Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) signaled on Tuesday that Senate Republicans would leave much of the negotiating on raising the debt limit and imposing budget reforms to their Republican colleagues who hold the majority in the House of Representatives.
In comments to the press, Thune discussed how the Republican Senate minority will handle the party’s agenda in a Congress with split control. While Republicans had held 50 Senate seats before the 2022 midterms, the party faced a net loss of one seat in the November elections, giving Democrats more clear control of the Senate.
After the 2020 election, the Senate was split with 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats and two Independents who caucus with Democrats. In the split Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) had to negotiate on a power-sharing agreement with the Republicans. The power-sharing agreement required Senate committees to be evenly split and forced Democrats to undergo additional procedural votes in order to pass certain legislation. …