Zachary Evans of National Review Online explains that national Democrats’ policy wish list could depend on the outcome of today’s Georgia Senate races.
Democrats warn that a Biden agenda would be dead on arrival with a GOP-led Senate, while Republicans have portrayed a win for candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff as ushering in a new era of unchecked socialism.
“If Speaker Pelosi and Senator Schumer and Senator Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez win in Georgia, you’ve got nothing to worry about unless you are a taxpayer, a business owner, a parent, a cop, a gun owner, a person of faith, or an unborn baby,” Senator John Kennedy (R., La.) said in an appearance on Fox News in November. …
… The prospect of unified Democratic control has pro-life Republicans worried that the Hyde amendment could be in jeopardy. The law bars federal funding for abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or where a woman’s life is at stake, and has been passed repeatedly by Congress for decades. …
… Additionally, should a vacancy arise in the Supreme Court during a tied Senate, the confirmation hearing could resemble Brett Kavanaugh’s grilling before the Judiciary Committee. After five years during which Senate Republicans blocked President Obama’s 2016 nominee to the Court, Merrick Garland, and subsequently confirmed three judges to give the Court a 6–3 conservative majority, Democrats would pull out all the stops to confirm a justice of Biden’s choosing.
However, there are some major Democratic legislative goals that would be difficult to enact. The parity between the two sides lends outsized strength to moderate senators who could stymie controversial proposals from the party’s left wing, among them packing the Supreme Court, implementing the so-called Green New Deal and Medicare for All, and eliminating the filibuster. …
… Manchin is not the only moderate Democrat to watch. Kyrsten Sinema, Arizona’s first Democratic senator elected in 30 years, has acquired a reputation for independence by voting with Republicans on various pieces of legislation.
