The Democrats effectively regained control of the 100-member Senate (see note 1) and retained the majority in the 435-member House of Representatives (see note 2), taking 223 seats. The Republicans increased their share of seats from 199 to 212. A record 119 women were elected to the House of Representatives, up from 102 elected in the 2018 elections. The newly elected Congress was sworn in on 3 January 2021. Ms. Nancy Pelosi (Democrat) was re-elected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

In the presidential elections held in parallel with the parliamentary polls, former Vice President Joe Biden (Democrat) defeated the incumbent President Donald Trump (Republican), winning over 300 electoral votes. On 6 January 2021, thousands of President Trump’s supporters stormed the seat of Congress where parliamentarians were certifying Mr. Biden's election victory. Four people died. On 20 January, Mr. Biden was sworn in as the President, along with his running mate, senator Kamala D. Harris, who thereby became the first woman Vice President of the United States. By virtue of holding that office, she also serves as the Senate President.

The 2020 elections were held amid the COVID-19 pandemic: by November 2020, over 9 million people had been infected, and 230,000 people had died. President Trump himself was briefly hospitalized during the election campaign. Key electoral issues included the economy, healthcare and abortion, as well as multilateral agreements such as the Paris climate agreement and the country’s membership of the World Health Organization.

Note 1:
Democrats and Republicans held 50 seats each in the 100-member Senate after the 2020 elections. However, the Vice President of the United States (Democrat), who is also the President of the Senate, may cast tie-breaking votes. Democrats therefore regained control of the Senate, which it had lost in 2014.

Note 2:
In addition, there are six non-voting members: five delegates (one each from the District of Columbia, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) and one Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.