balance of power in the presidency, according to The AP Voter Poll.
For Jeffries and his leadership team, it will be the first time they will be in the majority, leading a class of newcomers, including a handful from the far left. democratic socialists.
With a majority in the 435-member House well above the 218 needed and Senate Democrats holding at least 54 of that chamber’s 100 seats, Jeffries and Schumer will have some room to maneuver.
Vance cites war in Iran for Republican losses
For Republicans, their shriveled numbers quickly triggered their own reckoning, as they tried to figure out what went so uniformly wrong.
In a lengthy online post, the vice president apparently sought to distance himself from the election results, seen as a referendum on Trump that resulted in heavy Republican losses across the country.
“The reason we lost was the war,” Vance wrote, adding, “If you want to argue that it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do it. Argue that it was worth paying for. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.”
A lame duck session and leadership elections await the Republicans
Republicans may be keen, during the limping post-election sprint, to accomplish as much as possible in their remaining weeks in office. But hoping for another GOP-only priority package like their tax relief and spending reductions bill look bleak as defeated lawmakers prepare to return home at the end of the year.
Conservatives are also considering whether Trump should appoint more judges, or even a justice. the Supreme Court while Senate Republicans still hold the majority to confirm the choices.
And the government could be headed for a federal shutdown next month if Congress fails to pass a funding bill to maintain operations.
In the coming weeks, the parties will hold internal leadership elections.
Johnson will remain a rank-and-file lawmaker in the new Congress, but rivals are lining up to replace him as GOP leader.
Jeffries will look to shore up his support as Democratic leader, before the House chooses its speaker as one of the first votes when the new Congress meets.
In the Senate, Schumer faces a new generation of Democrats, some of whom do not yet support him as majority leader.
Pioneers come to Congress
The president’s party has rarely retained power in midterm elections, but the Democratic tsunami echoed Trump’s first term, when Republicans faced an erupting electoral revolt. sent Democrats to House majorityand the Barack Obama era, when the republican tea party brought to power.
This new Congress will also be mark first and welcome the pioneers.
With the election of Democrat Juliana Stratton of Illinois, the Senate will have three black women in office for the first time.
Democrat Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota will be the first female Native American senator, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire will become the first openly gay US senator and Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan will be the first Muslim to serve in the US Senate.
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This story has been corrected to show that the Illinois Democrat’s name is Juliana, not Julia.
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Associated Press writers Tom Beaumont, Joey Cappelletti, Jill Colvin, Kevin Freking, Mary Clare Jalonick and Will Weissert contributed to this report.
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Follow AP coverage of the 2026 elections at https://apnews.com/hub/elections.
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