When Jim Jeffords jumped parties and made the Senate 50-50, the Democrats howled and demanded a power-sharing arrangement, which Trent Lott agreed to.
Don't expect the same power-sharing arrangement to be agreed to in the reverse. Democrats never share power, Republicans always cede power.
-PJ
what if Manchin switches to R?
“When Jim Jeffords jumped parties and made the Senate 50-50, the Democrats howled and demanded a power-sharing arrangement, which Trent Lott agreed to.”
________________
You are remembering wrong. *Before* Jeffords jumped, the Senate was 50-50. Because Gore was VP through January 20, 2001, the RATs could have organized the Senate on January 3 as they pleased, and they used thaf leverage to get Lott to agree to equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats on committees from Day One, with Democrat chairmen until January 20 and Republican chairmen starting on January 20, and with tied committee votes being sufficient to send bills to the floor. That’s the way the Senate was run until Jeffords switched to the Democrats (well, he became an Indepebdent who caucused with the Democrats) in the summer of 2001, at which time the Senate became 51D, 49R. The GOP got the Senate back after the 2002 midterms, when the Senate became 51R, 49D.