Republicans shocked Democrats by keeping control of the Senate,setting the stage for President-elect Donald Trump to enacta broad conservative agenda and ensure aRepublican Supreme Court for a generation. That’s provided he canwork with a GOP establishment he spent most of the campaignattacking.

Election night amounted to an almost complete disaster forSenate Democrats in a year when the map greatly favored them -- 10of 11 battlegrounds were on Republican turf -- and only weeks agothey were hoping that an anti-Trump wave would carry them to themajority.

Republicans clinched at least 51 Senate seats, with races in NewHampshire and Louisiana still to be decided. They also kept controlof the House.

One-party rule creates the potential to reshape the SupremeCourt and use Senate procedures to muscle through changes in taxpolicy and Obamacare.

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

‘Drain the swamp’

He repeatedly promised to “drain the swamp” of the Washingtonestablishment and has called House Speaker Paul Ryan “a weak andineffective leader.” Ryan and Senate Majority Leader MitchMcConnell almost always avoided speaking Trump’s name in public,and while they nominally supported him, they never campaignedalongside him.

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

Indeed, some Republicans weren’t even willing to vote for Trump,and few have embraced some of his signature proposals, such asbuilding a wall on the border with Mexico and enacting 35 percenttariffs on Mexican imports from U.S. companies. Republican SenatorLindsey Graham of South Carolina said on Twitter that he voted foran independent candidate for president. Republicans Jeff Flake ofArizona and Ben Sasse of Nebraska also spoke out strongly againstTrump.

"We now have a country to run," Graham said in a statementposted on Twitter. "President-elect Trump and the new Congress willface many challenges. We have wars to win, threats to be dealt withand a stagnant economy which must be revived. To the extent that Ican help President-elect Trump, I will do so."

Maine Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with theDemocrats, in a statement Wednesday called on all sides to "look toone another with compassion and understanding, to view each otheras neighbors rather than adversaries." He added, "It will bedifficult, but it is achievable."

The party also faces significant challenges in the Senatebecause it still lacks the 60 votes needed to force through mostlegislation over Democratic objections. Republicans could changethe rules to keep Democrats from blocking Trump’s Supreme Courtnominees, including one to replace the late Justice AntoninScalia.

One big winner on the night was McConnell, whose gamble to blockMerrick Garland’s nomination to the high court paid off. The Trumpwin put an end to Democrats’ dreams of a liberal court; progressiveinterest groups were relishing the prospect that the court wouldhave a majority of Democratic appointees for the first time since1969.

The three oldest Supreme Court justices all support Roe v. Wade,the landmark abortion rights ruling that Trump has predicted would be overturned byhis court picks.

October surprises

Republican Senate candidates were victorious amid an uncertainelectoral landscape that was complicated by high disapprovalratings for both Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.Surprise developments in the campaign’s closing weeks weakened bothWhite House aspirants, including a tape of Trump bragging aboutgroping women and FBI Director James Comey’s shock announcement 11days before the election that his agency was looking at moreClinton e-mails.

The list of Republican incumbents who survived tough Democraticchallenges was long, and started with Marco Rubio of Florida, whosedecision to run for the Senate after an all-hands-on-deckrecruitment effort by GOP leaders dramatically boosted theirprospects for keeping hold of the chamber.

John McCain of Arizona, Richard Burr of North Carolina, RoyBlunt of Missouri, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Ron Johnson ofWisconsin also won re-election, and Representative Todd Youngdefeated the Democrats’ star recruit in Indiana, former SenatorEvan Bayh.

In an otherwise disastrous evening for Democrats, the partygained a seat in Illinois, as Representative Tammy Duckworth oustedincumbent Mark Kirk. They also managed to salvage Harry Reid’sSenate seat in Nevada, with Catherine Cortez Masto defeatingRepresentative Joe Heck, making her the first Latina to ever win aSenate seat.

Republicans took over the Senate two years ago after losingcontrol to Democrats in 2006. The GOP could add to its majority in2018, when 25 of the 33 seats up for election are held by Democratsand two independents who caucus with them.

GOP House

On the House side, Republicans easily cleared the 218 seatsneeded to control the chamber, losing only a handful of races.

Republican incumbents in Florida were ousted, including formerHouse Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman John Mica andDavid Jolly, who was defeated by party-switching former GovernorCharlie Crist. The Democrat who defeated Mica in Florida, StephanieMurphy, came to the U.S. as a Vietnamese refugee.

Also falling in the Republican ranks was Representative ScottGarrett of New Jersey, a senior member of the FinancialServices Committee who chairs the subcommittee on capital marketsand government-sponsored enterprises.

Ryan will likely win credit from many Republicans for helpingthem to run campaigns that kept some strategic distance from Trump,even as many probably benefited from Trump-fueled turnout. Even so,Ryan -- the party’s 2012 vice presidential nominee who becamespeaker a year ago after conservatives pushed Speaker John Boehnerout of office -- could still see his own leadership under questionfor his less-than-full-throated support of Trump.

The speaker did energetically campaign and raise money forhis House colleagues, even as some Republicans publiclycomplained of the potential harm they saw for GOP candidates fromRyan’s tepid backing of the presidential nominee. In the final daysof the campaign, he started backing Trump more explicitly.

But it’s unclear how well Trump and Ryan will get along, orwhether they can agree on an agenda, given their high-profilesplits on immigration and trade.

Ryan congratulated Trump early Wednesday on his "incredible"win.

"It marks a repudiation of the status quo of failed liberalprogressive policies. We are eager to work hand-in-hand with thenew administration to advance an agenda to improve the lives of theAmerican people," Ryan said in a statement. "This has been a greatnight for our party, and now we must turn our focus to bringing thecountry together."

Possibility of reconciliation

Even though Senate Republicans will have a slim governing marginnext year, their control of the chamber and the House could letthem make big changes to the tax code and health-care policy.That’s because of a powerful procedure called budget reconciliationthat can allow the Senate to pass bills containing revenue- orentitlement-related changes with just 51 votes.

Republicans used the method to pass President George W. Bush’stax cuts in 2001 and 2003, and it helped Senate Democrats pushthrough the Affordable Care Act in 2010. Trump andvirtually all Republicans in Congress agree that they want torepeal Obamacare as soon as possible. This year, they put a partialrepeal on President Barack Obama’s desk.

He vetoed it.

This time, they’ll have a president who says he will signit.

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