Over the weekend, Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV) was declared the winner of her re-election bid by a very narrow margin, solidifying Democratic control over the Senate for the next two years. In additional to holding onto all their incumbencies, Democrats picked up one Senate seat with Senator-Elect John Fetterman’s victory in Pennsylvania to replace the retiring Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). There is just one race left outstanding – Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) is headed to a runoff against Herschel Walker – which will determine whether Democrats will expand their majority by one seat or remain at 50/50. Should Republicans win the runoff, Vice President Kamala Harris would remain the tie breaking vote.
This result means that Democrats will remain at the helm of all the committees in the Senate, including the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP Committee) and the Senate Committee on Appropriations. It is expected that Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) will move from being the chairwoman of the HELP Committee to chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, likely paving the way for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to be the chairman of the HELP Committee in her place. With the Republican ranking members of both the HELP and Appropriations committees retiring, it is still uncertain who will take their places.
Control over the House of Representatives has yet to be determined; however, Republicans will most likely hold a very slim majority. As of the morning of November 14, there are 19 races still too close to call as election officials continue to count ballots. Once enough races have been called to determine whether Republicans or Democrats will hold a House majority, ACTE will provide analysis of how this will affect the federal education policy landscape.
As a reminder, ACTE is a nonpartisan organization that does not—and will not—support or oppose any candidate for public office.
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