THE Democrats chased and captured the car driven by a lame-duck president.
Now what?
A president is called a “lame duck” when he or she is nearing the end of his or her term after a successor has been elected, after he or she has lost reelection, or after he or she is barred by term limits from running again.
In United States President Donald Trump’s situation, the last scenario applies.
Unable to accept a historic loss, Mr. Trump came out hissing and flapping, even if he would no longer have to pay the promised $5,000 for each adult American, since the Democrats now hold both the House of Representatives and Senate. Neither would he have to shell $1 million for evidence of voter fraud. Republican trash talk was swept by the blue tsunami.
As of this writing, Democrats have won 253 seats in the House and 54 in the Senate — enough to thwart the Republican leader’s legislative agenda. It’s too overwhelming to be labeled a dishonest election result.
But as die-hard MAGAmericans contend, Trump is still the president.
As head of the executive branch, Mr. Trump can still frustrate Democratic lawmakers in the last two years of his second term by issuing a series of fast and furious executive orders, particularly on immigration. And the president’s last bill passed into law under a Republican-majority Congress — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 — allows him to spend $245 billion until Jan. 20, 2029, the last day of his term: $170 billion for immigration enforcement, detention capacity expansion, border walls, and operations; $45 billion for detention expansion (targeting a daily capacity over 100,000); and nearly $30 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations.
The incoming Democratic-dominated legislature cannot stop this. First, the new Congress gets to act only on or after Jan. 3, 2027. Once a bill becomes law, the president is free to spend it on his priorities without guardrails.
The US Constitution grants Congress the authority to pass spending bills and not merely allows, but requires the president to “faithfully execute” those laws.
Mr. Trump’s 2016, 2020 and 2024 campaigns ran on vitriol, consistently warning of American civilizational collapse brought about by the invasion of people at the US border and ports of entry from immigrant-friendly Democrats.
Change to praetorian guards
Susie Wiles, the first woman White House chief of staff, is out. Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s immigration agenda, replaces her.
“I wanted to make a change,” Trump told reporters while leaving the White House last week for a trip to Florida. “Sometimes in life, you’ve got to make moves.”
The Democratic leaders in Congress can huff and puff all they want. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer considers Miller the author of “the most barbaric, inhumane policies of this administration,” while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Miller “a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands.”
Miller does not need Senate confirmation. As White House chief of staff, he is the uncontested gatekeeper and enforcer of Mr. Trump’s agenda.
Bernd Lange, a member of the European Parliament, warned European leaders on X: “Weakened Trump could become more aggressive and unpredictable. A lame duck could quickly turn into an angry duck.”
Affordability a double-edged term
Democrats consolidated legislative control and power by tapping into voters’ dissatisfaction about affordability and the impact of Mr. Trump’s economic policies, particularly on tariffs, that they believe were major causes of increased inflation pain.
Despite them winning a sweeping majority in both the House and Senate, granting them the power to pass laws, Mr. Trump still has veto power to block this process. Only a two-thirds majority of Congress can override a veto, which the Democrats don’t and can’t have without Republican support.
It will take time to reverse the economic impact that brought Democrats to gain legislative power. The cost of living, health care, artificial intelligence and the Middle East war are formidable and stubborn issues that will continue to empty Americans’ wallets.
Jeffries, who is expected to become House speaker, vows to “stop the stupid Trump tariffs.” Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, who is expected to lead the Senate Finance Committee, told the Wall Street Journal last week he was “already talking” with colleagues about legislation to address the tariff trauma. “Talking” is the operative word.
Before the midterm polls, the Tax Foundation reported that 54 percent of US imports had an applied tariff, up from 44 percent a decade ago. This has, on average, increased taxes by $820 per American household in 2026.
Getting results fast will prove elusive. Tariff measures are likely to need 60 votes in the Senate, which the Democrats may not get. Even if they win both the Alaska and Mississippi Senate races, the blue aisle would still be four seats short to override a presidential veto.
House Democrats may hold congressional hearings and investigations, force votes and refuse to extend tariff powers, but the laws before the Nov. 3 midterm elections remain in place.
Visa rules
Allocation of immigrant visas under Section 203 of the Immigration and Nationality Act will remain untouched: 675,000 for family-sponsored, 140,000 for employment-based.
This looks good — except that, as of Nov. 1, 2023, there were already 4,034,061 immigrant visa applicants waiting for their priority dates to be current and interview schedules. This does not include the 422,954 immigrant visa applicants already lined up for an interview at US embassies and consular posts worldwide.
In addition to these, there are now approximately 2,160,000 new cases sent to the National Visa Center (NVC) by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) based on 3,000-a-day petitions or sponsorships that the USCIS forwards daily to NVC visa vaults.
The Trump administration cut legal immigration in half early this year with policies blocking visas for immigrants and suspending entry into the US.
In 2024, the State Department reported that 612,258 visas were issued, compared with 240,526 at the end of Mr. Trump’s first term.
The department issued just 26,000 immigrant visas in February, compared with the 52,000 monthly average in the years before Mr. Trump took office — a 50-percent reduction.
Visa laws have not changed. Enforcing them under the Trump administration has been like squeezing blood from a turnip — or forcing a duck not to waddle.
With Miller now leading the charge against immigrant entry, admission, stay and deportation, expect immigrant admission to be at a standstill.
Democrat-led investigations could compel Trump officials to appear before the House and Senate floor with the aim of forcing them to resign or be impeached, dig into how the tariff policies that affected rates for certain industries and trade partners contributed to higher living costs.
But lawmakers cannot meddle with visa issuance procedures. That remains the president’s exclusive and constitutional authority.
Results on the cost of living and immigrant admission may not be felt until the 2028 elections.
With no tangible results to present and despite the blue wave that brought them back to power, the Democrats could be the ones under the bus, facing the blues.
Despite the limp, quackery rules the road. Watch out!
