Ted Cruz with sidekick Mike Lee. Just in case you were in need of any good reasons to work on getting out the vote in the next few days, here's this. If Republicans win control of the Senate next week, as many expect, they will gain a powerful weapon to reshape President Barack Obama's legacy in his final two years: the authority to block his nominations. That means his legacy of remaking the federal courts grinds to a halt, and if he wants to get any new appointees in in his last two years, they will have to be acceptable to Republicans or remain vacant.