Not american, wanted to know what exactly the dems can now do that they couldn’t before. What does this mean for the supreme court, and what does it mean for the next presidential elections?
Technically, they can actually do the work of Congress and the Senate which should stop the orange pedophile from basically doing whatever he wants whether he has legal power to do so or not (as he has been doing in the last 2 years)
They can also release the Epstein Files or start jailing people blocking the release… as well as running actual investigations, hopefully leading to criminal investigations, for all the naked corruption the orange menace regime has committed.
Finally, they can impeach and maybe even remove the child rapist pressy from office (not sure about this one, they may need a bigger majority for that).
In reality, I am not sure if they will do any but the first one but I am not the most optimistic person out there
In reality they won’t do any of that, sadly
This is under the assumption they stick together as a group and don’t slowly get corrupted throughout their term.
that’s not an assumption, that’s wishfull thinking
A lot of this depends on getting Republicans to help.
Trump can veto anything Congress passes, unless it passes with
6067 votes from the Senate. Ds have a 55/100 members in Senate after they get confirmed (Jan 2027) BUT also have a guy named Fetterman who’s a not-so-secret Republican.Also, anything to do with Israel will still have a hard time because of people like the ghoul Chuck Schumer.
Edit: 67 not
60It requires 67 Senators to override a veto (2/3 of both houses). 60 is the Senate “cloture” rule number to move bills forward (just a rule, not anything specified in law or the constitution).
Whoops! Yeah, totally right. I’ll correct my post
They can impeach.
Removal from office will require 67 senators which means they need to get a decent chunk of R-aligned folks on their side for that.
It may not be completely outside the realm of possibility. Not all senators were up for reelection this time around, and distancing themselves from Trump may be a politically prudent move, considering the blue wave that we just had.
They won’t be impeaching Trump again. But his cabinet should be shaking. Some Republicans are already on board with impeaching Hegseth.
I can definitely see them impeaching him, but probably my not removing him.
They have said they are unlikely to impeach him again.
That would be a huge mistake. They now control the senate, which means they can open an investigation. That was something they couldn’t do before. They may not have a super majority, but they can get everything into official record and force the republicans to explicitly say they support the presidents illegal activities.
yeah I would like to see a third impeachment. heck just the unprecedented 3rd would make it worth it. let him go down with an impeachment record that no one will be able to touch.
They have lots of investigative powers that do not require impeachment proceedings.
I know, but being able to add the impeachment label still has impact. So I am hoping that it happens.
I don’t think that should be the first thing. They should investigate others first to lay a foundation. Make it clear the scope of corruption and illegality, then carry out the presidential impeachment and directly investigate the president.
They can also release the Epstein Files or start jailing people blocking the release… as well as running actual investigations, hopefully leading to criminal investigations, for all the naked corruption the orange menace regime has committed.
I seriously doubt they will release the files, but I’m hoping beyond hope.
I’m hoping that enough republicans see the writing on the wall from this election and go into self-preservation mode to break from party lines and help democrats do some of the overwhelmingly popular things they want to do, like releasing the Epstein files and ending support for Israel. I’m letting myself be overly hopeful, though, so we’ll see.
Setting the agenda: Trump can veto any legislation they pass, but that will almost certainly backfire on Republicans if the Democrats pass bills that will be popular with the people. With enough pressure, Trump may let some things through or some Republicans may join Democrats to overturn a veto. A recent example would be the Epstein Files Transparency Act which managed to get through because the political cost of opposing it became clear to Republicans. Plus, the government needs funding so if Trump vetoes the funding the government shuts down, which will definitely hurt Republicans.
Investigations: This is the thing most people are talking about and it is a very big deal. They can issue subpoenas, compel testimony, and drag all the shady shit into the light of day. And even if Trump pardons people the evidence uncovered by these investigations can be used in state court and civil suits.
Blocking nominations: Senate approval is required for most presidential nominations and many of the clowns we are stuck with only barely made it through under Republicans. Judges, US attorney’s, Supreme Court justices, and anyone filling a vacant cabinet position would need a majority vote. Even military promotions could be affected, though that’s only likely to come up in extreme cases.
Impeachment: A simple majority in the House can start an impeachment, but it takes 2/3 of the Senate to remove someone from office. That means Republican votes would be needed, which means that the only people we would be likely to see removed from office are the ones that would probably resign or be fired before getting to that point.
Don’t overlook the state elections: All the attention goes to the House and Senate, but governors, legislatures and attorneys general at the state level are also hugely important. A lot of Republican power has come from their ability to use their power in state governments to tip the balance of elections. The long term consequences here can be huge. In less than a decade Wisconsin has gone from Republicans having supermajorities in the legislature as well as the governor and the state supreme court to having Democrats in control of all three branches, and you can trace it all back to Democrats winning a gubernatorial election and a supreme court election.
The machinery of politics: The fallout here will reshape both parties. Democrats had lost a lot of ground after writing off huge swaths of the country and the victories they just saw will only reinforce the need to compete in every state, something that the new leadership in the DNC finally made a priority. The conversation about who can get elected and where just got a lot more complicated, but the obvious takeaway is that candidate quality matters.
For Republicans, there will likely be a tremendous amount of finger pointing. Trump has hollowed out their party leadership and personally chose many of their losing candidates. That they lost races in deep red territory, even with unprecedented campaign spending, should lead to an absolute bloodbath, but after purging anyone that would even mildly oppose Trump, it’s hard to imagine them doing a 180 and cleaning house. But if they can’t separate themselves from Trump and get some competent leadership, there’s a very real chance that they could pay dearly for it in 2028.
Regarding removal after impeachment, what you said is true. However, a senate investigation can now happen, without convicting. Basically, they can drag Trump through the conviction process, air his dirty laundry, and then put it to a vote. This would also force Republican senators to vote against conviction even though the investigation would turn up a lot of disgusting shit.
Additionally, state level wise, it’s fully possible that the electoral college is removed, now that the remaining few states needed might be willing to sign on to the compact.
What an excellent and comprehensive write up! Bravo!
It means the Democrats can block Trump because his party is no longer in power. It also means nothing will get done for the next two years as Trump can veto any Democratic led legislation. As for the supreme Court, the Senate can block any of Trump’s nominees. For the presidential election there is no impact. The US voter has a short memory and the Democrats will be blamed for not getting anything done over 2 years even if it was Trump blocking everything. The Republican voter will come out in force and undo some of what happened last night. The Democratic Party needs to remember that this wasn’t a vote for them but a vote against Trump
If we get progressive Congress leadership, we can pass widely popular progressive policy into law, and then Trump has to keep taking giant L’s to veto it, or let Dems accomplish progress and get all the credit.
If somehow Schumer/Jefferies get it, they won’t risk trump not vetoing progressive policy and will never being things to vote.
The Democratic Party needs to remember that this wasn’t a vote for them but a vote against Trump
The vast majority of upsets were by progressives…
The neoliberal wing no longer controls the DNC, and the people currently running thebDNC got exactly what they said they wanted:
Fair primaries allowing the type of candidates Dem voters want making it to the midterms.
Like, this wouldn’t have been anywhere near as massive of a wave if the DNC hadn’t drained the “victory fund” that Clinton/Biden/Harris built up which allowed states to operate at campaign levels for almost two years running up to yesterday’s election.
This isn’t 2016 or 2020 when people held their noses, ask around and see how many Dem voters are genuinely excited for the candidates they voted for this election. Odds are if they gained a Dem senator, its one they actually agree with on policy.
Shits not the same as the last 30 years
Insert Fetterman style “progressive”.
Sorry, but I’ll believe it when I see it out of politicians. Anyone can lie through an entire campaign, and the lobbyists and other bribers have a lot of influence that only shows up after people are in office.
How will they overcome the 60 vote threshold in the Senate with (optimistically) only 55 votes?
Republicans will want to distance themselves from Trump. Dems might be able to sway 5 GOP on moderate issues or they risk losing their seats to more Dems in the next election. The pressure is on now. They need to play ball.
In two years the election ads: “The senate wanted to give food to school children and this GOP voted no. Vote for Democrat 123.”
What makes you think they want to distance themselves? I’ve seen “Trump 2028” signs…
And if Trump vetos do you think they’ll be able to get another 7? The man has nothing to lose at this point.
You have to remember that Trump is not actually that ideologically aligned with the Republican party and has no loyalty to anyone but himself. If they can convince him that progressive legislation makes him look good, he’ll happily sign it and crow about how it was his idea in the first place.
Trump wants to be on the winning side, the Republicans losing means that he’ll throw them under the bus to save his ego. You can see this in the way he’s already shit-talking the candidates he campaigned for now that they’ve lost.
I mean he has already thrown the republicans under the bus for the election results and complimented the democrats for doing a good job. this is after him constantly saying he was on the ballot.
Are there no limits to presidential vetoes?
They can be overturned but only with supermajorities which the Dems don’t have on their own.
Some states can also now join the popular vote compact because now they have dems in control of all 3 parts - house, senate, governor. And that gets us closer to eliminating the electoral college in future elections.
In a nutshell, once a simple majority (>50%) of US states enact it, they will have all electoral votes for presidential elections awarded to whichever candidate gains most votes. That means the Electoral College’s effects (faithless electors, not aligning with popular votes, etc.) will be sidelined.
Therefore, rather than an oligarchy (the Electoral College), it is the public that decides the election.
Situations like Bush winning or Hillary losing, would then no longer occur, because both of these won only due to the electoral college.
I’d love to be proven wrong, but it probably won’t be the sunshine and happiness that people hope for. It’s usually just less terrible. But there are some progressives that might push things in the right direction, so I’m happy regardless. It’s their ball to fumble.
The reason it’s been so nuts the last 2 years is what ever the fuck happened in the 2024 election.
The US has 3 branches of government-congress, senate, and executive. Trump is executive, and for the last 2 years his friends ran the other 2.
That’s not the case anymore. Or well, in 2 months it won’t be the case.
The US has 3 branches of government-congress, senate, and executive.
The US does have three branches of governkent:
- Legislative (Congress, made up of the House and the Senate)
- Judicial (Federal courts including SCOTUS)
- Executive (all the departments, with Trump as the chief executive)
Republicans still have a majority of SCOTUS (who are theoretically nonpartisan, but definitely conservative and liberal) and control the executive (in the person of Trump), but lost control of both houses of Congress.
Oppsies. I’m dumb. Ur right.
I was wondering if congress can starve the Iran war of funding and take down Kegsbreath.
December 11 budget/funding bill (before new congress) is the only power play to force Iran withdrawal.
Oh, so nothing :(
I hope at the minimum they can act as a tourniquet on the orange hemorrhage.
JD Vance’s platform to gain back republican voters:
end the war. Change our relationship with Israel.
The only difference between Zionist hated DSA group, and mainstream DNC funded platforms is Israel first rule over America. JD is going full DSA flank.
Everyone who has been licking Trump’s diaper from congress, only had to because they’d get primaried/insulted if they didn’t. Maverick label is needed for GOP to have electoral chances in new cycle.
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When little Timmy goes to public school, their hugely funded vagina surgery centers, will now operate under Sharia law.
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It’s looking like 57/100 now. Maybe 56 but what’s left of Alaska and ranked choice is projecting blue.
So 56 if we include fetterman in the equation and all else goes well.
Israel won’t be that hard, even with Chuck and Jefferies. The amount of bad PR AIPAC has gotten during this race is significant.
Sorry for moving my comment, I meant it as a reply to another post.
BUT YEAH! 56 AT LEAST!
Netanyahu losing Israel solves a lot of the AIPAC problem on its own.
Eisnkurtz isnt perfect, but he’s very unlikely to do the foreign interference shit Netnyahu has been doing.
AIPAC will still exist, but nowhere near the level of the last 30 years.
The triple whammy of neoliberals losing the DNC, Netanyahu losing Israel, and trump melting down making Republicans toxic is a lot bigger than people realize.
It doesn’t mean we can rest, we can never rest. But people should be a hell of a lot more optimistic than they are now.
Netanyahu hasn’t lost control yet. The opposition has to form a government first. At this stage both Netanyahu and Eisnkurtz have refused to work with the Arab parties to form a government but both would need to in order to form a government. I think the expectation is that we have a ways to go before we find out what the results will really be.
