Republicans seized control of the Senate on Tuesday, according to NBC News Projects, rejecting the one-seat majority that Democrats had desperately hoped to defend.
The Democrats would always remain in the background in this battle, with 51 seats and defending 23 seats. It was a foregone conclusion that Republican Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia would win the seat of retiring Senator Joe Manchin, an independent who was still negotiating with Democrats. That meant the most plausible path forward for Democrats was to hold on to every seat and hope that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz would become the tie-breaking vote as vice president.
A late surge to unseat at least one Republican incumbent in Texas or Florida ultimately proved unable to stop Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-Y., from becoming minority leader next year. Instead, it became clear when Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, lost his race to Republican Bernie Moreno that things would not go their way. Even a victory by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., would not have been enough to keep Republicans from gaining a majority.
Although we now know that the Republicans will be in the majority, their leader remains unknown. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced last year that he would step down as GOP leader at the end of this Congress after 18 years in the role. That announcement kicked off a race to replace him as the new majority leader that will play out in coming weeks, with Sen. John Cornyn of Texas and Sen. John Thune of South Dakota seen as the front-runners.
What the Republican Party’s takeover of the Senate means for the next administration is a bit of a question mark. Senate Republicans would certainly block any Democratic agenda, including holding up potential nominations. But while the Senate was more skeptical of former President Donald Trump during his first term than their counterparts in the House of Representatives, the number of newer senators leaning more toward MAGA cannot be ignored.
This is a development story. Check back for updates.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
