The majority just renewed by the Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate elections gives President Joe Biden a wide margin of maneuver to govern despite his great chances of defeat in the lower house of Congress, the House of Representatives, in the face of a Republican Party disappointed with the performance of its candidates and far from the «red wave» they predicted.
The electoral victory, which was practically decided after the victory of candidate Mike Fetterman in Pennsylvania — «he made the Republican majority practically impossible; he has been our wall», considered the Democratic strategist Mike Mikus to the CNN network — was closed last night with the triumph of Catherine Cortez Masto in the state of Nevada.
Although it does not seem likely that she will repeat her majority in the House of Representatives, which will pass into the hands of the Republicans barring a hecatomb, the results in the local elections reveal the population’s displeasure towards Republican candidates close to former President Trump.
«I heard it from someone in the press: ‘All Trump has done is reveal what the Republican Party really is,'» Biden has said in one of his first reactions to the victory, from the ASEAN/EAS summit in Cambodia. «I think what they have to decide now, as we have in the past, is who they are,» he added.
TWO MORE MAJORITY YEARS A Democratic Senate would be able to confirm the president’s judicial nominees, including hypothetical Supreme Court nominees, as well as for local courts with a simple majority.
A Democratic majority in the upper chamber would also be able to reject bills introduced by a Republican House and would have more leverage to negotiate decisions such as raising the debt ceiling or funding the government, which an all-Republican Congress would have used as a tool to attack Biden.
In addition, the Senate will be able to act as a «shield» of protection against the avalanche of investigations of the President’s son, Hunter, which GOP officials have promised if they win control of the House of Representatives at the end of the elections.
A complete defeat in both chambers would also have dealt a blow to the legitimacy of the president, who would have been forced to enact legislation introduced by the Democratic Party by fiat. «It’s crucial to keep control of the Senate, if only as a bulwark against every bad idea the Republicans come up with,» Democratic political analyst Bill Manley told the news portal Vox.
Finally, any senator or senator elected in 2022 will play a crucial role beyond the 2024 elections, as they have a six-year term. For the time being, however, Democrats have their sights set 24 months ahead, on a presidential election accompanied by another litmus test in the Senate, where seats in West Virginia, Montana and Ohio – states that voted for Trump in the last election – will be at stake.
