Voters across the nation cast their ballots Tuesday in high-stakes midterm elections that will determine which party holds control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Republicans seek to defend their narrow majorities in Congress while Democrats look to capitalize on competitive races that could flip control of both chambers in their favor.
In the House, Republicans have a 218-214 majority, and, in the Senate, have a 53-47 majority. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to win control of the Senate and a net gain of three seats to win control of the House. Should Democrats take control of the House, they will gain the ability to launch impeachment proceedings against members of the Trump administration, including President Donald Trump.
During his first term, the president survived an unprecedented two impeachment bids launched by House Democrats. Securing majorities in either chamber would grant Democrats substantial authority over Trump's legislative agenda and broad oversight to investigate executive conduct, potentially turning the administration into a "lame duck" for its last two years. However, Trump has threatened to "veto everything" should the Democrats win control of Congress.
Veto," Trump said this week if Republicans lose control of Congress. "They'll be sending stuff up. And eventually, after a month or two of getting all vetoed—they're just wasting time—they come over, and you make a deal.
I think that probably would happen, but hopefully we don't have to worry about that." In an emailed statement on Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Newsweek that “Democrats have no agenda to improve the lives of Americans—their only agenda is to continue their decade long witch hunt against President Trump." She continued: "This administration and commonsense Republicans will continue to secure our borders, restore law and order, putting more money back into the pockets of hard-working Americans, and deliver wins for the American people. The choice has never been clearer: doubling down on President Trump’s winning, commonsense agenda or the Democrats’ obstruction.” Newsweek contacted the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for comment on Tuesday via email. Election forecasters are predicting a strong result for Democrats in the midterms as the national environment has become challenging for the GOP.
Final forecasts of the midterms have pointed to a “blue wave” for the Democratic Party. Historically, the party in the White House loses seats in the midterms, so Democrats have been optimistic about their chances to flip control of Congress. That optimism has grown as Trump’s approval rating has fallen amid voter frustration with the state of the economy and cost of living.
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