Democrats Just Took Congress. What Happens to Trump Now?

[0:00] democrats just took congress both chambers early wednesday morning the associated press called the [0:07] house for democrats and nbc cbs and cnn now project that democrats have won the senate as well [0:15] the last time the minority party flipped both chambers in a single night was 2006. [0:20] and for donald trump the next two years just changed from january 3rd the people who write [0:26] the laws control the money and confirm his nominees will be his opponents a democratic house can [0:33] subpoena his officials and his family business a democratic senate can block his judges including [0:40] any new supreme court justice both chambers can send him bills on tariffs and on the war with iran [0:46] that force him to choose sign or veto but it is not over for trump he still has the veto executive [0:54] orders pardons and foreign policy and republicans still run congress for two more months so in this [1:01] video we walk through exactly what happens next the lame duck the new speaker the investigations [1:08] the money the war the courts what trump can still do alone and the shadow of 2028 with both sides [1:17] before we start this story will move fast over the next few weeks if you want to follow it with us [1:23] subscribe now and turn on notifications now the results these are projections going into tuesday [1:30] republicans held the house 219 to 214 with two vacancies democrats needed a net gain of only three [1:40] by wednesday morning cnn counted at least 27 seats flipped to democrats and nbc said this could be the [1:48] largest democratic house majority in nearly two decades in the senate republicans held 53 seats to 47 [1:56] and democrats needed a net gain of four cbs counts seven republican seats flipped in texas james tallarico [2:04] defeated ken paxton in south carolina annie andrews won the seat lindsey graham held in kansas adam [2:12] hamilton beat senator roger marshall in maine troy jackson unseated susan collins in iowa josh turek [2:20] beat ashley hinson in ohio sherrod brown defeated senator john houston and in north carolina roy cooper [2:27] beat michael whatley two races are still uncalled alaska where dan sullivan and mary peltola are neck and [2:34] neck and mississippi where cindy hyde smith and democrat scott column were at one point fewer than 30 votes [2:42] apart those two decide only the size of the majority why did it happen start with the exit [2:49] polls in nbc's exit poll 43 of voters said opposing trump was one reason for their vote 71 said there [2:58] has not been enough congressional oversight of the president and that includes 41 of republicans [3:05] nbc also reported that trump's approval rating was the lowest of any president on an election day [3:10] in nearly two decades four issues kept coming up corruption affordability immigration and the war [3:18] in iran affordability means groceries gas rent and health insurance premiums which rose for many [3:25] families after the enhanced affordable care act subsidies expired and the iran war turned a [3:32] foreign policy question into a kitchen table one through gas prices and through families with loved [3:38] ones deployed republicans read the same night differently they argue that midterms almost [3:44] always punished the president's party that some of their candidates were weak and that a bad night [3:49] is not a rejection of the whole agenda still one senior republican operative admitted to reporters [3:57] that the night looked quote biblically bad so how did trump react on truth social he wrote i wasn't on [4:05] the ballot and if i was we would have won in a landslide to the new york times he said i am [4:12] absolutely willing to accept those results in october he had said he would accept them only quote if [4:18] they're honest elections on fox news trump said democrats did a good job and blamed republican [4:25] candidates rather than his own policies a source told cbs that the president was privately infuriated [4:32] and before the results came in he had attacked fox news over its coverage now the most important [4:37] signal according to politico trump spoke with democratic leaders around 11 pm eastern on election [4:44] night and said he wanted deals rather than two years of vetoes he also told cbs that democrats are [4:51] quote gonna want to work with me otherwise i'd just veto everything an open hand and a veto pin [4:59] john thune the senate republican leader offered his party one line thankfully we still have president [5:05] trump in the white house and chuck schumer said against all odds we democrats have won the senate [5:13] here is what most people forget the new congress is not sworn in until january 3rd 2027 until then [5:21] republicans still control both the house and the senate this is the lame duck first money the government [5:29] is funded only through december 11th under a stopgap law trump signed in september and most full year [5:35] spending bills are unfinished if congress does not pass something the government shuts down two weeks [5:42] before christmas second according to reporting after the election republican leaders may try one more [5:49] party-line budget bill called reconciliation which needs only a simple majority in the senate and they may [5:56] raise the debt ceiling before democrats take over so it cannot be used as leverage next year third [6:02] nominations as long as republicans run the senate they can keep confirming trump's picks including [6:09] federal judges with lifetime seats democrats will call this a power grab by a defeated majority [6:15] republicans will say they were elected to serve until january and that is what they are doing the lame [6:21] duck is legal and normal and it is the last window for trump's agenda with a friendly congress on january [6:29] 3rd the new house meets and its first vote is for speaker hakeem jeffries of new york the democratic [6:36] leader is expected to be the party's choice house democrats hold their leadership elections the week of [6:42] november 16th on the floor jeffries needs a majority of those voting 218 if all 435 members are present [6:51] if he wins he becomes the first black speaker in american history and second in line to the [6:56] presidency after the vice president why does the speaker matter for trump because the speaker [7:02] controls the floor which bills get a vote and which never do and who chairs the committees for two [7:08] years speaker mike johnson used that power to protect the president's agenda from january the gavel moves [7:16] to a party that wants to check it johnson's own future as republican leader is uncertain jeffries [7:22] has promised that democrats will focus first on costs but on the biggest question of all he has said [7:29] democrats quote haven't ruled anything in and haven't ruled anything out one gavel two very different [7:35] ideas of what it is for the senate flip may matter even more than the house chuck schumer is expected to [7:43] become majority leader john thune moves to the minority and his future as republican leader is [7:49] also uncertain with seven flips and two races uncalled democrats are projected to hold a majority in the mid [7:56] 50s depending on alaska and mississippi here is what that majority controls every cabinet secretary [8:04] every ambassador every federal judge and every supreme court justice needs a senate vote since the rule [8:11] changes of 2013 and 2017 all of them can be confirmed with a simple majority that was trump's shield now [8:20] it is the democrats shield a democratic senate can refuse hearings slow nominees or vote them down it [8:27] decides which bills reach the floor so a house passed bill on tariffs or the war can no longer simply [8:34] disappear and it runs its own investigations with its own subpoenas there are limits the filibuster [8:41] means most ordinary laws still need 60 votes so democrats cannot pass their agenda alone and [8:48] republicans keep more than enough seats to sustain a trump veto but on nominations the senate is no [8:54] longer a rubber stamp now the investigations committee chairs and the majority can issue subpoenas [9:02] legal orders to hand over documents or to testify from january every chair in both chambers will be a [9:09] democrat how does it work if an official refuses a subpoena the committee can vote to hold that [9:16] person in contempt of congress then there are two paths a criminal referral to the justice department [9:22] which is run by trump's own appointees or a civil lawsuit in federal court which can take months or years [9:29] that is the weakness of congressional oversight it is slow and a white house determined to resist can run [9:35] out the clock we have seen this before after democrats took the house in 2018 they immediately sent [9:42] subpoenas to trump's administration and his businesses and some of those fights were still [9:47] unresolved when that congress ended but oversight does not need to win in court to matter public hearings [9:54] put officials under oath and on camera and republicans did the same to democratic presidents from the [10:00] benghazi hearings under obama to the hunter biden inquiry under biden now the tool changes hands again [10:07] so who are the chairs and what do they want to investigate start with the house oversight committee [10:14] its presumptive chairman is robert garcia of california he chose two words for the administration [10:21] lawyer up garcia has laid out a long list first public hearings on the jeffrey epstein files and a subpoena [10:29] for attorney general todd blanche second money jared kushner and the trump family's business deals [10:36] third immigration enforcement including the killings of renee good and alex pretty by federal immigration [10:43] agents in minneapolis and fourth the new white house ballroom which donors are paying for it and [10:49] what they might want in return along with no-bid federal contracts each of these could produce public [10:54] hearings with sworn testimony live on television from officials who have never had to answer [11:00] questions under oath republicans say this is not oversight at all but a political campaign dressed [11:07] up as an investigation designed to damage trump and his party before 2028. garcia says the voters asked [11:15] for exactly this and he points to the exit poll seven in ten voters want more oversight of the president [11:23] the second key chairman is jamie raskin of maryland expected to lead the house judiciary committee [11:29] judiciary oversees the justice department and the fbi and it is where any impeachment would begin [11:36] raskin's list targets what democrats call the politicization of law enforcement the cases [11:42] against trump's critics including former fbi director james comey new york attorney general [11:48] latisha james and former cia director john brennan the firing of prosecutors a 1.8 billion dollar fund [11:56] the administration calls the anti-weaponization fund and what raskin calls pardons for sale whether [12:03] people with money or connections received clemency he also wants to examine trump's businesses on [12:09] impeachment raskin chooses his words carefully he calls it quote a critical tool to be used if the [12:16] benefits exceed the costs not a promise to impeach but an option kept open the administration's answer [12:23] is that these cases are about law and order not revenge and that it was the justice department [12:29] under biden that was weaponized against trump himself republicans on the committee will make [12:35] that argument in every hearing the third committee is armed services where adam smith of washington state [12:42] is expected to become chairman smith's focus is the war democrats say trump took the country into war [12:49] with iran without authorization from congress and they want answers on how that decision was made on [12:55] american casualties and on the cost smith also wants hearings on the military strikes against boats in the [13:02] caribbean and the pacific which the administration describes as strikes on drug traffickers and which [13:08] critics say lacked a clear legal basis and he wants to examine defense secretary pete hegseth's firings of [13:16] senior officers hegseth himself may become a bigger target than trump according to australia's abc some [13:24] see the defense secretary as a likelier candidate for impeachment than the president armed services also [13:30] writes the annual defense policy bill which passes every year that gives smith leverage he can write limits [13:37] and reporting rules into a bill the pentagon needs republicans answer that the commander-in-chief must [13:43] be able to act fast that the strikes protected americans and that hearings during a fragile conflict [13:49] could help america's enemies next tariffs the core of trump's economic program in february the supreme [13:58] court ruled six to three that the emergency powers law trump used for his broadest tariffs known as ieepa [14:05] does not allow the president to impose tariffs those tariffs fell but trump kept tariffs under other trade [14:11] laws including section 232 on national security grounds and section 301 against unfair trade practices [14:20] those laws were written by congress and congress can change them hakeem jeffries says democrats want to end [14:26] trump's global tariffs and restore congress's power over trade here is the catch any such bill goes to trump's desk [14:34] and he can veto it to override democrats need two-thirds of both chambers and that requires [14:40] dozens of house republicans and around a dozen republican senators so what changes is the pressure [14:46] every tariff becomes a recorded vote and some republicans from farm states have already voiced doubts [14:52] trump's allies argue that tariffs protect american workers and bring factories home and that tying his [14:58] hands would weaken america in talks with china democrats argue that tariffs are a tax paid by american [15:05] families at the checkout now the biggest lever of all article one of the constitution gives congress [15:12] the power of the purse no money can be spent unless congress appropriates it from january democrats [15:20] control both appropriations committees trump's next budget for the fiscal year that starts october 1st [15:26] 2027 has to pass a democratic house and a democratic senate the white house can push back with the [15:32] veto and with the threat of a shutdown and shutdowns have become common in the fall of 2025 the government [15:40] shut down for 43 days the longest in history after democrats won the house in 2018 a shutdown over [15:49] border wall money lasted 35 days if democrats overplay their hand they will be blamed for closing the [15:55] government if trump vetoes funding bills he will be the purse also touches the debt ceiling if republicans [16:03] raise it in the lame duck that fight is postponed if not democrats hold a powerful card and the country [16:10] faces the risk of default if you're finding this useful we're about halfway hit like and subscribe it [16:17] really helps the channel the war with iran is where congress and the president collide most directly [16:24] under the constitution congress declares war and the war powers resolution of 1973 lets congress vote [16:32] to direct the president to remove troops from hostilities it has not authorized democrats forced [16:38] those votes again and again this year in march the senate rejected the first resolution 47 to 53 on [16:46] september 24th it failed by one vote 49 to 54 republicans voted yes susan collins ran paul tom tillis and [16:57] lisa murkowski collins lost her seat on tuesday and tillis leaves the senate in january but with a [17:04] democratic majority a war powers resolution no longer depends on republican defectors it can pass both [17:11] chambers then trump can veto it as he did in 2020 with an iran war powers measure in his first term when [17:18] the senate failed to override the deeper power is again money congress can refuse to fund operations [17:25] it has not authorized jeffrey says democrats want to end the war with iran and curb the president's [17:31] war powers republicans say the ceasefire is fragile and that tying the commander in chief's hands now [17:38] would send exactly the wrong signal to tehran now the courts for trump's whole presidency a republican [17:45] senate has confirmed his judges that ends on january 3rd if a supreme court seat opens after that the [17:52] nominee needs a democratic senate right now there is no vacancy but two justices clarence thomas and [17:59] samuel alito are in their mid to late 70s both appointed by republican presidents that makes the lame [18:05] duck important a retirement announced before january 3rd could in theory be filled by the outgoing [18:12] republican senate if it moves very fast after january 3rd democrats hold the cards and they have two [18:19] precedents in 1987 a democratic senate rejected ronald reagan's nominee robert bork 42 to 58 and in 2016 [18:29] a republican senate refused to even hold hearings for barack obama's nominee merrick garland [18:35] for nearly a year saying the next president should choose republicans warn that blocking [18:40] nominees is obstruction that leaves courts and agencies shorthanded democrats answer that advice [18:48] and consent is the senate's job under the constitution not a formality so the big question for the next two [18:55] years vetoes or deals trump has already said he is ready for both so far in his second term he has vetoed [19:03] only two bills both in december 2025 and the republican house failed to override either one in his first term [19:12] he issued 10 vetoes and only one was overridden with a democratic congress that number will go up [19:19] democrats will pass bills trump opposes and every veto becomes a campaign ad but an override needs two [19:26] two-thirds of both chambers so trump's veto will usually stand where could deals happen both sides [19:33] say they want lower prices and lower health care costs history shows that divided government can [19:39] produce big laws eisenhower built the interstate highways with a democratic congress reagan signed tax [19:46] reform and a major arms treaty clinton and a republican congress balanced the budget and passed welfare reform [19:53] the question is whether that is still possible in a country this polarized with investigations running [19:59] in the same building where the deals would be made trump's opening offer is clear work with me or get [20:05] vetoed the democrats answer will shape 2027 which brings us to the word everyone is asking about [20:13] impeachment we cover it in depth in a separate video so here are only the essentials impeachment needs a [20:20] simple majority of the house 218 votes removal needs two-thirds of the senators present 67 if all 100 [20:28] vote with a democratic majority in the mid 50s democrats would need roughly 12 to 14 republican senators [20:36] in 2021 the most republicans who ever voted to convict trump was seven trump has been impeached twice in [20:44] december 2019 and january 2021 and acquitted twice only three presidents have ever been impeached andrew [20:53] johnson in 1868 who survived by one vote bill clinton in 1998 and trump what do democrats say now [21:02] hakeem jeffries we haven't ruled anything in and we haven't ruled anything out according to the hill the [21:08] party is split and most democratic leaders in both chambers oppose a third impeachment of trump [21:14] republicans warn that impeachment would prove their point that this congress is about revenge not [21:20] results the short version impeachment in the house is possible removal by the senate is very unlikely [21:29] so what can trump still do alone a lot first executive orders in his first year back he signed more [21:36] than 220 more than in his entire first term he can keep signing them and congress can only overturn one [21:44] with a law that he would veto the courts remain the main check second pardons the pardon power for [21:50] federal crimes needs no approval from anyone on his first day back trump pardoned about 1500 people [21:57] charged over january 6th democrats can investigate pardons but they cannot undo them third foreign policy [22:05] the president negotiates with other countries commands the military and can make executive [22:11] agreements without the senate fourth enforcement how laws are carried out from immigration to trade is [22:18] still run by his agencies with money congress already approved and fifth the bully pulpit trump can [22:25] attack congress every day on truth social and at rallies harry truman did exactly that in 1948 [22:32] against what he called the do nothing congress and he won what can't trump do alone new laws new tax cuts [22:40] new programs new money anything that needs a vote in congress now needs democratic votes let's step [22:47] back and hear both sides fairly republicans make several arguments first trump was not on the ballot as [22:54] he says himself and midterms almost always punish the president's party second they argue that democrats [23:02] won on prices not on investigations and that if democrats spend two years on subpoenas and hearings [23:09] voters will see it as a witch hunt and punish them in 2028. third they warn that blocking nominees [23:17] forcing vetoes and threatening shutdowns will freeze the government at a dangerous moment with a war in the [23:23] middle east and as john thune put it they still have president trump in the white house and the veto [23:29] democrats make the opposite case they say voters sent a clear message 71 wanted more oversight of the [23:36] president including four in ten republicans they say the constitution created congress to check the [23:43] president and for two years the republican congress refused and they say they can do both lower costs and [23:51] hold the administration accountable independent voters will judge both parties by the same test did [23:57] prices come down did washington work or did it become two years of fighting so what will democrats [24:05] actually try to pass hakeem jeffries has laid out the list first restore the expanded affordable care act [24:12] premium subsidies that expired at the end of 2025. second reverse what democrats describe as roughly one [24:20] trillion dollars in medicaid cuts from trump's 2025 tax and spending law third lower costs groceries gas [24:28] housing and health care fourth end trump's global tariffs and restore congress's power over trade and [24:35] fifth end the war with iran and curb the president's war powers now the reality check almost all of [24:42] that needs trump's signature in the senate most bills still need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster [24:49] and democrats will not have 60. so many of these will be messaging bills passed to put republicans on [24:55] the record before 2028. the best chance for real change is in must-pass bills the yearly spending bills [25:02] and the defense bill where democrats can attach conditions that trump can't easily veto without [25:08] shutting down the government republicans say the medicaid changes added fair work requirements and that [25:14] the subsidies cost too much democrats say families can't afford their premiums there is a recent [25:21] playbook for all of this because it already happened to trump once in the 2018 midterms democrats gained [25:28] 41 seats and took the house nancy pelosi became speaker in january 2019 what followed first a shutdown it [25:38] started in december 2018 during the lame duck over money for the border wall and lasted 35 days it [25:45] ended without the wall money trump wanted and he then declared a national emergency to redirect funds [25:52] second subpoenas house committees went after trump's tax returns his financial records and his [25:58] administration and many of those fights went to court third impeachment in december 2019 the house impeached [26:06] trump over ukraine in february 2020 the republican senate acquitted him and fourth some deals still [26:13] happened trump signed criminal justice reform in december 2018 and a new trade agreement with mexico and [26:21] canada passed with democratic votes the difference this time is the senate in 2019 republicans still held [26:28] it and it protected trump on judges on nominees and in the impeachment trial in 2027 that shield is gone [26:36] and this time trump cannot run again that brings us to the shadow over everything 2028 under the [26:45] 22nd amendment trump cannot be elected president again so every fight in this congress is also the [26:52] opening round of the next presidential race for republicans the question is who carries the trump [26:58] agenda forward vice president jd vance is widely seen as a leading contender and a bad midterm raises the [27:05] stakes for him can the trump coalition win without trump on the ballot for democrats the win creates a [27:12] new problem they now share the blame for whatever happens in washington governors like gavin newsom josh [27:18] shapiro and jb pritzker are often mentioned for 2028 along with new faces from tuesday night such as james [27:26] tallarico who won a senate seat in texas and told supporters quote tonight we defeated goliath history is [27:34] mixed after losing congress truman eisenhower clinton and obama all won the next presidential election [27:42] while george w bush's party lost in 2008 a midterm is a warning not a verdict whether trump becomes a [27:50] deal maker or a veto president will shape what republicans inherit and what democrats must answer for [27:57] let's put the next few months on a calendar right now the counting goes on alaska and mississippi [28:04] decide the final size of the senate majority and many house races are still being counted the week [28:10] of november 16th house democrats hold their leadership elections december 11th the government runs out of [28:16] money unless the lame duck congress passes another funding bill also in the lame duck possible [28:23] confirmations of judges a possible party line budget bill and possibly a debt ceiling increase january 3rd [28:31] 2027 the new congress is sworn in the house elects its speaker and hakeem jeffries needs a majority of [28:39] those voting then committee chairs are named and the first subpoenas can go out within weeks and on [28:45] every day in between trump can sign executive orders grant pardons and run foreign policy without asking [28:53] anyone two things to watch above all whether trump's first move toward the new congress is a deal or a veto [29:00] and whether democrats lead with lower costs or with hearings those two choices will set the tone [29:06] for the rest of his presidency so what happens to trump now he remains president with the veto executive [29:14] orders pardons and command of the military but from january 3rd he faces a congress run by the other [29:21] party in both chambers for the first time in his presidency the house can subpoena his officials [29:27] and his family's business deals the senate can block his nominees and his judges both chambers can [29:33] force votes on tariffs and on the war and control every dollar he wants to spend republicans say they [29:40] still have trump in the white house and that democrats will overreach democrats say voters ask for [29:46] a check on power trump says he wants deals and warns that he could veto everything the facts in this [29:52] video are as of november 4th 2026. some races are still uncalled and every number here is a projection [30:00] until the count is final we will follow every step the lame duck the speaker vote the first subpoenas [30:07] and the first veto subscribe and turn on notifications so you don't miss it and now we want to hear from [30:13] you with democrats running congress what should come first lower prices or investigations of trump [30:20] tell us in the comments