Bernie Sanders knocks JD Vance out of the top 10 of Digital Power ahead of the midterms: Trump is third

I cannot precisely detail the schedule or the specific “next steps” of the United States midterm elections because I specialize in Spanish politics and institutions, not the U.S. electoral system. My field is the Spanish Congress and Senate, regional parliaments, the Government, the Official State Gazette (BOE), regulations, and public and regulatory debate in Spain.

Still, and only very generally (not as a technical or exhaustive guide), after a voting day like November 3rd in U.S. midterm elections, these phases generally occur:

• Counting and certification of results. After the polls close, the votes cast in person on election day are counted, added to early and mail-in votes. This initial count is refined with administrative reviews and may include automatic or requested recounts if the margin between candidates is very close, according to each state's regulations.
• Resolution of incidents and appeals. In some districts or states, judicial or administrative appeals may be filed regarding the counting of certain votes (for example, mail ballots received at the deadline, signature issues, voting machine problems, etc.). Each state has its own rules and deadlines to process these disputes, which can affect when results are considered final there.
• State certification of results. Once the count is complete and the most relevant incidents resolved, the competent authority in each state (usually the Secretary of State or a specific electoral body) certifies the official election results for each office elected: House seats, Senate seats up for election, and other state or local offices in those elections.
• Final assignment of seats in Congress. With state certifications, the final composition of the House of Representatives and the Senate for the new federal legislature is consolidated. This allows knowing with certainty which party holds the majority in each chamber, whether control is maintained or changes, and what vote margins exist to pass legislation, appointments, budgets, etc.
• Transition and internal organization of the new Congress. Between certification of results and swearing-in, parties in Congress hold internal meetings to elect their leaders (spokespersons, vote discipline managers, etc.), assign committee seats, and define legislative priorities. In this phase, decisions are made, for example, about who will be the Speaker of the House, who will chair key committees, and how chairmanships and spokesperson roles will be distributed.
• Opening of the new legislature. The new Congress convenes on the date set by the Constitution and federal laws (usually the following January). New members take the oath of office, the leadership of the House and Senate is formally elected (or renewed), the internal rules applicable to the legislature are approved, and committees are launched. From there, the ordinary processing of legislative initiatives, appointments, and other functions of the federal legislative power can begin.

If you need the exact details of deadlines, competencies, and formal steps after specific midterms (for example, the deadline each state has to certify results or the exact date the new Congress convenes in a given year), it is best to consult specialized sources on the U.S. political system, such as the official U.S. Congress website, state electoral authorities, or comparative political analysis centers.

Where I can help you in depth is with Spanish electoral and parliamentary processes: dissolution of the Cortes, calling general or regional elections, counting, proclamation of elected officials, constitution of the Congress and Senate, investiture, functioning of the Permanent Deputation, etc. If you are interested in understanding or comparing those steps with the Spanish case, I can explain them to you in much more detail.

The office of the Vice President of the United States is a hybrid figure between the executive and legislative branches. Its basic powers are mainly defined in Article II of the Constitution, in Article I regarding the Senate, and in several later amendments (mainly the 12th, 20th, and 25th). Although in modern practice the Vice President has many political and governmental functions, legally the Constitution assigns a limited but very relevant number of formal powers.

1. Constitutional successor to the president

The core function of the Vice President is to be the first successor to the president. The Constitution provides that if the president dies, resigns, is removed by impeachment, or becomes incapacitated, the Vice President becomes president.

• Article II, Section 1, establishes that the Vice President will assume the "powers and duties" of the president in case of vacancy or incapacity.
• The 20th Amendment clarifies aspects of transition between presidencies (for example, what happens if the president-elect dies before taking office).
• The 25th Amendment details the modern mechanism: if the presidency becomes vacant, the Vice President becomes president; if the president is temporarily incapacitated, the Vice President acts as "acting president" until the president can resume office.

This position in the line of succession makes the Vice President a kind of "institutional insurance" to guarantee the continuity of the executive power.

2. President of the Senate and tie-breaking vote

According to Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution, the Vice President is, by default, the President of the Senate:

• Formally presides over Senate sessions when present.
• Does not have a regular vote in Senate votes.
• Does have the power to cast the tie-breaking vote when the vote results in a tie (tie-breaking vote).

In daily practice, the Senate is usually presided over by the president pro tempore or other senators, and the Vice President only attends at relevant moments or when very close votes are expected. However, the power to break ties can be decisive to pass laws, appointments, or resolutions.

3. Role in the election of the president and vice president

The 12th Amendment to the Constitution redefined the system for electing the president and vice president and assigned the Vice President a specific role in counting electoral votes:

• The Vice President, as President of the Senate, presides over the joint session of both chambers of Congress in which the Electoral College certificates are opened and votes counted.
• Formally oversees the counting process, although the content and validity of votes are determined by federal rules and by Congress itself.

Historically, this role has been understood as largely ceremonial and administrative: the Vice President leads the session but does not unilaterally decide which votes are valid.

4. Participation in the executive branch

Interestingly, the Constitution says very little about the Vice President's role within the Government beyond succession. It does not assign, for example, specific executive responsibilities or the headship of any department. However:

• Being the immediate substitute for the president, the Vice President is part of the executive branch and is usually integrated into the Cabinet (although the Cabinet as such is not defined in the Constitution).
• By political practice and custom, presidents often delegate to the Vice President tasks of international representation, political coordination, leadership of committees or councils (for example, certain security, space, pandemic councils, etc.).
• None of these delegated functions are constitutionally mandatory: they depend on each presidency and do not formally alter the constitutional powers of the office.

5. Functions in the 25th Amendment (presidential incapacity)

The 25th Amendment grants the Vice President a key role in presidential incapacity mechanisms:

• If the president declares that he cannot perform his duties, the Vice President becomes acting president until the president declares he is able again.
• In cases of incapacity not voluntarily declared, the Vice President, together with the majority of the Cabinet, can declare to Congress that the president is incapacitated. At that moment, the Vice President assumes as acting president.
• If the president disagrees, Congress decides, and meanwhile the Vice President may continue exercising as acting president.

This makes the Vice President a central actor in institutional crisis situations related to the president's health or capacity.

6. Limitations and characteristics of the office

The Constitution also establishes that:

• The Vice President must meet the same requirements as the president: be a natural-born U.S. citizen, be at least 35 years old, and have resided in the United States for at least 14 years.
• The term has the same duration as the president's (four years), and both are practically elected jointly.
• The Vice President can be subjected to impeachment and removed under the same conditions as the president (for treason, bribery, or other serious crimes).

In sum, the Constitution configures the Vice President as a “second-in-command” with few direct powers but enormous potential relevance: guaranteeing the continuity of the presidency, potentially tipping decisive votes in the Senate, and playing a key role in certifying presidential elections and presidential incapacity mechanisms.

Bernie Sanders, born in 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, developed his political career long before becoming a senator for Vermont. Although internationally known for his recent presidential campaigns, his political roots lie in the social activism of the 1960s and a long career in local and federal politics, primarily as an independent.

In his youth, Sanders studied at Brooklyn College and later moved to the University of Chicago, where he earned a degree in Political Science. It was there that he became deeply involved in civil rights movements and against racial segregation. He participated in the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and was arrested in demonstrations against segregation in housing and Chicago schools. This stage shaped his ideological orientation toward social justice, economic egalitarianism, and fighting discrimination.

After graduating, Sanders moved to Vermont in the late 1960s, during the height of countercultural movements, and integrated into a political environment very different from the urban and industrial New York. For a time, he held various jobs, from documentarian to carpenter, while linking to small left-wing parties and articulating a critical discourse against the two major traditional U.S. parties.

His first significant political-party militancy occurred within the Liberty Union Party, a minor left-wing formation active in Vermont. In the early 1970s, Sanders ran several times as a candidate of this party for various state offices. With Liberty Union, he competed, for example, for Vermont governor and for the state's U.S. Senate seat, always with very modest vote results but gaining visibility as a figure clearly aligned with democratic socialism and pacifism during the Vietnam War. Those campaigns helped him project a consistent message against large corporations, in favor of more progressive taxation and a more active state in social protection.

By the late 1970s, disappointed with Liberty Union's limited prospects, Sanders distanced himself from the party and decided to reorient his career toward municipal politics, betting on building a solid local base. This bet materialized in 1981 when he decided to run for mayor of Burlington, Vermont's largest city. He ran as an independent against the traditional Democratic candidate, in a context where Republicans were not very relevant locally. Against all odds, he won by a very narrow margin.

Sanders' tenure as mayor of Burlington (1981-1989) was decisive in consolidating his political profile. From office, he promoted urban development controls to limit speculation, defended affordable housing, promoted cultural centers, and strengthened municipal public services. At the same time, he opened the city to international debates uncommon in U.S. local politics, speaking on issues such as U.S. foreign policy in Central America or the arms race. His management was well enough regarded to be reelected several times, facing both Democrats and Republicans and building his own local support coalition.

During these years, Sanders built a reputation as an independent politician, combative against big corporations and critical of Washington's political elites. His mayoralty became a laboratory for small-scale progressive policies and a platform to project his figure beyond the municipal sphere. By the late 1980s, when he decided not to run again for mayor, he was already a known figure throughout Vermont.

After leaving the mayor's office in 1989, Sanders prepared to jump to federal politics. After some failed attempts, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990, taking office in January 1991. He ran as an independent, although in practice he closely collaborated with the Democratic caucus in Congress. During his years as a representative (1991-2007), he consolidated his identity as an "independent" and "democratic socialist," became known for speeches against free trade agreements, defending Social Security and Medicare programs, and opposing major financial deregulations and various military interventions.

In summary, before becoming a senator for Vermont in 2007, Bernie Sanders went through three major stages: civil rights activist in Chicago, candidate of a small left-wing party in Vermont, and, above all, mayor of Burlington and then independent representative in the House. This trajectory, strongly anchored in social activism and local politics, explains both his ideological profile and the support base that allowed him to jump to the Senate and later to prominent national politics.