Which party controls congress and why? How is the president able to pass Al most every bill?

Who controls Congress right now

Heading into the 2026 general elections, Republicans control both chambers of Congress. They hold a 53–45 majority in the Senate, and in the House they hold a 218–214 majority. That is a thin margin in both chambers, which matters a lot for how bills actually move.

The November 2026 midterms, which happen on November 3, will determine whether that holds. Democrats hold a substantial lead in the generic congressional ballot, averaging around seven to nine points in multiple polls, which has strengthened expectations for a Democratic gain, with prediction markets putting the odds of Democrats winning the House above 90%. So the picture could look very different by early 2027.

Why Trump has been able to pass so much

This is where the mechanics matter. Most people picture legislation as needing 60 votes in the Senate to get past something called the filibuster, which is essentially a stalling tactic where the minority party refuses to let a vote happen. The Senate's rules require most bills to get a supermajority of 60 out of 100 senators to overcome a filibuster and pass. Republicans hold 53 seats, well short of that.

The workaround is a process called budget reconciliation. Think of it as a special lane in Congress that only applies to bills affecting taxes, spending, or the national debt limit. Budget reconciliation is a legislative process that can be used to override the filibuster and expedite the approval of a package of legislation in Congress that changes spending, revenues, or the debt limit. The process requires only a simple majority in the Senate: generally 51 votes, or 50 if the Vice President breaks a tie.

The biggest example of this so far is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Republicans chose to use the budget reconciliation process, which allowed them to avoid the 60-vote Senate filibuster, carrying importance as they hold only 53 seats out of 100 in the Senate. The Senate approved the bill 51–50, with Vice President JD Vance casting a tiebreaking vote, and the House passed it 218–214. This was a major legislative package passed through budget reconciliation, signed into law on July 4, 2025.

The catch is that reconciliation has limits. It can only be used on legislation tied to the federal budget, so things like immigration enforcement rules or social policy changes cannot simply be rammed through the same way. That is why not every Trump priority has sailed through, and why some of the most contentious fights have stalled.