As I write this part on the evening of the 4th of November (Sydney time), the results of the 2026 United States Midterm Elections are more or less finalised.
The conclusion after a third of the election of the Senate seats is:
54 - Democratic
44 - Republican
2 - Independent
And the preliminary results in the House of Representatives is:
237 - Democratic
139 - Republican
This means that with counting still ongoing, the broader result of the implications of this election is already known. Put simply, the Democratic Party has taken control of both the House and Senate.
It took less than twenty-four hours for astute people to realise that what this actually means in terms of what happens for the next two years, is crudely simple - nothing.
In fact, it took probably about as much time for the current resident of the White House to realise exactly the same thing - that what this actually means in terms of what happens for the next two years, is crudely simple - nothing.
"I hold an ultimate power... uh... I am... yeah... if we didn't win, I veto everything."
- President Donald Trump, to CBS News - 4th Nov 2026
Particularly since Donald Trump came to power the second time, the political rift has widened even further to where the narrative is such that Members of the Republican Party see themselves as deliberately cruel for fun, and that Members of the Democratic Party are communist hellspawn who need to be deported, or thrown into concentration camps, or exterminated immediately.
Looking in from the outside, any notion that the United States is a working democracy, is quite frankly, dead.
As I write this section on the 5th of November, a day which will never be forgot for reasons to do with another parliament entirely, I can't help but feel that was the United States has chosen to do, is blow up its own parliament through quiet inaction.
Mechanically, if what Donald Trump says is true, then ANY piece of legislation which passes the House and then the Senate will land on his desk, and then he instantly issues a formal Memorandum of Disapproval, before sending the paperwork back to the house of Congress where the bill originated. I fully expect that there will be a pro forma letter written, with some deliberately antagonistic and belligerent message and that will be the end of it.
Those people who want smaller government will likely be thrilled, as this means that a not working and inactive government, is everything that they ever dreamed of. They will also likely get their wish as the one piece (or rather 12/12ths) of the legislation needed to make the functions of government run, still has not been passed.
As it stands, the 9/12ths of the FY2027 United States Budget Bill has not passed the House of Representatives and all 12/12ths of the FY2027 Budget Bill has not passed (or even been presented to) the Senate.
Also as it stands, there is only a short-term Continuing Resolution to fund federal agencies until 11th December 2026. If the Congress does not pass the FY2027 Budget Bill, or enact a temporary stopgap funding measure, then on 12th December 2026, all United States Government Agencies will shut down.
Immediately we have the obvious question facing us - how exactly is the Congress expected to pass the FY2027 Budget Bill, if President Donald Trump in his own words has said that "if we didn't win, I veto everything." The short answer is that, it doesn't. The long answer is that... ... ... ... ... it doesn't.
Since the modern process of the 12 constituent parts of the US Budget being merged together in an Omnibus Bill, there have been 15 government shutdowns. Usually they involve Congress getting together and having a giant bunfight until the two houses find something agreeable. However, 3/15 government shutdowns have happened under the Presidency of Donald Trump, where the Republican Party has had full control of both houses; which means that these shutdowns have been due to the Republican Party fighting itself. Under the current set of circumstances, the House and Senate could come under complete agreement and still get vetoed; because Trump has promised to do so.
I suspect that even if the Democratic Party were to just pass the existing FY2027 Budget Bill, as written by a Republican House and Senate, that Donald Trump would just veto it out of pure spite. At this point, his belligerence is such that he can just accuse the communist hellspawn who need to be deported, or thrown into concentration camps, or exterminated immediately, and his loyal mass of worshippers who remain constant at an unbreakable 38% of the country, will just accept his word as scripture.
As far as my country of Australia is concerned, nothing changes. The probability that Australia will be dragged into a war with Iran has evaporated, but again that's due to the fact that that would require an Authorization Bill which the Democratic Party is not going to author and even if they did (which they won't) Trump wouldn't pass it. US/Australian relations still remain in the toilet and perhaps will remain so until 2029 because Trump sees no value in us whatsoever.
What happens for the next two years, still remains - nothing.
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