WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democrats and Republicans squared up on Wednesday for what could be two years of deadlock in Washington, with the resurgent Democrats vowing to use their resounding midterm election victory to rein in President Donald Trump, who signaled he was ready to continue flexing the executive branch’s considerable powers.
A wave of anger over Trump’s policies, particularly the US-Iran war’s role in pushing the cost of living higher, helped Democrats take the Senate, where they flipped seats in deeply Republican states for a majority of at least 54-44, and the House of Representatives, where they gained at least 25 seats.
It will be the first time that Trump, a Republican who also held the White House from 2017 to 2021, has had to contend with a Democratic-controlled Congress.
“The American people have connected that corruption into the adverse impact of the policies that have taken place over the last two years,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told MS NOW on Wednesday, promising to “make sure that wrongdoers are being held accountable.”
Jeffries, a New York lawmaker who is on track to become the first Black speaker of the House, said Democrats would “work hard” on making life more affordable, while urging Trump to end his unpopular eight-month-old war against Iran before the next Congress is seated.
Trump, meanwhile, posted an image on social media of one of his signature red “Make America Great Again” baseball caps with the usual slogan replaced with the word “VETO”, a reminder that Democrats will be limited in their ability to legislate without his support.
Top Senate Republican John Thune, a veteran lawmaker not generally regarded as a firebrand, signaled that his caucus was not yet ready to look to a future beyond Trump.
“Senate Republicans will not stand idly by as the far-left, socialist wing of the Democrat Party attempts to unwind everything we’ve done,” Thune, of South Dakota, said in a statement.
“Thankfully, we still have President Trump in the White House, and we’ll work with him to stop the worst impulses of Democrat extremism.”
