Republicans finally win the coveted trifecta

After eight daysUS of counting votes, the the House of Representatives. This means the party will have the —control of the presidency, House and Senate—for at least the next two years. Republican control of Congress will give Donald Trump far more scope to implement his agenda, with a more unified party than when it last held the three branches, during his first term.The Republican victory was not absolute, however. In key races, the party lagged behind its presidential nominee, meaning majorities in both chambers of Congress are slimmer than they might otherwise be. This is cold comfort for Democrats, whose impressive results in certain seats did not save them from an unfavourable national environment. But it could moderate the first two years of Mr Trump’s second term. With the outcome of some important House races still unknown, the party’s grip on power could be less reliable than it appears.Republicans won control of the Senate early on November 6th. It is now clear that the party will win at least 52 senators, gaining Montana, Ohio and West Virginia from the Democrats for a majority of three (plus the tie-breaking vote, if it is ever needed, of the vice-president-elect, J.D. Vance). (Pennsylvania, where the candidates are separated by 0.4 percentage points, is going to an automatic recount.) However, the party lost four Senate races in states won by Mr Trump. On average, Senate election margins were 1.7 percentage points more Democratic than the presidential election in the same state.This is a dramatic shakeup. The current Senate includes only one member elected by voters who picked the opposing party’s presidential nominee on the same day (Susan Collins of Maine). Four Democrats, from Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, will have to moderate their policies to satisfy supporters of Mr Trump who split their votes. Without them, Republicans would have come close to a filibuster-proof majority. Instead Mr Trump will have to win the votes of moderate Republican senators, any four of whom could block his proposals.It is hard to say whom the split can be attributed to—presidential nominees or Senate candidates—but in at least one race, the Democratic incumbent survived because a substantial number of Mr Trump’s voters chose “none of the above” for the Senate. Elsewhere, Democratic incumbents were defeated by much smaller margins than Kamala Harris, their party’s presidential nominee. Despite exceeding her in most states, Senate Democrats fell victim to the nationwide swing, paired with an unfavourable batch of seats up for election this year.The final Republican majority in the House is still unknown. Seven races have not been called, most of them in western states, which count ballots notoriously slowly. A razor-thin majority, combined with a disorderly House Republican caucus, could make governing tricky.In states where all districts were contested by both parties, the average House election margin was 2.7 percentage points more Democratic than the presidential race. Although the Democratic Party is nursing its wounds, the resilience of its congressional candidates means the median member of Congress is unlikely to be a radical Trumpist.