House Power Shifts as Democrats Prepare Trump Probes

CBS News projected that Democrats will capture enough House seats to retake the chamber early next year, giving them subpoena power and a path to investigate President Trump's administration and business ventures. Votes in several competitive races were still being counted, leaving the size of their majority unclear. Democrats also flipped control of the Senate, CBS News reported. The ballot shifted who controls the machinery; elected officials still hold it.

Economic discontent over the cost of living helped Democrats flip the House after four years of a razor-thin Republican majority. That majority had ceded large parts of its legislative authority to the Trump administration. Democrats now plan to use their new congressional power to scrutinize the same administration, with possible court fights over oversight requests and federal spending serving as leverage.

Who Gets the Subpoena Power

Reps. Robert Garcia of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland are expected to spearhead investigations as the top Democrats on the Oversight and Judiciary Committees, respectively. Their targets may include President Trump's and his family's business dealings, immigration enforcement by the Department of Homeland Security, the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, Mr. Trump's pardons and rushed construction projects throughout the nation's capital.

Democrats could withhold funding for administration priorities to pressure officials to testify or comply with requests. That's the leverage of a chamber majority: committees can call officials to testify, and budgets can become bargaining chips. The report also says oversight disputes could end up in court, where institutions will fight over who gets to compel whom.

POLITICO reported that Democrats plan to scrutinize possible corruption involving members of President Donald Trump's family, Elon Musk's leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency and aggressive immigration enforcement tactics. They could seek testimony from Big Tech chief executives about social media addiction, artificial intelligence and data centers' effects on local communities. Major oil company leaders could also face summonses over allegations that the industry conducted a decadeslong climate misinformation campaign to keep earning massive profits.

The Price Tag Below

The cost of living helped drive the election. Mr. Trump's focus on building a massive White House ballroom, alongside other remodeling and construction projects in Washington, contrasted with voters' concerns about affordability. He largely dismissed those concerns and blamed his predecessor for high prices, while Democrats connected corruption in Washington to rising prices.

A recent CBS News poll found that most voters thought government corruption would increase if Republicans kept control of Congress, and that the issue influenced their votes. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said, "America is back," and added, "Today begins the great American comeback." He also said, "This is a change election, and we understand as House Democrats that we need to deliver dramatic change."

Jeffries has said the Democratic agenda will focus on affordability, including reversing Medicaid cuts enacted as part of Mr. Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, extending Affordable Care Act premium tax credits that expired last year, ending the Iran war and rolling back the president's tariffs. Those proposals put relief for voters on the table, but the report describes legislative bargaining and oversight within the existing Congress—not a transfer of power to the people paying the costs.

The Election's Limits

The incoming majority will face its own internal divisions. Jeffries could have difficulty holding together democratic socialists, some of whom defeated longtime incumbents in primaries, and Democrats representing districts Mr. Trump won in 2024. Rep.-elect Melat Kiros said she had "wonderful conversations" with Jeffries but wouldn't say whether she would support him for House speaker. "I'm going to support anybody who ensures that the agenda is in line with the priorities of the American people," she said.

Rep.-elect Chris Rabb also declined to say whether he backed Jeffries. "I don't know who's running, and I'll sit down with anybody who wants to earn my vote. But unless and until that meeting happens, it's speculation," he told CBS News. In September, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and retiring Rep. Jared Golden of Maine broke with their party to help Republicans struggling to pass a procedural vote; they said the underlying legislation was too important to delay.

Republicans in several states, including Texas and Florida, redrew House districts at the president's urging to create more seats favorable to their party. The 15 additional seats across seven states had minimal impact on saving the Republican majority. Democrats also redrew districts in California, making five seats less favorable to Republicans. District lines changed; the fight over who holds office continued.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Republicans "will not be deterred by the outcome of one election." He warned that if Democrats made the next two years about "retribution and lawfare and partisan games, every American will suffer by that." The coming investigations may expose what officials did, but the report describes a contest over congressional control, subpoenas and funding—not direct action or mutual aid organized by communities.