Republicans lose the American majority in the House of Representatives «kleinezeitung.at



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© APA (AFP)

For the first time in eight years, Democrats will be in power in the House of Representatives – and will have a say in legislation. In addition, they can open investigations against the president in the future. "Thanks to you, a new day will come up for America tomorrow!" announced the leader of the victorious Democratic faction, Nancy Pelosi. Your party will control the president.

Further tax cuts or the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico should have been very remote. Probably also new inquiries on taxation and the conduct of business of the 72-year-old president and on the allegation of electoral badistance of Russia. Trump nonetheless happily tweeted: "A huge success tonight, thanks to everyone."

The President is particularly encouraged by the fact that, out of a total of 470 candidates for a race in the House and Senate, his party's candidates, in particular, have been positive, which he himself has supported. However, in the Senate, conditions were also favorable for the Republicans, because during the mid-term elections, only 35 of the 100 vacancies were candidates for the elections, and most were occupied by Democrats. In addition, the 435 seats were allocated to the House of Representatives.

During the election night, Pelosi announced that Democrats would be willing to compromise where possible and stubbornly where needed. The new congress will take place in January.

Trump may be forced by the new majorities to soften or abandon particularly controversial projects, but rather to rely on topics in which there is a unity between Republicans and Democrats. For example, a package of measures to improve infrastructure and measures to prevent drug price increases are largely unchallenged. The coming months should also show how much Republican support for the House of Representatives after the recent losses is still strong.

On the domestic front, however, it could be more unpleasant for Trump. Before the elections, several Democrats said that if they win in the House of Representatives, they will quickly and profoundly settle several charges against him, such as his tax policy and his trade relations with Russia. Democrats could rely on the results of the investigation of Special Investigator Robert Mueller. In the House of Representatives, a simple majority suffices for an impeachment against the President. However, destitution should result in a two-thirds majority in a Republican-majority Senate.

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to use his party's preponderance in the House to appoint as many federal judges as possible. This announced McConnell Wednesday in Washington. McConnell said this was a top priority for Republicans.

Recently, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have waged an unprecedented struggle to appoint Brett Kavanaugh to the bench of the Supreme Court.

McConnell said that, given the balance of power shared between the two houses of Parliament, Republicans and Democrats should seek common compromises on various topics in the future. These included, for example, the great "confusion" in the health system or infrastructure projects.

The question of Trump's aggressive campaign rhetoric about the loss of the House of Representatives was swept away by McConnell. As for the results in the Senate, Trump was very helpful, said the Republican.

Russian leaders, meanwhile, do not expect an improvement in their relations with the United States after the elections. "We are very confident that the prospects for normalizing Russian-US relations are not optimistic," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday. On the other hand, it is also "improbable" that the outcome of the congressional elections makes relations with Russia "even more difficult". "If it's worse or better, Americans have to decide, we have not the slightest desire to intervene."

Democrats owe their victory to the House of Representatives, according to a survey conducted mainly with voters, youth and people of Hispanic origin. According to a Reuters / Ipsos poll, 55 percent of voters voted for Democrats, compared with 49 percent four years ago. Angered by Trump's often pejorative treatment of women, a record number of Democratic women also ran. According to preliminary results, the new congress is more diverse: the first Palestinian Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and the Somali resident Ilhan Omar of Minnesota are the first Muslim women to settle. At 29, her party colleague, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress.

The non-party senator, Bernie Sanders, who votes most often with the Democrats, is one of the winners of the race for Senate posts on the Democratic side. Presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand were also among the winners.

The traditional vote of a mid-term president is still a referendum on his policy. This is especially true of Trump because he has so polarized the country. At the age of 72, he was used consistently until the end of the election campaign and was able to mobilize his supporters in the eyes of many election researchers. Trump described the Democrats as a danger to the country and warned against an "invasion" of migrants. His opponents accused him of widening social gaps and poisoning the political climate.

Like Republicans, Democrats have apparently figured out how to successfully mobilize large segments of their electorate. Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, had campaigned in the last days of the election campaign for his party's candidates. Voter turnout, traditionally low in the so-called "mid-term", was higher than four years ago. However, the exact figures were initially pending.

Due to the many time zones in the United States, the election lasted 18 hours in total. It will take a few more days to know the final result, because in California, for example, postal ballots are counted only in the days following the election.

Who will be the 100 members of the Senate, is the end of November at the earliest. In Mississippi, there will be a second round on November 27, none of the candidates having reached the majority on Tuesday. Republicans are counting on them to keep this seat.

In Florida, Democratic Senator Bill Nelson called for a recount of votes on Monday. This is possible under the electoral law if the difference between the two candidates is less than or equal to 0.5%. Currently, Rick Scott, Nelson's Republican challenger, is leading 50.2% to 49.8%.

In Tuesday's interim elections, Trump Republicans claimed their majority in the Senate. You have as before 51 of the 100 seats in safety. There could be more, because apart from Florida and Mississippi, the races in Arizona and Montana are also open.

In Arizona, Republican Martha McSally was 49.3 percent ahead of Democrat Kyrsten Sinema with 48.4 percent of the vote cast – 99 percent of votes cast.

In Montana, Republican Matt Rosendale (48.9%) has a lead of about 3,000 votes over Democrat Jon Tester (48.2%). Here, according to the specialized portal on the badysis of elections, RealClearPolitics.com, only 86% of the votes were counted.

After losing the House of Representatives, Trump goes on the offensive and warned Democrats on Wednesday not to open investigations on him and his government with the newly acquired majority in the House of Representatives. The US president has notably threatened to investigate the power games against Democrats because of the disclosure of confidential information in the Senate, the second chamber. Both parties could play this game, the president wrote on Twitter.

Democrats have long been asking in vain for Trump to release his tax returns. The question of whether Trump's campaign camp had colluded with Russia during the campaign for the 2016 presidential election has not been definitively clarified. This is also a report from the FBI's special investigator Robert Mueller. Trump speaks of "witch hunt".

Despite losses in the House of Representatives, Trump has repeatedly called for repeatedly cutting his Republicans at the mid-term. "We received so many congratulations for our big win last night," Trump wrote on Twitter. He stressed that his election officials had been very successful. "Those who did not say goodbye!"

Trump again attacked critical media on Wednesday. "To all these experts or television presenters, who do not give us credit for these big mid-term elections, do not forget two words: False information!" He pointed out that the elections had been "a great success" despite the pressure of "wicked and hostile media". The White House announced Wednesday a press conference Trump.



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