Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections did not produce the "blue wave" that some had predicted, but the outcome is still a major victory for Democrats in several respects.
First, Democrats regained a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time in eight years. As a result, all the Republicans who currently chair the 27 House committees will be replaced by Democrats, and they will likely use their subpoena power to launch investigations of and demand materials from President Donald Trump and his team for the first time since the start of the administration two years ago.
Second, more than 100 women, the majority of them Democrats, will assume seats in the new Congress: the most in U.S. history. Given the many women who were motivated to run for office in reaction to the inauguration of the Trump presidency last year, further spurred by the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court this year, this surge in the number of women legislators is not good news for the president.