WASHINGTON—After Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate in the 2024 general election, the party is expected to leverage its power to remake the federal judiciary and pass a slew of conservative legislation on taxes and government spending.
As of Jan. 3, 2025, Republicans will hold at least 52 seats in the Senate after winning three new seats in battleground races in Ohio, West Virginia, and Montana.
GOP candidates were leading in two other battleground races—Pennsylvania and Nevada—with more than half the votes counted by Nov. 6, which suggests that the majority could increase to 54 seats in the 119th Congress, the largest majority since 2017.
The GOP will take back the majority after four years of Democrat control. It is likely to return to its standard practice of quickly confirming conservative jurists to lifetime positions in the federal judiciary, which Senate Republican Conference Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) made his “highest priority” during the first Trump administration from 2017 to 2021, when he was the Senate majority leader.
During those four years, the McConnell-led Senate confirmed 251 federal judges nominated by President Donald Trump. Their respective successors, President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), have made it an equivalent priority to appoint progressive jurists, resulting in 229 appointments so far.
Beyond appointments, both houses of Congress will have to address several fiscal issues when the 119th Congress begins. Key provisions of the Republican-backed Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017, which reduced personal income tax rates among other changes, will expire in 2025.
Permanent appropriations (i.e., funding) for the federal government in fiscal year 2025 will need to be enacted, as will the federal debt limit, which was suspended in 2023 and ensures the creditworthiness of the United States. Given many Republicans’ penchant for cutting public spending, these initiatives may entail more fiscally conservative legislation under the new majority.
McConnell, who is soon retiring as the Senate Republican Conference Leader after 14 years in the role, delivered remarks on Nov. 6, in which he briefly outlined the party’s plans for the majority.
“One of the most gratifying results of the Senate becoming Republican: The filibuster will stand, [and] there won’t be any new states admitted that give a partisan advantage to the other side,” he said.
McConnell’s comments suggest that Puerto Rico will not be admitted to the Union as a state; the island held a referendum on its future alongside the Nov. 5 election, although the results have not yet been declared. Neither will the District of Columbia, whose calls have been heeded by Democrats but opposed by Republicans, who balk at the likely addition of two more Senate Democrats from the heavily progressive district.
“We'll quit beating up the Supreme Court every time we don’t like a decision they make,” McConnell said, referring to Democrat attempts to probe the court on questions of integrity through the Senate Judiciary Committee under chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).
“I think this shifting ... helps control the guard rails to keep people who want to change the rules, in order to change something they think is worthwhile, is not successful,” McConnell said.
McConnell Sets Tone
In his remarks, McConnell congratulated President-elect Trump for his reelection and praised the new majority.“This is certainly a happy day for the GOP. Let me start by congratulating President Trump. What he’s accomplished has not been done since Grover Cleveland,” McConnell said. “I also want to commend the Trump campaign for running a sharper operation this time. I think Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles deserve a lot of credit. They ran a spectacular race.”
He was referring to the Trump campaign’s co-managers.
“People were just not happy with this administration,” McConnell said. “The Democratic nominee obviously was a part of it.”
McConnell and Trump have had a checkered relationship over the latter’s nine years at the forefront of national politics.
Their relationship broke down after Trump’s attempts to contest the results of the 2020 election—with Trump often calling McConnell names—but it was rekindled after Trump won the Republican presidential nomination this year, following which McConnell endorsed his candidacy.
McConnell and Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), have also had a poor relationship in the Senate, where they both serve.
McConnell told reporters that he intended to hand a Senate majority to his successor and hoped the current tally, of 52 seats for the conference, will increase as more results are declared.
In particular, he praised the National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who ran the party’s campaign for a Senate majority.
“I’ve never seen a better performance. He focused on getting quality candidates and ensured they got the nomination. As I said, to some criticism, candidate quality is absolutely essential,” McConnell said of Daines.
Although he will retire as leader, McConnell will continue to serve as the senior senator from Kentucky, at least until his term expires in 2027. He previewed his role after he leaves office.
“I’m going to concentrate on foreign and defense policy,” he said. “I’m still a Reagan Republican who thinks America’s role in the world is absolutely indispensable.”
Several contenders have been running for many months to succeed McConnell, including Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), former Majority Whip Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), and recently reelected Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).
McConnell offered advice to the rest of the conference on choosing a leader.
“Candidate quality is essential. Absolutely essential,” he said.
