How one US Senate win just accelerated Joe Biden's quest to reshape the court
Get ready to see the production line, crunching in the American capital: because the US Senate will be the factory of judicial confirmation for the Democrats.
The result of one Senate race, just one second-round result in Georgia on Tuesday night, in which an erratic football legend lost to a left-leaning preacher, could leave a mark for decades.
Republican Raphael Warnock's loss to Republican Herschel Walker has already tied the knot in the Senate: the current chamber's 50-50 split would turn into a 51-49 Democratic advantage.
It was only the fourth time in half a century that a president's party has won a Senate seat in the 13 midterm elections held since then, a feat Republicans also accomplished in 2018.
But this slimmest margin carries far-reaching implications. This disengages Democrats from power-sharing arrangements with their opponents and gives them unrestricted control over the chamber's committees.
And that, make no mistake, is where the main action will be these next two years – on the committee.
The next Congress won't pass many major bills because each party has one chamber and will generally stalemate.
But the committee will still do its job, which is a double matter: investigate the topic of their choice, and confirm the presidential nominee.
Joe Biden's party can focus on a long-term project to reshape the conservative courts that have doomed liberals to a series of defeats on abortion, guns and climate regulations.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will accelerate to its previously respectable pace as the body becomes the center for confirming black robed candidates to the branch.
An elated president told reporters as he left Air Force One Tuesday night: "We're going to win. We're going to win Georgia," Biden said.
Currently, the tie in committee forces the Senate to use a slow and inefficient procedure called a waiver petition to force a vote on the nominee.
Up to four hours of debate is required, then time for additional objections, then a vote in which Vice President Kamala Harris must come to Capitol Hill to cut ties.
"It really takes time," said Molly E. Reynolds, an expert on congressional procedures at the Brookings Institution in Washington.
"Having a clear majority - not a tie - would make that process moot."
It will happen.
Biden will now move from the middle of the pack in judicial confirmations going forward, with 130 current vacancies pending in federal court.
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More knives are out for Trump
Biden's past, and possible future, election rivals, may not share his upbeat mood. The political knife is out for Donald Trump.
Trump's Republican rivals are already using recent defeats by Trump-backed candidates to suggest he is yesterday's man, a loser for their party.
It will most likely grow; the 2022 midterm cycle ended with a textbook demonstration of the Republican Party faring better without Trump.
In Georgia, as in New Hampshire, Ohio, Arizona and elsewhere, other Republicans won: Republicans hated by Trump easily won the governorship and state positions in the Peach State.
But the candidate Trump promoted either lost or fought.
One estimate concluded that the candidate Trump backed fared seven percentage points worse in the swing seat than other Republicans.
And Walker is an ally of Trump. Old ally. They've known each other for decades. Walker has been a star in Trump's soccer league since it closed.
He supports Trump's complaints about stolen elections; and Trump supports it.
The rest of the party followed and stuck with Walker through a series of personal scandals, accusations of violence, family drama, and stage eccentricities.
The loss capped a sad day for the former president.
Within hours, the Trump family business was found guilty of tax fraud; there is also news that another criminal investigation, against him, led by special counsel, issued subpoenas; a congressional inquiry on January 6 also made criminal referrals to police.
Meanwhile, Republicans on Capitol Hill spent some of their time grumbling about Trump having considered suspending the Constitution.
The Georgia result gave Trump's rivals new ammunition.
As CNN declared the winner in Georgia, a Trump-skeptic Republican on its panel argued that Trump may have lost his party's key seat in Georgia for the second time in two years.
The state that 'finally destroyed Donald Trump'?
"Georgia ... may be remembered as the state that finally crushed Donald Trump," said Scott Jennings, a former campaign aide to many high-profile Republicans.
"This is not a state the Republican Party should beat."
As the votes were being counted Tuesday night, Trump posted on his social media sites, in all capital letters, about him falling victim to the biggest witch hunt of all time.
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House Republicans just announced that they will be launching about six dozen investigations, covering topics ranging from the origins of COVID, to the Biden family's source of income and what Republicans allege will show illegal behavior.
But now we know the Senate has a new power – to counter-programming.
After winning on Tuesday, Democrats can investigate whatever they like, whether it involves Trump or whatever, and they don't have to negotiate with Republicans.
While their committee is easier to confirm ambassadors and cabinet members.
Tough 2024 map: Democrats will need all the seats they can get
For example, the outgoing mayor of Los Angeles was nominated a year and a half ago to be ambassador to India; he is still awaiting a confirmation hearing, as Republicans investigate.
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Another long-term effect of Warnock's victory in Georgia involves the 2024 election.
Democrats braced for a merciless campaign cycle and potential loss of Senate seats; getting these extra seats now gives them a bit of cushion to absorb the lost seats.
News outlet POLITICO called the 2024 Senate lineup a map from hell for the Democrats as they held the majority of seats for that year's election including tough (Nevada, Arizona and Michigan) and very tough (West Virginia and Montana).
Meanwhile, starting January 3, they gain an outright majority in the Senate. And start building an assembly line that goes straight to federal court.
The judiciary may have changed the 2022 US election, with the abortion decision canceling the campaign. Now the 2022 US election may reshape the judiciary. This article was written by EDUKASI CAMPUS.