Donald Trump — and he will do so with his party controlling at least one chamber of Congress, according to projections.
The Republican Party is projected to secure a majority in the United States Senate, according to the Associated Press (AP), and is fighting to retain this in the House of Representatives.
Control of both chambers would give Republicans sweeping powers in Congress for the first time in eight years, alongside the president-elect. However, with vote counting still underway, the House is too early to call.
Election results: Who else were Americans voting for?
In the , Americans were not only voting for a president and vice president — but also senators, members of the House and state governors.
All 435 seats in the House and 34 in the Senate were up for grabs, with the results set to determine how successfully the next president — projected to be former Republican president — would be able to govern.
Who will control the Senate?
As polls closed across much of the country by Wednesday afternoon (AEDT), the AP projected Republicans had reached a majority (51 seats) in the Senate.
It called re-election for Republican Deb Fischer to represent Nebraska, taking the party's tally to 51 seats over the Democrats' 42.
According to the latest AP projections, Republicans have a 52-44 majority over the Democrats, with four seats to be called.
Republicans flipped three seats, including in West Virginia, where Jim Justice won an open Senate seat, taking over from Joe Manchin, a Democrat-turned-independent. Republican Tim Sheehy unseated Democratic senator Jon Tester in Montana, while in Ohio, Republican Bernie Moreno was projected to defeat third-term incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown.
Republicans stand a chance of widening their Senate majority further, as their candidates were leading Democratic incumbents in Pennsylvania and Nevada.
What about the House of Representatives?
Control of the House, which Republicans currently hold by a narrow 220-212 majority, remains unclear and may not be known for days.
As of 2.30pm Thursday AEDT, AP had projected 206 seats for Republicans and 190 for Democrats, with 39 to be called. A party must win 218 to control the chamber.
According to AP, the fight for control of the House became a state-by-state slog, much of which unfolded far from the presidential race.
Republicans have picked up a few seats from Democrats in North Carolina, where they had redrawn district lines, while Democrats flipped a competitive seat in New York along with a redistricted seat in Alabama.
To gain control of the House, Democrats would need to flip four seats from Republicans, while holding all of their own.
What does this mean for Donald Trump?
Trump began his presidency in 2017, following his 2016 election victory over Hillary Clinton, with a Republican-controlled House and Senate.
Democrats gained control of the House in the 2018 midterm elections and went on to win the Senate in 2020. Republicans won back the House in 2022.
Should Trump's party prevail in the House — and therefore gain control of both chambers — it would clear the way for major portions of Trump's legislative agenda, helping him deliver on his promise to slash taxes and restrict immigration — at least until the next midterm elections in 2026.
If Democrats can win control of the House, it would provide veto power over the White House.
The projected results in the Senate alone ensure Republicans would be able to help Trump appoint conservative judges and other government personnel.
Both races have also offered some history-making moments, including Sarah McBride, a Delaware state senator, becoming .
Voters also elected two Black women to the Senate — Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware and Democrat Angela Alsobrooks from Maryland. Just three Black women have served in the Senate, and never have two served at the same time.
— With additional reporting by the Associated Press.
