What Happened This Week In Washington — And Georgia

It’s a terrible day and I think it’s fortunate that it didn’t end up being worse, with one or more members of Congress being injured or killed. Beyond that, it’s hard to say much. It certainly did weaken the anti-certification movement in the short run, though far more so in the Senate than the House. And it probably weakens Trumpism in the long run too, to the extent that it will now be even harder to deny the movement’s association with violence — although the Georgia runoff losses may wind up being the bigger blow to how much future Republicans want to emulate Trump’s tactics. Biden’s victory will presumably be certified at some point early in the morning. But the crisis isn’t over, as it isn’t entirely clear who’s really in command of the government or what Trump might try next.

Today’s events were unbelievable, unprecedented and terrible. I think most Americans felt that way, and it looks like many members of Congress did too. The GOP anti-certification push lost energy, and a very small number of senators ended up backing it. And while a majority of House Republicans voted in support of an anti-certification motion, the GOP in both chambers isn’t looking to fight on this as hard as it seemed the party would earlier in the day. Plus, on the Senate floor, you had Mitt Romney really attack Trump and no Republican jumping in to defend him.

A couple hours ago we recorded this podcast conversation about what happened in D.C. today and the results of the Senate runoffs in Georgia.