Biden narrowly avoided a political rebuke. The next two years could be a governing gridlock

With the next two years of his presidency on the line and Congress in the balance, Joe Biden picked up the phone on Tuesday night and began placing a series of congratulatory calls.

Narrow control of the House could embolden the increasingly pro-Trump wing of the Republican conference, which has demanded a slew of investigations into Biden administration officials and his family.

Some have threatened to impeach the president or his top officials. And Republican leaders have already made clear they plan to use must-pass spending bills as leverage to extract legislative concessions, promising political brinkmanship that could lead to a government shutdown or even a risky debt default.

It was no longer possible for Democrats to notch the two-seat majority in the upper chamber: Biden had promised to codify Roe if voters elected two more senators willing to eliminate the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to pass most legislation. Even so, making good on the promise likely required a Democratic House anyway.

Speaking in Chicago last week, Biden was blunt about what Republican majorities would mean for his ability to govern.

There were also signs that the loss of federal abortion protections mobilized young people and women, powering Democratic victories across the country. In Michigan, where voters enshrined abortion rights in their constitution, Democrats won up and down the ballot, even unexpectedly taking control of the state legislature. Voters in California and Vermont also chose to protect abortion in their state constitution. And in reliably red Kentucky, voters rejected an amendment that sought to deny constitutional protections for abortion.