Absolutely: Republicans win majority in US House of Representatives “Not appropriate!”: Xi Jinping and Justin Trudeau argue on camera

After winning the Senate, the Democrats lost to US President Joe Biden their majority in the House of Representatives in the congressional elections. Republicans get more than half of the 435 seats in the House of CongressThe American broadcasters CNN and NBC and the AP news agency report this on Wednesday (local time) on the basis of vote counts and forecasts.

Such an outcome was predicted – although the Republican majority will ultimately be much smaller than expected. And in the important Senate, the Democrats are in charge. With a divided Congress, governing for Biden will certainly become more difficult over the next two years. In addition, Republicans can investigate Biden and his policies.

In the midterm elections in the middle of Biden’s term, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and about a third of the seats in the Senate were up for grabs last Tuesday. In addition, important governorships were filled in numerous states. Counting the votes in different races took a long time due to very close results and electoral quirks in some states.

In midterm elections in the middle of a US president’s term, his party usually gets a reminder. The president himself is not up for election, but the vote is regarded as a kind of referendum on his policies. In terms of domestic policy, Biden had recently driven up inflation in the country – rising fuel prices in particular caused discontent. And even before that, Biden had to contend with dramatically poor polling.

Before the election, a wave of success was predicted for the Republicans and a debacle for the Democrats. But neither happened. Instead, the Democrats generally performed unexpectedly well.

They won a majority in the Senate – which is especially important because important personal data at the federal level – such as ambassadors, cabinet members or federal judges – are confirmed there. Biden is therefore certain of the possibility of pushing through even more nominations in the second half of his term. However, the loss of control of the House of Representatives is likely to make the president uncomfortable for the next two years.

With their new power in the House of Representatives, Republicans can block future legislation at will. Both chambers of Congress are involved in the legislative process.

The House of Representatives is especially important when it comes to budget issues. Republicans have threatened to block an increase in the debt ceiling or financial aid to Ukraine. Observers see this merely as a means of forcing concessions from Democrats elsewhere. However, it is likely to become more difficult for Biden to push through projects that are usually mutually agreed upon.

The Republicans have also threatened various parliamentary investigations into Democrats, such as the situation on the border with Mexico, the FBI search for former Republican President Donald Trump or the dealings with Biden’s son Hunter. They may also start impeachment proceedings against members of the cabinet. With that they can make life miserable for Biden and his administration for the next two years. (sda/dpa)