WASHINGTON, Nov 14: Donald Trump will have almost complete control over the levers of US government now that Republicans have added the House of Representatives to their White House and Senate victories.
He can rely on five key factors as he pushes through his populist America First agenda:
Holding a more than three-million-ballot lead according to preliminary results, Trump was set to score an overwhelming victory in the popular vote against Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
He was on course to be the first Republican president in 20 years to achieve the feat, once official results are certified.
The 78-year-old secured a clear majority in the Electoral College, which decides the president, winning 312 electoral votes to Harris's 226.
Trump swept all seven swing states, winning in each of the battlegrounds that decide close US elections.
Unlike with his victory in 2016, when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, Trump will be able to claim greater legitimacy for pushing through his reformist agenda.
"America has given us a powerful and unprecedented mandate," he declared on election night.
Mid-term elections in two years will be the next opportunity for Democrats to check Trump's power.
On Wednesday, Republicans were declared the majority party in the US House of Representatives, completing their clean sweep in last week's election.
After more than a week of vote counting, CNN and NBC projected that Trump's party had reached the 218 seats needed to retain their majority in the 435-seat lower chamber, having already seized the Senate from the Democrats.
Having control of both chambers of Congress will ease the way for his nominations for key administration positions to be confirmed and may also allow him to push through his radical agenda of mass deportations, tax cuts and slashing regulations.
Having purged the Republican Party of members not aligned with his "Make America Great Again" agenda, the president-elect can expect little internal resistance.
Most legislation, however, requires a supermajority of 60 votes to progress in the Senate -- a figure Republicans will not reach.
Meanwhile, the Republicans were declared the majority party in the US House of Representatives Wednesday, completing a clean sweep of Congress and the White House in last week's elections and handing incoming president Donald Trump vast legislative power.
After more than a week of vote counting, CNN and NBC projected that Trump's party had reached the 218 seats needed to retain their majority in the 435-seat lower chamber, having already seized the Senate from the Democrats.
"It is a beautiful morning in Washington. It is a new day in America," said House Speaker Mike Johnson, who held a press conference to celebrate victory Tuesday before the result was official.
"The sun is shining, and that's a reflection about how we all feel. This is a very, very important moment for the country and we do not take it lightly."
Trump triumphed in every swing state in the November 5 presidential election and also looked to have won the national popular vote, with preliminary figures showing him ahead of Democratic Party challenger Kamala Harris by 3.2 million votes.
Having control of both chambers of Congress will clear the way for him to confirm his nominations for key administration positions and will also allow him to push through his radical agenda of mass deportations, tax cuts and slashing regulations.
"We need positions filled IMMEDIATELY!" Trump wrote on the X social media network on Sunday, referring to the need for the Republican-majority Senate to quickly approve his cabinet picks.
He is also seen by analysts as facing fewer judicial constraints than previous presidents, with his nominations to the Supreme Court during his first term, from 2017-2021, having given the high court a heavily conservative tilt. —AFP
