Democrats poised to seize Congress and state governments in midterm elections

The Democratic Party appeared set to win a commanding victory in Tuesday's midterm elections. As of 11 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday night, the party was on track to gain control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as several state governments.

The party's strong performance, driven in part by voters' anger over inflation and the war in Iran, reached into traditional Republican strongholds like Ohio and South Carolina. A sweep would have profound consequences for climate action in the United States, even with President Donald Trump still in the White House.

“A sweep would have profound consequences for climate action in the United States, even with President Donald Trump still in the White House.”

Flipping control of Congress would allow Democrats to hinder Trump's numerous attempts to roll back federal climate policy. In the first two years of Trump's term, party leaders could do little more than write strongly worded statements to administration officials.

They were powerless to stop the suspension of clean energy funding, the elimination of climate rules for power plants and motor vehicles, and the hollowing-out of agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

If Tuesday's results hold, the party will have a lot more leverage. Democratic senators and members of Congress can issue subpoenas to force administration officials to testify before Congress, and could impeach Trump administration figures over funding clawbacks and staff reductions that Democrats have called unlawful.

Democrats would also have control over must-pass funding bills, and Trump would have to negotiate with them in order to avoid a government shutdown. This could even lead to the restoration of some funding for energy and climate resilience programs that Republicans have been trying to whittle down.

Turnover at the state level, where officials are still counting votes, may be even more significant. Democrats could gain control of the state government in purple states, ending in some cases decades of Republican or divided government.