Ballots Shift Congress as War Costs Hit U.S. Households

Democrats took control of the U.S. Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, as the cost of the Iran war and rising prices weighed on households across the country. The vote changed who holds power in Washington, but it didn’t erase the bills people already faced. Economists at Moody’s Analytics said living costs for the average U.S. household had risen around $2,000 since U.S. and Israeli forces began strikes on Iran in late February.

Voters also faced supply-chain strains affecting dozens of U.S. products, including medical supplies, computers and condoms. Fuel costs hit record highs after the strikes began. Inflation and prices ranked as the No. 1 issue for more than one-third of Americans in an Economist/YouGov poll published in September.

Who Pays for the Decisions

Vice President J.D. Vance wrote on X on Wednesday, “[E]veryone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.” Vance said voter frustration centered in part on the Iran war. The election account makes the costs concrete: around $2,000 in added household costs, record-high fuel costs and supply strains. Ordinary people carry those burdens, while state officials make decisions about military action and foreign policy.

On Election Day, Trump announced that Washington would cut off $4 billion in aid to Israel by the end of the year. The move didn’t appear to assuage voters. Kansas elected a Democrat to a Senate seat for the first time in nearly 100 years, while party flips also occurred in Texas, Iowa and North Carolina. The election produced historic firsts, too: Michigan elected the country’s first Muslim senator, Georgia elected the country’s first Black woman governor, and New Hampshire elected the country’s first openly gay man to serve as a senator. All were Democrats.

A New Majority, Old Machinery

Democrats are poised to hold majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives when the new Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3. Experts expect the party to challenge some of Trump’s policies, potentially including sweeping tariffs, military spending for the Iran war and alleged corruption within Trump’s inner circle. Impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could be among its priorities. These remain possible actions by lawmakers, not changes already delivered to people facing rising costs.

Other possible aims include improving the U.S. relationship with NATO, providing greater support for Ukraine, curbing U.S. boat strikes in Latin America, and increasing regulation of Big Tech, artificial intelligence and data centers. The account describes no grassroots response, mutual-aid effort or self-organized campaign. Its remedies and disputes run through elected officials and institutions.

House Democrats have outlined a 100-day agenda to lower grocery costs, reverse healthcare-program cuts and investigate some of Trump’s cabinet members. Rep. Robert Garcia, who will chair the House Oversight Committee in the next Congress, said on Tuesday, “Lawyer up.” Trump has shifted between saying he would work with Democrats and vowing to veto everything placed on his desk. The agenda remains a promise; the veto threat already shapes what can happen.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the Democratic mandate could “introduce a new era in world relations.” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said U.S. politics may align more closely with European priorities, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez compared the outcome with last month’s left-wing victory in Brazil. Their optimism concerns U.S. policy’s direction, not a transfer of power away from the institutions that make it.

Analysts warned that Democrats face a difficult period. “No one should kid themselves that the next two years are going to be anything other than ugly, chaotic, and brutal,” FP’s Michael Hirsh wrote. He added that many newly alienated former Trump voters will be “up for grabs” looking ahead to 2028, and asked whether a badly divided Democratic Party could draw them in. The contest for those voters continues; the election story’s costs are already here.