House Democrats returned to the Capitol on Tuesday, dejected and licking their wounds after a disastrous election a week ago. Next year, Donald Trump will return to the White House and Republicans will control all of the power in Washington.
House Democrats are ahead of Vice President Harris in polls, a momentum that will give Republicans a slim majority in the 119th Congress, but this moral victory is a moral victory that will sway the campaign against President Trump's warnings. It was a dim consolation for the political parties that had been in power. posed a serious threat to America's fundamental democratic traditions.
Faced with a landslide victory for President Trump in his second term in the White House, Democrats are now in the early stages of a retrospective review of what went wrong and how to turn things around. This gruesome argument has already been met with much criticism. Regarding where the responsibility lies.
“This is devastating,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a 30-year veteran of the House of Representatives who was the first Democrat to call on President Biden to step down. “There have been other challenges in the past, but this is definitely the biggest challenge of my political career.”
House Democrats lost many members and won't be back next year. Many of them are retired, and some have run for and won elections for high-ranking public offices. But other lawmakers also lost in last week's vote, including two 20-year veteran Pennsylvania congressmen, Rep. Matt Cartwright and Rep. Susan Wilde.
Democrats from all walks of life gathered on the House floor Tuesday night, lining up to comfort their defeated friends. The biennial ritual felt even more important this year because of President Trump's impending return to the White House.
Wild, a six-year veteran of the House who lost re-election last week by 1 percentage point, received a hug from Rep. Lori Trahan (Mass.) on the floor. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (Massachusetts) hugged Rep. Colin Allred (Texas), who ran unsuccessfully for the Senate last week. Representative Kathy Manning (North Carolina) was also seen hugging Representative Mary Peltola (Alaska), who is currently trailing in the race.
To be sure, there were some bright spots for Democrats this cycle that emerged on the floor.
Representative Lisa Blunt of Rochester, D-Delaware, posed for photos with a bouquet of flowers on the floor. Congressman Dean Phillips (Minnesota) congratulated Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (Michigan), who won a fiercely competitive election to become a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, with a high-five. And Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Florida) hugged Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), who won the race to fill the vacant California Senate seat.
Still, Democrats are devastated by Trump's victory. And the scenes at the Capitol on Tuesday somewhat signaled Congress's return to Washington at the end of 2016, after President Trump stunned the nation by defeating Hillary Clinton to claim his first Oval Office role. It was being reproduced.
Then, as now, Democrats were ready to celebrate the birth of the first female president in the country's history. Then, just as now, when voters flocked to Trump's “America First” populist nationalist message, he dashed those plans.
This time, Democrats saw an added advantage because Trump has legal problems, including 34 felony convictions since leaving office. This year was also the first presidential election since the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that directly led to Trump's second impeachment.
But instead of celebrating a big victory, Democrats will analyze how Trump – despite all his baggage – was able to convince voters that he was the better candidate. It happened.
“It's healthy for us to have these conversations,” said Rep. Adam Smith of Washington. “I know a lot of people [say]“Well, let’s not be judgmental.” No, no. …I believe in after-action reporting. ”
Many Democrats have criticized Biden, and his disastrous debate against Trump in June led other party leaders to persuade him not to seek a second term. Some now argue that Biden and his team should have recognized his limitations sooner and never sought reelection at all.
“The only scenario I think we would have a chance at is if Biden didn't run for re-election,” said Rep. Jared Huffman of California. “The White House did a pretty good job of keeping up appearances and covering up the problem. And it's a shame, it's a shame there wasn't more self-awareness there.
“Ego, ambition, and other human traits are powerful factors.”
Smith was one of the first Democrats to call on Biden to forego his ballot, which he agreed with, and with the president's decision delayed for so long, Harris wondered why she didn't sound the alarm sooner about Biden's suitability. He said that he was in a difficult position to explain.
“He was struggling there for months, and a lot of people asked Vice President Harris, 'You saw him struggling, did you think that was OK?' “That put her in a very bad position,'' he said.
But some blame themselves for not calling on Biden to withdraw earlier.
“I just regret not acting sooner,” Doggett said of urging Biden to step down. “I think it's unfortunate that it took him three weeks to make a decision.”
“I think the only person in our caucus who doesn't take some responsibility for the outcome is Dean Phillips, who ran early,” he said, adding that the primary challenger to Biden He mentioned the unsuccessful Minnesota Democrat. “We also accept responsibility that we could have done more.”
With hopes of securing a House majority gone, Republicans seizing control of the Senate, and President Trump returning to the White House for a fourth year, House Democrats are looking ahead to the 2026 midterm elections — they're next best. The plan is to rein in Republican control of Washington.
“Four years is going to be a long time, but you have to take it one day at a time, like I am doing today,” Doggett said. “But the most important period is the first two years. This is when he sets the tone for how much of a tyrant he will become, and this is when our pushback will be most important.”
“But we are also two years away from our best chance to effectively check him in the midterm elections,” he added.
