Tuesday's U.S. midterm election results were almost exactly as anticipated. Democrats reclaimed one house of Congress while the GOP strengthened its grip on the other. President Donald Trump claimed victory, but the outcome is anything but a win for him. He and his administration will now be subject to intense scrutiny and investigation. The world must expect less from Washington during the two remaining years of Trump's first term as he and his team face genuine oversight for the first time.
The final results from Tuesday's vote are not yet in, but the contours are clear. The Democrats regained control of the House of Representatives and the Republicans expanded their control of the Senate. The Democratic victory was not a tidal wave, as some had hoped, but the outcome should restore faith in election polling, confidence that was badly shaken after Trump's surprising win in the 2016 presidential ballot.
In a brief tweet, Trump called the results a "tremendous success," but they were anything but. Democrats pledged throughout the campaign that if they secured a majority and the accompanying committee chairmanships, they would restore Congress as a check on the executive branch, a role that was seemingly abdicated by the GOP during the first two years of Trump's tenure. Adam Schiff, a House Democrat who will likely chair the chamber's intelligence committee, explained some weeks ago that "we will be able to get answers the Republicans were unwilling to pursue." Indeed, in many important ways, Republican members of the House saw their mission as protecting the White House from scrutiny. The president and his administration must now prepare for intense oversight of their operations.