The short answer: If a “blue wave” materializes, the nations national security will be greatly compromised and almost no new federal judges or cabinet appointments of any kind will occur. The sort of defense spending the country definitely and urgently needs will not be appropriated, and if he becomes majority leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer will shut down confirmations of almost all nominees from President Trump.
What difference would those changes make?
On the one hand â the hand that keeps a history textbook open â the answer is “not much.” People expecting a “blue wave” may be disappointed that one or both of the houses of Congress dont flip on election night, but even if they do, a different kind of disappointment awaits the Left
LEE CARTER: POLLS SAY DEMOCRATS COULD SWAMP REPUBLICANS. AS A POLLSTER, I HAVE A QUESTION
First, even the rosiest of scenarios for the left doesnt give Democrats veto-proof majorities in both legislative chambers, the sort of one-party governance that, for example, that has wrecked California. Divided government is a recipe for repeating government shutdowns which can annoy and even destroy some things, but cannot bring about fundamental change.
Democrats in D.C. cannot make all of America into California or New York without at least partisan control of all three branches of government and even then the sort of change the Democratic Socialists of America demand â abolition of the Senate and packing the Supreme Court are two of their “must haves” â require at least super majorities and probably Constitutional amendments.
The fever dreams of the Left are thus going to remain unfulfilled for a very long time, because, no matter how often the “No Kings” canasta parties gather, the Constitution is very strong and doesnt yield to fits of high revolutionary passion. It was built with the danger of precipitous legislative action in mind and, because deliberation is a feature, not a bug, of our constitutional order, it is rare indeed when anything happens fast.
But significant damage would be done nonetheless, especially to national security spending. A lame duck Congress run by Republicans could try and pass a three-year defense appropriation, but if it cant get that done between November 4, 2026, and January 3, 2027, the American military will be subject again to the sort of national security self-harm done during the years of “the Sequester.”
Democratic control of the Senate is also almost a guarantee that not a single federal appeals court or Supreme Court nominee would pass through a Chuck Schumer-managed Senate. Schumer would simply roll tape of then-Senate Majority Leader McConnell announcing “no hearings, no votes” in the aftermath of the untimely
