BOSTON — Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey said on election night that Big Tech executives should expect a flood of subpoenas once Democrats take control of Congress, a sign that the technology industry will be an early target of the party's new oversight power.

Replying late Tuesday on X to a post that asked, "Live televised trials of Big Tech executives when?", Markey wrote: "They are going to need to plant new forests for all of the subpoenas we'll be printing."

The post came at 11:19 p.m., about three hours after The Associated Press called Markey's own race. The Malden Democrat, 80, defeated Republican John Deaton to win a third full term; the AP called the race shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m., and Deaton conceded minutes later, The Boston Globe reported.

The post Markey answered was written by Austin Ahlman, a writer who covers corporate power and antitrust policy.

A new majority, new subpoena power

Democrats won control of both the House and Senate on Tuesday. NBC News projected that the party flipped seven Senate seats — Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Maine, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. By Wednesday, Democrats had won at least 54 Senate seats, according to tallies reported by Yahoo News and Fox News, with a few races still uncalled.

Control of both chambers gives Democrats the ability to call hearings, issue subpoenas and legally compel companies to cooperate with investigations, Forbes reported, with major AI and tech companies widely expected to be among the targets.

Markey is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and is positioned to become its chairman when the new Senate is sworn in in January. He also sits on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which oversees much of the technology industry.

He has long been one of the Senate's most prominent critics of Big Tech, and Markey has said the 2026 race was his final campaign, according to Boston.com.

Other Democrats send similar signals

Markey was not alone. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee and its expected next chairman, posted a single word on X late Tuesday: "subpoenas."

Rep. Greg Casar of Texas, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, called for AI executives to testify under oath, and Rep. Robert Garcia of California, in line to chair the House Oversight Committee, warned Republicans to "lawyer up," Semafor reported.

New England's delegation has already been active on the issue. Last month, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen released a report from a nearly yearlong investigation into how data centers powering artificial intelligence could raise costs for consumers, The Hill reported.

Democrats' scrutiny of the industry was widely expected given the lack of federal AI safety rules and tech companies' working relationship with President Donald Trump, according to The Hill.

The new Congress convenes in January.