By Ande Jacobson
The 2026 midterm voting is finished. The election resulted in a sweeping Democratic victory which is good news for democracy in the US. The Democrats have won majorities in both the US Senate and the House of Representatives as well as a majority of state legislatures and governor’s mansions. While it’s tempting to dream big right now, it’s crucial to have realistic expectations for how we move forward. We should absolutely contact our new congress critters to let them know what we want, but we also have to recognize that it’s much easier to destroy things than it is to build things or repair the damage that has been done. That said, what do realistic expectations look like once the new Congress has been seated in January 2027?
We can and should expect lots of investigations into the crimes and corruption of the current regime. Formal Congressional investigations and the resulting hearings are important because that means that those testifying will be under oath which carries serious penalties for lying. That means those being called to testify can’t just spew propaganda without serious consequences the way they do in their public commentary and on social media. Public hearings and the reports from the investigations are crucial for the American electorate and the world to learn what’s really been happening. This also means that everything uncovered through these investigations will be part of the congressional record for posterity. That’s no small thing.
We can expect honest vetting of any nominees for confirmable government positions and judicial appointments. The days of rubber stamping whatever the president wants will be over. While impeachments and removals of those who are clearly unfit to serve would be very satisfying, and there may be some, we shouldn’t expect any wholesale removal of the current regime. That’s just not realistic. Also, while there will be Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress, neither will constitute supermajorities (although the House comes closer than we’ve seen since 1942), convictions for impeachments will require more than just Democratic support.
Not having supermajorities also means that for legislation to overcome a presidential veto, some bipartisan support will be needed. In that, expect separate, targeted bills for things that are necessary and that the American public wants rather than the omnibus bills we’ve seen from the current Republican majority. Even if some of that legislation is vetoed along the way, votes will force all legislators to be on the record, and their constituents will be watching. Except for those choosing to retire at the end of their term, all of the House and one third of the Senate will be seeking bids to be reelected in two years, so how their constituents see them will matter.
Most of all, we have to recognize that this isn’t a one and done situation. Regaining Democratic majorities in Congress and across more state legislatures and governor’s mansions are a great start, but it’s going to take far longer than two or even four years to fix what the current regime has broken. We cannot give up part way through this. We have to continue to show up and stay engaged in every election going forward. We have to keep in contact with our representation understanding that governing responsibly takes time, patience, and endurance. We cannot expect instantaneous change. We can expect slow and steady progress not to just get back to where we were before the current era but to build something even better and more durable.
As for the Congressional leadership, we have to trust our elected congress critters to do their jobs. We have to understand that much of the win we saw last week was because of that leadership that’s currently being attacked by the public. The leaders’ jobs are to coordinate the caucus, raise money for their campaigns, coordinate the messaging, coordinate legislative priorities, make committee assignments, etc. The public doesn’t get to vote on who becomes the House Speaker or Senate Majority Leader nor should it. Once the new Congress is seated, they’ll elect their leadership responsibly, and they recognize all that went into getting them elected. We should see a much more positively consequential Congress compared to what we’ve seen under the current Republican leadership. Our job as constituents is to let our congress critters know what is important to us, but attacking the leadership is not helpful. Also consider that the committees that the House and Senate membership lead and support are crucial. We need people like Jamie Raskin chairing the House Judiciary Committee, not serving as House Speaker. The Speaker doesn’t serve on committees, the House membership does. The same is true for the Senate.
We’ve also seen that House Republicans are bent on being obstructive given they’ve selected Jim Jordan, possibly the most obstructive and dedicated Trump supporter in their conference, to be the House minority leader in the next session. That’s not good news, but that really only comes into play when trying to overcome presidential vetoes. The Democrats have a large enough majority in the House to pretty much ensure initial passage of any legislation they deem important even without Republican support. Still, we can expect Jordan to loudly oppose everything the Democrats want as a matter of course. He clearly has no regard for his constituents or for governing, but that’s a problem for him and his constituents in 2028.
With this latest election, there is now light at the end of the dark tunnel we’ve been in for far too long, but we have to make sure that we stay the course. We won’t necessarily get everything we want, but we will move toward a better future, and nothing is completely off the table. As historian Heather Cox Richardson has been saying for years, there are two schools of thought about what government is supposed to do. What the majority of voters showed us this election is that Americans want a government that works for all Americans, not just a wealthy few. The vast majority of Americans want a government that treats everyone equally under the law, regulates business, provides a healthy social safety net, ensures that we all have the essentials like clean water, safe food, reliable infrastructure, affordable housing and healthcare, and so much more. As much as we all want things turned around, we still have to recognize that the executive branch is controlled by the Republicans for the next two years. With an effective Congress, they won’t be able to continue the corruption and destruction that they’ve engaged in for the past two years. There will be some checks on them come January.
Not continuing the destruction isn’t the same thing as fixing it all, and this is where realistic expectations must be set. Repairs can’t happen immediately, but they will start. Also remember that the worst of the 2025 budget bill’s cuts are yet to come. The Republicans intentionally set the worst cuts to occur after the midterms, and they will still happen. While the Republicans will try to blame the cuts on the Democrats, the Republicans own the Medicaid cuts and work requirements. The Republicans own the SNAP cuts. The Republicans own the loss of the ACA subsidies. The Republicans own the loss of clean energy credits. The Republicans also own the abuses by ICE/CBP. The Democrats are positioned to submit and vote on legislation to restore the funding to reverse the worst of the cuts early in the new session, but it will take some time for that process to play out.
The current era has shown us the flaws and frailties in our governmental institutions and our democracy. We must demand that additional safeguards be put in place to prevent the kind of unqualified and incompetent takeover that we’ve watched unfold from happening again.
It won’t be easy, and it won’t be quick, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
