Democrats vowed to use their resounding midterm victory to rein in President Donald Trump, setting up two years of possible deadlock in Washington, as Trump spent his first post-election appearance showing off his under-construction White House ballroom.
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.
Democrats also gained at least 30 seats in the House of Representatives.
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 Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Wednesday that the incoming majority would be focused on affordability and accountability.
“We don’t work for Donald Trump,” Jeffries, a New York lawmaker who is on track to become the first Black speaker of the House, told reporters on Wednesday.
“We work for the American people. And the days of the House of Representatives functioning like a wholly owned subsidiary of the Trump administration are over.”
Trump, who had devoted his last pre-election public appearance on Monday to talking about his renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, called in reporters on the morning after his party’s sweeping midterm defeat to show off the ballroom he is building at the White House.
“When I get criticised, like, ‘Why are you working on the White House?’ I’m doing it because the White House is the ultimate symbol of America, and it’s got to be pristine, it’s got to be perfect,” Trump said. “For me, it’s relaxing.”
