Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) “reiterated during the Democratic lunch she will not support any effort to get rid of the 60-vote threshold,” Axios reports.
McConnell Calls Election Reform Push ‘Surreal’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said it is “surreal” and “beyond distasteful” for Senate Democrats to cite the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as an excuse to weaken the filibuster to pass broad elections reforms, Politico reports.
Said McConnell: “It is surreal to hear sitting senators invoke January the sixth to justify breaking the rules to grab outcomes they have not earned. It is surreal to hear sitting senators invoke January the sixth to argue that institutions can be trampled because they’d like a different result.”
A Hard Year for Republicans Who Voted to Impeach Trump
“The 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump did so with the same conviction — that a president of their party deserved to be charged with inciting insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021 — and the same hope — that his role in doing so would finally persuade the GOP to repudiate him,” the New York Times reports.
“But in the year since the deadliest attack on the Capitol in centuries, none of the 10 lawmakers have been able to avoid the consequences of a fundamental miscalculation about the direction of their party. The former president is very much the leader of the Republicans, and it is those who stood against him whom the party has thrust into the role of pariah.”
House Select Committee Wants to Talk to Mike Pence
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) told CNN that the House Select Committee investigating the events around the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol wanted former Vice President Mike Pence to voluntarily cooperate with the panel.
Said Thompson: “We have not formally asked. But if he offered, we’d gladly accept. Everything is under consideration.”
He added: “We’d like to know what his security detail told him was going on.”
White House Close to Making Three Fed Nominations
“The White House is strongly considering nominating Sarah Bloom Raskin to become the Fed’s top banking regulator, and Lisa Cook and Philip Jefferson as Fed governors,” the Washington Post reports.
“The nominees would complete President Biden’s roster to the Fed’s seven-seat board, while appealing to Democrats who have pushed for stronger Wall Street oversight and those who have pressed for more diversity within the Fed’s top ranks.”
McConnell Open to Reforming Electoral Count Act
“Mitch McConnell is signaling he’s open to reforming the Electoral Count Act, one year after Senate and House Republicans objected to certification of President Joe Biden’s win ahead of an attempted insurrection,” Politico reports.
“Democrats are pursuing more sweeping election reforms and federalization of elections, but some lawmakers in both parties are also suggesting there may be more modest reforms that could pass on a bipartisan basis. The GOP leader said in a brief interview that he would be open to entertaining changes to the 1887 law, which allows members of Congress to dispute election results.”
Said McConnell: “It obviously has some flaws. And it is worth, I think, discussing.”
Hawley Claims Democrats Are Plotting a Power Grab
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told Fox News that Democrats were using the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to gain more power.
Said Hawley: “The politics of fear that the Democratic Party has been pushing on this country for a whole year, it’s the only thing they have to offer the country. And what they’re trying to do with it is consolidate their power.”
Tech CEO Said Covid Vaccine Is a ‘Plot by the Jews’
The founder of a Utah technology firm resigned his position after sending an email to a number of tech CEOs and Utah business and political leaders, claiming the Covid-19 vaccine is part of a plot by “the Jews” to exterminate people, KUPX reports.
Macron Wants to ‘Piss Off’ the Unvaccinated
French President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted to “piss off” the unvaccinated by depriving them of restaurants, cinemas and social activities to pressure them to get protected against Covid-19, the Financial Times reports.
Said Macron: “There is a tiny minority of people who are resistant. We can reduce that, I’m sorry to say, by pissing them off even more.”
He added: “I am not here to piss off the French, I complain all day long about the administration when it bugs them. But the unvaccinated, I really want to piss them off. So that’s what we will keep doing, all the way to the end. That is the strategy. I am not going to send them to prison, I am not going to vaccinate them by force.”
Lawmakers Begin Discussions on Another Relief Package
“Democratic and Republican lawmakers have held early discussions about another round of coronavirus stimulus spending as they seek to blunt the fast-spreading omicron variant and its urgent threats to public health and economic recovery,” the Washington Post reports.
“The early efforts have focused primarily on authorizing billions of dollars to help an array of businesses — including restaurants, performance venues, gyms and even minor league sports teams — that face another potential blow to their already-battered balance sheets as a result of the evolving pandemic.”
An Early Midterm Forecast
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Flashback Quote of the Day
“The Biden plan starts with fixing Trump’s testing fiasco. He’d make sure that all Americans have access to regular, reliable, and free testing.”
— White House chief of staff Ron Klain, in a 2020 campaign video.
Orange County GOP Pushes on With Anti-Mandate Fight
“Deputy District Attorney and GOP activist Kelly Ernby wasn’t vaccinated when she died early this week after contracting COVID-19,” the Orange County Register reports.
“Despite the news, Republicans leaders who counted 46-year-old Ernby as a friend and who agreed with her opposition of vaccine mandates said Tuesday that their positions haven’t changed.”
Agency Head Resigns Amid Scrutiny of Kristi Noem
“The director of a South Dakota agency has resigned amid scrutiny over Gov. Kristi Noem’s hands-on role in the agency prior to his arrival and as it was evaluating her daughter’s real estate appraiser license in 2020,” the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports.
Prosecutors Move Quickly on January 6 Cases
New York Times: “The government estimates that as many as 2,500 people who took part in the events of Jan. 6 could be charged with federal crimes. That includes more than 1,000 incidents that prosecutors believe could be assaults.”
“As of this week, more than 225 people have been accused of attacking or interfering with the police that day. About 275 have been charged with what the government describes as the chief political crime on Jan. 6: obstructing Congress’s duty to certify the 2020 presidential vote count. A little over 300 people have been charged with petty crimes alone, mostly trespassing and disorderly conduct.”
“But a big question hangs over the prosecutions: Will the Justice Department move beyond charging the rioters themselves?”
Why Trump Nixed His January 6 News Conference
A Trump confidant told Playbook that a small group of his close allies confronted the former president and got him to change his mind. They made the case that the news conference would “be playing into the media’s hands.”
New York Times: “Among other things, several advisors – formal and informal – told him the press conference was a mistake and it was becoming clear he wasn’t likely to get the live TV coverage he was hoping for.”
Select Committee May Hold Prime Time Hearings
“The House’s January 6th Committee is considering rare prime-time hearings to help build a maximum audience for testimony about what happened during the Capitol riot, one year ago tomorrow,” Axios reports.
Playbook: “Republicans don’t want to talk about Jan. 6. Period. End of story.”
“On a private call Tuesday, House GOP leaders encouraged their members to stick to attacking President Joe Biden — or, at most, talk about ongoing security concerns at the Capitol.”
Redistricting Looks Like a Wash
Cook Political Report: “The surprising good news for Democrats: on the current trajectory, there will be a few more Biden-won districts after redistricting than there are now — producing a congressional map slightly less biased in the GOP’s favor than the last decade’s. The bad news for Democrats: if President Biden’s approval ratings are still mired in the low-to-mid 40s in November, that won’t be enough to save their razor-thin House majority (currently 221 to 212 seats).”
Key takeaway: “Because Democrats currently possess the lion’s share of marginal seats, estimating the practical effect of new lines in 2022 still points towards a wash or a slight GOP gain.”
