Democrats projected to win both chambers of US Congress in midterm blow to Trump

Democrats are projected to have won control of both chambers of the US Congress in the midterm elections on 3 November 2026, ending two years of unified Republican control in Washington.

NBC News and Decision Desk HQ projected that the party would take the Senate, after it had been projected to win the House of Representatives earlier in the evening.

NPR, citing a tally of race calls by The Associated Press, reported that Democrats secured the Senate when Josh Turek defeated Republican Representative Ashley Hinson in Iowa.

The result leaves President Donald Trump facing a divided government for the remainder of his second term. USA Today described the outcome as a stunning rebuke of the president, while NBC News called it a forceful repudiation of his agenda.

Six Republican-held Senate seats flipped

Democrats won Republican-held Senate seats in Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. According to NPR and USA Today, the party needed a net gain of four seats to take the chamber, which Republicans had held 53-47.

USA Today reported that Adam Hamilton is projected to become the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in Kansas since 1932. James Talarico is the first Democrat to win one in Texas since 1988.

In North Carolina, former Governor Roy Cooper defeated Republican Michael Whatley, delivering the night’s first Senate flip for Democrats, according to the BBC. The party last won a Senate race in the state in 2008.

NBC News reported that South Carolina, a state many Democrats had considered out of reach, fell early in the night. The broadcaster said Trump had hand-picked the Republican nominees in several of the contested states, sometimes despite concerns within his party.

At the time of USA Today’s report, the competitive Senate race in Michigan, where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is seeking to keep the seat in his party’s hands, remained uncalled.

NBC News reported that Democrats could hold their largest House majority in nearly two decades. The party needed a net gain of only three seats to take the chamber.

Voter anger over costs and Trump

In the NBC News exit poll, 43 per cent of midterm voters said that opposing Trump was one reason for their vote. His job approval rating is lower than that of any president on Election Day in nearly two decades, the broadcaster said.

The same poll found that 71 per cent of voters, including 41 per cent of Republicans, believed Congress was not exercising enough oversight of Trump.

Corruption, affordability, immigration and the war in Iran were also key issues, according to NBC News. NPR reported that polls showed voters were additionally unhappy with Trump’s tariff policies.

Gas prices rose sharply after Trump and Israeli leaders launched the war in Iran in late February, NBC News reported. Trump sought to blame former President Joe Biden for rising prices, but the argument appeared to gain little traction with voters.

An NBC News poll released on 1 November 2026 gave Democrats a 27-point lead among Latino voters. Trump lost that group by only seven points in 2024, and voters in the group cited high prices and his immigration crackdown.

Trump had campaigned heavily in the final weeks and urged Republican voters to pretend he was on the ballot. After the results came in, he said on social media that his absence from the ballot explained the defeat, and that his presence would have brought victory “IN A LANDSLIDE”.

Historic results in Georgia and New Hampshire

The BBC reported that Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former mayor of Atlanta, is projected to win the Georgia governor’s race. She would be the state’s first Black governor and the first woman elected to the office.

Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson, a billionaire businessman and healthcare executive endorsed by outgoing Governor Brian Kemp and Trump. According to the BBC, US$200 million of personal money was spent on the race. Georgia has not had a Democratic governor in over 20 years.

Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, is projected to win a second term in Georgia against Republican Representative Mike Collins. He told supporters that the “first light of dawn” was on the horizon for those who had doubted the republic’s survival.

The BBC said Ossoff’s win was likely to increase speculation about a possible presidential run in 2028.

In New Hampshire, Democratic Representative Chris Pappas is projected to defeat former Republican Senator John Sununu, becoming the first openly gay man elected to the Senate, the BBC reported. Pappas, 46, has served in the House since 2019.

New oversight powers and a likely clash with the White House

The new majorities will give Democrats the power to issue subpoenas and schedule oversight hearings when the new Congress convenes in January 2027. NBC News said the coming two years could bring clashes between the branches unlike any since the Watergate era.

House Democrats have pledged aggressive scrutiny of Trump’s family, business dealings and administration. This includes the immigration crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as Trump’s renovation projects in and around Washington.

Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has outlined a strategy focused on what he calls “Trump family corruption”. It would also cover Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and the growth of the president’s fortune since his 2024 campaign.

Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. Its Democrats have listed pardons and payments by foreign governments to the Trump family’s cryptocurrency business among their investigative targets.

NPR reported that potential inquiries could also examine the independence of agencies such as the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has said impeachment is neither a focus for Democrats nor ruled out. Before the election, he told reporters that investigations would begin immediately as part of a pledge to hold wrongdoers accountable.

Trump was impeached twice during his first term and acquitted by the Senate both times.

Nominations and the Supreme Court

Control of the Senate gives Democrats authority over which nominees receive floor votes, NPR reported. Republican senators had been central to confirming Trump’s Cabinet and judicial picks, and more nominations were expected in the final two years of his presidency.

Several Senate Democrats had questioned before the election whether they would confirm any Trump nominee to a Supreme Court vacancy. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Judiciary Committee member, told NBC News that support for such a nominee was very unlikely.

Limits on the Democratic agenda

Democrats campaigned heavily on affordability, but NPR noted that many of their priorities are unlikely to become law while Trump remains in office.

In an interview with the Pod Force One podcast published on 2 November 2026, Trump said he would block Democratic legislation. “I’ll become Mr. Veto,” he said, adding that deals would probably follow at some point.

Democrats will still need Republican cooperation on must-pass legislation, including the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund the government, NPR reported.

USA Today reported that Democrats are likely to seek to reverse cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, reassert Congress’s role in foreign trade policy, and pursue a bipartisan ban on stock trading by lawmakers.

The most immediate confrontation is likely to concern the war in Iran, according to USA Today. Democrats could direct Trump to seek congressional authorisation to continue the conflict, or withdraw funding to end it.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in an October floor speech that Democrats were ready to lower costs, rein in chaos and stop corruption. He also acknowledged that the party needed to rebuild trust with the American public.

Leadership changes ahead

Jeffries could become the first Black Speaker of the House. NBC News reported that Democrats are expected to hold internal leadership elections in the week of 16 November 2026, with Jeffries becoming the party’s nominee.

To take the gavel on 3 January 2027, Jeffries must win 218 votes, a majority of all House members. The speaker is second in the line of presidential succession.

Schumer, who previously served four years as Senate majority leader, is expected to return to the post. NPR said the result vindicated him after some progressives criticised him early in Trump’s second term for not doing enough to oppose the president.

Accounts differ on the future of Senate Majority Leader John Thune. NPR reported that he is largely expected to remain the top Senate Republican, while NBC News described his future as unknown, citing his uneven relationship with Trump.

Trump has been frustrated by Thune’s failure to eliminate the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, an overhaul of election laws, according to NBC News.

NBC News also said the fate of House Speaker Mike Johnson is unclear. He could stay on as minority leader, but some rank-and-file Republicans are likely to seek new leadership.

The lame-duck session and 2028

NBC News reported that Republicans may try to advance parts of their agenda before relinquishing control of the House. This could include another party-line reconciliation bill on spending and tax priorities, and a debt ceiling increase ahead of a 2027 deadline.

The results could also affect the 2028 Republican presidential contest. NBC News said Vice President JD Vance, the presumed front-runner, may not have a clear path to the nomination if the outcome is a rejection of Trump’s brand of politics.

The last time a minority party flipped both chambers on a single night was in 2006, NBC News reported. Then-President George W Bush, facing a backlash over the Iraq War, called that result “a thumping”.