Republicans Take Control Of Congress — What’s Next?

Tuesday’s election results exceeded even the greatest expectations of Republicans, as the Republicans took full control of Congress. For the first time in eight years, Republicans have come into power in the Senate, and when combined with their continuing majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, this gives them the power and ability to set a legislative agenda that could drive the direction of America over the next two years.

The question is, then, for many political analysts, what will happen over the next few years? Will America see any momentum at all? Will Republicans and Democrats be willing to reach across the aisle to at least focus on what overlapping interests they have, and will they be able to compromise?

Or will America see a continuation of growing gridlock and governing-by-crisis that the Republican party has become known for in the past few years?

It could go either way.

There are several looming obstacles to overcome on the way to governing and compromise. To begin with, 2016 presidential elections are already a major concern, and may further divide the Republican party. Also, several moderate Democrats were replaced by Republicans, leaving President Obama with a narrowing field of support, as the more liberal Democrats in Congress find less and less to agree with him upon, and less reason to do so politically. And as Republican senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky won his re-election last night, it is presumed that he will become Senate Majority Leader, and the relationship between McConnell and Obama has never been a strong one, to say the least.

In fact, in McConnell’s victory speech, he said bluntly, “I don’t expect the president to wake up tomorrow and view the world any differently than he did this morning. He knows I won’t either.”

In the best of scenarios, the next two years will see McConnell and Obama, Republicans and Democrats, seeking common ground — this may include overhauling the United States’ incredibly and needlessly complex tax code, focusing on the repairing of infrastructure that is literally crumbling, and penning free-trade agreements with the European Union and Asia-Pacific nations.

Many agree it would be beneficial to President Obama to reach a level of agreement and compromise with the GOP over the last few years of his presidency. And many Republican Senate leaders may also find that a willingness to finally compromise and reach agreement could be politically beneficial, since Congress has an approval rating that is abysmally low, and voters have expressed dissatisfaction with the Republican party, as well as Obama.

It seems as though Obama and McConnell may have their hands full with the prospective Republican White House hopefuls such as Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, who are expected to continue to appeal to a base of voters from the hard-right wing of the Republican party, and as such, have seen little reason to compromise with Democrats. In fact, those on the far right end of the Republican spectrum politically consider compromise to be detrimental as they continue to appeal to their base, causing friction not just between opposing parties, but within their own party as well.

Obstacles or not, many are hopeful that the gridlock in Washington will end.

What do you think will get accomplished in Washington in the next few years as Republicans take control of Congress? Will it be more gridlock, or compromise in governance?

[Image via Politico]