With just 18 days remaining until Nov. 8, there is hardly a word that still needs to be expressed about the bane聽of America that is the Republican Party鈥檚 nominee for president.

And thankfully, no need, as we say here in Hawaii. Following on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, Hillary Clinton is a near certainty to be elected, absent a collapse of historic proportions. If the trajectory of the overall election continues uninterrupted, she is also likely to be accompanied in government by a .

What both in combination might mean for America is a matter that has gotten comparably little attention, until now. But with respected analyses beginning to coalesce around the likelihood of a Clinton win and Senate flip, it鈥檚 a possibility that deserves everyone鈥檚 attention.

First, it holds the immediate promise of returning basic functionality to some of government鈥檚 most essential obligations, chief among them approving judges to serve in federal courts.

Ninety-nine federal judicial vacancies currently persist around the country, for instance 鈥斅爉ost notably at the U.S. Supreme Court, where Judge Merrick Garland鈥檚 nomination to fill the seat left by the late Justice Antonin Scalia has languished unheard now for an . Fifty-nine nominations are pending before a Senate that, under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, simply refuses to engage in its constitutional responsibilities to advise and consent.

It is聽an open question as to whether Clinton might re-nominate Garland or put forward her own nominee. But whomever she chooses, without the GOP leader standing in the way, we can expect that McConnell鈥檚 likely successor, would expedite long overdue confirmation hearings for both the high court vacancy and others in district, appellate, federal claims and international trade courts.

Hawaii and have been outspoken critics of their Republican colleagues鈥� inactivity on this essential Senate duty, relentlessly taking to social media, pushing press releases and more to call them on the carpet. They haven鈥檛 been alone. #DoYourJob has been a consistently and other social media now for seven months.

to my meeting with Judge Garland. Waiting 184 days for a hearing is unprecedented & unacceptable

— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono)

Second, Schumer could do the Senate and the nation a major favor by leading an effort to revise Senate rules and in legislation 鈥斅燼 rarely leveraged tool, solely for extreme circumstances. Its current use as a common threat in even mundane legislative actions forces the Senate to pass virtually every measure, big and small, by a filibuster-proof 60 vote majority, keeping the Senate in a perpetual state of frustrating gridlock.

McConnell, who wielded it like a cudgel when his party was in the minority, has bristled at Democrats鈥� similar reliance on the filibuster to stymie the GOP, but the truth is, it serves no one well in its current form. If our democracy is so fragile that it can鈥檛 survive majority votes on basic Senate business, we shouldn鈥檛 blame Clinton if she uses executive action to move essential, consequential matters, as President Obama has often been forced to do over the past eight years.

Third, there is increasingly strong reason to believe that Democrats may pick up 10 to 15 House seats 鈥斅爊ot the 30 they’d need to overtake the Republicans’ majority status, but enough that coalitions might be more easily formed to get business done in what has been a strikingly accomplishment-free Congress.

Depending on the size of a Clinton victory and the heft of the rebuke to the Trump wing of the GOP, Republican members might see a political benefit in shedding their image as representatives of the Party of No.

There is increasing reason to believe Democrats may pick up 10 to 15 House seats 鈥� not enough to take the majority, but enough that governing coalitions might be more easily formed.

In frequently belligerent opposition to Obama, they鈥檝e repeatedly threatened to shut down the government, actually succeeding for two weeks in 2013 over their wish to defund Obamacare 鈥斅燼 gambit that . That was particularly costly to Hawaii, with a major military presence and heavy payroll reliance on the federal budget. Ours was one of the 10 states most affected, according to a USA Today analysis.

Even when Republicans haven鈥檛 been engaged in such foolishness, they鈥檝e practically abandoned other normal congressional duties.

They took eight months, for instance, to react to a White House emergency request for $1.9 billion to fight the deadly Zika virus. Despite loud criticism from Hawaii and other vulnerable states, the House departed for the long Labor Day recess without acting, foot dragging until late September, when they聽.

Other matters, like passing a comprehensive 聽budget, have similarly languished while they鈥檝e focused instead on .

There is plenty of evidence that Congress might become productive once again if Speaker Paul Ryan could break once and for all with the Hastert Rule, the GOP practice of only allowing floor votes on bills supported by a majority of Republican members. Former Speaker John Boehner , on matters like passing an aid bill for Hurricane Sandy victims and raising the federal debt ceiling. It cost him the support of the most acidic members of his caucus, and he resigned, exhausted, last year.

Forming coalition majorities in the House would undoubtedly become easier and maybe more politically palatable for Ryan and the Republicans with a Democratic Senate majority working with them. House members might at least have records of accomplishment to run on every two years, rather than being forced to defend their do-nothing status to voters.

Returning to a politics recognizable to the majority of the country that doesn鈥檛 live in the alternative reality created by the far right would not only serve the public well, it would create a path forward for a party that would desperately need one.