Democrats won both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, according to projections from the Associated Press. The result gives the party a platform to challenge the Trump administration’s higher education policies in the final two years of his term. Several key races remained uncalled Wednesday morning.
The Results
CBS News projected Democrats will hold at least 54 Senate seats, with two races unresolved. In the House, it estimated the party could end up with between 251 and 268 seats once all votes are counted. CNBC’s tally had Democrats at 250 or more House seats and Republicans at 160 or more, with many races uncalled.
The Mississippi Senate race is a toss-up, with Democrat Scott Colom leading Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by 43 votes. Alaska’s Senate race is also uncalled. Democrats also flipped governor’s offices, including Texas, where Gina Hinojosa defeated Gov. Greg Abbott.
Exit polls showed President Donald Trump with a 38% approval rating, which CBS said could be the lowest for a president in a midterm. Trump told CBS he will work with Democrats but will use his veto pen liberally. He told CNN he doesn’t “want to be just sitting there for two years vetoing everything.” He said he didn’t see the losses “as a hit on me.”
What Changes in Washington
Democrats will gain subpoena power and could investigate the administration’s immigration enforcement, its use of the Justice Department against people it considers enemies, and the family’s business dealings. The sources do not say whether higher education would be part of that oversight. It would have plenty to examine. The administration has used federal investigations and funding threats against universities such as Harvard and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This week a judge dismissed the Justice Department’s suit seeking Harvard’s admissions records. Critics, including a former Justice Department attorney in a whistleblower complaint, have said the antisemitism probes lacked evidence and had predetermined outcomes.
Democrats’ power to reverse policy is more limited. Trump retains his veto, and a Democratic Congress cannot unilaterally undo the loan changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill, including the elimination of Grad PLUS loans. Nor is it likely to block by itself the Education Department’s final accreditation rule, which takes effect July 1, 2027. Spending is the clearest lever. The Institute for Higher Education Policy has cited a projected $16.9 billion Pell Grant shortfall for fiscal 2026 and 2027, and a House majority gives Democrats more say over appropriations. Whether the party prioritizes Pell, international student policies such as the proposed $70,000 fee for Optional Practical Training, or the proposed Census changes remains to be seen.
Statehouses Matter Too
The results also change who runs some states. Beyond Texas, Democrats won governorships in Ohio, where Amy Acton will be the first woman to hold the office, and in Georgia, Wisconsin and Nevada. Governors generally shape public higher education through budgets and board appointments, though the sources do not discuss that.
