Published: Less than 20 min ago
The Democrats retain the majority in the US Senate. It means an important victory for President Joe Biden, whose legislative work is facilitated, according to US expert Dag Blanck.
Incumbent Senator Catherine Cortez Masto defeats Trump-backed Republican Adam Laxhalt in the state of Nevada, according to US media projections. With that, the election race for the upper house of the US Congress, the Senate, is decided.
For President Joe Biden, this is good news as it means the Senate can block legislative initiatives from the House of Representatives.
Easier for Biden
– It is very important. This means that the Democrats have completely different opportunities to influence the outcome of legislation in the US, says Dag Blanck, who is a professor of North American studies at Uppsala University.
– If the House of Representatives were to pass a law, for example, that the Democrats oppose, it will be sent to the Senate for approval, as always. Then the Senate can vote it down or not take it up for consideration.
The outcome in the House of Representatives is not yet clear as all the votes have not been counted.
Important appointments
Another important thing for Biden is that he can appoint his judges and continue to get them approved by the Senate.
– Biden has been very successful with that during his first two years. He has not appointed any judge to HD yet but a large number at lower levels of the federal system. It is at least as important if not more important as most goals are decided at the lower levels.
By and large, Biden and the Democrats have come out of the midterm elections strengthened, as the result went against all predictions of a large Republican wave, points out Dag Blanck.
– Those who lost are the Republicans and not least Donald Trump, who has been very active and has given his support to a number of candidates. Many of them have lost.