To determine which party controlled the Senate and the House of Representatives during the 112th Congress, we need to analyze the given table and compare the number of seats held by each party in both chambers.
### Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Determine Control of the Senate:
[tex]\[
\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
& \text{Democrats} & \text{Republicans} & \text{Independents} \\
\hline
\text{Senate} & 53 & 45 & 2 \\
\hline
\end{array}
\][/tex]
- Democrats: 53 seats
- Republicans: 45 seats
- Independents: 2 seats
To determine the controlling party of the Senate, we need to check if the sum of Democrat seats with Independent seats exceeds the number of Republican seats.
Let's add up the seats held by Democrats and Independents:
[tex]\[
53 \, (\text{Democrats}) + 2 \, (\text{Independents}) = 55
\][/tex]
Since 55 is greater than 45 (the number of Republican seats), the Democrats, with the support of Independents, controlled the Senate.
[tex]\[
\text{The Senate was controlled by the } \boxed{\text{Democrats}}
\][/tex]
2. Determine Control of the House of Representatives:
[tex]\[
\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
& \text{Democrats} & \text{Republicans} & \text{Independents} \\
\hline
\text{House} & 200 & 232 & 0 \\
\hline
\end{array}
\][/tex]
- Democrats: 200 seats
- Republicans: 232 seats
- Independents: 0 seats
To determine the controlling party of the House of Representatives, we compare the number of Democrat seats to Republican seats:
- Democrats: 200
- Republicans: 232
Since 232 is greater than 200, the Republicans controlled the House of Representatives.
[tex]\[
\text{The House of Representatives was controlled by the } \boxed{\text{Republicans}}
\][/tex]
3. Result Analysis:
Given that the Senate was controlled by the Democrats and the House was controlled by the Republicans, this usually results in different party control across the two houses of Congress. This situation often leads to legislative gridlock, where passing legislation becomes more difficult due to conflicting interests between the two parties.
[tex]\[
\text{Because of this, the houses of Congress likely had different party control and faced legislative gridlock.}
\][/tex]
### Summary:
- The Senate was controlled by the [tex]\(\boxed{\text{Democrats}}\)[/tex].
- The House of Representatives was controlled by the [tex]\(\boxed{\text{Republicans}}\)[/tex].
- Because of this, the houses of Congress likely had different party control and faced legislative gridlock.
