Editorial: Democrats in control of Congress must honor promises, redirect nation

The Seattle Times editorial board, The Seattle Times on Nov 8, 2026

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President Donald Trump wasn’t on the ballot last Tuesday, but he asked voters to pretend that he was. And they did.

What resulted were crushing defeats across the nation that changed the political landscape in Congress and many state legislatures.

Last week’s national election put Democrats in control of the House of Representatives. By midafternoon Wednesday, Democrats had won more than 235 seats and flipped at least seven Republican seats in the Senate to take the majority. Some races are not yet determined.

Democratic campaigners stayed on message with the things that mattered — affordability made more difficult by Trump’s war of choice in Iran; public education; spiraling healthcare costs that have left millions without coverage due to Trump’s 2025 long-term spending bill; tariffs that disadvantaged America’s farmers and other manufacturers.

Republicans lost in part because many blindly supported a president in these actions, or were too afraid to push back. Many of them abandoned their oaths of office to serve the whims and demands of one man. Those actions resulted in the least productive Congress in 40 years.

Working with a solid majority, Democrats must do what they promised to do — address the affordability crisis in housing, goods and fuel; identify and stop government corruption and hold bad actors accountable; end the senseless war; and bring down the cost of healthcare for the thousands of people who saw their insurance premiums spike. All of this will be difficult considering Trump will remain president for two more years. But Washington’s delegation is poised to be a part of the solutions for which Americans thirst.

U.S. Rep. Adam Smith (WA-9) will likely become chair of the House Armed Services Committee, an important role in ending the war.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-7) will remain on the House Judiciary Committee where she will become chair of the Immigration Subcommittee, two vital roles in addressing wrongdoings within government, including with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-2) is expected to become chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. And Sen. Patty Murray is expected to serve as President Pro Tempore of the Senate and chair of its Appropriations Committee.

Democrats no doubt will be tempted to veer off course while focusing on necessary investigations and accountability. Investigations and hearings are needed, especially pertaining to the criminality surrounding millionaire financier and Trump friend Jeffrey Epstein, where accountability is overdue. But they need to exercise the same message discipline they did in their campaigns.

The wins not only gave hope to millions of Americans who have watched the degradation of a nation play out over two years, but to the global community that has watched the United States shrink in stature. Democrats will have two years to undo or at least attempt to undo much of the damage inflicted by the Trump administration.

“We can’t just be an opposition party. We actually have to be a proposition party,” Jayapal told the editorial board recently. “We have to stand for things that are going to be the changes that we need to see.”

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