A look at the year in politics: midterm elections, Trump's legal troubles, abortion and more in 2022

As the most anticipated political event of the year, midterm elections dominated headlines for months leading up to November. Candidates for House, Senate and governor across the country campaigned until Election Day, and there was a special focus on a rise in election deniers and others espousing extreme rhetoric.

Another key moment of 2022 came in June when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to abortion.

Here's some highlights from a busy year for politics:

An overview: What happened this year in politics

• Months of campaigning culminated in the midterm elections in November. Republicans gained control of the House while Democrats kept control of the Senate.

• Reversing decades of precedent, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

• The House Committee investigating Jan. 6, 2021, held a months-long series of hearings, resulting in an over 800-page report and a recommendation that the Department of Justice pursue a criminal case against former president Donald Trump.

• War erupted in Ukraine after Russia's invasion in February, and the conflict rages on as the year comes to a close.

The midterm elections and the red wave that wasn’t

Democrats had a better-than-expected outcome, maintaining their majority in the Senate and keeping the margin tight in the GOP-controlled House. The results led to congressional leadership turnover, specifically in the House. Republicans there will elect the next speaker of the House as soon as the 118th Congress convenes next week, with Rep. Kevin McCarthy the shaky frontrunner for the position. On the Democratic side, the next generation is coming to power, after Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she would be stepping down from leadership going forward.

The midterms saw a number of firsts nationwide, including Maryland’s first Black governor, Wes Moore, and Florida Rep.-elect Maxwell Frost, the first Gen-Z member of Congress. LGBTQ candidates made history as well, with a record number of victories – over 400 – for members of the community seeking public office.

In Georgia, elections carried on another month, after neither candidate in the race for Senate earned at least 50% of the vote in November and the race was forced into a runoff. In the end, Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock was victorious over Republican challenger Herschel Walker. His win gave Democrats an edge in their Senate majority – that was, until Arizona’s Kyrsten Sinema announced her  departure from the party just days later.

On road to 2024: 4 lessons learned from the angry midterms

Georgia runoff: 5 takeaways from the race between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker

All eyes on the Supreme Court

Protests and backlash dogged the nation’s highest court, following its controversial ruling in June that overturned Roe v. Wade. After the decision, especially the solo concurring opinion by Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, some critics worried that the court's reversal of Roe signaled a possible threat to other personal rights and led Congress to proactively pass a law guaranteeing federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriage rights.

The Supreme Court has been back in the headlines during the final weeks of 2022, after it intervened to keep a Trump- and COVID-era immigration policy in place. The Biden administration had sought an end to Title 42, which allows border officials to expel migrants for public health reasons. However, the court ruled in favor of the Republican states who argued that ending the policy will cause “catastrophe” and an unmanageable influx of migrants along the southern border. The ruling keeps the Title 42 policy in place while the high court considers an appeal from the conservative states that will be argued in February with a decision expected by June.

Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made history this year as the first Black woman to serve on the nation's highest court.  Sworn in in June to assume the seat of retired Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, Jackson’s arrival maintains the court’s 6-3 conservative advantage.

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Donald Trump's legal troubles, cases and investigations

The FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in August, as part of an investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents and kickstarting a months-long legal saga. Trump’s lawsuit seeking a special master review of the documents was recently rejected by a federal appeals court.

Contributing to Trump’s mounting troubles was the House committee investigating Jan. 6, 2021, who in its final public meeting this month pointed to him as the one man behind the Capitol riot and extremism leading up to it. With a series of highly anticipated public hearings throughout the summer and fall, the committee presented evidence from key witnesses.

And, the House Ways and Means Committee released six years of Trump’s tax records this week, capping years of battle and bringing to light details of his personal and business finances.

Minute by minute: A breakdown of the 187 minutes Trump was out of view on Jan. 6 as aides urged him to act

The details: A complete visual timeline of the 4-year legal battle over Donald Trump's tax returns

War in Ukraine, protests in Iran

The war in Ukraine began in February, when Russia invaded in response to Ukraine’s interest in joining NATO. The U.S. and other nations responded with sanctions against Russia and by sending billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine. Days before the Christmas holiday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Washington to meet with President Joe Biden and make a plea before a joint session of Congress for continued support.

Demonstrations broke out across Iran in the fall, after Mahsa Amini died in the custody of Iranian “morality police.” In response to the protests that carried on for months, an Iranian official suggested the notorious police force would be disbanded. However, some experts in the country pointed out that no official steps toward abolition have been taken.

Go deeper:

• Brittney Griner back in the US: What to know about WNBA star's release from Russia

• Paul Pelosi attacked: Man accused in attack on Speaker Pelosi's husband pleads not guilty to 6 charges

• Poll finds: Democratic support for Biden in 2024 surges after midterms as Trump takes a hit

• George Santos: Federal prosecutors launching investigation into Rep.-elect's finances

• Gov. shutdown avoided: President Joe Biden signs $1.7 trillion bill funding government operations

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The year in politics: midterms, Supreme Court, Jan. 6 Committee, Trump