Trump tells CNBC he can work with Dems on ‘many more things than people understand’: Live updates

Michigan Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, whose shock endorsement for Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers roiled the Democratic party over the weekend, defended her decision to support Rogers following his loss in a lengthy post on X, saying “I don’t regret it.”

“As co-chair of the House caucus on antisemitism, endorsing a man who stood with Hasan Piker and his antisemitic bile was always a tough fit for me,” Stevens said, referring to the controversial political commentator who campaigned with eventual Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed.

“I hoped I could help him moderate. Instead, he got worse,” she added

Stevens lost to El-Sayed in the Democratic primary, and supported El-Sayed’s candidacy before her shocking flip Sunday. Stevens said she regretted her original endorsement of El-Sayed, calling it “highly unusual” for her.

“The endorsement was the outlier act. Rescinding it was not,” she wrote in her post.

— Caleigh Keating

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he spoke to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to congratulate him Tuesday night after the Democrats’ historic election night blowout.

Mamdani told reporters Wednesday afternoon that he and Jeffries, who is poised to be the next speaker, have a “good working relationship.”

He also said he has spoken to the two DSA candidates that he supported — Claire Valdez from New York’s 7th Congressional District and Darializa Avila Chevalier from New York’s 13th Congressional District. Both won their prospective races.

“One of the things I’ve spoken to them about is the fact that I’m so excited that they are now going to not just be candidates, but congresswomen,” Mamdani said. “They’re joining Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as DSA congresspeople representing the great people of our city.”

Another progressive candidate who took the win Tuesday was Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who defeated the GOP’s pick, former FBI agent Mike Rogers for Michigan’s Senate seat. El-Sayed has rejected the DSA label, though his positions align with many of the organizations.

Mamdani said he has not yet spoken to El-Sayed since his win, but that seeing him get the votes was “incredibly exciting,” especially after dealing with what he said was “racism and slander” on the campaign trail.

“His election is one that means so much to so many,” Mamdani said.

— Irit Skulnik

Stocks rallied on Wednesday after Trump acknowledged that Democrats secured the majority in both the House and Senate, further cooling political ambiguity risk for Wall Street.

“I think the reason the market is reacting so well this morning is because it removes uncertainty,” said David Kelly, a chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management on “Squawk on the Street.”

U.S. crude oil also fell more than 8% after JD Vance said the Iran war led to the Republican Party losing several key election races. Brent futures traded more than 8% lower as well.

— Ananya Chetia

The winner of the nail-biter Mississippi Senate election could be determined by absentee ballots that are received after Election Day, which would be counted because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling written by Trump appointee Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

Democratic nominee Scott Colom is leading Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith by just 65 votes out of nearly 925,650 votes cast, with an estimated 96% of the votes cast, according to the Associated Press.

A 5-4 majority on the high court rejected the Republican National Committee’s argument that ballots received after Nov. 3 are invalid under federal law.

Mississippi’s law allows absentee votes to be legally cast by mail if they are postmarked by Election Day and received no more than five business days after Nov. 3.

An RNC lawyer in a court filing clearly stated that the challenge to the state’s law had a political motivation.

“Democratic voters tend to mail their ballots later on average than Republican voters, which results in late-arriving ballots favoring Democratic candidates,” the RNC lawyer wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court.

Barrett, in the ruling, wrote, “The Constitution’s Elections Clause empowers state legislatures to ‘prescrib[e]’ the ‘Times, Places and Manner of holding” congressional elections.'”

“The federal election-day statutes do not preempt Mississippi’s law,” Barrett wrote.

Elisabeth Frost, litigation chair of Elias Law Group, which represented Mississippi in the case, after the Supreme Court ruled, said, “The importance of this case cannot be overstated.”

— Dan Mangan and Kevin Breuninger

Data center restrictions or other development measures related to the buildout were on the ballot in 10 states on Election Day, according to Ballotpedia.

Voters resoundingly sided against the data center boom in 40 of the 41 measures under consideration, according to Ballotpedia and additional analysis by CNBC. The only place to not add further roadblocks was Harwood, North Dakota.

The city north of Fargo voted down a proposed charter amendment that would have added additional review for any industrial development, like data centers, before the city could approve the project.

Ohio, which landed number one in CNBC’s ranking of America’s Top States for Business in 2026 in July, had 21 local ballot measures up for a vote. The PORTS-Pike Technology Campus, which is the largest planned AI data center campus in the world, is set to begin construction this year in The Buckeye State.

—Chris Eudaily

Concerns about a slowing pace to the AI buildout after the election results hammered so-called neoclouds like CoreWeave and Nebius, which both tumbled more than 7% on Wednesday. Chip stocks also got hit, with Nvidia falling 2%.

But Apple and the hyperscalers were cheered by Wall Street after the elections, as investors focused on the benefits those companies could see from a more stable tariff policy and lower oil prices. Apple, Microsoft and Amazon all jumped at least 6%, and Alphabet climbed 4%.

Laura Martin, an analyst at Needham, wrote in a note on Wednesday that the tech giants could also get a boost from heightened regulation, which would make it harder for newcomers to compete with them, she said.

“We believe higher regulatory barriers entrench incumbents, and increase risks (and raise required ROICs) for new entrants,” Martin wrote. “Hyperscalers are AI incumbents.”

— Kif Leswing

Democrat Tom Suozzi won reelection to his House seat in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, the AP projected Wednesday, defeating Republican former State Assemblyman Michael LiPetri.

Suozzi first reclaimed his former seat in 2024, winning a special election after the expulsion of Republican George Santos from Congress. The Long Island-focused district voted for Trump in 2024, and was targeted as a potential flip for Republicans this cycle. As of now, Republicans have yet to pick up a Democrat House, Senate or governor’s seat.

— Caleigh Keating

Trump told CNBC’s Eamon Javers he believes he can work with Democratic majorities in the next Congress on “many more things than people understand.”

“I can’t work with them [on] an open border. I can’t work with them on men playing in women sports and things, but I can work with them on a lot of financial ideas that would be mutually good,” Trump said in a brief phone call.

Trump also seemed to preclude the possibility of paring back his tariffs.

“If I took tariffs off — we have 3,000 plants under construction right now. Every single plant would stop building,” Trump said.

— Kevin Breuninger

Trump told reporters at the White House he had no plans to replace Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

But Trump also said Hegseth would be “very popular” if he were tapped to replace Sen. Marsha Blackburn as a result of that Republican’s election as Tennessee’s governor.

“No, I think he’s doing a very good job,” Trump said of Hegseth when asked if he was considering replacing him.

The president’s comments came after he said the war on Iran — which he started, and which Hegseth has prosecuted — contributed to the devastating Election Night losses congressional Republicans suffered. Trump pointed to higher fuel prices that resulted from that war.

Some political observers have speculated Trump would jettison Hegseth after the election.

CBS News on Wednesday reported that Trump “has been asking advisers around him and on the phone whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job.”

Asked if he wanted Trump to fill Blackburn’s Senate seat, Trump reiterated his confidence in Hegseth’s work, but added, “I actually think he’d be very popular if he did that.”

“But I haven’t heard that, at all,” Trump said.

The White House’s rapid response account on X posted Trump’s answers about the defense secretary.

— Dan Mangan

Democrats flipped five Republican-held governorships Tuesday, including a stunning upset in Texas, to seize control of a majority of governors’ mansions for the first time since 2010.

The victories in Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa and Nevada — all states Trump won in 2024 — gave Democrats at least 28 governorships and control of all seven presidential battleground states from the last election, reshaping the political map ahead of 2028.

In Texas, Gina Hinojosa toppled three-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott despite being outspent 5-to-1 on television advertising, according to AdImpact. She will become the state’s first Democratic governor in a generation and its first Latina governor.

In Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated billionaire Rick Jackson, who spent more than $200 million of his own money on the race, to become the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. Amy Acton defeated Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio, capturing Iowa’s governorship for the first time since 2006 and ousted Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo.

The election also broke the record for the number of women governors, with at least 17 women set to lead states next year, up from 14.

Democrats could make further gains, with gubernatorial races still uncalled in Alaska and Kansas. The party’s candidates led in both races, though only Alaska would be a pickup. But many incoming Democrats will still face Republican-controlled legislatures, limiting their ability to enact sweeping changes.

— Luke Fountain

The Blue Dog Coalition, a bloc of blue-collar-focused and relatively conservative Democrats, surged in last night’s election — reviving the once mighty caucus that atrophied in recent years.

The caucus is likely to at least double its ranks as results continue to be tallied, with more than 10 candidates winning or on their way to victory as of Wednesday.

Blue Dog-supported candidates include Rebecca Cooke in Wisconsin, Sam Forstag in Montana and JoAnna Mendoza in Arizona — all of whom flipped Republican seats.

The Blue Dog Coalition is currently co-chaired by Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez, D-Wash., Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, and Lou Correa, D-Calif.

Its revival follows a push by Gluesenkamp-Perez and retiring Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, to resuscitate the caucus. The pair led an aggressive recruitment effort and injected parochial, populist policy proposals into its traditionally moderate platform.

— Garrett Downs

Democrat Scott Colom, who is in a close count to potentially unseat incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi’s Senate race, is holding a small lead as the ballots continue to be counted.

With 96% of the votes counted, Colom has a lead of almost 100 votes as of 2:05 p.m. ET. The seat in ruby red Mississippi was considered comfortably Republican and has been held by Hyde-Smith since her 2018 appointment. If elected, Colom would be the state’s first Democratic senator since 1982 and first Black senator since Reconstruction.

At an election party Tuesday night, Hyde-Smith essentially claimed victory.

This morning, as Colom took the lead, he spoke with reporters and addressed Hyde-Smith’s premature claim.

“Bless her heart,” he said.

— Irit Skulnik

Last night’s election results are set to bring a new agenda to Congress with gridlock on all but the most urgent fiscal issues likely and potential impacts for the business environment on the horizon.

CNBC’s Justin Papp broke down last night’s blue wave and what the flip in control of Congress could mean for the remainder of Trump’s term. In a strong rejection of the president, voters sent Democrats to the Senate in states that hadn’t done so in decades, including South Carolina and Texas. This could mean sweeping investigations into alleged corruption from the Trump family and of business and CEOs with ties to the government.

A mid-decade redistricting wave also reared its head — although not in the way Republicans might have hoped. Democrats pulled off victories in many tossups as well as in races that were gerrymandered to favor Republicans. What remains to be seen is if Trump will be willing to work with Democrats on urgent issues such as government funding and the debt ceiling.

— Caleigh Keating

Republican Rep. Richard Hudson, the National Republican Congressional Committee chair, conceded to Democratic challenger Richard Ojeda, flipping North Carolina’s 9th District in a jaw-dropping upset.

While an estimated 99% of the vote has been tallied, the AP has yet to project a winner in the race.

But Hudson, who has held the 9th District since 2013 and served as NRCC chair since 2023, said in a press release Wednesday afternoon that he has called Ojeda to congratulate him, MS NOW reported.

The NRCC chair’s job is to win House seats for the Republican Party, which lost a record number of seats in modern history on Tuesday.

The victory of Ojeda, a retired U.S. Army major who briefly ran for president in 2020, over the leader of the House GOP’s campaign arm offered yet another stark example of Democrats’ midterm dominance.

“Last night, the voters of North Carolina’s 9th District made their choice, and I respect it,” Hudson said in the press release. “God is sovereign over my life, and He has a plan for all of us.”

— Kevin Breuninger

Investors sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging in the session following Election Day.

The blue-chip Dow was up about 1,500 points, or nearly 3%, in midday trading Wednesday.

If that climb holds through the closing bell, it would mark the 30-stock index’s biggest one-day gain since April 9, 2025 — the day President Donald Trump paused many of his so-called liberation day tariffs.

Former National Economic Council director and IBM Vice Chairman Gary Cohn said cratering consumer sentiment led to a Democratic wipeout of Republicans in the midterms, with results indicating a rebuke of President Donald Trump rather than positive sentiment toward Democratic candidates.

“When you think about affordability, the core things that people are spending money on: food, housing, healthcare, energy … Those are four areas that there’s enormous amount of pressure in the system,” Cohn, who was the NEC director during Trump’s first term, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“I almost think the K-shaped economy has moved to an L. The top goes up, and the bottom just sits there at the bottom, and and they’re not happy about it. When people are unhappy, they vote for change. They don’t really care who the change is.”

Victories by Texas Democrats James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa for Senate and governor, respectively, could signal coming scrutiny of Big Tech in the state and further data center regulation, but ultimately could make the buildout more valuable, Cohn said.

“There’s now going to be more scarcity than there was before. The data centers you have going in the ground are actually more valuable today than they were yesterday,” Cohn said. “You can rent them for more. You can use them for more, and you’re much less worried about overbuilding of data centers and the price of compute coming down.”

— Caleigh Keating

The Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi were too close to call as of midday Wednesday, according to CNBC’s Election Desk.

Less than 100 votes separate Democratic nominee Scott Colom and incumbent GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in a race that would be a massive flip for Democrats. Mississippi has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1982 and has not elected a Black senator since Reconstruction.

In Alaska, Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola was running neck-and-neck with Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan in a four-way race that controversially includes an unaffiliated Daniel J. Sullivan, who is trailing well behind. Alaska has ranked choice voting. If no candidate reaches 50% of the total vote share, the lowest performer on the ballot is eliminated and their votes are redistributed until a candidate crosses the majority threshold.

— Justin Papp

Democrat Christina Hines flipped Michigan’s 10th Congressional District on Wednesday, the AP projected, defeating Trump-endorsed Republican Mike Bouchard in another pickup for Democrats’ sweeping midterm victory.

The suburban Detroit district backed Trump by more than six points in 2024 and was held by Republican John James, who vacated the seat for an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid. James won reelection by six points just two years ago.

— Luke Fountain

Trump didn’t mention massive losses by Republicans in the midterm elections during lengthy remarks early Wednesday afternoon as he showed off the final steel beam to be lifted into place for his White House ballroom project and touted other construction projects he’s initiated.

But Trump, during a question-and-answer session with reporters at the site, said he agreed with Vice President JD Vance’s assessment that the electoral wipeout was due to the Iran war, which he started in February.

“I think it’s largely true,” Trump said. “I’d do it again … you didn’t have a choice.”

Trump later said “the price” of oil, which has risen due to the war, is to blame. “Not the war, the price,” he said.

Trump also said, “I’ll get along, probably, with the Democrats, unless they plan to be disruptive.”

“We have the veto,” he noted.

He reiterated his claim that if he were on the ballot this year, “we would have won.”

Trump said that at election rallies he held around the country in recent weeks, there was a lot of “love.”

“But you couldn’t transfer the love … to the candidates,” he said.

Trump then had reporters and cameras follow him over to the new helipad he had built at the White House.

— Dan Mangan

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, said he has not yet heard from Trump following Tuesday’s stunning Democratic take back of both chambers of Congress.

Jeffries, who is poised to be the next speaker of the House, said when answering a question about how he will work with Trump, that the House Democratic Caucus is willing to collaborate across the aisle.

“We are ready, willing, and able to find bipartisan common ground with the other side of the aisle, as long as we can bring about meaningful change on the issues that matter, and that begins with decisively addressing the affordability crisis,” Jeffries said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he also not yet heard from Trump.

Jeffries congratulated Schumer and the Senate Democrats when speaking with reporters earlier today. He said he is looking forward to speaking with Schumer.

When asked about the House’s investigative agenda and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is facing threat of an impeachment vote, Jeffries said, “Is Pete Hegseth still around?”

— Irit Skulnik

Democrat Abdul El-Sayed took the stage to address his supporters after defeating Republican Mike Rogers and becoming the first Muslim elected to the Senate.

“Mike, enjoy your retirement. I know you got a house in Florida and two yachts,” El-Sayed said. “May we never have to see the likes of you in this state again.”

El-Sayed defeated Rogers, a former FBI agent, 52% to 45% in a huge win for progressives. In his victory speech, El-Sayed called out Trump and Vance.

“JD, habibi, there is this delicious irony in the fact that you’re constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January,” he said. In Arabic, “habibi” is a term of endearment.

El-Sayed then addressed Trump, who endorsed Rogers and mocked the Democrat’s name while on the campaign trail.

“Donald, I know you struggle with my name, so after JD swears me in in January, you can go on and call me Senator,” El-Sayed said.

— Irit Skulnik

Trump called reporters to gather at the White House — for his first in-person remarks after election results poured in — to show off the construction site of his controversial ballroom. The president touted other construction project as well on the heels of a historical shellacking of his fellow Republicans in the midterm elections.

Trump pointed out the “Corinthian columns” that would be a feature of the ballroom.

“This is a special structure,” the president said. “It’s going to be, not only one of the biggest, but it’ll be the most beautiful ballroom, I think, anywhere in the world.”

Trump, speaking to reporters on camera, said he would add his signature to what he believed would be the final piece of steel for the ballroom, which had already been signed by workers at the site.

Trump has faced criticism for focusing his attention on building projects in Washington in the months leading up to the GOP wipeout Tuesday night, where his party was projected to lose majority control of both chambers of Congress.

— Dan Mangan

Trump boasted, inaccurately, about the stock market’s gains in the wake of Democrats’ midterm landslide.

“Stock Market just hit another Record High — 91 Days in just a short period of time — Less than two years,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Your 401(k)s are through the roof. Record Setting All!”

While major stock indexes broadly jumped higher on Wednesday, none are at record highs.

According to data from FactSet, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down about 2.7% from its all-time intraday high. The S&P 500 is down about 1.7% from its all-time intraday high, while the Nasdaq Composite is down 6.6% from its all-time intraday high.

— Kevin Breuninger and Brianna Bernath

Alex Soros, who along with his billionaire father, George Soros, poured $102 million into Democratic-aligned super PAC Democracy PAC this election cycle, celebrated the party’s sweeping midterm victories Wednesday.

“The world changed yesterday,” Soros wrote on X. “This wasn’t just a midterm or a blue wave. It was something this country has never seen before.”

“The greatest victory I have ever seen!” he added.

The Soros family was a major exception among the election’s biggest donors, who overwhelmingly favored Republicans. The 50 largest donors gave $1.7 billion to Republican-aligned groups, more than double the $832 million directed toward Democrats.

— Luke Fountain

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expressed confidence that he will be re-elected as the chamber’s majority leader in the next Congress.

“The issue is not me,” Schumer said at a press conference when asked about newly elected Democrats who said they would not back him for the promotion.

“I’ll be re-elected as majority leader, but the issue is focusing on the American people and what they want,” Schumer.

The Democratic leader took another victory lap elsewhere in his remarks, calling the midterm result “a generational remake of the Senate map that is going to change America not only now but on into the future.”

— Kevin Breuninger

Tuesday’s results delivered a gut punch to Elon Musk and Silicon Valley’s biggest power players, who poured record sums into elections only to watch their candidates lose and a backlash against AI threaten their bottom lines.

Musk spent at least $474 million, including $224 million in Texas, where his preferred candidates for governor and Senate both got clobbered. His sprawling business empire now faces a less friendly Democratic governor-elect, Gina Hinojosa, who has pledged to curb corporate subsidies and data center expansion.

And the losses piled up nationwide. Of the 44 federal races targeted by Musk’s America PAC, Republicans it backed or whose opponents it targeted had lost 29, won just three and were awaiting results in 12 as of Wednesday morning.

More broadly, voters repudiated the AI industry’s rapid expansion, with roughly two dozen proposals to restrict or block data centers appearing to pass among 41 local measures across 10 states, according to preliminary results.

For an industry betting trillions on an increasingly debt-fueled AI boom, the consequences could dwarf the election losses. Moratoriums and tougher permitting threaten to derail expansion plans, drive up costs and delay the revenue needed to pay off those massive investments.

Read more on the backlash to tech billionaires here.

— Luke Fountain

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of crypto platform Circle, told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” he doesn’t see pending Democratic control of Congress meaningfully affecting chances of crypto legislation, calling the technology a “bipartisan” issue.

“Circle is purple, and that’s very important,” Allaire told CNBC. “Our business and what we do in digital dollars are a bipartisan issue, and we want to work with leadership in every political party and in countries around the world.”

“Policy will continue to iterate and get forged, and so we’ll just continue to work with policymakers and governments like we have for the last 13,14 years,” he said, pointing to Congress passing the GENIUS Act by a wide margin last year.

When pressed about notions that the crypto industry is more friendly to Republicans, Allaire said crypto’s push into the mainstream has brought parties to the table that are important across the political spectrum.

“Everybody in capital markets, in banking, in payments and technology companies — they’re all moving to build on this, and those all of those companies are important to political leaders no matter what side of the aisle you’re on.”

— Caleigh Keating

Ted Leonsis, Monumental Sports & Entertainment founder, chairman and CEO, congratulated democratic socialist Janeese Lewis George on her Washington mayoral win.

“Living and working in the nation’s capital gives us a special appreciation for civic participation,” Leonsis wrote in an X post.

Lewis George will succeed Mayor Muriel Bowser, a moderate Democrat who has held the role for over a decade. She defeated independent and Green Party candidates in Tuesday’s election.

Lewis George campaigned on universal childcare, lowering costs, expanding housing and instituting a new Business Activity Tax, among other policies.

She has also pledged to stand up to Trump, who has previously labeled Lewis George a “communist.”

“Our commitment to D.C. carries through every day of the year,” Leonsis said in his post. “Through our teams, venues, and network we have an opportunity and a responsibility to create jobs, support local businesses, bring people downtown and open doors for young people across the city.”

— Irit Skulnik

LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman took a victory lap Wednesday, responding to news that House Speaker Mike Johnson would not seek the minority leader post with a jab on X: “full resignation also an option.”

Hoffman, who poured $8 million into Wisconsin Democrats this fall, also weighed in on Silicon Valley’s political loyalties, writing that “some have always stuck true to their principles” in an earlier post Wednesday.

— Luke Fountain

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, are both expected to vie for the job of leading Republicans in the minority next Congress, setting up a battle of two top GOP lawmakers.

Jordan sent a letter, obtained by CNBC, to the Republican caucus on Wednesday, announcing his plans.

“For too long, we have operated without a clear plan to survive the hour or the day in front of us,” Jordan wrote. “That will not cut it against an emboldened and energetic Democrat majority.”

Scalise, who has been the number two Republican in the House under Speaker Mike Johnson, is expected to announce his candidacy later on Wednesday, MS NOW reported, citing a House GOP aide who requested anonymity to discuss the private plans.

The intraparty battle takes shape hours after Johnson announced on Wednesday morning that he would not seek the leadership spot in the next Congress.

— Justin Papp

The electoral sweep by Democrats last night injects a new, unstable dynamic into the single biggest political risk to financial markets in the coming year: the debt limit. Unless a defeated Republican Party makes a swift and unlikely show of unity to take the issue off the table in their last few weeks in power, the protracted fight that will unfold is set to be nastier than ever, adding volatility to an already shaky bond market.

The debt limit is the definition of a must-pass bill, even more than issues like funding the government and the defense budget. That makes it potentially the one real chance the new Democratic majority in Congress has to extract concessions from a president who is already pledging to veto their agenda. Markets will hate the entire process, even if – as many expect – it ends in compromise. 

Because it is Democrats who hold the leverage, unlike past episodes, the ultimate agreement is more likely to increase government spending than lower it. With high bond yields weighing on the economy, and Americans expecting action from a newly empowered Democratic opposition, the fight could be particularly damaging. 

Read more of our debt-ceiling analysis here.

— Matt Peterson

Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for Republican losses in the midterms in a social media post Wednesday.

“The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote.

“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so,” the vice president said. “Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.”

“But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there,” he said.

Brent crude oil is down more than 4% to $98.98 per barrel, while U.S. crude is 4.3% lower to $91.99 a barrel.

— Spencer Kimball

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said the committee will focus on CEO accountability, a billionaire tax, healthcare and tariffs in a statement detailing plans for the upcoming session of Congress.

“Trump and Republicans have been running a smash-and-grab job on the American people. Under my leadership, the top priorities of the Finance Committee will be affordability for us, accountability for them,” the statement read.

Wyden indicated much of the committee’s focus would rest on accountability for billionaires and corporate executives, detailing plans for a “tax agenda that puts American families first and requires the ultra-rich to pay their fair share.” He declared he was putting bank, insurance and pharmaceutical company CEOs “on notice,” bringing those who have worked with Trump under the committee’s scrutiny.

Wyden also declared expanding healthcare and asserting authority over trade policy as legislative priorities for the upcoming session. With Democrats projected to take control of the Senate and its committees, Wyden, who is currently the highest-ranking Democrat on Senate Finance, is expected to become chair.

— Caleigh Keating

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., won’t run to lead the House Republicans from the minority next Congress, his office confirmed on Wednesday.

Punchbowl News first reported that Johnson announced the decision on an all-staff call Wednesday morning, after the GOP suffered a drubbing at the hands of Democrats, losing their majorities in both the House and Senate.

Johnson became speaker in 2023 after his predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was deposed amid an intraparty revolt. He led House Republicans through the first part of Trump’s term, helping to shepherd through the president’s sprawling 2025 tax and spending package and other legislative priorities.

— Justin Papp

While Democrats secured majorities in both chambers of Congress, last night’s results also yielded several historic firsts by candidates on both sides of the aisle.

In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed will become the country’s first Muslim senator. The Democrat defeated Republican Mike Rogers, earning a little over 52% of the vote with 97% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.

For the first time in U.S. history, a record five Black governors will serve at the same time following last night’s elections. This includes Georgia’s Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat, who will be the nation’s first female Black governor. Wisconsin Democrat David Crowley, Florida Republican Byron Donalds and Nevada Democrat Aaron Ford will all be their states’ first Black governors. Democrat Wes Moore won reelection in Maryland, where he’s been the governor since 2023.

In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa will be the state’s first Latina governor after she beat incumbent Republican Greg Abbott, who had served as the state’s governor since 2015. Ohio will also have its first female governor in Democrat Amy Acton.

New Mexico’s Deb Haaland, former secretary of the interior under the Biden administration, will be the first female Native American governor in U.S. history.

— Ananya Chetia

Democrat James Talarico of Texas laid out where he sees room to work with Trump during an interview with Fox News.

Talarico is projected to become Texas’ next senator, according to the Associated Press. He will be the first Democrat to win statewide office in ruby-red Texas since 1994.

Talarico said Congress and the president should strike a deal to pass immigration reform that includes border security, but also more legal pathways for immigrants.

“Give the president where credit is due, he has done a better job than the previous administration of securing the border,” Talarico said. “But we also need to create more legal pathways for hardworking immigrants who want to come here and contribute to our economy.”

Talarico said he also wants to work with Trump to address the housing shortage: “He’s a builder and we need to cut the red tape, the regulation that sometimes my party has been guilty of, so that we can build millions of new homes in this country,” Talarico said.

— Spencer Kimball

Rochefort Asset Management founder and co-CEO Kyle Bass said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that continued inflation and Fed moves in recent years have ‘destabilized’ the world and contributed to the Democratic wave.

“We’ve lived now for a couple of years with much higher prices,” Bass said, adding the Fed ‘going overboard’ contributed to the current economic landscape. “What happened during Covid and what happened during the GFC has really destabilized the world.”

“The financial architecture of the world hasn’t looked this bad in a long time, and I think that what we’re going to see is more destabilization within and externally.”

Bass, a resident of Texas and GOP donor, said Republicans “couldn’t have chosen, in my opinion, a worse person to run” in GOP nominee Ken Paxton, but the Lone Star State’s flip blue was due in part to an influx of out-of-state Democratic donors.

“We knew that the, that the money from the coastal areas was coming in in a big way for Talarico and for governor.”

“It’s hard for me to believe that Texans voted someone like that in,” Bass said of Talarico. “If Texans writ large showed up to vote, they wouldn’t have these people representing us in the state.”

— Caleigh Keating

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded with just six words when asked by CNBC whether Democrats plan to investigate companies that have done business with the Trump administration.

“You gotta go after the corruption,” Schumer said.

— Megan Cassella, Spencer Kimball

Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts said the new Congress plans to pass legislation focused on affordability and rooting out corruption, key voter concerns that carried the party to victory.

“We will pass legislation to lower prices, protect access to quality healthcare, and stamp out the corruption that has become a staple of Trump’s Washington,” Clark said in a statement. “We are ready to get to work.”

While the Democrats won a resounding victory, it is far from clear that they will be able to change policy in a substantive way when they take the reins of Congress in January.

President Donald Trump told Fox News late Tuesday that he plans to use his veto power.

“They’ll send over things that are insane and I’ll veto them,” Trump said. “And after a couple months of vetoes, they’ll call and they’ll say how do we get this stuff done and we’ll work together.”

— Spencer Kimball

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the midterms gave a clear message to those in Washington D.C., after Democrats took control of Congress Tuesday night.

“People of our country sent a message regarding change. Inflation…really has really taken a mark on the consumer. Consumers voted on their feet,” Khosrowshahi said on CNBC “Squawk Box.”

The CEO said tax policies so far have favored capital and that there needs to be a “rebalance.”

“If we tax capital gains at income rates, all the VCs will still be in business, all the private equity folks will stay in business. You still be investing in the S& P 500. People spin stories…to tell otherwise, and it just doesn’t feel true to me,” he said.

— Ananya Chetia

In a statement from Beijing’s state media, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the midterms were an “internal affair” of the U.S. and that China is willing to work with President Trump on maintaining a “constructive and stable strategic relationship” between the two countries.

“China is willing to continue working with the United States to safeguard and implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state,” the statement read.

— Eunice Yoon, Caleigh Keating

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who is eyed as a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that the midterms showed voters are “exhausted” with the direction of the country under Trump and the GOP.

“They’re exhausted on the fact that everything is more expensive, even though they were told that everything would be cheaper,” said Moore, who easily won reelection on Tuesday.

Moore also referenced the unpopular war in Iran and corruption in Washington, which “continues to run rampant” while “everyone else’s life is just getting harder.”

“So I think you’re seeing that people wanted leaders who are ready to disrupt the status quo, and who are ready to just change the direction from what people are seeing and feeling in their lives right now,” he said.

— Kevin Breuninger

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNBC that Democrats do not have a list of companies that they plan to investigate or subpoena.

“We’ll have those conversations over the next couple of weeks,” Jeffries, who is poised to become Speaker of the House in January, said Wednesday. “But clearly, things aren’t going right for the American people. Capitalism is broken in the way in which it is being experienced by so many working-class Americans and middle-class Americans.”

“We’ve got to make sure we build an economy, a free-market economy, that works for everyday Americans,” he said.

— Megan Cassella, Spencer Kimball

Stock market futures rose after Democrats swept the House and the Senate in Tuesday’s midterm election, the results of which President Donald Trump reportedly said he would to accept.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged nearly 900 points in premarket trading. S&P 500 futures were up about 1%, and Nasdaq-100 futures were around 0.5% higher.

Some investors were worried heading into the midterms that Republicans might challenge the election results in a drawn-out process that would create uncertainty. But Trump told the New York Times that he was “absolutely willing” to accept the results.

Follow live market updates here.

— Spencer Kimball

Twelve hours after the first polls closed, Alaska and Mississippi are the only two Senate races in which the AP has yet to call a projected winner.

Democrat Mary Peltola is looking to unseat Alaska’s Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. The race, which has been shrouded in controversy over Democrats’ reported recruitment of a spoiler candidate with the same name as the incumbent, appears neck and neck, with an estimated 72% of the vote in as of 6:10 a.m. ET.

In Mississippi, incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith is trying to fend off Democrat Scott Colom, who was considered a long-shot challenger against the political veteran in the ruby-red state.

But with an estimated 96% of the vote tallied, Colom and Hyde-Smith appear to be within a hair’s breadth of each other.

If Colom wins, he would become the first Black senator ever elected by popular vote in Mississippi.

— Kevin Breuninger

Speaking to CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday morning, Greg Swenson, chairman of Republicans Overseas U.K., said the midterm outcome marked a major shift among voters.

“The MAGA base was disappointed that Trump started a foreign war,” he said.

However, Swenson noted that he did not think the president “has to change that much” in the wake of the election.

“He’s not afraid to meet his opposition. I think he’ll be fine working across the aisle,” he said. “However, he will use the veto — he still maintains all of the exec brand which controls the regulatory environment, foreign policy, [and the] military.”

Overnight, Trump posted an image of a red baseball cap bearing the word “VETO” on Truth Social. He also told The New York Times his administration will “work with the Democrats.”

— Chloe Taylor

Shares of Elon Musk‘s SpaceX and Tesla fell in premarket trading Wednesday as the Democrats won a significant victory in the midterm elections.

SpaceX was last trading down 3.8% and Tesla dropped 3.5% amid big losses for Republican candidates Musk had backed.

Artificial intelligence stocks came under pressure overnight as Democrats — seen as proponents of data center moratoriums — won big in midterm elections in key data center hubs.

The Democrats’ victory in Texas is a big setback for Musk, where he heavily backed Republican candidates, and where his companies Tesla and SpaceX are based. Musk spent a record of at least $474 million on the midterms and funneled $224 million into Texas alone, where Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott lost to Democrats.

Read the full story here.

— Kai Nicol-Schwarz, Sarah Min

Democrats’ sweeping midterms victory marked a major rejection of Elon Musk and the artificial-intelligence industry, as a broad backlash against U.S. President Donald Trump and his tech allies put their political influence — and the debt-fueled data center buildout — under sharper scrutiny.

Musk, who spent a record of at least $474 million on the midterms, funneled $224 million, or nearly half, into Texas alone, according to a CNBC analysis of campaign finance records, only to see his favored candidates, Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott, trounced in a Democratic wave.

The defeats rattled markets overnight, sending SpaceX and Tesla shares lower, both of which have long flourished under Abbott’s business-friendly. Meanwhile, broader tech stocks came under pressure as Democrats secured control of Congress.

Read more here.

— Luke Fountain

Democrat Aaron Ford is projected to win Nevada’s race for governor, beating Republican incumbent Joe Lombardo, who was seeking a second term in office.

Lombardo narrowly beat Democrat Steve Sisolak in 2022.

Trump was the first Republican presidential candidate to win the state of Nevada since 2004.

— Chloe Taylor, Justin Papp

Incumbent Susie Lee is the projected winner of the race for the House seat in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District.

Lee — a moderate Democrat who serves on the House Appropriations Committee — was running to defend her Las Vegas House seat, which Trump won in 2024.

Challenger Jon Kamerath, a GOP candidate, was a political newcomer whose campaign site says he is a retired nurse and former chess champion.

— Chloe Taylor, Garrett Downs

Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek is projected to win reelection in Oregon, after a rematch with Republican state Senator Christine Drazan, who she beat by 3.5 percentage points in 2022.

Kotek, a former state House speaker, is defending her record on housing and education, while Drazan, a former House Republican leader, focused on taxes, affordability and homelessness.

The race tightened into a near dead heat despite Oregon not electing a Republican governor in more than four decades.

— Chloe Taylor, Luke Fountain

Pete Ricketts is projected to win the Senate race in normally safe red Nebraska, where Trump won by more than 20 percentage points in 2024.

He faced a strong challenge from independent candidate Dan Osborn, a labor union leader and Navy veteran. Osborn ran against Republican Sen. Deb Fischer in 2024 and lost by roughly seven percentage points.

— Chloe Taylor

Democrat Katie Hobbs is projected by The Associated Press to win reelection in the race for Arizona governor.

Her win marks a defeat for Trump-endorsed Republican Rep. Andy Biggs, a former state Senate president and Freedom Caucus chairman who was subpoenaed by the House Jan. 6 committee.

Hobbs, a former secretary of state, narrowly won the governor’s race in 2022.

— Chloe Taylor

Projected wins for the Democrats in both the House and the Senate could intensify Trump’s focus on foreign policy in his final two years in office, experts told CNBC.

Laurel Rapp, director of Chatham House’s U.S. and North America Programme, said Trump would be “somewhat constrained” on matters of oversight and investigation, but on foreign policy “he does still retain a lot of latitude.”

J.C. Lintzenich, visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said that the president is not a “lame duck.”

“The president of the United States still has lots of power, lots of authority,” he said. “We still have pending action in Iran. We still have an unresolved situation with Russia and Ukraine.”

Read more here.

— Sawdah Bhaimiya

Polls have closed in California, where voters considered a measure that would impose a 5% tax on billionaires in the state. With 83% of precincts partially reporting, Proposition 40 had received 43.7% yes votes, according to the California Secretary of State, far short of a majority.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin contributed $102 million to a nonprofit that fought the initiative. Numerous other tech billionaires also put money towards opposing the measure.

In addition, Proposition 42, which would block new personal property taxes and taxes on past activities, had 54.6% of the vote. Even if California voters approve the billionaire tax, Proposition 42 could get in the way because courts might conclude that it conflicts with Proposition 40.

— Jordan Novet

Residents of several U.S. towns and cities voted against the development of data centers in their jurisdictions, as part of a broad AI backlash. The outcomes followed a Pew Research survey over the summer showing that Americans have soured on data centers due to the environmental and energy costs.

In Ashville, Ohio, residents rejected a resolution that would have approved terms for EdgeConneX to build two data center buildings on 195 acres. In Illinois’ Joliet Township, southwest of Chicago, voters said no to a measure over whether the city council should approve construction of AI data centers.

“These are non-binding measures, but given the size of the Democrats’ victory, adding Texas governorship, and a 29 to 1 lead to restrict data centers, politicians that want to remain employed as politicians are going to heed these messages,” Jim Bianco of Bianco Research wrote in a post on X.

— Jordan Novet