What To Know
- MS NOW host Lawrence O’Donnell declared “the Trump reign of terror is over” after Democrats won control of Congress.
- Democrats won the House and the Senate in what commenters called a ‘blue tsunami.’
- O’Donnell said Democratic control would limit Trump’s power and block his Supreme Court and Cabinet nominees.
Lawrence O’Donnell joined his fellow MS NOW hosts on Tuesday night (November 3) to react live to the midterm election results, which saw Democrats take the House and the Senate in a blue tsunami.
“This means the Trump reign of terror is over,” The Last Word anchor said when asked for his reaction to the results. As of writing, the Democrats have 228 seats in the House, with 25 seats gained, and 54 seats in the Senate, with 7 seats gained. This means the Democrats control Congress.
“The Trump reign of terror in Washington, in which he controlled [House Speaker] Mike Johnson’s every breath and every thought, and everything that happened in the United States Senate controlled by Republicans. That’s completely over now,” O’Donnell added. “Mike Johnson is out of a job. He’s available to be the next White House chief of staff if you need him.”
O’Donnell said these results “change everything” because it essentially strips Trump of his power. The veteran news reporter said the president will no longer be able to “get a Supreme Court justice confirmed if a vacancy occurs in the remainder of his presidency,” nor is there anything he can do “about the budget of the United States of America without the Democrats in the House and the Democrats in the Senate.”
“The governing of the country has now just shifted out of the White House,” O’Donnell added. “He’s left with his executive orders, most of which, from this point on, will be wildly illegal and will be dragged into court immediately. This is as powerless a presidency as we will have seen in our lifetimes from this point forward.”
O’Donnell also noted how the Democrats can now block any of Trump’s cabinet choices should a position become available. “If someone leaves the cabinet, it’s going to be an ‘acting’ for as long as the acting can serve,” he explained. “Because none of the Trump kind of choices could ever be confirmed now in the United States Senate.”
You can watch the segment in the video above and let us know your thoughts below.