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REPORTER: For the Senate, the math is complicated. Right now, the Senate has 54 Republicans, 44 Democrats and two independents. Thirty-four senators are up for reelection this year.
Here's a thing you need to remember and Republicans wish they could forget: Democrats only need to gain five seats to gain control of the Senate. They face a more difficult battle, though, in the House of Representatives. Democrats need to gain 30 seats to win back the majority there. It's a high hurdle with relatively few competitive districts. But House Minority Nancy Pelosi said that if the election were held this week, Democrats would regain control of the House.
Republicans disagree. Still, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan told Republican donors that Trump's numbers are worse than John McCain's were in 2008. 2008 is the year that Democrats did indeed win back the House of Representatives and Pelosi was speaker of the House. They held control for the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency.
Why are the House and Senate so important? Well, first, they share responsibility for creating and passing the country's laws. Second, Senate confirms or rejects the president's nominees to the Supreme Court.
记者：参议院的情况非常复杂。目前，参议院中有54名共和党议员，44名民主党议员和2名独立议员。今年有34个席位面临改选。
有一件事是大家要记住而共和党却希望忘掉的：民主党人要想掌控参议院只需要获得5个席位。不过民主党人在众议院面临着更加艰巨的任务。民主党人要获得30个席位才能赢回众议院多数党席位。由于有竞争力的选区相对较少，所以民主党面临着很大的障碍。但是众议院少数党领袖南希·佩洛西表示，如果选举在本周举行，民主党人可能会重新获得众议院的控制权。
共和党人不同意这种说法。但是，众议院议长保罗·瑞安对共和党捐赠者说，特朗普的情况比2008年时约翰·麦凯恩的情况还要糟糕。2008年时民主党赢回了众议院的控制权，当时佩洛西是众议院议长，民主党人在巴拉克·奥巴马任期的前两年掌控着众议院。
为什么众议院和参议院如此重要？首先，它们要共同负责制定并通过美国的法律。其二，参议院负责确认或拒绝总统对最高法院大法院的提名。
