Democrats secured a historic midterm victory Tuesday night that is not only expected to hand the party its strongest extended House majority in more than 30 years, but could bring about an end to the Republican Party in perpetuity, Punchbowl News reported Wednesday.
“This isn’t a blue wave or even a tsunami. Tuesday night’s midterm election was an extinction-level event for President Donald Trump’s party on Capitol Hill,” Punchbowl News’ report reads.
In the House, Democrats are projected to secure at least 258 seats in the 435-seat chamber. The last time Democrats controlled 258 seats in the House was for a brief period lasting less than two months in 2009. Before that, the last time Democrats held such a majority was 1995.
In the Senate, Democrats secured control of 54 seats in the 100-seat chamber, though they could boost that figure to 56. In Mississippi, with more than 95% of the vote reported, Democratic Senate nominee Scott Colom holds a razor-thin lead over Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) as of early Wednesday morning. In Alaska, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) narrowly leads Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola with around 75% of the vote reported.
The election blowout, Punchbowl News noted, will almost certainly foil Trump’s agenda for the next two years, potentially setting the Republican Party on the path of irrelevancy.
“A diminished, lame-duck Trump now has to govern with a Democratic House and Senate for the last two years of his presidency,” Punchbowl News’ report reads.
“Trump’s path to further packing the Supreme Court and federal judiciary is blocked, while Democrats will seek to end his war against Iran, rein in the tariff regime and harsh immigration crackdown, and investigate allegations of corruption against him, his family and his corporate allies.”
The outlet left little doubt about what sank Republicans: the party’s embrace of the president.
“Republicans — especially their leadership — locked arms with Trump, refusing to criticize him over the Iran war and resulting price hikes while also working overtime to shield him from any legislative or legal attempts to undo his actions,” Punchbowl News’ report reads. “This has been their posture even when Trump openly undermined them, which happens quite often.”