Opinion

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) lamented to Fox News' Sean Hannity on Tuesday that if Democrats call witnesses for the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, then it's going to go on for months because then Republicans will want to call witnesses.

It prompted responses from viewers who noted that they actually do want to hear what the witnesses have to say on both sides of the aisle. It's unclear what witnesses the Republicans could call to discount what many saw on video.

Monday night, after a five-day stand-off, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R.-Ky., finally stopped acting like he's still the boss of the entire Senate. Since Joe Biden was inaugurated, McConnell, taking filibuster abuse to a whole new level, has prevented the Senate from adopting new rules reflecting that Democrats now hold the majority, a move that left Sen. Chuck Schumer, D.-N.Y., the Senate Majority Leader in name only. McConnell was demanding that Democrats agree, in writing, to never kill the legislative filibuster. But on Monday, McConnell suddenly caved and let the Senate begin its business — without a formal promise from Democrats to never kill the filibuster.

This is a victory for Democrats, in that they still retain the right to kill the filibuster if — let's face it, when — Republicans use it to prevent any meaningful legislation from reaching the Senate floor. Still, as I write in today's Standing Room Only newsletter, there's good reason to worry that this concession from McConnell is a trap. His only goal is to destroy Biden's presidency and prevent Democrats from passing legislation. There's no reason to think he's abandoned that goal.

The Oregon Republican Party insists there is "growing evidence" to support their baseless opinion that the U.S. Capitol riot was a "false flag" operation.

According to The Guardian, the resolution, published on Jan. 19, suggests that the U.S. Capitol breach was more of "an orchestrated conspiracy 'designed to discredit President Trump, his supporters, and all conservative Republicans'" as opposed to a horrific act of violence committed by a mob of angry Trump supporters.

On Monday evening, Donald Trump announced he was creating the "Office of the Former President" in Palm Beach, Florida.

According to CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins, the new office, which is to be run by former aides in the Trump White House, "will be responsible for managing President Trump's correspondence, public statements, appearances, and official activities," and will "carry on the agenda of the Trump administration through advocacy."

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) called impeachment a "waste of time," and he was drowned in fury and ridicule for sucking up to former president Donald Trump.

The Florida Republican made clear he would not vote to convict Trump for inciting a violent insurrection Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol in a last-ditch effort to stop the certification of President Joe Biden's election win.

Donald Trump is gone. Jan. 20 has come and gone. Joe Biden is our 46th president and Kamala Harris is our vice president. Celebration has been on display and our democracy is breathing easier.

But our glow of hopefulness will inevitably be dampened by the penetrating darkness of the past four years. The aftermath of Donald Trump is before us. And it cannot be avoided. For example, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and several other members of the "sedition caucus" are still in Congress and stand as a constant reminder of how much accountability and healing must still occur.

Hours after President Biden declared that "democracy has prevailed" during his inaugural address, longtime Republican strategist Karl Rove urged Republicans to pressure GOP election officials and legislators to create "a model election code" to reconsider the laws surrounding 2020's two voting options that led to the presidential election's record turnout.

"Republicans should also encourage GOP secretaries of state and state lawmakers to develop a model election code," Rove wrote in a January 20 commentary for the Wall Street Journal entitled, "The Republican Future Starts Now."

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) fired off an attempted snappy defense of former president Donald Trump, and was swiftly met with mockery and ridicule.

The Florida Republican tweeted out the would-be rejoinder to the impeachment House Democrats will carry to the Senate for trial, set for Feb. 8.

Last week, Donald Trump finally left the White House, after two and a half months of trying to steal the election — which culminated in Trump inciting a violent insurrection at the Capitol. Even before he sent a mob to violently interrupt the certification of Joe Biden's win on January 6, Trump's efforts to overturn the election were relentless to the point of being uncountable: Dozens of lawsuits (which were nearly all struck down), pressure campaigns on local election boards and state legislators, an extortion scheme against Senate Republicans, threats against state officials, demands that then-Vice President Mike Pence illegally invalidate the election, and even meetings to explore the possibility of a military coup.

In the face of all this, a narrative has shaped up: Trump's failure to pull off a coup was largely due to his own shortcomings.

How did we find ourselves, despite unified government and a mandate of 81 million Biden-Harris votes, with a Congress so paralyzed that it cannot even pass the organizing resolution to put leaders onto committees? How do popular priorities like immigration reform and vote protection remain frozen?

Because the Senate won't end the filibuster—a bit of parliamentary nonsense that gives a minority of senators a veto over most legislative proposals.

Days into the new government, it's clear that Joe Biden is running an energetic, activist White House while new Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is still stuck in the same stalled Senate that he served in the ever-victimized minority.

Whatever else you want to say about Schumer, he's no Lyndon Baines Johnson, who dominated as a Senate majority leader, or even Harry Reid.