Control of lower chamber of Congress will allow Democrats to block much of Trump’s agenda and investigate his administration
Democrats have regained control of the House of Representatives, a momentous win in the midterm elections that will enable the party to block much of Donald Trump’s agenda and bombard the president with investigations.
As results came in from across the country overnight, the midterms were a tale of two chambers: the Democrats won key House congressional races while Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate.
The election served as a referendum on Trump’s America, and whether Republicans should remain in absolute power in Washington.
Democrats needed to flip 23 seats to take control of the House of Representatives, and early on Wednesday morning hit the 218 needed to win back the chamber from Republicans, breaking one-party rule in Congress after eight years.
Speaking in Washington, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said the party would use its newly won majority to pursue a bipartisan agenda for a country. Pelosi said Americans have all “had enough of division”.
“Thanks to you tomorrow will be a new day in America,” she said.
Earlier in the evening, the White House spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, sought to downplay Democratic gains, saying: “Maybe you get a ripple, but I certainly don’t think that there’s a blue wave.”
But Democrats racked up upsets across the country.
Incumbent Randy Hultgren lost a traditionally Republican suburban districtto Lauren Underwood, a 31-year-old African American nurse who ran a campaign focused on healthcare. Military veteran Max Rose pulled off an unexpected win in a conservative district on Staten Island in New York, and the deep red state of Oklahoma elected Democrat Kendra Horn to a district centered around Oklahoma City.
Elsewhere, Democrats Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland made history by becoming the first Native American women elected to Congress. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York became the first woman in her 20s to win a seat and was joined by 29-year-old Abby Finkenauer in Iowa.
It was a record year for women, with at least 90 winning their elections on Tuesday. The majority of them were Democrats, and at least 28 of them were elected to the House for the first time. Voters also sent Congress its first two Muslim women – Rashida Tlaib in Michigan and Ilhan Omar in Minnesota.
However, Republicans extended their control of the Senate, paving the way for a divided Congress.
In one of the most closely watched races, the Republican Texas senator Ted Cruz fended off an unexpectedly tough challenge from Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat who inspired young voters and raised an unprecedented amount of money. O’Rourke mounted the most promising attempt by a Democrat to win a statewide office in Texas in decades, but in the end fell just short of Cruz, who was elected in 2012 on a tea party wave and ran unsuccessfully for president in 2016.
The elections carry significant ramifications for what remains of Trump’s first term.
With a majority in the House, Democrats are expected to launch a flurry of investigations into the president and his administration. The White House’s legal team is reportedly bracing for potential inquiries that include whether Trump obstructed justice in the Russia investigation, the misuse of taxpayer dollars by several cabinet officials, and hush money paid to women to keep silent about their alleged affairs with Trump before he was elected president.
No comments:
Post a Comment