The American Midterm For British Dummies

The current elections in the US broken down so we can finally understand what’s going on.

Photo by Markus Winkler: https://www.pexels.com/photo/usa-flag-2862155/

What even are they?

In America, Presidents take charge for a four-year term in office at any one point. They’re able to be reelected for a secondary period but can no longer stay in power after two terms (eight years total). We’re hoping this magically changes before Trump gets his claws back in.

The Midterm elections are usually held near the halfway point of a President’s term (two years) and they determine who controls Congress, which is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate. It’s all a bit confusing but the midterms essentially decide who leads within the two parts of Congress. And because they’re the ones voting on laws, it matters.

It’s quite similar to the UK Parliament, with the Senate comparable to the House of Lords and the House of Representatives comparable to the House of Commons. They’ve just got big, loud, American opinions in their offices.

The hierarchy

What’s going on right now?

Votes are currently being counted but it’s looking like Republicans are taking the lead to win the House and it’s still pretty close for the Senate, but we’ll keep you updated.

What happens if Republicans win?

They get more power! Even though Biden, a democratic leader, is in power, if majority of the Congress was Republican, Biden’s strength to pass laws would weaken considerably.

Why should we care?

 American laws affect every country. One of the biggest countries in the world, the laws passed in the US both directly and indirectly affect the UK. After the hot mess that was Brexit, we’ve been relying on countries outside of the EU for trade and America’s foreign economic laws are key for us at the moment.