Democrats win US House to secure control of Congress in midterms

Update (Nov. 4, 2026, 11:24 am UTC): This article has been updated to include comments from CertiK’s Stefan Muehlbauer on the election results and the outlook for US crypto legislation.

Democrats have won control of both chambers of the US Congress in the midterm elections, giving the party greater influence over legislation and oversight of President Donald Trump’s administration.

The party won House seats in districts where Trump beat his Democratic opponent by as much as 18 percentage points in 2024. Democrats also flipped at least seven Senate seats in Kansas, Iowa, Texas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina and South Carolina, according to the Associated Press.

The result could reshape the outlook for crypto legislation and bring greater congressional scrutiny of Trump-linked digital asset businesses. Democratic committee leaders will gain more influence over which bills advance and which industry activities face investigation.

Stefan Muehlbauer, head of US government affairs at CertiK, said the results could derail the CLARITY crypto market structure bill.

“The immediate read on this election result is that CLARITY bill is likely dead,” he said in comments shared with Cointelegraph, referring to both the upcoming lame-duck session and the next Congress.

Muehlbauer said he expected Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Maxine Waters, both outspoken crypto critics, to chair the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee, respectively.

He also said Democrats had fallen short of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for overcoming a filibuster, limiting their ability to advance legislation.

Democrats will take control of House committees in January 2027, allowing them to issue subpoenas and investigate the Trump administration, the president’s family and their business interests, according to NBC News.

Election results draw early industry reactions

Financial markets commentary publication The Kobeissi Letter pointed to affordability as the defining election issue, citing high energy costs and renewed interest rate increases.

Gokhshtein Media founder David Gokhshtein said Republicans had performed worse than he expected.

“Well, Republicans got their asses handed to them. I thought they’d do better. I was wrong,” he wrote on X Wednesday.

Prediction markets had favored a Democratic sweep. Traders on Kalshi and Polymarket put the probability of Democrats winning both chambers at roughly 75% on Tuesday, before the results were announced.

Related: What’s at stake for crypto as the US votes in the 2026 midterms?