President Donald Trump urged voters to imagine he was on the ballot in this year’s midterm elections. They took up the challenge — and delivered a sweeping rebuke to both his policies and the Republican Party.

NBC News projects that Democrats have secured full control of Congress, giving the party a powerful new foothold in Washington and sending a clear message to the White House: voters believe Congress has failed to sufficiently check Trump’s administration and do more to tackle affordability and corruption.

The result marks a dramatic political reversal, one that could reshape the final two years of Trump’s term and set the stage for a fierce struggle over the limits of presidential power.

Democrats’ Senate Takeover Follows a House Landslide

The Senate victory came on the heels of a decisive Democratic win in the House, where the party is positioned to secure what could be its largest majority in nearly two decades.

Democrats flipped seven Republican-held seats in Michigan, Maine, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. Some of those states had long been targets Democrats hoped to turn blue; others were barely on the party’s radar as potential wins a year ago.

In several contests, Trump personally selected Republican nominees, at times overriding concerns from members of his own party who feared those candidates would be weak in the general election.

South Carolina delivered an early warning that Republicans were in for a difficult night. The state fell to Democrats even though many in the party had considered it beyond reach. The gains carried Democrats deep into MAGA country, surpassing the advances they made during the 2018 midterms in Trump’s first term.

According to the NBC News Exit Poll, 43% of voters said opposition to Trump was among the reasons they cast their ballots as they did. His job approval rating was lower than that of any president on Election Day in nearly two decades.

Voters also signaled frustration with congressional oversight. Seventy-one percent — including 41% of Republicans — said Congress was not doing enough to oversee Trump. Corruption, the cost of living, immigration and the war in Iran also figured prominently in voters’ concerns.

Trump Blames His Absence From the Ballot

The results were so damaging that Trump quickly sought to distance himself from the Republican losses Tuesday evening.

In a social media post, he argued that his absence from the ballot explained the outcome, declaring: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”

Democrats’ victory, however, is likely to reverberate well beyond Election Day. With majorities in both chambers, the party will have the power to pursue investigations and oversight that were largely out of reach under a Republican-led Congress.

The outcome could influence the future makeup of the Supreme Court, the direction of the 2028 presidential contest and the fate of Trump’s legislative priorities during the second half of his term.

It also sets up a high-stakes confrontation over the constitutional balance between Congress and the presidency — a system that has survived wars and civil strife over more than two centuries. Armed with new oversight powers, Democratic lawmakers say they intend to investigate an administration they believe has escaped accountability.

Trump, meanwhile, has built his presidency around an expansive vision of executive authority. With neither side appearing eager to compromise, the next two years could bring clashes between the legislative and executive branches on a scale not seen since the Watergate era.

Before the election, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York outlined what his party would pursue if it won.

“What we’re going to do is lower costs, end all this rampant corruption and end the chaos. Plain and simple,” Schumer told NBC News.

A Sweep That Once Seemed Out of Reach

Democrats’ broad victory appeared almost inconceivable when the midterm campaign began. The party faced an unfavorable Senate map, with key battlegrounds concentrated in states Trump had won in all three of his presidential campaigns.

The last time the minority party captured control of both chambers on a single election night was in 2006. Then-President George W. Bush, facing a voter backlash over the Iraq War, famously called the result “a thumping.”

Trump tried to rally his core supporters and protect the GOP’s narrow majorities by placing himself at the center of the campaign. He maintained a packed schedule during the final month, but low approval ratings and voter frustration over the economy weighed heavily on Republicans.

Trump blamed former President Joe Biden for rising prices, but voters appeared unconvinced. Gas prices surged after Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the Iran war in late February. Public disapproval of Trump’s handling of the conflict added another obstacle for Republican candidates.

The election could also make history in the House. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is on the verge of becoming the country’s first Black House speaker.

Democrats are expected to hold internal leadership elections during the week of Nov. 16, when Jeffries is expected to become the party’s nominee. On Jan. 3, he would need 218 votes — a simple majority of House members — to formally win the speaker’s gavel and become second in the presidential line of succession.

Schumer, who previously served four years as Senate majority leader, is also expected to reclaim the chamber’s top post after exceeding expectations and leading Democrats back into power.

Democrats had been favored to win the House throughout the campaign. They needed a net gain of only three Republican-held seats, while the president’s party historically loses dozens of seats during midterm elections.

Latino Voters Shift Away From Trump

As the campaign progressed, Democrats became increasingly confident about their chances of winning the Senate, too. A major factor was movement among minority voters.

Latino voters helped propel Trump’s political comeback in 2024, but many turned away from him this cycle, citing high prices and his immigration crackdown.

An NBC News poll released Sunday showed Democrats with a 27-point lead among Latino voters — a striking shift from 2024, when Trump lost the demographic by only 7 points.

The election could also leave a lasting imprint on the Supreme Court. Before Election Day, several Senate Democrats questioned whether they would confirm any Trump nominee to a vacancy arising during his final two years in office.

With control of the Senate, Democrats are now positioned to block nominees Trump puts forward.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Judiciary Committee, told NBC News before the election that support for a nominee from the administration was highly unlikely.

“Well, given the history of Trump nominees, I think it is slim to none that we would support a nominee from this administration,” Blumenthal said. “Because we’ve seen this movie, we know how it ends, which is a politician in robes who is following Trump’s orders on most major questions.”

The results could also alter the Republican race for the 2028 presidential nomination. Vice President JD Vance is considered the likely GOP front-runner, but if the election represents a rejection of Trump and his political brand, Vance may find the road to the nomination far less certain.

Democrats Prepare to Use Their Oversight Power

As the minority party, Democrats lacked the authority to issue subpoenas or schedule oversight hearings. That changes when the new Congress convenes in January.

Democratic lawmakers have already signaled they intend to rein in Trump’s spending and war-making powers, which they say he has exercised with little resistance from a compliant Republican-led Congress.

House Democrats have pledged aggressive scrutiny of Trump’s family, business dealings and administration. Their targets include the immigration crackdown carried out by ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as Trump’s renovation projects at the White House and other Washington-area landmarks.

At the forefront of the investigations are Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the leading Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

Garcia has outlined a strategy centered on what he calls “Trump family corruption.” The inquiry is expected to examine how Trump’s fortune has grown by billions of dollars since his 2024 campaign, as well as Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and the administration’s immigration crackdown.

Judiciary Committee Democrats have also identified a broad list of investigative targets. These include pardons for what they call “wealthy criminals and MAGA loyalists,” along with foreign governments’ efforts to “buy influence” through gifts and payments tied to the Trump family’s cryptocurrency business.

Jeffries has said Democrats are not focused on impeaching Trump, although they have not ruled it out. Trump was impeached twice during his first term and acquitted both times by the Senate.

Before the election, Jeffries told reporters that the cost of living was far too high and accused Trump and Republican lawmakers of doing little to address it while focusing on enriching themselves, their families, friends and donors.

“There is a cost to corruption,” Jeffries said.

“These are all things that are going to need to be thoroughly investigated as part of our pledge to hold the crooks accountable, beginning on day one,” he added.

GOP Leaders Face an Uncertain Future

Republicans could now try to push parts of their legislative agenda through during the lame-duck session, before officially relinquishing House control on Jan. 3.

Possible measures include another party-line reconciliation bill to advance Trump’s spending and tax priorities, as well as a debt ceiling increase ahead of a 2027 deadline.

The future of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is uncertain. He would need to win a majority of the Senate Republican caucus in a closed-ballot vote to remain its leader as minority leader.

Thune has had a strained, uneven relationship with Trump. The president has expressed frustration that Thune did not eliminate the filibuster to pass the SAVE America Act, a proposal to overhaul the nation’s election laws.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also faces questions about his future. He has led the House for the past three years and could remain as minority leader, but the scale of the Republican defeat may prompt rank-and-file members to demand new leadership.

The Democratic victory has redrawn Washington’s political map. With new powers to investigate and block the administration, Democrats are preparing for a showdown — while Republicans face the difficult task of rebuilding after a midterm defeat that has shaken the party’s leadership and its alliance with Trump.