Image source, EPA

The US Congress, which consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives, has what's called staggered elections.

Senators serve six-year terms, and about a third of the Senate are up for re-election every two years. This year 35 out of 100 Senators are contesting their seats.

All 435 members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms and are up for election, at the same time, every two years.

When elections happen in the middle of the president's four-year term of office, they are called the midterms.

Image source, Reuters

Two tight senate races are still to be called in the midterm elections, including the knife-edge result in Mississippi.

As we reported earlier, Democrat Scott Colom was just 28 votes ahead of Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in the Mississippi result.

Alaska Republican Dan Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola are also locked in a close contest, reports the BBC's US partner CBS News.

Sullivan has a lead of around 2,400 votes over Peltola as it stands, CBS reports.

These midterm elections did not go how Donald Trump had hoped.

As the Democrats win the Senate and the House, taking control of the upper and lower chambers of Congress for the rest of Trump's presidency, here's how he reacted:

The Iran war, and gas prices

• Trump acknowledged the Iran war, and higher fuel prices, played a part in the midterm elections defeat
• He told Fox News gas prices hurt the Republican Party and that people "didn't like it" when they had to pay more for fuel - a major voter poll suggested the economy was the top issue for voters
• Speaking to New York Times, Trump said he was willing to accept results of the elections but called US involvement in the Iran war a "very wise decision"

'I wasn't on the ballot'

• Trump has repeatedly said on Truth Social and in media interviews that the Republicans would have won if his name was on the ballot
• "I wasn’t on the ticket, and because I wasn’t on the ticket, we couldn’t get enough people out to vote," he told the New York Times

'Democrats did a good job'

• The US president conceded on Fox News that the Democrats "did a good job", adding that he was "a little bit surprised" by the results after the Republicans held "tremendous rallies"
• Trump has also indicated he is willing to work with the Democrats, whose control of Congress will frustrate Trump's plans
• He told Fox News there were "many, many things" to work on with Democrats but said to the Wall Street Journal that he would use his "veto power" if he needed to

Republican Pete Ricketts is projected to have held the Senate seat in Nebraska, ahead of the independent candidate Dan Osborn, according to the Associated Press.

A sombre mood among Republicans - and a muted Trumppublished at 08:35 GMT

08:35 GMT

Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter in Washington DC

Image source, Reuters

It's hard to overstate how upset many Republicans are feeling in the wake of what has turned into a stunning defeat for the party at the polls.

Most Republican acquaintances and contacts I spoke to during the day yesterday expected losses, but were cautiously optimistic that perhaps they'd be able to maintain the House of Representatives and eke out victories in races that they expected to be tight.

"This was worse than I thought," one Republican staffer texted me not long ago. "It's a disaster."

The coming hours and days, another Republican contact told me, will involve "a lot of soul searching" to determine what went wrong.

A surprisingly muted President Trump earlier laid the blame squarely on the candidates themselves, even if he acknowledged that high petrol prices played a role.

But inside the party, some senior figures are reportedly also already pinning the blame on officials that pushed Trump to go to war in Iran. Others have suggested Trump is to blame for his party's woes.

"The president said going into in that the election was going to be a referendum on him [and] act like he's on the ballot," conservative commentator Ben Shapiro said on his podcast. "I think that, you know, the president was kind of on the ballot."

Trump has no public events on his schedule for Wednesday, although it's likely we will hear from him on Truth Social or through further media interviews.

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Republican Senator Ron Johnson, who has represented Wisconsin since 2011 and was not up for re-election in the midterms, has described the evening for his party as "not a good one, not by a long shot".

He tells Radio 4's Today programme that the war in Iran, and particularly the resulting surge in fuel costs, continue to "weigh heavily on people's minds".

Asked if Donald Trump is responsible for the Republican Party's losses, Johnson says midterms are "always going to be a referendum on the incumbent administration".

However, he says the Republicans are up against "liberal bias" of the mainstream media - and says Trump has done good things when it comes to border control and inflation - but says it is "probably true" that Trump has hurt the Republican chances in these elections.

"President Trump did tell the electorate to pretend his name was on the ballot - apparently they took him at his word and this has been the result," Johnson adds.

Marta Santiváñez
BBC News

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Donald Trump "might need to clean house at the White House and pick some advisers that have a clear path for him", a friend and supporter has told the BBC.

Christopher Ruddy, founder of the conservative US network Newsmax, says the president "is not a man that reflects".

"He's got two drives - fast and faster - in his gearbox. I think he's going to continue trying to pursue his policies by executive order and I think there's going to be a lot of battles."

Speaking to an election special on BBC Radio 4 and World Service, Ruddy - who has known Trump for more than 20 years - advises him to "use the Bill Clinton model: work with the Democrats, develop policies and programmes where you move things forward".

"But it takes two to tango," he adds, "and there has to be a willingness".

Lily Jamali
North America Technology Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Elon Musk looms large in tonight’s election results.

Musk spent a historic $455m (£337.6m) - at least - to support Republican candidates and conservative causes, according to an analysis of federal campaign disclosures by OpenSecrets.

In the Texas Senate race, Musk spent more than $200m (£148m) to support Republican Ken Paxton, who lost tonight against Democrat James Talarico.

Musk relocated his residence and some business interests to the state a few years ago.

In his victory speech this evening, Talarico told supporters: "We just sent a message to every billionaire mega donor, every trillionaire mega donor, and every corrupt defender of this broken political system in this state and in this country: power belongs to the people."

Earlier, after several hours of silence on his social media platform X, Musk posted: "Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time."

Shaimaa Khalil
North America correspondent in Anchorage, Alaska

The Bee Gees’ "Stayin’ Alive" is playing now at Dan Sullivan’s watch party in Anchorage.

There were cheers and applause when the Republican senator took the stage a little earlier, and the mood in the room is still festive. Sullivan called it a "gratitude" speech. The victory speech will have to wait, if it happens at all.

"We knew it was going to be close," he tells supporters. His campaign remains cautiously optimistic. The race is still neck and neck, and Republicans here are hoping Alaska will buck the national trend and stay red.

Mary Peltola was dancing on stage at her own watch party earlier. With Democrats now projected to win both chambers of Congress, a Peltola victory would give them another Senate seat and widen their majority.

If Sullivan holds on, it’ll be a bright spot for Republicans on a bruising night. But the fact that they’re still waiting to see whether they can keep a seat they once would have expected to win comfortably tells you how vulnerable they’ve become, even in traditionally red Alaska.

Image source, Reuters

Sareen Habeshian
BBC News

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Democrats picked up a string of victories in Republican strongholds, including in Texas, Ohio, and Kansas.

Here's where things stand in key Senate races across the country:

• Democrat Adam Hamilton is projected as the winner of Kansas' Senate seat. The state last elected a Democrat almost 100 years ago
• Former Paralympian, Democrat Josh Turek, is projected to be the next US Senator from Iowa and will flip the seat held by Republican Senator Joni Ernst
• The Maine Senate seat will go to Democrat Troy Jackson, flipping the seat previously held by Republican incumbent Susan Collins, who has served in the seat for nearly 30 years
• Democrat Abdul El-Sayed is projected to win a Michigan Senate seat, edging out Republican candidate Mike Rogers
• The Ohio Senate seat flipped in favour of Democrat Sherrod Brown
• In Texas, Democrat James Talarico takes the Senate seat
• In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Republican incumbent Darline Graham - sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham
• The Alaska Senate race remains a toss-up - stay with us as we learn more

The Michigan Senate seat is projected to go to the Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, CBS says.

Claiming victory a little earlier, El-Sayed told supporters: "You took a chance on the unlikeliest of candidates... Michigan, I cannot wait to serve you."

El-Sayed will be the first Muslim to serve in the US Senate.

What these results mean for US-Russia relationspublished at 07:26 GMT

07:26 GMT

Steve Rosenberg
Russia editor

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Will the results of the midterms have consequences for the Kremlin?

"President Trump will remain president until the end of his term and will carry out his foreign policy," President Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told me on Monday.

The message seemed to be: whatever the outcome, Moscow is expecting business as usual.

President Trump may not have delivered exactly what Russia wants – a signed and sealed peace deal on Ukraine on Russia’s terms – but his foreign policy has produced plenty of positives for the Kremlin.

The US president recently froze some anti-Russia sanctions, agreed to buy Russian diesel and he has been far more critical of Volodymr Zelensky than of Vladimir Putin.

But earlier this week Russia’s Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper predicted that, if the Republicans lost control of Congress, Donald Trump would “get bogged down in numerous investigations initiated by the Democrats" and that it was "unlikely he’ll be able to pursue the policies he considers right, including on Russia."

Image source, Reuters

Former President Barack Obama says his party's sweeping victory is evidence that Americans want change.

Writing on X, Obama says: "Tonight, the American people sent a clear message — they want a politics that brings people together rather than divides them, and leaders who offer concrete solutions to the challenges they face."

Obama has campaigned with several Democratic candidates in swing states like Michigan and Georgia.

He adds: "Our job now is to roll up our sleeves, make changes wherever we have the power to do so, prevent further damage, and lay the groundwork for the future."

The Republican Party is projected to have won the Senate contests in Idaho and Montana, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

Kurt Alme is projected to have won for the Republicans in Montana, with Jim Risch retaining his seat in Idaho.

It's been an extraordinary night for the Democrats in the US midterms.

The BBC's US partner CBS News projected the Democrats would win the House just after 03:00 GMT on Wednesday (22:00 EST Tuesday).

The results in the Senate are beyond what the Democrats would have expected, with a series of wins in Republican strongholds - including South Carolina, Kansas, Texas, Iowa and Ohio.

There are still two toss-up seats to come in Alaska and Maine. Even Mississippi is now on a knife edge, according to CBS News. Here's a look at where things stand in the key battlegrounds:

Nada Tawfik
North America correspondent in Detroit, Michigan

Abdul El-Sayed’s supporters went wild when he took the stage to celebrate his claimed victory. (As a reminder, votes are still being counted and a winner is not yet projected.)

Their cheers were deafening and they chanted his name in jubilation.

A sea of iPhones were held up to take in this moment of history: a Muslim man who could be elected to the Senate. Several people in the crowd embraced, filled with emotion.

They repeated his slogans back to him like they were at a concert: "Money out of politics, money in your pocket and Medicare for all."

El-Sayed told the crowd that the campaign against him had been one of the ugliest seen in their lifetime and thanked them for their support. Progressives are celebrating his success as a massive win.

One of them told me that they never want to hear again that progressives can’t win.

Image source, Reuters

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has just addressed supporters in Michigan, claiming victory in a race that is still too close to project.

"You took a chance on the unlikeliest of candidates," he tells the crowd, thanking them for their support.

"Michigan, I cannot wait to serve you," he says, going on to attack his opponent for running a campaign that made his Muslim faith a central issue.

"They went all in on one of the ugliest campaigns we've seen in a long time," he says, accusing them of attacking him "because of my name and my faith".

He continues: "They wanted an America that is too small for some of us. We know that this is an America that is big enough for all of us."

We're still awaiting full results in El-Sayed's race against Republican Mike Rogers - it has not yet been projected.

Image source, Getty Images

Earlier tonight, Rogers appeared before supporters to urge them to go home because "it's going to be a long night".

"There is a path for us to win this thing," Rogers said. "Go home and get some sleep, and when you wake up you're gonna be a winner."

Democrat Jocelyn Benson is projected to win the Michigan governor's seat, retaining the post for the Democratic Party, according to the BBC's US partner CBS News.

The Senate race in the state between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers has not yet been called, with El-Sayed ahead and 78% of the votes counted.

Freya Scott-Turner
Live reporter

US midterm election results are coming in thick and fast. Held at the half-way point of a president's term, this is as a measure of how happy Americans are with Donald Trump's presidency so far.

If you're just waking up, here's what you need to know.

• Democrats take Congress: First securing a majority in the House of Representatives, the Democrats have also won the Senate after a series of victories in Maine, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and Texas

• Republican strongholds turn blue: Democrats won Senate races in states like South Carolina, Kansas and Texas - seats that have been held by Republicans for decades. Kansas hasn't had a Democratic Senator for almost 100 years
• Democrats sweep Texas: With James Talarico winning the Senate and Gina Hinojosa being elected Governor, Democrats have two-state wide victories in Texas that, for almost two generations, has been as red as they come, notes our chief North America correspondent
• Shock in South Carolina: Democrat Annie Andrews' Senate defeat of Republican incumbent Darline Graham - sister of the late Senator Lindsey Graham - wasn't on anyone's radar and is a shocking upset for Republicans
• America has spoken pretty loudly in rejecting Donald Trump's last two years in office, says our North America editor Sarah Smith. Tonight is not just a Democratic wave - we are looking at a seismic shock
• Trump congratulates Democrats: Dialling into Fox News, the US president said he was "a little surprised" but that the opposition "did a good job" and said there are "many, many things" that he could work with them on

• More to come: Votes are still being counted in key Senate races like Michigan, and Alaska - where polls only closed a short while ago
• What now for Trump? A government controlled by the Democrats could have a real impact on the president. Congress could launch investigations into his finances or even try to impeach him for a third time

Sakshi Venkatraman
Reporting from Washington DC

There's an extremely tight race for US Senate unfolding in Mississippi right now.

Democrat Scott Colom leads Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith by just a razor-thin margin of 28 votes.

The race hasn't been called yet, but 97% of votes have been counted. There's still enough room for Hyde-Smith to gain the lead, but either way, it will be a nail-biter.

In a usually safe Republican state, this is an unexpected turn of events.