Democrats take control of both chambers of Congress in sweeping rebuke to Trump, flip Republican strongholds

Washington: Democrats seized control of both the US Senate and House of Representatives, scoring sweeping victories in Republican strongholds for the first time in generations as voters delivered a scathing rebuke to President Donald Trump.

Conservative bastions that had propelled the president to his second term just two years ago swung dramatically toward Democrats, fuelled by deep frustration over an unpopular war with Iran, anxiety over high cost of living and anger at Trump’s stewardship.

It will be the first time that Trump, a Republican who also held the White House during 2017-21, will have to contend with a Democrats-controlled Congress. In the past two years, the US Congress has rarely reined in Trump. The President, predictably, deflected all blame.

“Congratulations to the Democrats. They did a good job. They’ve been looking for this one for 11 years, and they finally got it,” he said.

“But I don’t view it as a hit on me. I wasn’t on the ballot.” Despite worries that he might seek to overturn the results, the President accepted the outcome, and said he would work with Democrats on issues such as immigration, though he threatened to veto any “insane” bills they passed.

However, he refused to accept the West Asia conflict as a reason for Republican losses, in a break with even his own Vice President, JD Vance, who wrote, “The reason we lost is the war."

In Texas, the biggest Republican state, Democrats ended a decades-long losing streak by winning a Senate seat and ousting 3-term Governor Greg Abbott.

Kansas elected its first Democratic senator since the Great Depression nearly a century ago, and in South Carolina, a state that Trump carried by nearly 18 points in 2024, Democrats turned aside his hand-picked Senate candidate.

Once seated in January, Democrats are expected to use their power to investigate Trump’s administration, family and allies and demand concessions on major legislation. The new balance of power in Washington may accelerate Trump’s lame-duck status.