White House staff are weighing exits from the administration, with current and former officials describing a grim mood inside the building after Republicans suffered sweeping losses in Tuesday's midterm elections, according to a report by MS NOW.

Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress in the vote — continuing a long-standing pattern in which the party holding the White House typically loses congressional seats in midterm elections — leaving staff to confront the prospect of two difficult years remaining in Donald Trump's presidency. The result installs divided government, in which any legislative agenda would require cross-party support, and several officials told the outlet that morale has deteriorated sharply and that some aides are already exploring their options outside the administration.

Trump's costly renovation projects, including the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the White House ballroom, have frustrated and at times confused staff across the building, according to the report.

"The President's attention is all over the place," one former White House official who remains in contact with the administration told the outlet, adding: "How many people are preparing briefs on what marble to pick for X project?"

The same official said morale is low and that "the glitz and glam of the White House is wearing off."

"There is no holding back on the desire to leave now," the official said. "Some are making calls to try and jump ship." Staff members are also being advised to obtain legal counsel as a precaution, the official added.

One former Trump administration official summed up the atmosphere in a single word: "pain." Based on their knowledge of internal affairs, the official predicted, "Everybody's gonna start infighting."

After a spate of departures, a number of people close to Trump's operation are questioning whether remaining in the administration for its final two years is worthwhile. "It's going to be hell," one person close to the operation said. "No one is going to work there — you have to be independently wealthy," the person added, referring to White House staff pay relative to private-sector compensation.

The person emphasized how difficult it is to persuade strong candidates to leave stable jobs for a precarious, short-term role in the administration — one compensated on federal pay schedules that often lag comparable private-sector salaries.

"A lot of people think he's not going to be able to do anything. He's a lame duck," one former official said. The label fits a president serving out a final stretch: under the Constitution's two-term limit, Trump cannot seek another term, making his remaining two years a fixed endpoint. The same official, however, argued that the Democratic takeover of Congress had less to do with allies' reluctance to join the administration: "The President is using executive authority on most of these things, particularly on foreign policy and all the things he's doing that have nothing to do with Congress."

Despite the backlash, Trump has returned his focus to renovation projects. On the eve of Tuesday's election, he held an event where he delivered further updates on the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The day after the losses, he appeared at the site of his $600 million White House ballroom project, gave reporters a construction update, and did not mention the GOP's defeats.

Trump has attributed the losses to Fox News and the candidates themselves. He singled out Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whom he branded a "RINO," and absolved himself of responsibility, stating that Republicans would have won "IN A LANDSLIDE" if he had been on the ballot. The officials' accounts leave two markers for the term's final stretch: whether the reported calls to "jump ship" develop into a broader wave of exits, and how an administration described as reliant on executive authority — particularly on foreign policy — operates alongside a Congress it no longer controls.