Nov. 4, 2026, 3:46 p.m.
A blue tsunami swept the country Tuesday night, handing Democrats the majority in the House and Senate. While a number of races still need to be called, control of both chambers ensures a divided government where Democrats are expected to launch a gauntlet of probes into the administration, and to pursue ambitious priorities that will likely be met with a presidential veto.
Democrats are already setting up the groundwork for a firehose of investigative efforts in both chambers. Members of the party have vowed to look into questionable dealings by top officials within the administration, and companies that looked to cozy up the White House. And impeachment could be on the table.
“Lawyer up,” Rep. Robert Garcia, who’s expected to lead the high-profile Oversight Committee next year, wrote in a statement Tuesday night.
The players
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to lead the Democratic caucus in the upper chamber, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is expected to make history as the first Black speaker of the House.
Rep. Jim Jordan (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)
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On the Republican side, Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday in a staff call that he would not be running for minority leader, according to a source familiar with the situation. This sets up a competitive race for minority leader between Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and possibly others. Senate GOP Leader John Thune is expected to continue leading the conference in the upper chamber.
In the Senate, several retirements will open up leadership positions on a number of high-profile panels, including Judiciary, Foreign Relations, and Homeland Security.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is the favorite to succeed Judiciary ranking member Dick Durbin as the committee's top Democrat, Sen. Chris Coons is expected to helm the Foreign Relations Committee following ranking member Jeanne Shaheen’s retirement, and Sen. Maggie Hassan could lead the Homeland Security Committee after ranking member Gary Peters’ exit at the end of the year.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, was elected governor of Minnesota Tuesday, creating an opening for the new chair.
On the Republican side, a number of committee leaders are term-limited or leaving Congress. Sen. Chuck Grassley will no longer chair the Judiciary Committee, leaving Sen. Mike Lee to assume the role of ranking Republican.
Sen. Bill Cassidy lost his primary earlier this year, leaving the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee's top GOP slot open to the next most senior Republican. That’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski, if she forgoes chairing the Appropriations Committee, or Sen. Josh Hawley. Sen. Roger Marshall, who was in line to be the top HELP Republican, lost his reelection Tuesday night.
One of Tuesday night's upsets happened in Maine, where Democrat Troy Jackson topped five-term Sen. Susan Collins.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Collins chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee, and her loss leaves Murkowski, a swing-vote ally, to replace her as the panel's top Republican.
Sens. Mitch McConnell and Joni Ernst are both retiring, leaving open the chairmanship of the Rules and Administration Committee and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship panel, respectively.
In the House, younger Democrats are looking to pursue powerful positions on committees, part of an ongoing push for generational change. One such example is the gavel race among Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee, where ranking member Maxine Waters faces a challenge from a younger colleague, Rep. Sean Casten.
Committee leaders in charge of high-profile investigative efforts will also be widely watched. Along with Garcia chairing Oversight, Rep. Jamie Raskin is expected to lead the Judiciary Committee.
Rep. Angie Craig, the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee, gave up her seat to run for Minnesota’s Senate race and lost the primary. Already, a few Democrats are making a play for the top spot, including Reps. Shontel Brown and Jim Costa. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, the ranking member of the Small Business Committee, will retire at the end of the year, setting off another gavel race.
The agenda in the coming days
For months, House Democrats have been selling an “affordability” agenda centered around a host of issues they argue President Trump has made worse.
Jeffries created five working groups to tackle affordability within the areas of health care, housing, groceries and goods, caregiving, and gas and utilities.
House leaders are organizing what the first 100-hour and 100-day sprint could look like when the new Congress convenes in January, along with longer-term legislative efforts. Senate Democrats have not released a similar plan.
Jeffries and fellow Democrats speak about the health care fight on the steps of the House before votes to end a government shutdown on Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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House Democrats are expected to quickly pass legislation that would bring back to life Obamacare enhanced premium tax credits that expired at the end of last year, reverse nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts that were included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, end Trump’s tariffs, and direct Trump to end the war in Iran or seek congressional approval to continue it.
For their health care working group, House Democrats are considering bills to cap Medicare out-of-pocket costs for hospital and provider benefits, prevent companies from acquiring and operating multiple parts of the health care system, and push MAHA-friendly policies around food safety.
The legislative picture is more complicated in the Senate, where any priority will have to face the legislative filibuster, requiring Republican votes.
A few things are certain in a Democratic-run Senate, however. Expect a harder time confirming Trump’s nominees and judicial picks. A Supreme Court retirement would all but certainly result in a stalled replacement pick in the Senate. For more controversial lower-level nominees, expect the same result.
Trump struck a noticeably more bipartisan tone in an interview with Fox News Tuesday night, saying he has a “lot of friends that are Democrats, believe it or not,” and that he spoke with some on Election Night. The president also stressed that he would veto anything Democrats send over that he deems “insane.”
Democrats and Republicans still have legislative priorities they need to get done before the year is over and in the months after—which include funding the government, possibly lifting the debt ceiling, and passing several policy-authorization bills.
What could further hamper any sense of bipartisanship is the certainty of Democratic efforts to investigate the Trump administration. Committee leaders have been slowly setting the foundation for any investigative efforts over the last year—sending dozens of letters to businesses and administration officials in areas Democrats believe could make for good investigative targets.
House Democrats have been more eager to say the I-word, making clear they’re open to impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and possibly other Cabinet officials such as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Whether they’ll have the backing of Senate Democrats is another question. Some Democrats have been wary about the prospects of impeachment, as the impeachments of Trump during his first administration ended up igniting the conservative base and failed to produce a conviction.
Another move to be on the lookout for: rollbacks of regulation that Democrats disagree with, through disapproval resolutions under the Congressional Review Act. The CRA allows for lawmakers to fast-track consideration of a regulatory rollback and bypass the filibuster.
