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Some responses to questions about the Senate and Senate election outcomes. 1/ Georgia is likely to have a runoff in the special election and may have one in the regular election. The runoff is Jan 6. Repubs may hold their Senate majority until these contests are settled.
2/ A 50-50 Senate is a reasonable possibility, of course. In an evenly split Senate, majority party status will be determined by the VP (Pence until at least Jan 20). In the meantime, the tie might be broken by a GA outcome.
3/ The last 50-50 Senate occurred after the 2000 elections and lasted until Jeffords switched party conferences in mid-2001. During that period, a power sharing arrangement, negotiated by Lott and Daschle, governed committee chmships, assignments, cloture, and agenda setting.
4/ For more on power sharing in 2001, see https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RS20785.html
5/ A new Democratic majority, if there is one, will be eager to act on legislation, particularly if Biden is in the White House. Republican obstruction will occur, probably sooner than later, forcing Democrats to confront the issue of nuking the "legislative filibuster."
6/ At least five or six Democrats are likely to prove difficult to persuade to nuke the filibuster, at least at first. Expect Schumer to round up the required majority (perhaps with the help of the VP) before committing to a course of action.
7/ If there is a new Democratic majority, several factors will affect their strategy in dealing w/ Repub obstruction: the size of the election win for Biden, if there is one, the number of Democrats, who is the Republican leader, and Republican tactics early in 2021.
8/ ?s I can't answer: Will a lameduck Republican majority, if there is one, continue to do the public's business on spending bills and COVID relief? How will Democrats respond?
