Either with generic candidates or a specific president; maybe assume a 55/45 split in the Senate as a baseline for discussion?
GOP president, Democratic Congress.
Reagan and the Bushes had it easier with blue Congresses than Clinton and Obama had with red Congresses.
D-prez.
The president has almost unchecked authority when it comes to foreign affairs, and I trust the Ds way more than the Rs to not start any new wars.
D-prez. Republicans are best when they control the purse but not the Presidency. Republicans are also very vigorous at oversight of Democratic administrations, whereas Democrats haven’t practiced much oversight of either Republican or Democratic Presidents in some time.
Democratic president. Reason: Supreme Court.
Based on previous experience, I would prefer an R-Prez D-Congress.
An R-prez will actually want to achieve things to get things done in his administration, and so will be willing to spend some money and work across the aisle to get things done.
As we saw an R-congress is perfectly happy to let the country go to pot with gridlock and government shutdowns so long as the D-administration gets the blame.
Also, present company excepted, a Republican president is more likely to be interested in maintaining broad support, and so is more likely to be a moderate than a Congress who is only trying to maintain allegiance of a self selected gerrymandered far right constituency, and so is more likely to be off the rails.
If the R-prez is Trump, I might revise my prediction based on the fact that I would prefer to have a POTUS with at least minimal competence. But with a Dem congress there would be the possibility of an investigation and impeachment to a more reasonable replacement.
Valid point…but a Democratic Senate can block the worst of the worst. (Hey, we got Souter out of a Republican President!)
My view is that Congress really is the “first among equals.” The Imperial Presidency is, of course, largely counter to that, but, well, Congress is defined in Article I and the Presidency in Article II.
Democrats almost also got Harriet Miers. I don’t know how many remember that episode, but Harry Reid wanted to get her approved quickly. Republican Presidents have been known to make mistakes on Supreme court justices. There’s Souter, but Miers was an almost, and Kennedy ended up being a swing vote rather than a rock-ribbed conservative. And Roberts, while solidly conservative, is far less a sure thing for conservatives than any of the four liberal justices.