It's in the Senate's hands now

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The announcement yesterday that Sen. Rob Portman will not seek re-election in two years does not bode well for the future of the Republican Party. Like Jeff Flake and others before him, Portman is becoming marginalized within a party that once stood for limited government, fiscal responsibility, and traditional American values. Trading all of that for a personality cult has left the party increasingly overrun by charlatans, conspiracy theorists, and opportunists who scoff at the concepts of unifying leadership and responsible, competent governance. Where does that leave principled and former Republicans? Uniting with other Americans to oppose a demagogue was an easy call, but where will those opposed to the current direction of the GOP ultimately land? The question of whether to stay and fight for the Republican Party, move on to something new, or do something in between is now being considered by many. Time will tell, but Portman's departure certainly highlights the need for a greater
effort to support honorable leadership on the right. —Evan McMullin

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** The second time around
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The impeachment managers from the House of Representatives formally delivered Donald Trump's second impeachment charge to the Senate last night, triggering the trial that will determine whether Trump is convicted of inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Rep. Jamie Raskin read the full article of impeachment into the record. Usually, a Senate trial determines whether a president can remain in office following impeachment, but since Trump's term has already ended, the trial will determine whether he can hold federal elective office in the future. The trial will begin on Feb. 8. —Forbes ([link removed])
* — "I think it has to happen." President Biden said yesterday that the Senate impeachment trial has to happen, despite the potential disruptions to his agenda in the critical first 100 days of his administration. The president said he recognizes that the trial will impact the timeline for his legislative plans and Cabinet nominees, but said there would be "a worse effect if it didn’t happen." —The Hill ([link removed])
*
* — Most Americans agree. A majority of Americans want to see Trump convicted in the Senate and barred from holding future federal office, according to a new poll released yesterday by Monmouth University. The poll found 56% of Americans approve of Trump's second impeachment, a slight uptick compared to his first impeachment, when 53% of those surveyed approved. —Politico ([link removed])
*
* — Roberts is out. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will not preside over the impeachment trial, as he did at Trump's first impeachment a year ago. Instead, Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy, the most senior member of the Senate Democratic Conference, will preside over the trial. Why the change? Trump is no longer a sitting president. —The Hill ([link removed])

MORE: Jane Chong: The Senate trial will test whether Republicans care even about themselves —The Atlantic ([link removed])


** Rubin: A message to retiring Republicans
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"[Y]ou cannot undo the past four years, much as you might regret your reticence in standing up to an authoritarian narcissist and his enablers. You can leave the Senate on a high note, freeing your party from dependency on an anti-democratic bully and ending its reliance on voter suppression and legislative obstruction. If you choose to, you can leave a Senate record you are proud of and a legacy of achievement." —Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post ([link removed])

Jennifer Rubin is an attorney and political opinion columnist at The Washington Post.


** This week in DC...
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The week got off to a productive start in the nation's capital on the first Monday of the Biden Administration. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell finally relented last night on a power-sharing deal after Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema confirmed that they would not nix the 60-vote legislative filibuster—a sticking point for McConnell. Talks had been at a standstill for days over how to organize an evenly split 50-50 Senate, where Democrats hold the majority because Vice President Kamala Harris can break a tie. The standoff kept the chamber in an odd state of limbo where Democrats have the majority but Republicans control the committees. —The Hill ([link removed])
* — Another Cabinet confirmation. Lawmakers confirmed Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary yesterday, making her the first woman in American history to hold the position. She'll be tasked with shepherding President Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan through Congress and overseeing its execution. The plan includes $1,400 stimulus checks, expanded unemployment benefits, and increased funding for COVID-19 vaccinations and testing. —CNN ([link removed])
*
* — A win for LGBTQ equality. Biden repealed a Trump-era ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military, signing an executive order in the Oval Office with Vice President Kamala Harris, new Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin, and Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley looking on. Speaking briefly to reporters, Biden said the order will allow all "qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform." —NPR ([link removed])
*
* — Buy American. Biden signed an executive order yesterday aimed at promoting a "Buy American" agenda that seeks to bolster U.S. manufacturing. The order directs agencies to strengthen requirements about purchasing products and services from U.S. workers and businesses, cuts some red tape, and creates a position in the Office of Management and Budget responsible for enforcing the directive. —NBC News ([link removed])

MORE: Senate confirms Antony Blinken as 71st secretary of state —The Boston Globe ([link removed])


** Covid travel restrictions reinstated
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President Biden will sign executive action reinstating COVID-19 travel restrictions on non-U.S. travelers from Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and 26 other European countries that allow travel across open borders. White House Press Sec. Jen Psaki also confirmed that South Africa would be added to the restricted list because of concerns about a worrisome new variant of the virus in that country. "This isn't the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel," Psaki said. Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci concurred, calling Biden's decision "prudent." —CBS News ([link removed])

MORE: Should you wear two masks? Here's what Dr. Fauci says —Deseret News ([link removed])
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** Kovalev: Why the Navalny protests should worry Putin
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"[T]he protests emerged from—and revealed—the impotence of the [Russian] government. To its discontented citizens it fails to offer anything but crude force and conspiracy theories. (Navalny is often depicted as a foreign agent, and protests as financed by 'the West.') There’s no vision of the future and little effort in the present to improve people's lives, now worsened by the pandemic." —Alexey Kovalev in The New York Times ([link removed])

Alexey Kovalev is the investigations editor at Meduza, an independent Russian news outlet.

MORE: Biden, in first call with Putin, presses on Navalny, treaty —Associated Press ([link removed])


** Focus on the post-Trump GOP
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If the Republican Party has any plans to extricate itself from Trumpism, you wouldn't know it by observing the state party organizations. The Arizona GOP just re-elected divisive Chair Kelli Ward and censured Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. The Hawaii Republican Party has suggested that adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory are merely engaging in misguided patriotism. And last week, the Oregon GOP condemned the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump and called the siege of the Capitol a "false flag" operation. Ugh. What else is happening in this very divided party? —The Washington Post ([link removed])
* — Trumpers. Former White House Press Sec. Sarah Huckabee Sanders formally launched her 2022 campaign for Arkansas governor yesterday, releasing a roughly eight-minute video that leaned heavily on her tenure as Trump's top spokesperson. Though she's never held elected office, she says of her time as press secretary, "I took on the media, the radical left, and their cancel culture, and I won." —Politico ([link removed])
*
* — Never Trumpers. Former U.S. Rep. David Jolly is "strongly considering" an independent run for Florida governor in 2022. Jolly, who repped Florida's 13th district as a Republican from 2014 to 2017, is a high-profile critic of Trump who publicly left the GOP in 2018. He has used his influence to attract other former Republicans, as well as disaffected Democrats and independents, to a new party he's chairing, the Serve America Movement. —Axios ([link removed])
*
* — Establishment Republicans. The exodus of long-established Republicans from public service will continue with Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who will not seek a third term. His announcement yesterday sets up a fight over his open seat in the 2022 election. While he praised the work of his office during his 10-year tenure, Portman lamented the partisan gridlock that has gripped Washington in recent years. —CBS News ([link removed])


** Noel: Will Republicans agree to disagree over democracy?
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"Perhaps the pro-democracy Republicans' best bet is to tell their seditionist fellow party members the truth about the 2020 election. Republican voters will not listen if Democrats tell them that the vote was not fraudulent. But they may listen to an intraparty debate in which Republicans vigorously defend the right to vote, even if it means losing elections. Or perhaps they won't listen. But the party has to have that debate." —Hans Noel in The Atlantic ([link removed])

Hans Noel is an associate professor at Georgetown University's Department of Government.
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court summarily dismissed all emoluments cases against President Trump, voiding all lower court decisions in the process. The underlying issues that brought the case to court remain unresolved and could easily be forgotten until some future president violates them again. Clearly, Congress must enact statutory provisions for enforcement of the clause, including explicit provisions for how a complaint is brought, investigatory authorities and obligations, subpoena power for investigators, and an enforceable means of sanctioning violations without needing to resort to the impeachment process. We have to assume that Trump will not be the last to abuse the office in this way and take steps to equip every future Congress to act. —Mike A., Maryland
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** The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
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