Victory all along the line for the Democrats? The elections to the US Congress on November 3, 2020

The 2020 US elections ended with quite some success of the Democrats. They did not only bring a Democrat to the White House but managed to keep their majority in the House of Representatives; however, the widely expected "blue wave" of huge Democratic wins did not materialize. In the Senate, following the two special elections in Georgia, each party claims 50 seats. In case of a tie, Vice President Kamala Harris can cast the tie-breaking vote. For the first time since President Barack Obama's first years in office, Democrats can claim a "unified government" in Washington. The 2020 election was in many ways influenced by the COVID-19-pandemic. The opening session of the 117th Congress was overshadowed by the riot on Capitol Hill on January 6th, 2021 and by President Donald Trump's second Impeachment trial. As always, the re-election rate of Congressional incumbents was remarkably high. The current Congress is once again much more diverse in terms of its membership than previous Congresses. It remains an interesting question whether the process of "parliamentarization" will continue. The results of the 2022 midterm election will mainly depend on substantial legislative accomplishments of the Biden Administration and its Congressional counterparts in the upcoming year and a half.