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WASHINGTON - Democrats shifted the balance of power on Capitol Hill following Tuesday’s election, winning control of the Senate and securing a power that they have never been able to wield during either one of President Donald Trump’s administrations.
Democrats have gained more than a bigger seat at the bargaining table in legislative negotiations. By taking the Senate, as opposed to the House, they also will have the final say in any Trump nomination to certain high-ranking federal agencies, the presidential Cabinet, and federal bench, including the Supreme Court.
RELATED: Live election results: Senate & House balance of power, governor’s races
What's next:
Shared government, shared blame
The White House will have to find middle ground with Democratic senators to avoid more government shutdowns and pass other important legislation. However, Democratic control of one of the legislative branches comes with a major upside for the GOP as it will make it easier for Republicans to cast the blame for any stoppage on their opponents than when they controlled all branches of government.
With Democrats running the Senate, Trump gains the ability to direct voter anger over economic issues like rising prices and affordability onto them by arguing that they now have the power to address the problems facing voters but are not doing so.
The U.S. Capitol building is seen in Washington, D.C., on November 2, 2026, on the eve of the U.S. midterm elections scheduled for November 3. (Photo by Mehmet Eser/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Why you should care:
Supreme Court confirmations
Democratic control of the Senate will likely change the tone of confirmation hearings for any potential Supreme Court nominees if a vacancy does arise. President Donald Trump’s previous nominees all went before a Senate controlled by the GOP, meaning Democrats could raise concerns about a nominee, but they could not block the nomination without support from Republican senators.
What those confirmation hearings may look like will remain to be seen. All recent Supreme Court justices have been confirmed by a Senate controlled by the same party as the president who nominated them. The last time a Senate controlled by the opposing party signed off on a nominee was in 1991, when a Democratic-controlled Senate confirmed Justice Clarence Thomas, who was nominated by former President George H.W. Bush and is now the longest-serving justice on the current bench.
One path Democrats could take may trace itself back to 2016 when former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, nominated then-federal judge Merrick Garland to serve on the Supreme Court, but the Republican-controlled Senate refused to consider the nomination, arguing that they should wait until that fall’s presidential election.
Potential investigations
After taking control of the House during Trump’s first term, Democrats launched a series of investigations that culminated in the president’s impeachment and subsequent trial. They went on to impeach Trump a second time, for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, shortly after retaining control of the House in the 2020 election.
While the Senate does not have the power to impeach, it does have subpoena power and the ability to launch its own investigations. Some Democratic candidates called for investigations into Trump or members of his administration if their party took control of Congress. How far the party is willing to go down that route will remain to be seen.
Big picture view:
Presidents often lose in midterms
Midterm elections are often a tough night for whichever party holds the White House. In all but two midterm elections since 1960, the party that won the presidency two years earlier lost seats in the U.S. House – and the losses have been particularly acute for newly elected presidents in recent decades. Former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden all saw their parties lose their House majorities during their first terms.
In the Senate, where only one-third of the seats are up for election in any given year, the political map in any given midterm will play a part in the opposing party’s chances to make gains. Both Trump (2) and Biden (1) came out ahead, but the sitting presidents’ party ended up losing seats in the upper chamber in six of the eight midterm elections between 1986 and 2014.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from the Associated Press, Reuters, Fox News, the U.S. Senate website, the U.S. House website, the Supreme Court website, the University of California-Santa Barbara Presidency Project, and previous coverage. This story was reported from Orlando.