A red “VETO” hat is sitting on Trump’s Oval Office desk, and the Democratic Congress is coming. Democrats won both the House and the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterms, and Washington is already bracing for investigations, vetoes and a very different two years.
Republicans, meanwhile, are using the lame-duck weeks to prepare for what is coming.
Here’s the thing: bills on health care and affordability can now clear Congress, but Trump’s veto pen will decide which ones become law. Markets noticed, too, as stocks rallied Wednesday after Trump acknowledged the Democratic wins.
Scalise Tells Committee Chairs to Prep for a Democratic Congress
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise sent a letter Thursday to GOP committee chairs. He told them to take “inventory” of likely Democratic investigation targets, according to Fox News. He also urged them to “maximize our remaining days in power to prepare for what is coming.”
HuffPost reports the letter says House Democrats have signaled they intend to impeach Trump, “but they will not stop there.” That is Scalise’s characterization. In fact, we found no Democratic leadership pledge to impeach.
Democrats have signaled probes of Trump’s Cabinet, family, businesses and allies, per Fox. NBC News reports the White House was quietly preparing for investigations even before the races were called, citing four present and former officials.
A Hat Says It All: Trump Eyes the New Congress
Trump kept the message simple. Fox News reports a red “VETO” hat was sitting on his Oval Office desk Thursday. Before the election, he said he would brand himself “Mr. Veto” if Democrats won Congress, NBC Washington reports.
The hat matters because the math is plain. House Democrats can pass bills by a simple majority. Still, any bill needs Trump’s signature, so every big idea now runs through his desk, even with a Democratic majority behind it.
How Big Was the Democratic House and Senate Wave?
The Associated Press called the Senate for Democrats on election night and the House early Nov. 4. Chuck Schumer said, “against all odds, we Democrats have won the Senate.”
In the House, AP projects Democrats at more than 250 seats, with more than two dozen races still uncalled. CBS News estimates about 256 and NBC about 255, against 218 needed. Before the election, Republicans held the chamber 218 to 214. Hakeem Jeffries won re-election and is in line to become Speaker.
In the Senate, Democrats flipped seven seats and hold 54 to Republicans’ 44, per AP, with Alaska and Mississippi still uncalled. Flips named in the coverage include Texas, where James Talarico beat Ken Paxton, and North Carolina, where Roy Cooper beat Michael Whatley.
The Texas result also puts AI data centers in Texas in the spotlight. Final totals could still move as counting continues.
Blame and Fallout Before the Democratic Congress Arrives
The finger-pointing started fast. Trump keeps blaming the GOP losses on his own absence from the ballot, NBC reports. Vance, for his part, blamed the Iran war, per NBC Washington. Fox and Northeastern both tie the vote to voter anxiety over that war, rising gas prices and the economy.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, urged Trump to replace any cabinet-level appointees he is unsure about before the new Congress arrives. Trump says he has “every intention” of keeping Pete Hegseth, per HuffPost.
Even the redistricting gamble did not save the House. CBS News asks whether the GOP’s mid-decade map push turned out to be a “dummymander.”
What Happens Next
The new Congress is sworn in in January, with Jeffries expected to be elected Speaker. Until then, Republicans still run the committees and the calendar. Expect the lame-duck weeks to be about shielding the White House and possibly reshuffling the Cabinet.
Democrats campaigned on affordability and on undoing Trump administration cuts to health care for millions of Americans. Health care looks like the likeliest early fight. But a Democratic bill that survives the House and Senate still has to survive a veto.
So the real question for 2027 is not whether Congress passes bills. It is how many of them a man with a red hat on his desk will let through.
