Dem
47
GOP
53
Here are a couple of news items that will gladden many Democrats' hearts: There is already serious infighting breaking out between the incoming Trump White House and the incoming Senate Republican majority.
To start with, Donald Trump and his team are convinced that the National Republican Senatorial Committee and its main super PAC (the Senate Leadership Fund) are being controlled by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and other NeverTrump Republicans. They are probably right about that. So, Trump and his people are preparing to launch their own, competing PACs that will take orders from Trump.
Maybe this is a big game of chicken. Or maybe there will be a round of "kumbayah" at some point in the future, and everyone on the red team will get on the same page. But don't bet too much on that. And if the House Divided (well, really, the Senate Divided) setup goes forward, it sets the stage for another round of Senate primaries where a nutty Trumper and a normal Republican beat the tar out of each other, while the Democrats enjoy their popcorn.
Meanwhile (and this is VERY tentative), a loose NeverTrump coalition is emerging in the Senate. It potentially includes Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Cornyn (R-TX), and possibly others. At the moment, their focus is on getting the nominations of Matt Gaetz (and possibly Pete Hegseth) withdrawn. However, if that does not happen, they could band together and vote to torpedo the nominations. As we have pointed out several times, this is very rare, but it does happen. And when it's one or two apostates, then they're easier to ostracize. If it's four or five or six, that's much harder. On top of that, the more frequently that senators get away with defying Trump, the easier it is to do it again in the future.
We say again, the "rebellion" in the Senate is very tentative, and may very well not come to pass. However, it bears watching. At very least, it's a reminder that governing is way, way harder than just running for office. (Z)