Two years into Donald Trump’s second term in the White House, US voters made clear their sentiment toward the former businessman who had earlier urged the nation to treat the 2026 US midterms as a “referendum on his presidency”.For a President that ascended to power in 2024 with a landslide win against his contender, Kamala Harris, an increase in Congressional oversight is likely to be an unwelcome — yet unavoidable —feature of his remaining two years in office given that as of 04:37 pm IST, the Democratic party led the race with a +25 gain in the House of Representatives and a +7 gain in the Senate.The midterms as a measure to alleviate distrust are, however, baked into the fabric of American democracy. “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition”, wrote James Madison, a principal architect of the Constitution and fourth President of the US.How is this distrust of majoritarianism reflected in the Constitution? And why are the 2026 midterm results a good way to understand it? We explain.First, why majority rule was insufficientMadison’s argument rationalising his distrust was rooted in understanding “factions” in society.A faction, he operationalised, was a “majority or minority number of citizens” united by a common interest which was “adverse to the rights of other citizens or interests of the community,” as noted in the Federalist Papers, Letter No. 10. His problem lay in the fact that their competing interests could become a threat to the rights of others when given political legitimacy — regardless of whether the faction was a majority or minority.He concluded hence in a later letter (no.51) that , “if men were angels, no government would be necessary”. The great difficulty that lay in framing a government, was that one must first “enable the government to control the governed” while simultaneously “oblige it” to control itself.Story continues below this adAlso Read | Decoding the 2026 US midterms verdict: Why Delhi must rediscover and engage with the many AmericasWhile a minority faction could be defeated through a regular vote, a majority faction possessed the numbers to translate its interests into public policy. It could, in Madison’s words, sacrifice both “the public good and the rights of other citizens” to its own ruling interests.This was the central dilemma the Constitution’s framers had to address: how could a system of government preserve majority rule while preventing a majority from exercising power without restraint?So, is this visible in the US Constitution?The Constitution then went ahead by ensuring a separation of powers, creating a bicameral house structure, ensuring federalism and a strong system of checks and balances.The Congress — composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate — made the laws while the President was the primary executor of those laws.Story continues below this adThe first three Articles of the Constitution lay out the separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judiciary. Article 1, Section 1 vests the Congress with legislative power while Article 2, Section 1 similarly assigns executive powers to the President.The Constitution also places checks and balances between these branches.Art.1/Section 7 specified that any bills passed by Congress must be “presented to the President” and allows him to “return it, with his objections” to the House which proposed it. Yet, both chambers may override such a veto with a two-thirds majority. Similarly, Art.2/Section 2 requires the President to seek “the advice and consent” of the Senate for several Presidential appointments — including that of Supreme Court judges. In this manner, the Constitution balances decision and reservation within its government branches.Also Read | Trump’s midterm defeat: Good news or fresh trouble for India’s trade deal?Federalism, meanwhile, distributes authority between the national government and the 50 states. The Tenth Amendment, ratified in 1791, explicitly reserves powers not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution, nor prohibited to the states, to the states or the people respectively.Story continues below this adCongress itself is divided into two chambers under Article I.Members of the House serve two-year terms and representation is based on population comprising 435 voting members. The Senate, conversely, has two senators from each state serving staggered six-year terms — with one-third of its membership elected every two years and totals a 100 members.The distinction indirectly makes the House more immediately responsive to changing public opinion. Meanwhile, the Senate provides continuity and equal representation to states regardless of population.What makes the midterms part of this reasoning? Do the results matter if Trump is still President?The US midterms are the electoral expression of this constitutional arrangement.Story continues below this adThe US President serves a fixed four-year term. Voters can, however, change the composition of Congress — as displayed in 2026 — midway through the President’s term which effectively divides the government.More so than a deviation from majority rule, the 2026 blue wave sweep may have an answer rooted in John Locke’s concept of a social contract forged between an individual and government. In his Second Treatise of Government, Locke argued that political authority derives from the consent of the governed, who entrust government with the protection of their rights.Consent, however, is not unconditional or permanent. The midterms offer one way in which this accountability is exercised. By changing the composition of Congress without changing the presidency, voters have altered the institutional balance through which the executive is held to account. This brings Locke’s idea of consent into conversation with Madison’s concern about the concentration of political power.Also Read | US midterms 2026: How Democrats won in Republican strongholds, from Texas to South CarolinaWith Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress, Trump is likely to face greater congressional scrutiny.Story continues below this adFederal appropriations — the authority to authorise withdrawals from the Treasury — are controlled by Congress under Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution. The Senate also has a constitutional role in confirming presidential appointments under Article II, Section 2, while the House can initiate impeachment proceedings under Article I, Section 2.Trump has not yet, however, lost his executive authority. The Republican President retains the power of veto legislation which mandates a two-thirds majority in both houses to be overruled. His party still retains control over Congress until January 2027 until the new members are sworn in, giving some respite.Nearly 240 years after Madison articulated his concerns while advocating for the ratification of the Constitution, the midterms remain central to the American constitutional principle of allowing the majority to govern while ensuring that no electoral victory confers unlimited power.