Democrats to focus on affordability and corruption probes

Republicans, meanwhile, were grappling with what one senior figure called “a generational wipeout.” Democratic party leadership pledged to focus on affordability and accountability following midterm elections that left them with bigger-than-expected victories in both houses of Congress. The party won more seats than predicted in the House — “a majority big enough to manage comfortably and contain a restive progressive wing,” Semafor’s Nicholas Wu wrote — and its presumptive leader in the lower chamber said he would focus on investigations into alleged government corruption, as well as cost-of-living concerns. Republicans, meanwhile, were grappling with what one senior figure called “a generational wipeout” that potentially leaves them in the Senate minority for years to come, and the Trump administration unable to make key judicial or cabinet appointments, both of which need confirmation in the upper chamber.