Supreme Court in Trump’s sights as Republicans keep control of Senate

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The Senate side of the US Capitol in Washington. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:15pm, 9 Nov 2016Updated: 10:15am, 10 Nov 2016

Republicans shocked Democrats by keeping control of the Senate, setting the stage for President-elect Donald Trump to enact a broad conservative agenda and ensure a Republican Supreme Court for a generation. That’s provided he can work with a Republican establishment he spent most of the campaign attacking.

Election night amounted to an almost complete disaster for Senate Democrats in a year when the map greatly favoured them – 10 of 11 battlegrounds were on Republican turf – and only weeks ago they were hoping that an anti-Trump wave would carry them to the majority.

Republicans clinched at least 51 Senate seats, with races in New Hampshire and Louisiana still to be decided. They also kept control of the House. One-party rule creates the potential to reshape the Supreme Court and use Senate procedures to muscle through changes in tax policy and Obamacare.

First, Trump and his fellow Republicans would have to find a way to work together.

He repeatedly promised to “drain the swamp” of the Washington establishment and has called House Speaker Paul Ryan “a weak and ineffective leader”. Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell almost always avoided speaking Trump’s name in public, and while they nominally supported him, they never campaigned alongside him.

Republicans who will control the Senate are sharply divided over matters that include immigration, trade and climate change.