Democrats Took Congress – But What Can They Do With It?

Tuesday night’s election results were devastating to Republicans on the national level, as headlines across the media have told us since yesterday and will for days to come, if not weeks. But what does the blue wave that washed over Congress really mean for the 120th Congress, Trump’s lame duck period, and the nation in general?

A Do-Nothing Congress by Any Other Name

In January of 2025, Republicans gained control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. It was a total repudiation of the COVID/Biden era and the beginning of something new … but that new era wasn’t the one Republicans hoped for. 2025 turned out to be a record year – as Liberty Nation News reported that December – just not the kind to be proud of.

The 119th Congress left Washington for the year with just 60 bills passed by either chamber. But even that number was generous, as only 38 of those were actually passed by both and then signed into law. Now, that isn’t the worst Congress had done. The previous session saw only 27 signed by Biden, but that was a divided legislature. The 119th’s first session, and Trump’s first year back in office, was as a Republican trifecta.

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In any case, the year did set records. It was the fewest bills passed by a Congress in its first year under a new president in the 21st century. The House also set a new record for the century with the fewest roll-call votes in the first session. There was a 43-day partial government shutdown that broke the record for the longest in American history – which was again broken in 2026 after the 76-day standoff over DHS funding.

Speaking of 2026, the 119th didn’t exactly pick up the pace in accomplishments. And again, that’s under a Republican trifecta. It was the 80th Congress, in session from 1947 through 1948, that then-President Harry Truman called the “do-nothing Congress.” Yet compared to the 119th, it was a hive of busy bees!

Divide, Sure – But Conquer?

Democrats needed 51 seats in the Senate and 218 in the House to take the majorities. They ended up with 54 in the Senate (with the still uncalled races in Mississippi and Alaska leaning their way) and 240 in the House (with a whopping 48 still to be called). However the final numbers shake out, Democrats have clearly taken Congress.

However, no matter how Trump may say he hoped people would vote as if he were on the ballot, he wasn’t on the ballot. And that’s good news for Republicans, as it means they still hold the White House. As LNN explained on Wednesday, much of the electoral bloodbath may have been due to two Trump-related causes: the expensive war in Iran that has the cost of fuel – and, therefore, everything else – high and the bevy of bad candidates he backed in primaries and the general that simply couldn’t defeat their Democratic opponents. It probably isn’t safe to assume Trump would have survived the 2026 elections were he on the ballot.

Since Trump remains president for the next two years, however, and the majority won by Democrats, while impressive, falls short of the two-thirds necessary to overturn vetoes, the actual effect of this election doesn’t extend far beyond the dramatic news of it. 2027 will bring a Congress even less likely to pass any significant or meaningful laws than the one now getting ready to head home.

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What can Democrats actually do in the 120th Congress? Well, Democrats can – and almost certainly will, assuming they can manufacture some reason that at least kind of looks good on paper – impeach Trump yet again. In fact, they might try multiple times. And, since they also hold a majority in the Senate, they can bring that sure-to-be-successful House impeachment to trial. But without a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which means 13 Republicans would have to cross over to hit the required 67, actual conviction and removal remains a left-wing pipe dream.

Democratic control of the Senate does, of course, mean that any future Trump nominations requiring confirmation are a bust, unless he picks folks with clear bipartisan support. But even then, if the Democrats’ mantra for 2027 is “obstruct Trump,” there’s a good chance they’ll oppose anything he does simply out of spite.

Democrats have divided the government, yes. But to say they’ve conquered may be a stretch – at least for the 120th Congress. What happened at the state level across the nation is an entirely different story that may bring its own set of consequences in 2028. But where Congress is concerned, the “win” is unlikely to change much in the grand scheme of things. Looking back in years to come, there probably won’t be much more to say about the 120th Congress than there was about the 119th.