In contrast to the 50-50 split in the current Congress, when a power sharing agreement gives Republicans significant leverage over Democrats despite being in the minority, Democrats will have significant governing advantages if Democrats win the Senate runoff in Georgia and secure a slim 51-49 majority over Republicans.
• Democratic majorities in every committee would enable them to move legislation and nominees along considerably more quickly. Democrats would also benefit from larger staffs and resources, which would increase their capacity to work on committees. As resources and committees are now equally distributed, Republicans can sluggish the nomination process of candidates they oppose. Democrats must take time-consuming processes to remove a candidate from committee and allow a floor vote when a choice is stuck in committee. Republicans utilised the Banking Committee’s rules in one instance earlier this year to stop a vote from even happening by boycotting committee meetings, which finally led to President Joe Biden withdrawing a candidate for the Federal Reserve. Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would have more time on the floor to devote to Democratic objectives and other nominees. Democrats would have more authority to order witnesses to appear. They might circumvent GOP opposition to employing these crucial powers by issuing subpoenas without the necessity for bipartisan approval. This might boost the authority and volume of probes conducted by Democrats. It’s possible that centrist Democrats have less influence on the party’s agenda. Schumer has greater leeway to pass legislation with a two-seat majority edge than with a smaller majority, such as the moderate senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who are both up for reelection in 2024. In the 50/50 Senate, the two were extremely powerful.
• It might be simpler to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court. If there were to be a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the two-seat buffer might also become crucial because just a majority is required to confirm a justice to that position, which would allow Schumer to lose one vote.
On the Hill, Harris might not be required as frequently. In order to break ties on nominations and legislation, Democrats will probably not have to rely as much on Vice President Kamala Harris, who has done so 26 times in the current 50-50 Senate, the most of any vice president in modern history.