Democrats Take Full Control of Congress! Trump's Legislative Agenda Stalled, Investigations Escalate, Shadow of a Third Impeachment Reemerges

Source: Jin10 Data

After the U.S. midterm elections, the balance of power in Washington will undergo a major shift. The Democratic Party has won majority seats in both the House and the Senate, ending the Republican Party's previous control of both chambers of Congress. When the new Congress is officially sworn in next January, Trump will face a Congress fully controlled by Democrats for the first time in his second term.

Over the past two years, Trump was able to rely on Republican control of the White House and both chambers of Congress to push through large-scale tax cut legislation and avoid strict scrutiny of the government and cabinet members by congressional committees. Now, this political advantage no longer exists.

Democrats will not only be able to block legislation they oppose, but will also gain greater investigative oversight authority, using hearings, subpoenas, and document requests to scrutinize the Trump administration and its inner circle.

However, a change in congressional control does not mean Trump will lose all policy tools. The president still retains veto power and can also take action through executive orders without relying on congressional legislation.

Legislative Space Narrows, Democrats to Seize Investigative Initiative

Democratic full control of Congress first changes the distribution of legislative power.

After winning majority seats in both the House and Senate, Democrats can block legislation they oppose from passing, but advancing their own policy agenda also faces procedural obstacles.

In the Senate, most bills typically require 60 votes to end a so-called "filibuster." This procedure allows lawmakers to block a bill from reaching a final vote by extending debate. In the 100-seat Senate, Democrats may not necessarily reach this threshold even with a simple majority.

However, Democrats can use the special "Budget Reconciliation" process to bypass the filibuster.

This process mainly applies to budget matters such as government spending, taxes, and the federal debt ceiling. First, the House and Senate must agree on a budget resolution setting overall revenue and spending targets. Subsequently, related bills proposed to implement these budget targets require only a simple majority vote in the Senate to pass.

Republicans previously used this process to push through tax cut bills in 2017 during Trump's first term and in 2025 during his second term.

But Trump can still veto any bill passed by Congress. To override a presidential veto, both the House and Senate must achieve a two-thirds majority, an advantage Democrats currently do not have.

However, presidential veto power also carries political costs. If Trump vetoes bills addressing voters' cost-of-living concerns, it could further affect his approval ratings.

Democrats are expected to prioritize restoring healthcare protections, including reversing some Medicaid cuts in the 2025 tax bill and restoring enhanced subsidies for individual health insurance costs.

Trump has previously suggested that if he continues to veto bills proposed by Democrats, both sides might eventually be willing to reach a compromise.

In fact, even when the president's party differs from the congressional majority party, major legislation can still pass as long as both sides are willing to negotiate. Historically, the 1983 plan to save the Social Security system, the major tax reform of 1986, and the large-scale overhaul of the U.S. welfare system in 1996 were all examples of bipartisan cooperation.

The change in congressional oversight power is a more direct policy tool for Democrats after winning majority seats.

Democrats may relaunch or expand investigations into Trump and his administration, with potential targets including the Trump family's stock trading and other business dealings, private enterprise funding for the White House ballroom project, government immigration enforcement policies, and the Trump administration's handling of files related to the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Congressional committees can issue subpoenas requiring private citizens, businesses, and government officials to submit documents or appear at hearings. For those who refuse to cooperate, committees can consider pursuing accountability on grounds of "contempt of Congress," which can carry fines and imprisonment of up to 12 months.

Congress can also refer suspected criminal leads to the Department of Justice for further investigation, but Congress itself has no power to bring criminal charges.

The U.S. Department of Justice has exclusive authority to prosecute federal criminal cases and can independently decide whether to act on leads referred by Congress.

During Trump's tenure, the Justice Department has already deviated from the long-standing tradition that criminal investigations and prosecutions should avoid influence from the White House. A Justice Department under a future administration could still take action based on leads referred by congressional committees during Trump's term.

Additionally, Trump has previously stated that if his aides face congressional investigations, he is willing to grant them protective pardons.

The U.S. president has the power to pardon federal crimes but cannot pardon crimes that have not yet occurred. For crimes that have already occurred but have not yet been formally charged, the president can issue pardons in advance, without even needing to specify which crime is involved.

In 2025, then-President Biden issued broad protective pardons to multiple family members and government officials in the final hours of his term, citing concerns that they might face retaliation from the incoming Trump administration. Trump has cited this precedent to defend his promise to protect government aides.

A Third Impeachment and Personnel Appointments: Trump Faces More Congressional Constraints

Democratic recapture of the House also raises the possibility of a third impeachment of Trump.

Impeachment first requires initiation in the House. If the House passes articles of impeachment by a simple majority vote, the president is impeached, but this does not mean immediate removal from office.

Subsequently, the Senate holds a trial. Only with two-thirds majority support from senators can the president be convicted and removed from office.

Trump was impeached twice during the latter half of his first term, both occurring after Democrats regained control of the House following the 2018 midterm elections.

In December 2019, the House impeached Trump for the first time on grounds of abuse of power and obstruction of congressional investigation. The allegation was that Trump used military aid to Ukraine as leverage to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate Biden and his son Hunter, who was Trump's political rival at the time.

In January 2021, the House impeached Trump again, accusing him of inciting insurrection. This impeachment was related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, when the proceedings to certify Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election were forced to be delayed.

However, after both impeachments, Trump was not convicted in the Senate.

If Democrats decide to initiate a third impeachment proceeding, they would still need to overcome the two-thirds majority threshold in the Senate. Even if the House passes articles of impeachment, it is almost impossible to directly push Trump out of office.

In fact, Democratic leaders had already downplayed the possibility of impeaching the president during the midterm elections, urging candidates to focus on lowering the cost of living and reducing the economic burden on working families.

Beyond impeachment, the change in Senate control will also directly affect the Trump administration's personnel arrangements.

Cabinet members nominated by the president, Supreme Court and federal court judges, ambassadors abroad, and heads of government agencies and commissions typically all require Senate confirmation.

Previously, Republican control of the Senate allowed Trump to push through the appointments of several controversial figures, including Defense Secretary Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and FBI Director Kash Patel.

Although the turnover in Trump's second administration has been relatively limited, with Democrats controlling the Senate, his nomination process for judicial officials and federal executive branch officials will face more resistance.

Executive Power Remains Trump's Important Policy Tool

Despite Democratic control of both chambers of Congress, Trump can still advance a large number of policies through executive action without seeking congressional approval for everything.

In recent times, Trump has repeatedly used executive power to adjust U.S. policy, including launching military strikes against Iran, imposing and removing tariffs, implementing large-scale federal employee layoffs, and announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization and the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Additionally, the Trump administration has taken action to bring former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to the United States.

None of these actions went through the congressional legislative process.

Trump has also repeatedly tested the boundaries of presidential power by issuing a large number of executive orders, some of which have already been ruled unlawful by courts. This also demonstrates that although presidential executive power is broad, it is still constrained by law and judicial review.

After Democrats control Congress, they can exert greater pressure on the White House through legislative resistance, investigative oversight, and personnel appointment reviews, but they cannot completely prevent the president from exercising executive power.

Over the next two years, American politics will enter a new phase of checks and balances. Trump will need to face stricter congressional oversight and may also have to compromise with Democrats on some legislative issues. Democrats, in turn, must balance investigating the Trump administration, advancing their own policies, and avoiding full-scale confrontation with the White House.

The change of congressional control does not mean Trump loses his ability to govern, but the situation in which Republicans could previously rely on a congressional majority to rapidly advance policies has fundamentally changed.