Dems Control Congress, Pledge to Hold Trump Accountable

Democrats won big Tuesday night as voters made their voices heard in a consequential election that will reshape the balance of power in Washington, D.C., for the remainder of President Trump’s second term.

After flipping seats in Texas, Kansas and South Carolina, among other victories, Democrats are set to control both the House of Representatives and the Senate. They’ll look to provide a check on the president’s efforts to defund education programs and remake the federal government. Investigations and hearings are expected. However, much of the president’s higher ed agenda will continue to move forward; the Education Department has finalized several new rules in the last year and has announced plans to make more changes next year.

Key lawmakers in Congress say they want to focus on making college more affordable by increasing the maximum Pell Grant and expanding access to student loans. But they don’t plan to grill university presidents like Republicans have repeatedly in recent years.

“So much of what Republicans did was performative. I’m more concerned with how we get the best policies,” Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, an Oregon Democrat, told Inside Higher Ed in the run-up to Election Day.

How far Democrats can go in advancing their policies will depend on how many seats they gain in both chambers. With a decisive majorities in the House and Senate, the Democrats could be well positioned to advance their agenda, though they’ll still need President Trump’s approval to turn legislation into laws, unless they secure veto-proof majorities. Republicans governed for the past two years with narrow majorities in the House and Senate but still managed to pass significant policy changes such as new caps on student loans and accountability measures for colleges.

How the federal races shake out will have implications for the country’s research enterprise, from the way grants are funded to the type of research that agencies support. The Trump administration cut thousands of research grants that it said didn’t align with the president’s priorities and has moved to concentrate available research funding on fewer grants. One advocacy group, Stand Up for Science, argued on social media that the midterm election cycle is “critical for how the federal government is run” and “what kinds of checks and balances we’ll have in the next two years.”

As the night went on, the blue wave flipped the governor’s mansion in Georgia, Iowa and even Texas, where Republican Greg Abbott has served since 2015, overseeing a number of higher ed overhauls, such as mandated curriculum reviews and an end to faculty senates.

And the outcomes of the races for statehouses could affect operations at public universities. Several Republican-controlled legislatures have gotten more involved in what colleges and universities in their state can teach and whom they can enroll.

“The results of the elections will shape funding levels, student aid, workforce priorities and governing board appointments for years to come,” Tom Harnisch, vice president for government relations at the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, told Inside Higher Ed last week.

After Democrats took control of the Senate, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers and a vocal critic of Trump, called on Congress in a statement to “not only to fix the damage Donald Trump and his cronies have wrought, but to build a better life for everyday Americans.” 

“That means strengthening public education and higher education, increasing wages, making healthcare affordable and accessible, and rebuilding our democracy,” she added. “And after the sea change at the state level, there must also be progress in the priorities of governors and representatives. We will act on these priorities starting tomorrow. And tonight we will celebrate and reflect on our journey as a nation, how we rejected hate and authoritarianism, and how we can reclaim our freedoms for good.”