Washington Post: “Democrats face a 52-48 deficit in the Senate after falling short in their effort to reclaim the majority last week. And they can’t stop Sessions or any other Trump appointee with a filibuster after having changed the rules when they were in charge back in 2013.”

“That means they basically need three Republicans to bolt in order to stop a nominee.”

“Before the election, it was clear that Democrats were looking at the very real prospect of scrapping the filibuster to keep Republicans from blocking the Supreme Court nominees of a President Hillary Clinton,” the New York Times reports.

“Now the tables are turned. It is the Republicans who will control the White House, Senate and House — the coveted Washington trifecta. And that raises a crucial question: If Democrats in the even more narrowly divided Senate embrace the filibuster to block what could be a flood of legislation, would Republicans respond by eliminating the 60-vote threshold in order to push their priorities through on simple majority votes?”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that the Senate will take up an expected veto override of legislation that lets families of 9/11 victims sue Saudi Arabia in U.S. courts before breaking for the elections, The Hill reports.

The Senate had been expected to leave town this week, but McConnell said it was “safe to say” that the Senate would be in town next week.

“A major criminal-justice overhaul bill seemed destined to be the bipartisan success story of the year, consensus legislation that showed lawmakers could still rise above politics and take on a serious societal problem,” the New York Times reports.

“Then the election got in the way. With Donald J. Trump demanding ‘law and order’ and Senate Republicans divided on the wisdom of reducing federal mandatory minimum sentences, the effort that began with real promise stalled, and now its Senate authors acknowledge there is virtually no chance for action on the measure this year.”

“The U.S. Senate is on track to work the fewest number of days since 1956, a fact that Democrats seized on Wednesday to attack the chamber’s Republican leadership,” McClatchy reports.

“Senators returned last week to Washington after a seven-week break. Another recess could come as early as the end of this week or next, freeing embattled senators to return to the campaign trail in their states.”