Trump faces midterm reckoning with 100 days to US vote

One hundred days before the US midterm elections, President Donald Trump's Republicans are staring down polling that points to the loss of the House of Representatives and a ferocious battle to retain the Senate. Trump will not appear on the ballot on November 3, but the stakes for his presidency could hardly be higher. A Democratic House would give the party control of powerful committees and subpoena authority, likely subjecting Trump's administration to two years of investigations and potentially exposing him to a third impeachment drive. US elections website Decision Desk HQ predicts that the Democratic Party has a 59-percent chance of winning the House, forecasting a 224-211 majority. Political analyst Chuck Todd said in a podcast marking 100 days until the midterms that Republicans had gone from 'clear favorites' in the Senate nine months ago to 'very small favorites.' 'There is no better predictor of a midterm than presidential job approval. A president's job approval under 45 guarantees their party is going to lose seats. It doesn't mean they'll lose chambers, but they definitely lose seats.' 'A president under 40 -- they're going to lose chambers. The question is, how bad is it? How big is the wave going to be?' Sarah Binder, a politics professor at George Washington University, said the redistricting arms race had been particularly consequential in this cycle, with fewer than one in 20 House races genuine toss-ups. 'Redistricting has really pared back the grounds on which Democrats can contest those seats.'