Democrats Seize Control of Both House and Senate in Sweeping Midterm Rebuke of Trump

Democrats have taken control of both the House and the Senate, a sweep that reached districts and states President Trump carried by double digits just two years ago, according to NPR. The party now has its largest Senate majority since the passage of the Affordable Care Act during Obama's early presidency, NPR reported. Senate results from Alaska and Mississippi are still pending, and if those races favor Democrats, their majority could grow to 54, plus the two independents who caucus with them.

NPR's Tamara Keith told Up First that while a few tight House races remain uncalled, the swing toward Democrats already rivals the post-Nixon Watergate backlash.

House Democrats pad their new majority

Democrats have picked up four more House seats, adding to their new majority, according to The Guardian. As things stand, the party has 247 seats in the lower chamber, with 35 races left to be called.

Teresa Benitez-Thompson claimed victory overnight in Nevada's 2nd District, a seat that has been Republican since the 1980s, per NPR. In Alabama's 2nd District, Shomari Figures overcame redistricting that favored Trump by 14 points to win his race, NPR reported.

In North Carolina's sixth congressional district, Democratic state representative Cyril Jefferson beat Republican incumbent Addison McDowell, who had won the seat by nearly 40 points in 2024 after it was successfully gerrymandered to benefit the GOP, according to The Guardian.

Mike Johnson plans to step down as top House Republican in the new Congress after the defeat, according to a source familiar with his plans who was not authorized to discuss them publicly, NPR reported.

A justice department resignation follows the losses

Harmeet Dhillon, the justice department lawyer who leads the Civil Rights division, is resigning, according to Bloomberg's reporting cited by The Guardian. Attorney general Todd Blanche confirmed the resignation, saying, "She has defended the civil liberties of every American and enforced the law without fear or favor. The Department is grateful for her dedicated public service, and we wish her every success in her future endeavors."

Dhillon said the timing wasn't her idea. "And Susie [Wiles] asked me to please wait until after the midterms," she said, according to The Guardian. Asked whether Trump wanted her out, she said, "I have no idea. I haven't ever discussed that with him, asked for it," adding, "And I have done nothing, in my opinion, that would require that, but, you know, that's up to the president."

Trump points to the ballroom, then to Iran

Trump focused on his East Wing ballroom construction project during his first public appearance after Republicans lost the House and Senate, NPR reported. Asked about the election, Trump said he wasn't to blame for his party's losses. After Vice President JD Vance posted on social media suggesting the war in Iran contributed to the GOP's defeats, Trump somewhat agreed, according to NPR.

Washington state votes to limit trans athletes

Voters in Washington state passed a ballot measure banning transgender girls from playing on girls' school sports teams. Initiative 638 passed with support from nearly 57% of voters as of Thursday morning, though votes were still being counted, The Guardian reported. More than 25 states across the U.S. have adopted similar bans on trans youth athletes, mostly through legislation pushed by Republican lawmakers.

The sports measure was one piece of a much larger ballot. Voters in 39 states, Washington, D.C., and the Northern Mariana Islands decided on 146 ballot measures covering issues like taxes, transgender rights, traffic cameras and data centers, according to NPR.

Musk's money and a 'Watergate-level repudiation'

Elon Musk poured a large sum into Republican-aligned political action committees and groups since last year, according to The Guardian. Democrats won the Senate races where Musk's America PAC spent the most money backing Republican candidates, the Guardian reported.

Senator Ted Cruz called the results an "ass-kicking" for his party. "It was not simply a bad 2006 midterm election, it was a Watergate-level repudiation," Cruz said. He rejected the idea that Democratic turnout drove the wave. "Instead, our voters Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, showed up and voted and rejected our candidates, voting Democrat," he said.

Cruz tied the losses to cost of living. "Food is too high, gas is too high, diesel is too high, insurance is too high, life is too high," he said. "Too many Republican politicians seem like they didn't understand or they didn't care." He added, "We need to listen and respond. We need to champion economic policies that make a real difference in working people's lives, and we need to deal with the consequences."

The fight over who leads Senate Democrats

Abdul El-Sayed, who declined to back Chuck Schumer on the campaign trail, said the choice for Senate majority leader should come down to results rather than loyalty. Asked about Chris Van Hollen as a potential pick, El-Sayed said, "It seems like [Van Hollen] is quite interested in another goal politically, which, you know, would mean that would be very difficult for him to do that."

"A vote is a choice between two or more options. I don't know what those options are. But here's what I'll say. We need action," El-Sayed said. He added, "I don't know who's stepping up and saying, I want to be Senate majority leader … if we have another option, I'm going to look at that and say, who is best placed to get us action, to get money out of politics, put money in pockets, pass Medicare for All."

With Senate seats in Alaska and Mississippi still uncalled and dozens of House races yet to be finalized, the full size of the new Democratic majorities, and who will lead them, remains unsettled.