Powerful election will resonate for years

The day before the most consequential election in half a century, the president of the United States went to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington to boast about his efforts to add glitter and grandiosity to the nation's capital. The day after voters rejected much of what he had done over the past two years by turning both houses of Congress to Democrats, Donald Trump went to where the East Wing once stood, and bragged about the 50-foot ceilings of the new ballroom under construction.

The nation's urgent needs and priorities to make it grand again do not involve gold plate, marble and entertainment venues but Trump is refusing to get the real job done. Ending this nonsense and getting the country back on track now falls to the new Democratic majorities in Congress and importantly to those Republicans liberated by Tuesday's results who may finally be willing to break from their chains and start the critical process of rebuilding their party.

Hakeem Jeffries, the presumed next speaker of the House, nailed it at his postelection news conference Wednesday, promising a "relentless focus on affordability and accountability." The Congress taking over in January has to delivered on reducing the costs of healthcare, energy and housing. In election polling an overwhelming number of voters called cost of living one of the most important issues in how they voted.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is expected to return as majority leader, vowed to use the "power of the purse" to stop costly wars. Both New Yorkers know they have to govern from the moderate middle. Voters gave them large caucuses and that will allow them to ignore the extremes in their caucus and start providing real and acceptable solutions to voter concerns.

One of the quickest ways to do so would be restoring the Affordable Care Act premium subsidies; without them ACA enrollees will see their costs double. Another possibility is letting Medicare negotiate prices on a wider range of drugs and cap out-of-pocket prescription costs for those on private insurance. 

If this election doesn't make Trump revisit his punishing tariffs, limiting the president's powers in this realm could help. All of the rising costs for core consumer goods, beyond standard inflation, were due to tariff policies according to the Federal Reserve. Congress can indirectly but meaningfully address housing costs by expanding tax credits and giving tax breaks to first-time homebuyers.

Energy prices for gasoline and home heating oil must come down and the quickest way to do it is to end the wars in Iran and Ukraine. On Wednesday Vice President JD Vance blamed the misguided engagement in the Middle East as the reason for the GOP losses. Democrats are determined to use the power of the purse to force a resolution, and that expectation already caused the price of oil to plunge on world markets Wednesday. Trump is expected to meet later this month with the leaders of China and Russia. Walking away with a plan to stop the carnage Russian President Vladimir Putin started could give Trump's flailing presidency a new accomplishment to build upon. 

Voters in polls before and after the election listed "greed" as one of their biggest concerns and Congress can get started right away by making Trump, his family and others in his administration accountable. There are millions and billions reportedly now in the pockets of Trump's family and friends from crypto investments to foreign real estate deals. Tighter rules on presidential self-enrichment and emoluments, or the accepting of gifts, are needed. The $400 million Boeing 747 from the royal family of Qatar that Trump gets to keep when he leaves office would be a good start. Putting government officials, contractors and donors under oath and on camera is a well-proven form of oversight. Those no-bid contracts for Washington beautification projects and the mysterious donors to the new ballroom need a spotlight.

One of Trump's strongest issues at the start of his term was immigration enforcement, initially stated as securing the borders and getting gang members and violent criminals here illegally out of the country. But the overaggressive enforcement tactics that saw masked and heavily armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents acting like a paramilitary force eventually turned into a losing one for the president. Congress needs to examine the enormous spending on enforcement and detention centers as well as the training and supervising of agents. Better still would be working with the White House on a long-overdue overhaul of all immigration polices. Allow Trump to take credit for resolving the nation's immigration mess. 

Tuesday's election will resonate far beyond who holds the gavels in Congress or what policies they pursue for the next two years. Voters sent a message about the need to shore up the institutions and principles that sustain us such as restoring the credibility and nonpartisanship of the Pentagon and the Justice Department, strengthening our alliances abroad, regulating emerging technology to enhance humanity, not guarantee profit or power, respecting the role of a free press and free speech in our discourse, and stopping big donors from buying elections.

During this midterm election, some residents of Minneapolis left their "I Voted" stickers at the memorials to Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by federal agents for objecting to aggressive immigration tactics. In Houston, voters did the same at a memorial to a Mexican man who lived here for 35 years and was killed by immigration agents in a case of mistaken identity. That effort was a quiet but powerful reminder of what remains remarkable about our great American experiment in democracy: It works.