President's party controls the House but not Senate

[President Johnson]

When we have a congress divided such as now, usually the president's party controls the Senate, but not the House. The same was the case with Obama and Reagan, for example. The last time the president's party controlled just the House was during Grover Cleveland's first term. The reason is obviously because the entire House is elected each cycle and therefore much easier to flip in a midterm that is a backlash against the administration.

Could we ever see again the president's party only in charge of the House? I think 2020 has the potential to end up like this. Say, if the Democrat beats Trump by a relatively close margin of four points and flips the three Rust Belt states Trump barely won in 2016 plus either Florida or Arizona. Democrats keep the House with minor gains and only flip Colorado, Arizona-special and possibly North Carolina, while losing Alabama.


I was actually inspired by House of Cards, where Democrats only controlled the House during Garret Walker's presidency while the Republicans have the Senate. In my TL, Republicans under Nelson Rockefeller currently control the House and Democrats the senate.

[Adjective-Statement]

More importantly, how do you think this would effect an administration? Probably worse than losing the House seeing as the Senate is who confirms your appointments.

[brucejoel99]

If a President's party holds the House but not the Senate, then I suppose it'd be slightly more likely for the fringe of a party (i.e. Freedom Caucus or progressives) to revolt due to necessary compromises being made to see legislation passed but, other than that, I don't think it'd be much different.

[OSR stands with Israel]

In 1994 the GOP I believe was expected to take the Senate but Democrats were expected to hold the house

[President Johnson]

If a President's party holds the House but not the Senate, then I suppose it'd be slightly more likely for the fringe of a party (i.e. Freedom Caucus or progressives) to revolt due to necessary compromises being made to see legislation passed but, other than that, I don't think it'd be much different.

Well, the senate is always better to have because of administration officials and judges' confirmation. This used to be not a big deal when Truman or Nixon were around, but even this has become a partisan circus.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

The last time the president's party controlled just the House was during Grover Cleveland's first term. The reason is obviously because the entire House is elected each cycle and therefore much easier to flip in a midterm that is a backlash against the administration.

May 2001-January 2003 called. Or did you just mean as a result of an election?

In 1994 the GOP I believe was expected to take the Senate but Democrats were expected to hold the house

It also could've happened in 1996 or 1998....the House wasn't out of reach for Democrats, but the Senate was.