On Tuesday, the control over the US Congress would also be decided as the Republicans and the Democrats fight for the majority seats in both houses for the incoming session and assist the new president's policy decision for the next two years.
In this election, the Republicans' strong hold in the Senate and House of Representatives is challenged and if the voters support the Democrats in either chamber, the bills that would be brought by the new session of Congress will be moderately bent. However, with the FBI controversy affecting Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton, the Democrats are worried it may affect their bid for the Congress despite the FBI's announcement on Sunday which says that there is no basis on charging Clinton for her improper use of email servers.
One senior Democratic aide remarked that the October events could reduce their chances by at least 10 of the House seats the Democrats can capture from the Republicans. The disclosure would also be affecting Clineton's votes in key states. This aide also remarked that the Democrats would only be able to get 12-16 seats on Tuesday instead of the 30 they earlier estimated to gain to win back the majority.
For them to be able to regain the majority control over the Senate, the Democrats would have to score a net gain of five seats. Currently, the Republicans have 54 seats in the Senate while 44 are under the Democrats with the two Independent seats allied with the Democrats.
Regardless on which party will hold the majority on Tuesday and which will be sworn in on January 3, they will be handling several issues immediately. The first is the replacement of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who recently passed away last February. Although President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland for the position, the Republicans have been refusing it and cited that it should be the next president who will select the next SC judge.
Aside form this, the Congress would also need to study on raising US' borrowing authority and the free-trade deals with the Pacific and Europe.
