What can change with the Democratic control of the United States Congress?

WashingtonThe true stress test for the Democrats will begin in January, once the new Congress has been constituted. The new representatives who will sit in both chambers will have two priorities. The first, more immediate, will be to initiate investigations against Trump and his circle. The second, more complicated, will be to prevent the party from ending up immersed in an intestine war between the progressive wing and the moderate sector, more linked to the leadership. After the rejection of Trump having united the different souls of the party, there is the risk that power will separate them and that the opportunity to build a political project of its own for 2028 will be lost.

The electoral hangover and the euphoria of a historic tsunami still do not let glimpse the fractures that became visible during the primary cycle. Hakeem Jeffries, linked to the establishment of the party and who will very likely be the new majority leader in the House of Representatives, celebrated the milestone on Wednesday with the promise to initiate aggressive investigations against the administration. "The era in which the House of Representatives functioned as a 100% subsidiary of the Trump administration is over," said Jeffries.

Investigations into Musk and the DOGE

Investigating Trump and his circle of beneficiaries, such as the owner of X, Elon Musk, will be one of the first measures that the new Democratic majority will be able to adopt. The consensus to put an end to the corrupt practices of the tycoon and the billionaires who have climbed to the Oval Office is a safe position to start walking without internal friction. The leading Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, already has in his sights all the enrichment that Trump allegedly generated for himself and his family by instrumentalizing the presidency.

Congressman Jamie Raskin has already requested information regarding the business dealings of Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his son Donald Trump Jr. Another congressman, Jason Crow, who serves on the Armed Services and Intelligence committees, asserts that he will also open an investigation into potential diversions of defense funds that may have ended up in companies linked to the president's family.

Whoever will surely not sleep as peacefully anymore is Musk. If the billionaire spent twice as much money as in the 2024 presidential election—about 445 million dollars—to stop a blue wave, it was precisely to avoid having to be held accountable for his role in the purge of the civil service. During the first months of Trump's second term, the South African was in charge of completely dismantling USAID, where his employees had access to sensitive documentation. Led by him, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) also broke into—literally—the headquarters of other agencies, such as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which fell victim to the cuts.

At the time, the then-inspector of USAID, Paul K. Martin, explained to Congress that the agency was investigating the oversight of Starlink terminals provided to Ukraine. The investigation coincided with claims from various Russian operators who said they had access to Starlink from Eastern Europe. The case was shelved when USAID was closed, and this autumn the satellite communications system services went down just at the moment when Trump was returning to pressure Kyiv to stop attacking Russian refineries. The NLRB, which is in charge of safeguarding labor rights, had several open investigations against Tesla and SpaceX. The closure of all these cases saved Musk a good handful of thousands of dollars in litigation and possible fines or settlements.

Keep a tight leash on Hegseth

Since the Democrats now have a majority, they can open investigations into the Secretary of Defense, Peter Hegseth, regarding the Iran war and thus pressure for it to stop. They could even attempt an impeachment, a removal process, but it is more likely that they will try to have Trump himself relieve him first. It is foreseeable that they will also take other measures, such as hearings to expose the military failure and legislative attempts to curb the army's operations.

The Defense budget, which depends on Congressional approval, could be a more effective path than a motion to withdraw war powers from the President. During these months, the White House has dodged Congressional pressure with the argument that the ceasefire periods during the war with Iran paused the count of the 60 days set by law to obtain Congressional authorization if it wants to keep troops in a situation of hostilities or end a military intervention.

On the international level, they will also very likely open investigations into the military incursion in Venezuela, the kidnapping of Nicolás Maduro, and the oil agreements that have been closed with the new deposed government.

The Epstein case could return

What could also reappear on the scene is the case of the Epstein papers. Although it was ultimately possible to force the Department of Justice to agree to release millions of documents related to the investigations into the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, many of the papers never saw the light of day. To begin with, it only released about 3.5 million pages out of the 6 million it had and justified that the rest were duplicates. Furthermore, there has been unrest among congressmen from both parties due to the numerous redactions of content in some documents and the apparently accidental disclosure of victims' names in others.

However, this entire list of mechanisms and actions that the newly elected congressmen can apply once they take their seats in Congress may clash with Trump's veto power. Although the American president has softened his initial threat, saying he was willing to collaborate with the Democrats, his position could change again.

With control of Congress, the Democrats can also process laws or block them. This is where the party could start treading on more treacherous ground due to the tensions that may arise. There are two issues that have loomed over the campaign and will likely cause friction: ending the shipment of weapons to Israel and healthcare.

In the Capitol, there are already Democratic congressmen who have shown themselves in favor of stopping the shipment of weapons to Israel. Now, with the emergence of a larger number of DSA deputies in the House of Representatives, or figures like Abdul El-Sayed in the Senate, this issue could resurface. On the other hand, the proposals for healthcare that have been raised during the campaign are not the same. El-Sayed's "Medicare for all" advocates for public healthcare, while other elected senators such as James Talarico or Jon Ossoff opt to establish a public health program that competes with private insurers.