WASHINGTON, D.C. — One day after Democrats swept to control of Congress, the Republican Party is already fighting over who is to blame. Vice President JD Vance pointed squarely at the war with Iran. President Donald Trump pointed at the ballot he was not on. And House Republicans are bracing for a leadership shake-up that few predicted a week ago.

According to CBS News' live coverage, which was last updated Wednesday afternoon, Democrats are projected to take both chambers next year, winning what the network described as sweeping victories that repudiated Trump and GOP control in Washington.

Vance: “The Reason We Lost Is the War”

In a post on X, Vance did not hedge. “The reason we lost is the war,” he wrote. He went further, challenging the party's hawks directly: “If you'd like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so.”

Vance also argued that the party's voters had not stayed home. “Our voters did show up,” he wrote, adding that “the main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026.” In another assessment, Vance said the GOP's economic message “wasn't sharp enough.”

Asked about the post, Trump said, “I think it was fine. I thought it was good.” Pressed on whether the war was to blame, the president said that was “largely true” because it drove up gasoline prices. But he defended the policy itself: “You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump: “If I Was on the Ballot, We Would Have Won”

The president also offered his own theory of the case. “If I was on the ballot, we would have won,” Trump said, according to CBS News. Asked about Vance's prospects in 2028, Trump replied only, “Maybe he won't run.”

That remark, brief as it was, landed in Washington like a thrown stone. Vance is widely seen as the leading contender to carry the Trump movement forward, and a public disagreement over the war between the two men so soon after a historic loss is exactly the kind of rift Democrats hoped to see.

Donald Trump Jr. weighed in on X as well, posting in apparent agreement with a critique of the campaign: “Every word of this is” accurate, followed by a row of 100-point emojis.

The Size of the Wave

CBS News estimates Democrats will hold between 251 and 268 House seats. In the Senate, the network reports Democrats have secured at least 54 seats, with Alaska and Mississippi still too close to call as counting continued. In Mississippi, Democrat Scott Colom was leading Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by several dozen votes on Wednesday morning, with his campaign estimating that roughly 15,000 affidavit ballots remained to be counted.

The Democratic gains stretched into deep-red territory. CBS reports Democrats flipped Senate seats in Texas and Kansas, states that have not sent a Democrat to the Senate in decades, as well as Ohio, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maine.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the result a “generational remake of the Senate map.” He added: “Republicans received that opportunity two years ago, and completely squandered it.”

House Republicans Prepare for a Reshuffle

Speaker Mike Johnson will not seek another term as the GOP's leader in the House, CBS reports. Rep. Steve Scalise is running to become minority leader. In a letter to colleagues, Scalise acknowledged that the outcome “was far worse than any of us expected.” Trump declined to weigh in on the leadership race.

In Michigan alone, Democrats flipped three House seats, and in California's 22nd District, Republican Rep. David Valadao, one of the ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after January 6, lost to Democrat Randy Villegas.

What Democrats Say They Will Do With Power

Democrats are already describing what they intend to do. Rep. Ted Lieu said the party would focus on pocketbook issues. “When Democrats are in control, we're going to focus on affordability,” he said. He listed reversing the Medicaid cut, restoring the Affordable Care Act tax credits, stopping the tariffs, and stopping the Iran war as top priorities. Lieu specifically cited “the Trump tariffs jacking up prices” as a factor in the loss.

Control of the House brings with it the power to investigate. Democrats will be able to issue subpoenas to the administration for the final two years of Trump's term, a prospect that has already unsettled some officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

What It Means for Americans

For households, the political wreckage has a practical edge. Gasoline prices, tariffs, and health coverage were the issues voters cited most often, and each is now squarely in the hands of a divided government. Any attempt by Democrats to restore health subsidies or roll back tariffs will still need Trump's signature or a veto-proof majority, which means the next two years are more likely to produce gridlock, hearings and confrontation than legislation.

Meanwhile, the question hanging over the White House is whether the president will change course on Iran, or whether the vice president's blunt verdict will become the opening shot in a longer internal fight over the war and the party's future. Trump, for now, is not conceding the point.

The coming weeks will test that stance. Votes are still being counted in Alaska and Mississippi, leadership elections loom in both parties, and the lame-duck session begins in days. What is already clear is that the party that won the White House in 2024 has spent the first 24 hours after its defeat arguing about the reasons, and about who will lead it next.

USA Herald will continue to follow this developing story.