BIDEN WINS BUT STILL NEEDS TO GAIN CONTROL OF THE SENATE

17.12.2020 Joe Biden won the presidential election by 306 electoral college votes to Donald Trump’s 232. However, the substance of his presidency will be determined by whether the Democrats can gain control of the Senate in January.

Whilst Joe Biden won the election his ability to govern will largely depend on whether the Democrats can gain control of the Senate. At present the Republicans have a majority giving them the ability to block Biden legislation. However, if the Democrats win both of the Georgian Senate elections on January 5^th they will have effective control of the legislature. Georgian senators are traditionally Republican. 1996 was the last time a Democrat was elected.

In the light of Republican control of the Senate Biden has had to scale back his plan for a USD 3 trillion stimulus. Instead there is increasing bi-partisan support for a compromise package of USD 900 billion. It would be targeted at small business and the unemployed. There would also be additional support for struggling sectors such as airlines.

This should help support the US economy until a Covid mass vaccination programme can be rolled out in the Spring. Selected US healthcare workers will be the first to receive the jab this month.

Categorised in: Uncategorised

This post was written by Robin