Exclusive: letter sent to department and agency heads signals Democrats will look to investigate Trump officials

A group of Democratic lawmakers are asking leaders in the Trump administration to preserve records in accordance with federal law or risk criminal penalties after voters across the country gave Democrats control of Congress.

In a letter sent out to department and agency heads Wednesday morning, Bobby Scott, the top Democrat on the House committee on education and workforce who is expected to become chair next year, noted the requirements to “collect, retain and preserve records that document the ‘transaction of public business’ or contain ‘informational value’ under the Federal Records Act of 1950”.

Ken Paxton’s defeat a crushing blow to Trump and Republican efforts to keep control of Congress

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Democrat James Talarico has won the US Senate race in Texas, breaking a 38-year drought for his party in the Republican stronghold and delivering a stunning blow to Donald Trump.

Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton, the state attorney general and a staunch ally of the US president, in one of the most closely watched contests of the midterm elections to decide control of Congress.

Son of Mexican immigrants will become state’s first Latino governor since 1875 after victory over ex-Fox News host Steve Hilton

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Xavier Becerra, the Democratic former health and human services secretary, was elected governor of California, marking the historic ascension of a longtime public servant who has vowed to resist Donald Trump’s agenda for the final two years of his presidency.

Becerra, 68, is the son of Mexican immigrants and will become California’s first Latino governor since 1875, a milestone in a state where more than 40% of residents are Latino and nearly one in two children has an immigrant parent. Becerra was the overwhelming favorite to defeat Steve Hilton, the Republican endorsed by Trump.

Major blow to Trump’s party as effort to redraw maps in its favor fizzles on excellent night for House Democrats

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Democrats have won three of the four congressional seats in Florida that Republicans redrew this year in their favor, and are narrowly leading in the fourth. It’s a surprising result that underscores how strongly Democratic candidates are performing on election night.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Republicans who control the state legislature redrew the state’s congressional map earlier this year to create four new districts – the ninth, 14th, 22nd, and 25th – that favored Republicans. Had the districts been in place in 2024, Donald Trump would have won all but one by double digits. He would have won the final district by about nine points.

Democrats are fighting to win control of the House and Senate in the midterms. Here’s what winning would mean for them – and Donald Trump

If Democrats win back the US House of Representatives or the Senate in the midterm elections on Tuesday, the final two years of Donald Trump’s presidency will look markedly different from the first half. But what would the Democrats’ actually be able to do with either – or both – chambers of Congress in their control?

Former vice-president has not yet ruled out another run for the Democratic nomination as she campaigns for others in the midterm elections

Two years on from her devastating presidential election defeat, Kamala Harris was greeted like a rockstar as she took the stage before a rapt audience at Georgia’s Clark Atlanta University.

When a politician is greeted by a friendly crowd, they often hear chants of their name. But at Clark, an historically-Black college (HBCU), students instead delivered a school spirit chant for the Atlanta University Center, celebrating an HBCU alumna – and the country’s first female and first Black vice-president – as one of their own.

Former president has given series of blistering speeches to help candidates in key races – and deployment has proved a hit with party’s progressive wing

That could have been awkward. Barack Obama, campaigning for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, acknowledged that his fellow Democrat has criticised some aspects of the Obama presidency.

“Yeah, Abdul didn’t agree with some things we wanted to do – that our administration was doing – when I was president,” he told a rally in Detroit. “You know who else doesn’t agree with everything I do? Michelle Obama.” The crowd erupted in laughter. “I’d say about five times a day, she says, ‘You knucklehead. Why you do that?’”