There is no such thing as controlling the Senate 51-50. There are 100 senators and if there are only 99 voting (e.g. because one of them died), then if there was previously a 50-50 party split, party-line votes will now have 50-49 results, i.e. not a tie, i.e. the Vice President will not be asked to break a tie.
One of my greatest idols since I was a preteen. Learning about him and his existence made me confident that there was a future for people like me.
How he has been treated in the last few years has been making me feel a lot less optimistic about the future of humanity. :(