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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks during a watch party on election night, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Marriott Marquis in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

A unified Republican grip on Washington would set the course for Trump’s agenda. Or if Democrats wrest control of the House, it would provide an almost certain backstop, with veto power over the White House.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., center, accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, left, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., right, speaks about the need to protect rights to in vitro fertilization (IVF), on the Senate steps at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo / Ben Curtis)

The Senate vote was Democrats’ latest attempt to force Republicans into a defensive stance on women’s health issues and highlight policy differences between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in the presidential race, especially as Trump has called himself a “ leader on IVF.”

These rankings are a snapshot of where the race for the Senate stands now, not necessarily where it may be heading, and the U.S. Capitol Building is pictured on Aug. 9 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images / File via CNN Newsource)

While Harris has improved on President Joe Biden’s standing in many states — putting Nevada and Arizona back in play, for example — the basic shape of the crucial Senate races that will determine the majority is the same. Democrats were overperforming the top of the ticket when Biden was the nominee and they still are under Harris.

 U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle is sworn in before the House Oversight and Accountability Committee about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a campaign event in Pennsylvania, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo / Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

In her first congressional hearing over the July 13 assassination attempt, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle repeatedly angered lawmakers by evading questions, citing ongoing investigations. She called the attempt on Trump’s life the Secret Service’s “most significant operational failure” in decades.

Bernie Moreno, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio, speaks to the Illinois Republican delegation about his campaign unseat incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown on July 18, 2024. (Nick Blumberg / WTTW News)

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood called on Illinois Republicans to get out the vote for congressional candidates hoping to increase the state’s GOP representation from the current three seats they currently occupy.

Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., enters federal court in New York, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo / Seth Wenig)

The jury’s verdict followed a nine-week trial in which prosecutors said the Democrat abused the power of his office to protect allies from criminal investigations and enrich associates, including his wife, through acts that included meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials and helping that country access millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks during a hearing on combating the rise of illegal electronic cigarettes, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, June 12, 2024, in Washington. (Jose Luis Magana / AP Photo)
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The FDA and DOJ have legally barred about a half-dozen vaping companies for selling products that can appeal to youngsters, but many more manufacturers continue launching new products, primarily disposable vapes that can’t be refilled and are thrown in the trash.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., speaks about a bill to establish federal protections for IVF during a press event on Capitol Hill, Feb. 27, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo / Mark Schiefelbein, File)

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat who has used fertility treatment to have her two children, introduced a bill called the Right to IVF ACT, which would also make it more accessible through insurance as well as for military members and veterans.

No Labels Founding Chairman and former Sen. Joe Lieberman speaks in Washington on Jan. 18, 2024. (AP Photo / Jose Luis Magana, File)

Lieberman died in New York City on Wednesday due to complications from a fall, the statement said. He was 82.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., and the House Republican leadership meet with reporters as lawmakers work to pass the final set of spending bills to avoid a partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)

Democrats were largely able to swat back hundreds of policy mandates and some of the steeper budget cuts that House Republicans were seeking to impose on nondefense programs, though House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., highlighted some policy wins. 

A migrant walks along a road shadowed by the steel columns of the border wall separating Arizona and Mexico after crossing into the United States, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, near Lukeville, Ariz. (AP Photo / Gregory Bull, File)

As the Senate broke for the holidays, due back Jan. 8, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in a rare joint statement indicated negotiations are progressing. 

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin from Illinois at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Nov. 28, 2023. (WTTW News)

“In cities like Chicago dealing with the constant drumbeat of gun violence, it has turned these public health officials into battlefield experts,” U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said. “They’ve seen the aftermath of bullets tearing through bone like it’s tissue paper.”

FILE - Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, leave federal court on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in New York. (Seth Wenig / AP Photo, File)

The new charge comes just weeks after Menendez and his wife were accused of accepting bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car from three New Jersey businessmen who wanted the senator’s help and influence over foreign affairs.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., right, and his wife Nadine Arslanian, pose for a photo on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 20, 2022. (AP Photo  /Susan Walsh, File)

A search of the couple’s home turned up $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in hidden cash, said prosecutors, who announced the charges against the 69-year-old Democrat nearly six years after an earlier criminal case against him ended with a deadlocked jury.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Sept. 14, 2023. (WTTW News)

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias was in Washington, D.C., this week to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee regarding a new state law aimed at deterring book bans.

 The U.S. Capitol is seen on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo / Mariam Zuhaib, File)

A short-term funding measure to keep government offices fully functioning will dominate the September agenda, along with emergency funding for Ukraine, federal disaster funds and the Republican-driven probe into Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings.