The Democrats have lost control of the House of Representatives. The Republican party looks to have picked up more than 60 seats in the lower house, slightly more than they were expected to, and they will have a comfortable majority there. The Democrats have lost six seats in the Senate but held onto their majority in the upper chamber.
These results are a blow to President Obama. The loss of the Democratic majority in the House will force him to compromise to get things done. The results do seem to be a rejection of his agenda, 56 percent of voters in the exit poll felt that government is now doing too much. A Republican controlled House will also be able to use its subpoena power to make life difficult for the White House.
The president will have to quickly decide whether he wants to try and move to the centre as Clinton did successfully after losing Congress in 1994 or if he wants to define himself against the new majority House Republicans.
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