Joe Biden presidency needs a Democrat-controlled Senate if the government wants to run smoothly post Trump
While the Democratic Party is hoping to see former vice president Joe Biden win the election defeating incumbent President Donald Trump, it is also keen to wrest back the Senate from the Republican Party. Just like the GOP-controlled Senate has backed Trump at key moments, including his impeachment trial in February this year and supporting his nominee to the Supreme Court bench more recently, Biden would also hope to see the same if he wins the high-stakes battle on November 3.
If Biden doesn’t have a Democratic-controlled Senate, then he will be less capable in using the president’s office to run the government’s daily functioning more efficiently. While the Democrats were fighting hard to retain control of the chamber, it was a foregone conclusion that they would succeed in their mission if Biden won the presidency. If Trump won his second term, it was highly likely that the GOP would stay in command.
The Democrats require a net gain of three to four seats to regain control of the Senate. Three will do if Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris win because as the vice president, she would break a 50-50 tie. Four are needed if the Biden-Harris pair loses.
Biden needs Dems-controlled Senate for key legislation
As the president, Biden would need a Dems-controlled Senate along with a Dems-controlled House to produce some key legislation, including those on climate change, infrastructure, immigration, healthcare and others.
A Republican-retained Senate could see a probable Biden presidency struggling to find a swift administrative journey ahead as his opponent might target the former veep as someone who is trying things that are radically Left, even if they are not and just things that Trump did not try during his tenure. That could bring the US back into the track of ugly ideological conflicts and the post-Trump era might not seem too different from the time when he ruled.
Biden’s endeavour towards emerging as the healer-in-chief will be seriously restricted if he doesn’t get a Senate dominated by the Democratic Party. Bipartisanship may be possible but only on a small range and not on big-ticket issues like green energy and health insurance.
It is not to say that Biden’s task will be too easy if the Democrats control the chamber because the blue party itself is divided sharply these days and Biden has a massive responsibility on his shoulders to unify it on a centrist ground. But while he can at least try to bring in a conciliation if his own party is in command, it would be doubly difficult if his political opponents continue to retain control of the all important political body.
