Trump Vows Comeback as Democrats Prepare Probes and Impeachment Push After Midterm Losses

On Sunday morning, three days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that "America took a giant step back in History" with the result. He added that the stock market, which had grown during his tenure, took a loss after the vote. Then he promised a comeback: "we will be back, BIGGER AND STRONGER THAN EVER BEFORE!"

The results leave the president politically hamstrung as he enters the final two years of his term, the so-called lame duck period. They also open the way for multiple investigations by a Democrat-controlled Congress into the president, his family and senior members of his administration.

On Friday, Trump named hardline adviser Stephen Miller as his new chief of staff, a move read as a signal of a bare-knuckle fightback. Miller was the architect of Trump's tough immigration policy, which analysts have identified as a contributing factor to Republican unpopularity and the election losses. The appointment came even though many Republicans, Vice President JD Vance among them, have reflected on why the party lost so badly.

On Saturday, with Democrats telling administration officials to "lawyer up," Trump said he was ordering the Justice Department to examine Democratic threats to impeach members of his administration. He compared those threats to "extortion."

Control of committees in both chambers gives Democrats the power to summon officials, demand documents and hold public hearings. Likely subjects include the Trump family's business and cryptocurrency dealings, government contracts involving billionaire Elon Musk, cuts to federal agencies, immigration enforcement and the conduct of the Iran war.

The sharpest immediate flashpoint is Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a key architect of the war on Iran, which began in February. Hakeem Jeffries, set to become speaker of the new House, told ABC he is "a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution." He was responding to a question about a Republican lawmaker's reported plan to introduce an impeachment motion as early as Monday. Jeffries said Hegseth had abused his power, undermined national security and engineered a "reckless and costly war of choice" that raised prices for Americans and made the country less safe.

Trump defended Hegseth to reporters on Sunday. "I mean he's guilty of two things, basically winning two wars," he said, referring to the January US raid on Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro and the ongoing Iran war. "We won in Venezuela," he said, claiming a win in 48 minutes. Of Iran, he said it was "just a question of closing it out now or later."

Attorney General Todd Blanche, formerly Trump's personal lawyer and now head of the Justice Department, told CNN that the department would defend Miller if Democrats "come after" him rather than conducting oversight. Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, answered that Blanche's job is not to protect Trump or his cabinet, and that Congress is constitutionally charged with holding the executive branch to account. "We're not going to be intimidated," Garcia said.

Watch for whether a Hegseth impeachment motion is actually introduced in the House this week, and whether the Justice Department acts on Trump's order to examine the Democratic threats.