Dem
51
GOP
49
The key word in the headline above is "House" (as opposed to "Senate"). Many House Democrats have always felt that Joe Biden is still a senator at heart, just as he literally was for 30 years. When he wants legislation—or anything else—from Congress, his first call is to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and not to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and not just because Schumer is a majority leader and Jeffries is a minority leader. Biden just intuitively feels the Senate is more important than the People's House. House Democrats have always chafed at this, but never dared to say this in public—and still don't.
But Congress leaks like a sieve and now it is coming out that top House Democrats pushed hard for Gov. Tim Walz (DFL-MN). These include Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and many more. For them, Walz' period as governor is not what they cared about. It was his 12 years in the House. If he becomes vice president, he gets to become president of the Senate, but he knows very well how the House works and will surely convey that to the other president often.
If Harris wins, Walz will also be an incredibly valuable liason to Congress. His deep experience in the House, combined with his new role as president of the Senate, will give him clout in both chambers. Plenty of vice presidents have been senators. Since World War II we have had Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Al Gore, Dan Quayle, Walter Mondale, Hubert Humphrey, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Alben Barkley and Harry S. Truman. The only veeps since World War II who came directly from the House to Number One Observatory Circle are Dick Cheney and Gerald Ford, although some of the senators served in the House before making it to the Senate. Still, all of them thought of themselves as senators, not representatives. In any event, Walz would start his Senate career as president of the body. How much power that would give him could be largely determined on how much he tries to seize. The Constitution doesn't specify that. If the Democrats get the trifecta and are able to actually legislate, then Walz could play a huge role in being the intermediary between the president and Congress.
Also in the event of a Democratic trifecta: Since Walz never served in the Senate, he is far less respectful of archaic Senate rules than people who have served there (including Harris). For example, as president of the Senate, he could rule that when senators want to filibuster, they have to actually stand there and read the Bible or Hamlet or Heather Has Two Mommies or whatever they want. Vice presidents who have served in the Senate are generally respectful of hoary Senate traditions, but Walz might not be so respectful and the formal Senate rules don't actually say what the Senate president's powers are. Are they analogous to the House Speaker's powers, since both offices are mentioned in the Constitution and the Senate Majority Leader is not mentioned there? Walz might try to push the envelope here. (V)