By Indianara Goz
Democrats have won a majority in the US House of Representatives in the midterm elections held Tuesday, Nov. 3, according to projections by the decision desks of NBC News and Decision Desk HQ. The result changes the political balance in Washington for the final two years of Donald Trump's administration.
Before the vote, Republicans held 218 of the 435 House seats, against 214 for Democrats. A small swing was enough for the opposition to take control of the chamber, and that is what happened.
What changes for Trump
With the House in their hands, Democrats now control the voting agenda, the committees and the budget. In practice, they can block administration bills, open investigations into members of the government and use the release of funds as a pressure tool.
The president keeps his veto power, and any bill still has to pass the Senate.
Senate control still open
The race for the US Senate has not been decided. Republicans held 53 seats and need 50 to keep control, because Vice President JD Vance casts the tiebreaking vote.
The night brought a Republican win in Florida, with Ashley Moody, and a loss in North Carolina, where Democrat Roy Cooper flipped the seat. Texas, Maine, Iowa, Ohio, Alaska, South Carolina and Michigan have not yet produced results.
Background: why midterms matter
Midterm elections are held halfway through a US president's four-year term. All 435 House seats are up for election, along with a portion of the Senate. Congress has two chambers, and a bill needs both to become law, so the party that controls each one shapes what a president can accomplish.
VDD Analysis
The loss in the House follows an old rule of American politics: the president's party almost always loses seats in the midterms. It happened to Obama in 2010 and to Trump himself in 2018, and Trump had acknowledged this pattern on the eve of the vote.
What will determine the size of the damage now is the Senate. If Republicans hold the majority there, Trump can keep getting judicial and government nominees approved, and a divided Congress forces negotiation. If they lose both chambers, the next two years will be one of direct confrontation with the opposition.
