Democrats won both chambers of the US Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, flipping seven Senate seats and at least two dozen House districts in what is widely seen as a rebuke of President Donald Trump. For India, the result reshapes the Washington it must deal with for the final two years of Trump’s term, on trade, visas, energy and war.
Prices and affordability were the key issues in this election. Nearly nine in ten voters said the cost of living was a crucial or major factor in their vote, and most said inflation was causing hardship at home. Annual inflation hit 3.7% in September, with fuel accounting for more than half of the rise.
That spike was driven by the Iran war, which Trump launched alongside Israel in February without congressional authorisation. Most voters called military action against Iran the wrong decision, and Vice President J.D. Vance has since blamed the Republican losses on the war.
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Democrats can now block legislation, control spending and launch investigations, but they lack the two-thirds majorities needed to override a presidential veto.
The Iran war is where they are most likely to bite, through war powers votes and limits on funding. Tariffs are harder to contain, since the President has other legal avenues to pursue them. On Ukraine and the treatment of European allies, a Democratic Congress can add guardrails, such as resisting a lopsided peace deal for Kyiv, but cannot redirect Trump’s foreign policy outright.
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