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Elon Musk thinks that after President Donald Trump 's joint session address Republicans can win an even larger majority in the Senate in the 2026 midterms.
The billionaire appears to believe that the momentum of the start of Trump's presidency will carry the party through the midterms and avoid allowing the upper chamber to flip back to Democrat .
'After tonight, I am increasingly convinced that we can get to 60 Senators,' Musk posted to his X account at the conclusion of Trump's remarks at the Capitol .
Multiple Democrats in the chamber for the joint session on Tuesday evening held up signs with the message: 'Musk Steals.'
They are not pleased with the Tesla and SpaceX boss taking such a prominent role in government and helping lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts, which have slashed thousands of jobs, billions in spending on federal programs and near entire agencies like USAID.
The current split in the upper chamber is 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independent senators.
This means to fulfill Musk's prediction, the GOP would need to gain seven seats in the 2026 midterm elections to reach 60 total.
There are 13 Democrats up for reelection in the midterms, but 20 Republicans are also up and need to hold onto their seats if they want to maintain a majority in the Senate for the entirety of Trump's second term.
Most of the Democrats whose terms are up in this upcoming election are in blue states where historically they would keep their seats as long as they run for reelection.
But Sens. Jon Ossoff and Gary Peters are both in swing states that went red for Trump in 2024. The former is in Georgia, which voted for Trump over Kamala Harris by 2.2 percent, and the latter is in Michigan, which at a lower margin went red by 1.4 percent.
With Peters retiring from the Senate at the expiration of his term, the election is open and therefore even more likely to swing the seat to the right.
All 20 Republicans whose terms are expiring at the start of 2027 are in solidly red states with none of the elections considered a toss-up.
At least one Republican – Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell – is retiring at the end of the current term and will need to be replaced in next year's elections.
A party has not had 60 seats in the Senate since the 95th Congress from 1977-1979 when Democrats had 61 members of the upper chamber and Republicans had only 38 – with one independent caucusing with Democrats.
But Musk thinks despite there being only two Democratic seats considered a 'toss-up' by the Cook Political Report, Republicans still have the momentum to nab a net seven seats to bring their majority to 60.
The DOGE leader and X CEO got a coveted shoutout by Trump during his joint session before Congress on Tuesday evening.
The billionaire stood and saluted Trump as the president showered praise on the billionaire 'first buddy' for his work slashing federal spending and government waste.
And to laughs from Democrats, Trump claimed that even the opposition party 'appreciates' Musk's efforts.
'I have created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency – DOGE, perhaps you've heard of it, which is headed by Elon Musk who is in the gallery tonight,' Trump said as he looked up to where Musk was seated in the gallery for the remarks.
'Thank you, Elon. He's working very hard. He didn't need this,' Trump added.
'Everybody here, even this side, appreciates it, I believe,' Trump nodded to the half of the room where Democrats were seated. 'They just don't want to admit that.'
Democrats in the chamber could be heard scoffing and laughing at this claim.
The president then went on to list billions that DOGE identified for cutting, including programs like studying transgender surgery on mice, funding 'Arab Sesame Street in the Middle East,' male circumcision in Mozambique and hotels, housing and cars for illegal immigrants.
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