Congressional & Election Update

Democrats won control of both the U.S. House and Senate in the Nov. 3, 2026, midterm elections. In Associated Press reporting available Nov. 11, 2026, Democrats had secured 255 House seats, exceeding the 218 needed for a majority, and the Democratic caucus was on track to hold at least 54 Senate seats, with two additional competitive Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi too close to call.

120th Congress House and Senate Leadership

Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is now in line to become Speaker of the House. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA) will run for Majority Leader, Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) is expected to be the incoming Majority Whip, and Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-CA) has announced his run for Democratic Caucus Chair. House Democrats will hold their leadership elections November 18-19. The speaker’s election is among the first votes of the new Congress and will be held on Jan. 3, 2027.

On the Republican side, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced he will be stepping aside from Republican leadership. Freedom Caucus founder and current Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) defeated Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) to be Minority Leader in a closed vote on Nov. 10, 2026. Current GOP Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) was elected as Republican Whip.

In the Senate, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has announced he is running to remain Democratic leader and is so far running unopposed. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) is expected to be elected Majority Whip following the retirement of current Democratic Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL). Senate Democrats are expected to hold their leadership elections the week of Nov. 16, 2026. On the Republican side, Senate Majority Leader John Thune was elected to be Minority Leader in the next Congress on Nov. 10, 2026.

View the latest election results here.