The Democrats have emerged victorious from the midterm elections, claiming massive gains in both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate.
asserted
Democrats → emerge → Representatives
Click here to read a quick catch-up on how the results panned out, click here to see how popular Trump is today,and click here for a breakdown on what the midterms are all about.
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midterms → click → what
Here's what you need to know today
- GOP blame game: In the aftermath of their huge losses, Republicans have turned to examining what went wrong.
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what → need → losses
"I don't blame anybody," Trump told Politico.
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Trump → blame → Politico
Earlier, he acknowledged that the Iran war played a role, but stood by his decision to attack Iran — something Vice-President JD Vance has echoed.
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Vance → acknowledge → Iran
"The reason we lost is the war," Vance said on X.
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Vance → lose → X.
"If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next six years was worth it, then do so."
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losing → like → years
Trump also said if he had been on the ballot, "we would have won".
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we → say → ballot
"But they just, you couldn't transfer that love.
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you → transfer → love
There was such love at those rallies, it was incredible, and we weren't able to transfer the love to candidates," he said.
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he → be → candidates
But with Trump's approval rating sitting below 40 per cent since April, many Republicans feel differently.
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Republicans → sit → April
"Trump spent the year telling voters what was important to him, not them," veteran Republican strategist Doug Heye told Reuters.
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Heye → spend → Reuters
Going into the election, Trump encouraged Republican states to redraw their electoral maps in a bid to give the party an advantage in House races, leading to a proverbial arms race between the two parties.
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Trump → go → parties
For the most part, that gambit failed to net Republicans any extra seats.
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gambit → fail → seats
But there's also a chance it may have cost the party a once-safe seat where a comfortable majority was shaved down to bolster other areas.
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majority → be → areas
At the time of writing, the race for Tennessee's fourth congressional district is separated by just 280 votes, with the Democrats in the lead.
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race → separate → lead
Still, experts have said the new maps had some impact, stifling Democrats' abilities to flip even more seats across the country.
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maps → say → country
The new make-up is scheduled to be sworn in on January 3, but the work starts now.
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work → schedule → January
Parties in both chambers are expected to choose their leadership teams when Congress returns next week.
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Congress → expect → teams
Hakeem Jeffries, who is currently the House Democratic leader, is expected to remain the party leader for the chamber for the next two years.
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who → expect → years
That would make him the first Black speaker in the 237-year history of the House.
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him → make → House
The current speaker, Mike Johnson, has announced he will not serve as House minority leader next year, opening the way for a Republican leadership bid.
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he → announce → bid
In the Senate, Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Leader John Thune are expected to remain leaders of their respective parties.
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Schumer → expect → parties
Answering some of your questions
We had plenty of questions come through on yesterday's live blog.
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plenty → answer → blog
Here are some of the most frequently asked, and how our ABC staff answered.
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staff → ask → asked
How does this affect Australia?
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this → affect → Australia
The US is one of Australia's closest allies, so any political changes there could have an effect in the medium to long term.
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changes → have → term
Can Donald Trump be impeached now?
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Trump → impeach → ?
For those not familiar, impeachment means to formally charge a public official with misconduct.
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impeachment → mean → misconduct
Democrats do now have the numbers in the House to pass articles of impeachment — only a simple majority of 51 per cent is required.
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majority → have → cent
But that doesn't mean they will.
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they → mean → ?
Even if they put forward a solid case alleging Trump has engaged in misconduct, they need a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate to convict.
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they → put → Senate
Democrats won't be leaving this election with that big a margin, so Republicans would need to cross the floor to do so.
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Republicans → leave → floor
You might remember this was where the two impeachment motions in Trump's first term ended up getting stuck.
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motions → remember → term
And as my colleague, Casey Briggs,wrote on Tuesday: "[Democrats] would need to have a reason to [impeach] as well.
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Democrats → write → reason
You would think that Democrats would want to have an issue that would be seen as worthy of impeachment by the American public.
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that → think → public
The risk is that Democrats are seen as overplaying their hand.
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Democrats → see → hand
Of course, people will disagree on exactly what the threshold is for 'high crimes and misdemeanours'."
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threshold → disagree → crimes
Can a Democrat-controlled Congress put an end to US involvement in the Iran war?
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Congress → control → war
Trump did not seek permission from Congress when he launched strikes on Iran in the first place.
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he → seek → place
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
