Vol. II, No. 144 From Our Region to Yours
Politics

Democrats Take the House, Will Spend the Next Two Years Being Blamed for It

Voters handed Democrats the majority Tuesday night, along with the speaker's gavel, the committee chairs and every deadline Congress has between now and 2029.

By 2 min read

The east front of the U.S. Capitol at dusk, its white dome lit against a deep blue sky, the long wings of the building glowing along a wide, empty plaza edged with lamps and low railings.
The U.S. Capitol at dusk. The House side is on the left. Starting in January, so is the blame. Photo: Martin Falbisoner / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

WASHINGTON — Democrats won control of the House of Representatives on Tuesday night. CBS News projected the majority at 10:29 p.m. Eastern. By early Wednesday, NBC News had called more than 220 seats for Democrats. Dozens of races were still being counted.

Democrats needed to gain five seats. They gained them, then kept going. Several of the new seats are in districts President Trump carried by double digits.

Republicans have run the House since 2023. Their majority was narrow. In two years it passed what it could, which was mostly time.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York is expected to become speaker. He would be the first Black speaker of the House. He spoke in Washington shortly before 11:30 p.m.

“Today begins the great American comeback,” Jeffries said. “This is a change election, and we understand as House Democrats that we need to deliver dramatic change.”

This reporter has covered eleven administrations. Every one of them promised dramatic change. It usually arrives as a hearing, scheduled for a Thursday, about the change.

Speaker Mike Johnson spoke from Shreveport, La. He said he was disappointed. “It looks like history will be kept tonight,” Johnson said, referring to the habit of a president’s party losing House seats in a midterm.

It was the most accurate thing a sitting speaker has said all year. History was kept. It is nearly always kept. Washington keeps history the way a family keeps a treadmill.

The majority comes with a gavel, the committee chairs and subpoena power. It also comes with every spending deadline, every shutdown threat and every debt-limit fight for the next two years. Democrats celebrated the first list Tuesday. The second list arrives in January.

“You win the House in November and you own it in January,” said Deep Throat Lozenge, this bureau’s most trusted source. “Anything that breaks after that has your name on the door. Including the door.”

Democrats also won the Senate on Tuesday. That removes the last good excuse. For years, each party could blame the other chamber. Starting in January, the only other branch nearby is the Supreme Court, and it is across the street.

Republicans spent the night conceding the majority. They will spend the morning rediscovering what a minority is for. In this reporter’s experience, it is for press conferences, held on the steps, about the people inside.

Voters gave Democrats the House on Tuesday and a two-year receipt to go with it. The comeback starts in January. So does the blame, and the blame has never once been late.

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