In a seismic shift Democrats take control of US House and Senate, voters repudiate Trumpism

• Democrats have already won 54 seats in the 100-member Senate, with several races still awaiting final calls

• Democrats have already won 219 seats in the House, surpassing the 218 seats needed for a majority

• The counting continues and the final results are expected later on Wednesday evening

The last time Democrats controlled both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate was the 117th Congress, from 2021 to 2023. Democrats held the House majority and effectively controlled the Senate with a 50–50 split, where Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote.

In the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans won control of the House and began the 118th Congress in January 2023 with a House majority, while Democrats retained Senate control till January 2024 when Republican Donald Trump was elected president.

The 2026 midterm elections was a test of Trumpism and policies of President Trump in his second term as president. The results showed a firm rejection of his economic policies, his decision to launch the war on Iran after pledging to end the ‘forever wars’ and his policies which helped billionaires, cronies and his own family members. The president made it worse by rubbishing concerns about high prices and inflation. The rising prices of diesel, fertiliser and meat made him an unpopular president with an approval rating of 38 per cent, the lowest among the past five presidents during midterm elections.

President Trump congratulated the Democrats hours after the polling closed but refused to take responsibility for the defeat. Americans would have overwhelmingly voted for him, he said, had his name been on the ballot. Ironically, the president has been exhorting the people before the polls to assume that his name was on the ballot. President Trump told Fox news that Americans supported the war on Iran but were unhappy about gas prices. He also blamed several Republican candidates who, he said, were disappointing and did not try hard enough to win. Some of the candidates, the president said, did not even like him.

Blacks, Latinos, Indian-Americans and the young turned out in large numbers to ensure the thumping victory for Democrats. Even non-MAGA Republican conservatives, pollsters maintained, had voted for the Democrats. Enraged voters, upset with Trump’s heavy-handed use of ICE against immigrants, his war on liberal universities and his blind support for Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a tight slap to the president. The White House and the Republican had redrawn the boundaries of several districts (constituencies) to make it more difficult for the Democrats; but even the gerrymandering did not work.

The backlash was so severe that even traditional Republican strongholds like Texas and Kansas flipped. Trump has turned Texas blue, exclaimed a TV anchor on PBS.

The massive rebuke against Donald Trump midway through his second term has seen traditionally favourable seats to Republicans, including Texas flipping. Democrat James Talarico won the Senate seat in Texas against Ken Paxton. Democrats also won Senate seats in Kansas, South Carolina, Ohio, Iowa and North Carolina. In the House, Democratic gains position Hakeem Jeffries to become the next house speaker. He will be the first Black speaker of the House. Americans also handed Democrats notable victories in gubernatorial elections, such as in Texas where Gina Hinojosa became the first "Latina" governor by defeating Greg Abbott, as well as in Georgia, Ohio, and Iowa.

Beyond Trump and the Republicans, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen as a loser of the US midterms. Netanyahu, already in a fragile position after Israel's legislative elections, was counting on Trump for a potential new phase of strikes against Iran following the US midterms. A weaker Trump and a Democratic Congress will be far more reluctant to back military escalation or give Israel a blank check. Democrats have already shown growing distance from Netanyahu (especially after Gaza) and will be able to exert tighter oversight on military aid and operations.