‘Lawyer up’: Democrats take the House, and warn Trump’s family businesses are first in line for subpoenas

Democrats won control of the House on Tuesday night, NBC News and MS NOW projected. The win gives them limited power over President Donald Trump’s agenda and much broader power to investigate the businesses his family runs.

Democrats needed a net gain of just three seats, and they got there with wins in Republican-held suburban and swing districts.

In New Jersey’s 7th District, Democrat Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, defeated Rep. Tom Kean Jr. , CNN projected, and the AP also called the race. In Virginia’s 2nd, former Rep. Elaine Luria flipped the seat held by Rep. Jen Kiggans , Decision Desk HQ projected. In Colorado’s 8th, former state lawmaker Manny Rutinel flipped one of the toss-up seats after campaigning on lowering costs and opposing the administration’s immigration crackdown. And in North Carolina’s newly redrawn 11th, Democrat Jamie Ager defeated Republican Jennifer Balkcom .

Democrats also held three Florida seats that Republicans had redrawn to flip. With races still being called, NBC’s Decision Desk estimates Democrats will finish with about 248 seats, a 61-seat majority, while CNBC’s election desk projects at least 235.

Trump, who had urged supporters to treat the midterms as a referendum on his presidency , responded on Truth Social : “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”

Rep. Robert Garcia of California, who will chair the House Oversight Committee in the new Congress, marked the win with a two-word message in a statement and on X : “Lawyer up.” His office said he has vowed to take on what it called the “Trump Crime Family,” along with corporate corruption, abuses at the Department of Homeland Security and ICE, and the cover-up of the Epstein files.

Democrats can now pass bills with a simple majority, but passing a bill in the House doesn’t make it law. Trump has threatened to “veto everything” if Democrats win Congress, and overriding a veto takes two-thirds of both chambers. That’s a margin Democrats won’t have in either one.

That limits what House Speaker-in-waiting Hakeem Jeffries can deliver on his four stated priorities: reversing Trump’s Medicaid cuts, extending Affordable Care Act subsidies, restoring Congress’s authority over tariffs and ending the war with Iran, NBC reported . Each would need Trump’s signature or a veto-proof majority. What the House can do is refuse to pass Trump’s priorities, including spending bills. That gives Democrats leverage in every budget fight for the next two years.