Transition
Biden in danger of having no confirmed Cabinet secretaries on first day of presidency
Paul Kane et al., The Washington Post
President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration is in danger of not having a single Cabinet official confirmed on Inauguration Day, upsetting a tradition going back to the Cold War of ensuring the president enters office with at least part of his national security team in place. Delays in Congress, caused primarily by runoff elections in Georgia for Senate seats that Democrats flipped this week and the arcane procedures needed to get the new chamber up and running, have sparked deep concern among Biden’s top advisers.
Biden denounces racial inequities in blasting Capitol riot
Annie Linskey et al., The Washington Post
President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday denounced what he described as an unequal justice system reflected in the lenient response to the mostly White rioters who assaulted the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, suggesting a stark contrast with the treatment of racial justice demonstrators across the country last summer. “You can’t tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesters yesterday they wouldn’t have been treated very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol,” Biden said in Wilmington, before beginning to hammer his fist against the lectern.
Pence expected to attend Biden’s inauguration
Gabby Orr and Anita Kumar, Politico
Vice President Mike Pence is expected to attend Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration later this month after overseeing Wednesday’s chaotic certification of the president-elect’s Electoral College win. Three sources close to Pence said he would likely make an appearance at the Jan. 20 event in a show of support for the peaceful transition of power.
White House & Administration
Trump’s remarks before Capitol riot may be investigated, says acting U.S. attorney in D.C.
Devlin Barrett, The Washington Post
The top federal prosecutor in Washington D.C. said Thursday that President Trump was not off limits in his investigation of the events surrounding Wednesday’s riot at the U.S. Capitol, saying “all actors” would be examined to determine if they broke the law. Asked if federal agents and prosecutors will look at the incendiary statements made by speakers at Trump’s rally shortly before a mob of his supporters breached security at the Capitol and wreaked havoc inside, acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin said: “Yes, we are looking at all actors here, not only the people that went into the building, but … were there others that maybe assisted or facilitated or played some ancillary role in this. We will look at every actor and all criminal charges.”
Pence opposes 25th Amendment efforts to remove Trump following Capitol riot, VP advisors tell Insider
Tom LoBianco, Business Insider
Vice President Mike Pence doesn’t support removing President Donald Trump from office via the 25th Amendment despite the growing bipartisan chorus for a last-minute change at the very top of the American government, Pence advisors told Insider. “Not happening,” a Republican close to Pence said when asked about growing calls for him to replace Trump.
Pompeo, Mnuchin among Cabinet secretaries who discussed 25th Amendment with staff, sources
Kayla Tausche, CNBC
As President Donald Trump stood idly by with violent protesters ransacking the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, at least two of his top officials and closest allies conferred with staff about the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held informal conversations within their own agencies about the contours of the 25th Amendment, the invocation of which would begin a process to remove Trump from office, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
State Department political appointee fired by White House after tweeting Trump was unfit for office
Kylie Atwood, CNN
A State Department political appointee was fired by the White House Thursday after tweeting on Wednesday evening that President Donald Trump is unfit for office and was to blame for the mob attack on the US Capitol, according to two sources familiar with the firing. “President Trump fomented an insurrectionist mob that attacked the Capitol today. He continues to take every opportunity to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power,” Gabriel Noronha, who worked on Iran at the State Department and was previously a staffer on Capitol Hill, tweeted.
Trump pulls Homeland Security nomination after criticism
Michael Macagnone, Roll Call
President Donald Trump withdrew Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf’s permanent nomination to the post Thursday, hours after Wolf called on him to condemn the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Wolf, who was out of the country during Wednesday’s events, issued a statement Thursday morning calling the storming of the Capitol “tragic and sickening.”
White House finally tells thousands of political appointees they have to step down
Lisa Rein and Eric Yoder, The Washington Post
The White House on Thursday told thousands of political appointees — from ambassadors to schedulers — to resign on Inauguration Day, a formality the Trump administration had stalled for weeks as President Trump disputed the election outcome. A directive was emailed to agency heads that political appointees must resign effective Jan. 20, the day President-elect Joe Biden takes office, a White House spokesman confirmed.
Justice Department warns of national security fallout from Capitol Hill insurrection
Natasha Bertrand, Politico
The mob that rampaged inside the halls of Congress on Wednesday might have taken a lot more than Americans’ illusions of invulnerability. “National security equities” may have been among the records stolen from the Capitol on Wednesday when pro-Trump insurgents stormed the building and looted several congressional offices, the Justice Department said in a briefing Thursday.
Congress
Capitol Police rejected offers of federal help to quell mob
Colleen Long et al., The Associated Press
Three days before supporters of President Donald Trump rioted at the Capitol, the Pentagon asked the U.S Capitol Police if it needed National Guard manpower. And as the mob descended on the building Wednesday, Justice Department leaders reached out to offer up FBI agents.
Curators Scour Capitol for Damage to the Building or Its Art
Sarah Bahr, The New York Times
Barbara A. Wolanin did not leave her TV much on Wednesday afternoon, watching terrified, she said, as hundreds of Trump rioters rushed into the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building where eight large, framed historical paintings hang. She once was curator for the Architect of the Capitol, the office that preserves and maintains the building’s art and architecture.
Republicans Control Whether Trump Stays Or Goes
Perry Bacon Jr., FiveThirtyEight
More than half the Democrats in the House are calling for President Trump’s impeachment and removal from office in the wake of his supporters invading and taking control of the Capitol on Wednesday.
With Georgia Senate Wins, Democrats Solidify Power in Washington
Carl Hulse, The New York Times
The stunning Democratic wins in two Georgia Senate races this week upended Washington’s power structure overnight, providing an unexpected opening to the incoming Biden administration by handing unified control of Congress to Democrats, who will be tested by governing with spare majorities. The victories by Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff mean that Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, will control the Senate floor rather than Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and a man Democrats have long seen as the main impediment to their legislative ambitions.
Coons calls on Cruz and Hawley to resign
Marianne Levine, Politico
One of Joe Biden’s top allies is calling on two GOP senators to step down. During a press conference in Delaware, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), told reporters that Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) “should resign,” according to WBOC, one day after a group of Trump supporters staged a deadly insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.
Sen. Ted Cruz tells why he still opposed Biden’s electoral win in ABC13 exclusive
Tom Abrahams, ABC 13
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is facing intense calls for his resignation, told ABC13 exclusively that his intent to oppose Joe Biden’s electoral win was based on legality and to fight voter fraud. In his first interview since the U.S. Capitol was under unprecedented siege by President Donald Trump’s supporters, Cruz also insisted that he did not agree and has never agreed with the sitting president’s rhetoric that fired up the chaos and left four people dead on Wednesday.
How President Trump misdialed Utah Sen. Mike Lee while the Capitol was under siege
Dennis Romboy, The Deseret News
With a mob of election protesters laying siege to the U.S. Capitol, Sen. Mike Lee had just ended a prayer with some of his colleagues in the Senate chamber when his cellphone rang. Caller ID showed the call originated from the White House.
General
Republicans Splinter Over Whether to Make a Full Break From Trump
Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, The New York Times
President Trump not only inspired a mob to storm the Capitol on Wednesday — he also brought the Republican Party close to a breaking point. Having lost the presidency, the House and now the Senate on Mr. Trump’s watch, Republicans are so deeply divided that many are insisting that they must fully break from the president to rebound.
Republicans warned this day would come. Then they forgot.
Benjy Sarlin, NBC News
Rick Perry tried to warn voters of the dangers of Donald Trump. In a speech ahead of the 2016 Republican presidential contest in which both men would compete, the former Texas governor framed Trump as an unchecked demagogue and chose a striking historical image to illustrate his point: A mob attack on Washington.
Maryland Gov. Hogan: ‘America would be better off’ if Trump resigns or is removed from office
Bryn Stole and Alison Knezevich, The Baltimore Sun
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he would be in favor of President Donald Trump’s resigning or being removed from office after a violent mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. “There’s no question that America would be better off if the president would resign or be removed from office,” Hogan said Thursday in response to a question from a reporter.
U.S. sets covid-19 death record as researchers point to asymptomatic cases as a major source of infections
Brittany Shammas and Ben Guarino, The Washington Post
As the United States marked another grim milestone Thursday with more than 4,000 covid-19 deaths reported in a single day, federal disease trackers said research suggests that people without symptoms transmit more than half of all cases of the novel coronavirus. The findings, which came from a model developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demonstrate the importance of following the agency’s guidelines about wearing a mask and maintaining social distance, officials said.
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine appears effective against mutation in new coronavirus variants
Michael Erman, Reuters
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appeared to work against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in Britain and South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the U.S. drugmaker.
These Are the Rioters Who Stormed the Nation’s Capitol
Sabrina Tavernise and Matthew Rosenberg, The New York Times
There were infamous white nationalists and noted conspiracy theorists who have spread dark visions of pedophile Satanists running the country. Others were more anonymous, people who had journeyed from Indiana and South Carolina to heed President Trump’s call to show their support.
Capitol rioters could face up to 10 years in prison under Trump monument executive order
Evie Fordham, Fox News
Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen vowed that pro-Trump rioters who entered the U.S. Capitol would “face the full consequences of their actions under the law,” and those consequences could include being charged under President Trump’s executive order authorizing up to 10 years in prison for “injury of federal property.”
States
8 Democratic governors demand HHS release more vaccine doses
David Lim, Politico
The Democratic governors of eight states — including California, New York and Michigan — are demanding that federal health officials release doses of Covid-19 vaccines currently being held back to ensure people who got their first dose can get their second. The federal government has held back doses equal to the amount it has shipped out, to ensure that everyone who is vaccinated completes the recommended two-shot sequence.
Advocacy
Some CEOs Fire Rioters, Call for President Trump’s Removal From Office
Chip Cutter and Emily Glazer, The Wall Street Journal
In the wake of the riot at the Capitol, companies moved to cut ties with President Trump and his supporters and fired workers who participated. Facebook Inc. banned Mr. Trump indefinitely and Canada-based Shopify Inc. closed online stores associated with Mr. Trump’s campaign and businesses.
After Riot, Business Leaders Reckon With Their Support for Trump
David Gelles, The New York Times
Big business struck a Faustian bargain with President Trump. When he said something incendiary or flirted with authoritarianism, high-minded chief executives would issue vague, moralizing statements and try to distance themselves from a pro-business president who coveted their approval.
New Senate majority jolts K Street
Alex Gangitano, The Hill
Business groups and lobbying firms were jolted this week with the surprise results of Georgia’s two runoff elections that tipped the balance of power to Democrats in the Senate. Lobbyists connected to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other top Republicans in the chamber are now shifting gears and hoping a Democratic-controlled Washington will attempt to tackle some bipartisan issues.
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Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
Donald Trump’s Final Days
The Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal
The lodestar of these columns is the U.S. Constitution. The document is the durable foundation protecting liberty, and this week it showed its virtue again.
Insurrection Demands Forceful Response
Tom Cotton, The Wall Street Journal
Over the summer, as insurrection gripped the streets, I called to send in the troops if necessary to restore order. On Wednesday insurrectionists occupied the Capitol and disrupted the proceedings of Congress.
Mick Mulvaney’s conversion comes too late
Douglas Heye, CNN
In announcing his resignation, special envoy for Northern Ireland and former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said, “We didn’t sign up for what you saw last night.” Thanks for those nice words, but this is too little, too late.
Danforth calls his support of Hawley the ‘worst mistake’ of his life
Tony Messenger, St. Louis Post Dispatch
Former U.S. Sen. John C. Danforth saw a mob of rioters take over the Senate chamber where he had spent much of his professional life. The dean of the Missouri Republican Party was a member of the Senate between 1976 and 1995.
The Capitol Invaders Enjoyed the Privilege of Not Being Taken Seriously
Masha Gessen, The New Yorker
By the end of the day, we knew remarkably little, but we knew this: the Capitol Police had been woefully unprepared for an invasion that had been easy to predict—that had, in fact, been virtually declared by the man with the world’s biggest megaphone. There had been violence, destruction of government property, tear gas, stun grenades, and gunshots.
Research Reports and Polling
Most feel election is “settled” but Trump voters disagree
Anthony Salvanto et al., CBS News
With the Electoral College poised to elect Joe Biden on Monday, a sizable 62% majority of the nation’s voters feel the election is “over and settled” and it’s “time to move on.” Large majorities feel their own votes were counted correctly, and a majority acknowledge Mr. Biden as the “legitimate winner.” But the president’s backers feel very differently: 82% of Trump voters say they do not consider Mr. Biden legitimate and — perhaps most notably for the coming transition month — almost half of President Trump’s voters say Mr. Trump should refuse to concede after that Electoral College vote happens, and instead do all he can to stay in power.
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