Inside their victory party at the Hyatt Regency, a few blocks away from the Capitol, Democrats celebrated their return to congressional power and pledged to wield it strategically. Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who stands to chair the House Judiciary Committee, told CNN he planned to look into everything from the administration’s family separation policy to gun safety. Others echoed that call.

“It means a lot more responsible oversight,” Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) told The Daily Beast. “I don’t think we’re going to have Benghazi Jr. I don’t think it’ll be vindictive. But there have been so many things that have needed just responsible exploration.”

But across town, the mood inside the White House and its nearby events center—the Trump International Hotel—was similarly upbeat. By 9 p.m., Marc Lotter, former top spokesman for Vice President Mike Pence and a current member of Trump’s 2020 advisory board, was all smiles, saying that it was “too early to tell” but that the evening’s signs were at least “positive” for Democrats’ chances of actually managing to blow it. As 9:30 pm rolled around, and even Fox News began to start giving cues that Democrats would take the House at least by a hair, those smiles had dimmed, but only a bit. One West Wing official told The Daily Beast that the Democratic Party would get what it wants: a cavalcade of “investigation after investigation” into Trumpworld. But the official said that they, along with several others in the administration’s top ranks, had been planning for just that. “Expect witch hunts,” the official said, cheekily, echoing a Trumpian trope.