The Atlantic
Kamala Harris Is the Decider
With a 50–50 split in the Senate, Harris is poised to have final say over crucial decisions in the coming years.
Al Drago / Bloomberg / Getty
Kamala Harris’s vice presidency was already shaping up to be a uniquely consequential one. Now Democratic control of the Senate has propelled her to the front of the political scene, where she’ll be breaking ties and giving President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda a chance at life.
Being part of the president’s deliberative process is already a major step for a vice president before Walter Mondale, the office lacked any precedent or model for West Wing power-sharing. Now Biden and Harris may offer a vision of an even more empowered vice president, able to champion legislation herself, use her bully pulpit, and potentially break ties to protect her own policy priorities. No vice president has done all of that before, but Harris could.