Pelosi and McConnell are a huge problem. The issue is that the senate and house make their own rules. The speaker & senate leader have a tremendous amount of power. Way too much power, IMO. That's why their people keep re-electing them, no matter how vitriolic and incompetent they become. It's very powerful to be the ONE district in the entire country in charge of the House, and one state in the country in charge of the senate. In some ways, those two jobs have as much power as the president. It's wrong, on every level. I think it would be better if the partisanship were not as bad, but neither party is willing to hold their leader to the fire, to get the will of the people done. So, we have the will of Pelosi and McConnell, really. That's bad.
Well, that was a crash course! I can definitely see how that is not a marriage made in heaven and; we, the people, get to pay the price.
The biggest issue is the leader decides a whole lot - which bills go to which committees, who sits on committees, and which bills actually get to the floor for a vote. McConnell could have let Garland have a hearing and put it to a vote. We'll never know if Garland would have been confirmed, since we don't know if any republicans would have voted for him. This is why the position is so powerful. He had the constitutional authority to not call a vote at all. In a bipartisanship world, a few republican senators could have pressured him to do so. That's not who we are, now. That said, McConnell and Biden are friends, and speak well about each other. It could really be different this time. I always cross my fingers when we get a new president. My hopes are usually dashed within 100 days. LOL. So, fingers crossed.