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Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate and are fighting to keep their majority in the U.S. House, which would produce a full sweep of GOP power in Congress alongside President-elect Donald Trump in the White House. A unified Republican grip on Washington would set the course for Trump’s agenda. Or if Democrats wrest control of the House, it would provide an almost certain backstop, with veto power over the White House. Trump, speaking early Wednesday at his election night party in Florida, said the results delivered an “unprecedented and powerful mandate” for Republicans. (Mascaro and Jalonick, 11/6)

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred stood alone on a stage Tuesday night in South Dallas, admitting defeat while pledging to keep up one of the central fights of his Senate campaign: overturning Texas’ abortion ban. The Democratic congressman from Dallas failed to defeat incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz in one of the most closely watched races for U.S. Senate. With 91% of early unofficial results counted, Cruz led Allred, 54% to 44%. (Smith, 11/6)

With Republicans set to take control of the Senate in January, a new cast of lawmakers will gain power and influence on health care policy. The GOP will have at least 51 seats in the chamber next year, after defeating the Democratic Sherrod Brown in Ohio and winning the West Virginia seat left open by Joe Manchin. Republicans also fended off challengers in states like Nebraska and Texas. (Zhang, 11/6)

The fight for the House majority is still too close to call. While Donald Trump has won the presidency, it may be days or weeks until he knows if he’ll have powerful allies atop the House, due in part to close races in states that take longer to count ballots like California and Arizona. For months, neither party has held a significant edge, and both sides predicted modest gains if they get control of the House. (Fernandez, Wu and Carney, 11/6)

The party needs a net gain of just four House seats to wrest the slim majority from Republicans. But with several key races still too close to call — particularly in notoriously slow-counting California — it could be days before it’s clear which party has the majority. There’s reason for optimism for House Democrats, who picked up at least two seats in New York and who gained a seat each in Alabama and Louisiana, thanks to redistricting. But at least one loss in Pennsylvania, another in Michigan and failure to pick up some other competitive East Coast and Midwest seats make the race for the House a true toss-up. (Flatley, House and Dennis, 11/6)

Republican U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson’s resounding Election Day win in Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District race was all but guaranteed back in July when Democrats failed to enter a candidate in the race. (LaRose, 11/5)