HOW IT ENDS: The heated partisan politics of Capitol Hill will jump to scorching today, when TRUMP’s staunchest GOP allies will launch a formal, public and futile effort to keep him in power by overturning the results of the Nov election. w/⁦Lillis⁩

The extraordinary gambit has convulsed the Capitol in the final days of Trump's reign and cleaved the GOP into warring factions - divisions that will bear long-lasting implications for both the future direction of the GOP and the success of ambitious 2024 hopefuls.
Such challenges have been tried before, but not on this scale: At least 13 Senate Republicans and more than 100 House Republicans are expected to vote to reject certification of Joe Biden’s EC victory
With Trump agitating his base and threatening to recruit primary challengers to run against disloyal lawmakers, many Republicans, particularly in the House, feel that it would be political suicide to defy him.

“We don’t have a choice,” said one.
What you need to know about today’s Electoral College challenges @alexanderbolton & @juliegraceb https://t.co/xixu6fvyPa
Five themes to watch during Electoral College battle @cimarcos

https://t.co/D4b41GRjbc
Trump election fight puts @VP Pence in no-win situation, by @jordainc & @Brett_Samuels27

https://t.co/Iqi93hEILu
Pro-Trump protesters, DC police clash near White House ahead of election challenge @DomMastrangelo1 https://t.co/OEZtw1zTGt
Officials and some lawmakers are bracing for more potential violence today outside the Capitol.

Republicans “are inciting violence. Trump is too,” @GerryConnolly (D-Va.) told me. https://t.co/L5tMSQpkxJ

More from Politics

My piece in the NY Times today: "the Trump administration is denying applications submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services at a rate 37 percent higher than the Obama administration did in 2016."

Based on this analysis: "Denials for immigration benefits—travel documents, work permits, green cards, worker petitions, etc.—increased 37 percent since FY 2016. On an absolute basis, FY 2018 will see more than about 155,000 more denials than FY 2016."
https://t.co/Bl0naOO0sh


"This increase in denials cannot be credited to an overall rise in applications. In fact, the total number of applications so far this year is 2 percent lower than in 2016. It could be that the higher denial rate is also discouraging some people from applying at all.."

Thanks to @gsiskind for his insightful comments. The increase in denials, he said, is “significant enough to make one think that Congress must have passed legislation changing the requirements. But we know they have not.”

My conclusion:

You May Also Like