“There would be opportunities. … The one thing about having a divided government, it forces people to come together and some of the best and biggest accomplishments in our history have been accomplished during a time of divided government,” Thune said.

One GOP senator predicted that a Republican-controlled Senate could be beneficial to Biden because it would give him a buffer from progressives in his party who, if Democrats controlled both chambers, would likely try to drive him to the left.

“So he’s not constantly fighting ‘Why can’t we go one step further?’ on all the stuff they’ll want to do. The best thing that could happen to Joe Biden would be if there was a Republican Senate,” the senator said.