Janet Yellen, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Treasury secretary, collected more than $7 million in speaking fees during more than 50 in-person and virtual engagements over the past two years, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Two Different Messages In Georgia
New York Times: “Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the Democratic Senate candidates, have put forth an array of policy proposals that blend the shared priorities of the moderate center and the progressive left: passing a new Voting Rights Act, expanding Medicaid without backing a single payer system, investment in clean energy while stopping short of the Green New Deal, and criminal justice reform that does not include defunding the police.”
“Republicans are seeking no such calibration. Mr. Perdue, who announced on Thursday that he would quarantine after coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for the coronavirus, and Ms. Loeffler are banking that their loyalists are motivated more by what their candidates stand against than by what they stand for.”
Judge Scorches South Dakota Over Virus Response
A federal judge says a South Dakota court can’t use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to delay a trial and in the same breath criticized South Dakota’s response to the pandemic, saying it has done “little, if anything,” to mitigate the spread of the virus, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports.
Said U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann: “South Dakota has done little, if anything, to curtail the spread of the virus. South Dakota cannot ‘take advantage’ of its own failures to follow scientific facts and safeguards in entering blanket denials of the rights of speedy trials.”
Post-Brexit Britain Arrives
“It took two general elections, three prime ministers, and just over 4 1/2 years, but as of today Britain finally has the Brexit it voted for in June 2016,” Axios reports.
“It’s not a pretty sight.”
“Britain has left Europe’s single market and customs union, and is no longer governed by European law.”
Washington Post: The looming questions the Brexit deal didn’t answer.
Happy New Year!
As 2020 ends, I want to thank you for reading Political Wire and for your support.
I wish for you, and for all of us, a truly wonderful 2021.
Pence Seeks Dismissal of Case to Expand His Power
“Vice President Pence late Thursday asked for a lawsuit that aimed to expand his power to use a congressional ceremony to overturn the presidential election be rejected, arguing that he was not the right person to sue over the issue,” the Washington Post reports.
“The filing will come as a disappointment to supporters of President Trump, who hoped that Pence would choose to set aside some of President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral college votes when Congress meets next week to certify the November election.”
McConnell Calls Certification His ‘Most Consequential’ Vote
“In an extraordinary conference call this morning with fellow Senate Republicans, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his Jan. 6 vote certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election will be ‘the most consequential I have ever cast,'” Axios reports.
Said a source: “The context was McConnell saying we’re being asked to overturn the results after a guy didn’t get as many electoral votes and lost by 7 million popular votes.”
“Many Republican senators are furious at Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) for forcing them to take what Trump is setting up as the ultimate loyalty test on January 6th.”
Perdue to Quarantine Ahead of Runoff
Sen. David Perdue (R-GA) will quarantine after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, with just days to go before the state’s runoff race for his seat, CNN reports.
A Failure to Rise to the Moment
New York Times: “Throughout late summer and fall, in the heat of a re-election campaign that he would go on to lose, and in the face of mounting evidence of a surge in infections and deaths far worse than in the spring, Mr. Trump’s management of the crisis — unsteady, unscientific and colored by politics all year — was in effect reduced to a single question: What would it mean for him?”
“The result, according to interviews with more than two dozen current and former administration officials and others in contact with the White House, was a lose-lose situation. Mr. Trump not only ended up soundly defeated by Joseph R. Biden Jr., but missed his chance to show that he could rise to the moment in the final chapter of his presidency and meet the defining challenge of his tenure.”
“Efforts by his aides to persuade him to promote mask wearing, among the simplest and most effective ways to curb the spread of the disease, were derailed by his conviction that his political base would rebel against anything that would smack of limiting their personal freedom. Even his own campaign’s polling data to the contrary could not sway him.”
Just 3 Million Vaccine Doses Administered
Americans received just over 3 million initial doses of coronavirus vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech in the 19 days following first shipments, Bloomberg reports.
Axios: “It’s far below Operation Warp Speed’s goal of administering 20 million doses by the end of the year, raising concerns about how long it may be until enough people are vaccinated in the U.S. for life to return to normal.”
Democrats Are Actually Running More Ads In Georgia
Despite being vastly outspent in the Senate runoffs by Republicans overall, Inside Elections found the Democratic candidates were actually running more total ads in Georgia than the Republicans.
“Because candidates have access to lower rates, that imbalance translates into a slight advantage for Democrats in the overall number of broadcast TV ads run so far, despite being outspent overall. According to Kantar, Ossoff, Warnock, and their outside allies have run 135,962 spots while Loeffler, Perdue and their outside allies have run 113,018.”
The Unbearable Weakness of Trump’s Minions
Peter Wehner: “Those hoping for a quick snapback to sanity for the Republican Party once Donald Trump is no longer president should temper those hopes.”
“The latest piece of evidence to suggest the enduring power of Trumpian unreality is yesterday’s announcement by Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri that he will object next week when Congress convenes to certify the Electoral College vote.”
“Hawley knows this effort will fail, just as every other effort to undo the results of the lawful presidential election will fail. (A brief reminder for those with faulty short-term memories: Joe Biden defeated Trump by more than 7 million popular votes and 74 Electoral College votes.) Every single attempt to prove that the election was marked by fraud or that President-elect Biden’s win is illegitimate—an effort that now includes about 60 lawsuits—has flopped. In fact, what we’ve discovered since the November 3 election is that it was ‘the most secure in American history,’ as election experts in Trump’s own administration have declared. But this immutable, eminently provable fact doesn’t deter Trump and many of his allies from trying to overturn the election; perversely, it seems to embolden them.”
No Explanation Given for Trump’s Early Return
“President Trump is cutting his Florida vacation short and traveling back to Washington on Thursday, but the White House offered no explanation for why he was ending the holiday trip to his private resort a day earlier than planned,” NBC News reports.
Trump Appointee Attempts Power Grab of Media Agency
Michael Pack, the CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, is attempting to maintain control of Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia despite the fact that President-elect Biden has already indicated he will be ousting him when he takes office, NPR reports.
Pack has proposed binding agreements that will make it impossible to remove him or his allies from the two entities’ boards for at least two years.
Make 2021 a Green New Year
Green That Life has 30 easy and effective New Year’s resolution ideas.
Graham Wants Separate Vote on $2,000 Checks
“Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Thursday urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a stand-alone vote on $2,000 stimulus checks after the new Congress is sworn in next week,” Politico reports.
Let Josh Hawley Put Republicans on Record
Ruth Marcus on Sen. Josh Hawley’s attempt to challenge the Electoral College tally:
“It is doomed to fail — except, perhaps, at its scarcely disguised purpose of winning Hawley favor in the eyes of the Trumpian base. Think of it as the first act of Hawley’s all-but-inevitable 2024 presidential campaign. Think of it as what it is: a stunt.”
“Yet while irresponsible, Hawley’s move is not necessarily a terrible development. It forces a vote that will have the salutary effect of requiring his Republican colleagues to decide — and to put on the record —whether their loyalty is to President Trump or to the Constitution. Better to know than to guess. Better to inflict some accountability rather than to enable dodging.”
Related for members: How Many Republicans Will Keep Up the Fight?
Trump’s Embarrassing Electoral College Hustle
A Wall Street Journal editorial argues President Trump is setting a destructive precedent:
“Republicans should be embarrassed by Mr. Trump’s Electoral College hustle. Mr. Trump is putting his loyal VP in a terrible spot, and what do Republicans think would happen if Mr. Pence pulled the trigger, Mr. Biden was denied 270 electoral votes, and the House chose Mr. Trump as President? Riots in the streets would be the least of it.”
“Mr. Pence is too much of a patriot to go along, but the scramble to overturn the will of the voters tarnishes Mr. Trump’s legacy and undermines any designs he has on running in 2024. Republicans who humor him will be giving Democrats license to do the same in the future, and then it might matter.”
