Every vote, in every state, matters

In the years when Americans elect a president, that race often monopolizes the nation’s attention.

However, this year there are other 469 contests to elect the people who represent us in Washington, DC

Those elections are, taken together, as essential to the government of the United States as the campaign for the White House.

In addition to designing the nation’s laws, Congress allocates the federal budget, approves the country’s debt, and regulates its commerce.

It has the authority to wage wars, ratify treaties, confirm appointees, and hold federal officials accountable through investigations and impeachment.

In other words, Congress is the body that enables or restricts the ambitions and agenda of the White House.

And while these fundamental responsibilities won’t change no matter who wins on Tuesday, if Donald Trump he is re-elected president, the House of Representatives and the Senate They will be vital controls of what he could do in office.

Trump has demonstrated that he lacks the character, temperament, and commitment to the Constitution necessary to be entrusted with the power and responsibility of the presidency.

He was impeached twice in his first term for actions that flagrantly defied his duties.

He was criminally charged with serious crimes related to their efforts to overturn the election.

However, many of the former president’s worst instincts never materialized in his previous administration.

That’s not because he tempered those instincts once in power, as some of his reluctant supporters now suggest.

The most important factor limiting the damage caused by Trump’s impulses has always been that others intervenen to stop him, from his own appointees to members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The first important duty of this new Congress will be to ensure the peaceful transfer of power.

Its members will be sworn in on January 3, 2025, three days before the certification process on January 6 to make the winner of the presidential election official.

Republicans in 2021 demonstrated that they are not worthy of this basic responsibility.

Trump’s allies were complicit in the attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

Most House Republicans refused to certify the election (current House Speaker Mike Johnson was one of the architects of plans to overturn it) and most Senate Republicans refused to condemn Trump for his role in that coup attempt, including the assault on the Capitol.

Fortunately, the Electoral Count Reform Lawpassed by a bipartisan majority in 2022, goes a long way toward reducing or eliminating opportunities for subterfuge, regardless of who controls the two chambers.

Election interference, if it occurs, is more likely to occur at the state level this time.

But Trump’s continued indulgence in false accusations that the last election was stolen or the next one will be ample reason not to want a Republican leader wielding the gavel in either chamber.

Shortly after the transfer of power, the Senate will begin considering and approving the president’s appointments.

According to the wording of The New York TimesTrump advisers are already suggesting that they will try to approve nominations for those positions without the necessary FBI investigation.

If re-elected, Trump has suggested he will prioritize the grassroots loyalty, rather than the experience or character, of his closest advisers and lieutenants.

Senators will have to prevent more extremist or unqualified candidates from taking cabinet positions, such as secretary of defense and attorney general, as well as seats on the Supreme Court and the federal court.

They can act to prevent clearly unfit candidates from holding positions of power.

That’s what the Senate did in 2020 when it blocked Trump’s multiple attempts to appoint totally unqualified people to the Board of the Federal Reserve.

Congress would then provide essential backstopping to abuses of presidential power.

Trump has said he will wield government power against his political rivals and cut back on rights Americans hold sacred.

He has outlined plans to prosecute the “enemy from within,” including members of Congress, judges and journalists; Trump wants to send troops into the streets of American cities against legitimate protesters and withhold money from state and local governments that do not align their policies with his preferences.

It promises a cruel policy of mass deportations and threatens to destroy long-standing global alliances.

Members of Congress can block some of those plans (a president needs the House of Representatives to approve spending for any major deportation plan, for example), and they play a crucial oversight role over federal agencies and the executive branch.

The House of Representatives also wields significant power to block or facilitate Trump’s agenda through annual spending bills that must be passed to keep the government functioning.

This will be crucial if Trump attempts to carry out proposals to dismantle the Department of Education or end Title IX protections against sex discrimination or hinder the work of vital agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the IRS and the Division of Rights. Department of Justice civilians.

There are other reasons to worry about the damage that a Republican-controlled Congress could cause.

Trump supporters repeatedly blocked a series of Republican candidates — both moderate and conservative — for speaker of the House of Representatives, paralyzing Congress and leaving him without leadership during the period longer since 1962.

Since then, the bloc has become better known for what it has tried to block, often under explicit orders from Trump, such as funding to keep the government open, much-needed support for Ukraine’s defense against a Russian invasion, and, most hypocritically, border security legislation designed by conservative members of his own party.

In fact, it’s hard to think of a single piece of serious legislation proposed by Johnson—despite being a Trump ally—and his House.

On the other hand, his record of supporting Trump’s anti-democratic agenda is well documented.

Many of the most competitive House races are in states that vote overwhelmingly Democratic, including seven in California and five in New York, along with important races in Connecticut, Colorado, Michigan and Maryland.

There are also extremely close races in Arizona, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Maine, Nebraska and New Mexico.

Of the 43 closest House races this year, 22 of them are considered undecided; Every vote in those races will be necessary to prevent Trump’s enablers from taking office.

There are close Senate races in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan and competitive races for Senate seats in Montana, Nebraska and Texas.

We urge voters to be sure to pay attention to those races.

In survey after survey, Americans said they want more from their public servants.

Tuesday’s election offers them the opportunity to demand more.