Democratic control of both chambers of Congress will impose tight political constraints on President Donald Trump for the first time in two years, making it harder for him to advance his agenda.
The result followed mounting voter dissatisfaction with Trump’s second term, with his approval rating at 32% amid concerns about inflation, war and government corruption. Gallup and the Guardian/Harris Poll found that roughly 87% to 89% of Americans regarded government corruption as a widespread, top-tier issue.
Americans voted on 3 November 2026 for the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate, in an election presented as a verdict on Trump’s first term. Trump and Republican campaigns had made late appeals to voters after Trump began campaigning in the Midwest in October.
By Wednesday morning, Democrats had won the House and Senate in a result described as a “blue tsunami”, surpassing the expectations of even optimistic political pundits. The outcome ended Trump’s control of Washington and handed Congress to his opponents.
Two Senate contests were still unresolved on Wednesday. In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom was ahead of the Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by fewer than 1,200 votes, with 96% of ballots counted. A Colom victory would make him the first Democratic Senator from Mississippi since 1982 and the first African American from the state to serve in the Senate since Blanche Bruce, who represented Mississippi from 1875 to 1881. The interval was described as 145 years.
In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola led Republican Dan Sullivan by 637 votes with 75% of ballots counted on Wednesday night.
Trump addressed the result on Wednesday, accepting that it was “largely true” that the Iran war had contributed to Republican losses. He nonetheless defended the war and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. “But at the same time, if I had to do it again, I'd have to do it again. Because long term, it's the only answer. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
He also warned Democrats against impeachment. “I think it would destroy the Democrat Party if they did that,” Trump said.
The Wall Street Journal reported before the election that Democrats were preparing multifront investigations into the Trump administration if they captured the House. Democratic Party operatives were readying those investigations after the party’s electoral gains.
Questions about corruption were sharpened by public filings showing that Republican campaigns and political groups have spent nearly $3 million at Trump businesses since the start of Trump’s second term. The same filings showed that the Trump family made $2.2 billion in the stock market in 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the family executed 3,600 stock trades involving defence, technology, energy and other companies.
Peggy Noonan, the Wall Street Journal columnist and Reagan speechwriter, had argued for a decisive defeat for the president. “The President should be dealt a rebuke, a rebellion and a rout. Only then can the Republican Party be rebuilt,” she wrote. She also warned: “If Tuesday yields only a small wave, it will embolden and empower the President's attempts to undo the results. He will try. He's Donald Trump. 'They rigged it! We won't certify!'”
The result brought differing reactions abroad. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with ZDF on Wednesday that he hoped Democratic gains would increase American support for Ukraine. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was not “excited” by the Democratic victory.
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