Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday's midterm elections, according to incomplete results, flipping at least six Senate seats and winning even in Republican stronghold Texas, said Marcin Frenkel, a US studies expert at the University of Łódź in central Poland.
The scale of the win exceeded polling forecasts and many commentators' expectations, he told Polish state news agency PAP.
"The election results undermine the belief in the inevitability and irreversibility of the rise of populist movements, sometimes presented as a kind of zeitgeist," Frenkel said.
Voters, though still open to emotional messaging and manipulation, particularly on social media, were swayed by "very concrete, pragmatic factors," he said.
"In this case, these were above all rising living costs, dissatisfaction with the economic situation and disappointment with the effects of Donald Trump's rule."
He said tariffs on long-standing trading partners and the war with Iran, begun without broad consultation with European allies, had deepened Americans' economic difficulties.
"This shows that even in a country with global ambitions, voters hold politicians to account above all for the concrete consequences of their decisions for everyday life," he said.
What's next?
Frenkel said Congress could step up oversight, including committees examining the legality of the Trump administration's actions.
Impeachment may return as an issue, he said, though removal is unlikely as it would need two-thirds of senators.
Some Republicans, for whom Trump's backing proved a burden, may show greater independence from the president, he said, though that would not necessarily mean the party shifting to the political centre.
Impact on Poland
Frenkel said Poland’s political scene, parts of which had sought to follow trends set by Trump's MAGA movement, should take note.
He did not expect the change in congressional majority to harm ties between Washington and Warsaw or Europe more broadly.
"After all, it was not the Democratic Party that questioned the value of the transatlantic alliance or the rationale for supporting Ukraine," he said.
The president still sets the basic direction of US foreign policy, he said, but Congress has budgetary and oversight powers.
"The outcome of future negotiations between the White House and Congress may therefore have serious significance for further aid to Ukraine, and indirectly for European security," Frenkel said.
For Poland, Republicans’ stance on the US military presence there, support for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia would matter most, he added.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP