CRAIG: What does a 50-50 U. S. Senate mean to you?

Published 8:00 am Sunday, December 4, 2022

Many of us remember from high school civics that the legislative branch of the United States consists of the U.S. Senate and U.S House of Representatives. There are 100 U.S. Senators and 435 U.S. Representatives. Note, the U.S. Senate has an even number of senators and the U.S. House has an odd number of Representatives.

Both the Senate and the House do most of their work for our country’s citizens through appointed Committees. Committees make recommendations about laws, budgets, policies and other important issues to their larger elected bodies.  The majority party represented in the Senate generally appoints the chairpersons and members to those committees. The U.S. House of Representatives follows a similar procedure.  

The policies of the majority party, democrat or republican, are usually advocated through the committees by the selection of the chairperson of the committee and committee members. The majority party typically appoints the chairperson and more of their party members than the minority party. The committee chairperson controls the agenda and the majority party committee members usually determines the results of the committee.

What does 50-50 split of the Senate mean to us, the citizens of the United States? When the Senate has an equal number of Senators split between the Democrat and Republican parties, they must share power.  Committees have an equal number of appointees between the two parties. One party does not automatically control the agenda, or control the recommendations of the committee through stacking the majority of members to their point of view. Potentially, 50-50 creates an increased opportunity to compromise and make recommendations not entirely based on one political party’s opinion.

Georgia voters will soon determine if the Senate is controlled by one party. A majority senate means little compromise in committee work and other decisions. A 50-50 senate likely will result in the two political parties forced to work together for joint decisions.

Your Senate vote has more significance than you might think!

Henry R. Craig

Milledgeville