Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives next year, NBC News projects, giving them the power to investigate President Trump and advance legislation to check his policies. The Guardian's live coverage reports that Democrats also flipped Senate seats in Texas, Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Ohio, describing the result as a "blue wave" in which voters rejected Trump's agenda.
The outcome reshapes Washington two months before the new session begins, and it lands directly on the tech industry's biggest open files: AI regulation, data-center policy and federal chip funding. Control of the House hands Democrats subpoena power over federal agencies and a platform to set the terms of the debate for the next two years.
Why the midterms matter for tech policy
A Democratic House can open investigations into how the administration has handled everything from AI oversight to broadband subsidies, and it can block or slow legislation it opposes. That changes the calculus for companies waiting on federal rules for artificial intelligence, data centers and semiconductor incentives that were passed under the previous Congress.
The Senate flip matters just as much for the agencies that write the fine print. Committee gavels will change hands in January 2027, and nominations that Republicans rush through in the lame-duck months could be the last tech appointments they lock in before Democrats take over.
FCC power grab before Democrats take the Senate
Ars Technica reports that Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is aiming to widen the Republican majority on the Federal Communications Commission before Democrats take control of the Senate in January 2027. Just before the midterm loss, Cruz announced a November 10 nomination hearing for Trump's FCC nominee, Danielle Thumann Severs, according to Ars Technica.
Confirming Thumann Severs would give Republicans an unusual 3-1 advantage on the FCC, Ars Technica reports. That could become 3-0 at the end of 2027, because FCC Democrat Anna Gomez would have to leave the commission at that time if Trump does not renominate her. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has warned that federal law prohibits an all-Republican FCC and that any action taken by a partisan commission could be overturned in court.
