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The TAKE with Rick klein
Trump’s presidency is now destined to end with falsehoods – a storm of baseless accusations about the election he lost, which is distilled into a final statement before the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump’s request is that the highest court in the nation annul the election results. As unlikely as it will succeed, that impressive statement doesn’t even summarize the principles at stake that will be important long after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
About 106 Republicans in the House of Representatives, more than half of the Republican conference, back the president’s effort to get the Supreme Court to intervene. More than that number continues to resist labeling Biden as “president-elect,” just three days before the Electoral College will cement Biden’s victory based on certified results from all states.
Much of the Trump era is short-lived and transactional. Some Trump loyalists will essentially pretend that Trump never existed, or that his crushing of conservative principles in the service of Trumpism was not what it was.
But some of those principles – federalism, the rule of law, and even basic democracy and common sense – are still in play right now.
Trump once promised his followers that they would be “sick and tired of winning” one day. Now, however, what Trump is losing could last longer than the limited days of his presidency.
DISCOUNT with Mary Alice Parks
The good news about the vaccine was juxtaposed with the exasperation on Capitol Hill this week.
The country may be closer to vaccinating healthcare workers and some of the most vulnerable Americans, but millions still await help from Congress as they face the threat of eviction, hunger and poverty.
Days before some benefits and protections for Americans in need expire, Congress has yet to reach an agreement. The big sticking points continue to be the potential liability protection for companies during this time and the debate over direct payments to Americans.
Threats to shut down the government have come from both sides in recent days.
Livelihoods are hanging by a thread as Congress debates.
The TIP with Adam Kelsey
As pressure mounts on Biden to diversify the ideological makeup of his cabinet, Liberal Democrats, frustrated by the dearth of progressives within the group, are cheering on one of Biden’s picks for the potential opportunity that opens up in their wake. .
Biden’s election of Ohio Representative Marcia Fudge to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development could result in a special election in the Buckeye State 11th Congressional District, which is home to former state senator and presidential surrogate Senator Bernie Sanders, Nina Turner.
Turner, 53, who served on the Cleveland City Council before the state Senate, has yet to announce a nomination, but his name appears on FEC documentation filed this week. During Sanders’ two presidential campaigns in the past five years, it was arguably the most popular opening act, building a progressive fan base across the country that could turn it into a grassroots fundraising force, just like the senator from Vermont himself.
But the District 11 field is already filling up, just days after reports of Fudge’s possible new job. Cuyahoga County Councilor Shontel Brown and former Cleveland Councilor Jeff Johnson have expressed their intention to run, should the congresswoman be confirmed in Biden’s cabinet.
Still, liberals are already dreaming of adding a member to the House’s progressive “Squad” where the outspoken and notoriously outspoken Turner could make Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar look embarrassed by comparison. As one Sanders supporter told ABC News this week: “I wanted her to be Bernie’s vice president, but she could definitely make some noise in Congress.”
THE PLAYLIST
ABC News “Start Here” podcast. Friday morning’s episode features ABC News’ Anne Flaherty, who recaps Thursday’s favorable vote from an independent panel on the Pfizer vaccine. Benjamin Siegel of ABC News explains why the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, is coming under fire for allegedly ordering a staff member to remove communications about the response to the coronavirus. And Genevieve Reaume from KATU in Portland tells us about a new confrontation between protesters and police. http://apple.co/2HPocUL
Politics podcast FiveThirtyEight. According to various reports, President Donald Trump is considering preemptive pardoning of family members and allies before leaving office, which could include his three oldest children and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Trump has already pardoned his ally Roger Stone and his former national security adviser Michael Flynn. In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, Galen Druke talks with Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux about why presidents have the power to forgive, how that power has historically been used, and how Trump’s record compares to that of his predecessors. https://53eig.ht/374fM6S
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS WEEKEND
Download the ABC News app and select “The Note” as your item of interest to receive the sharpest political analysis of the day.
The Note is a daily feature on ABC News that highlights the day’s top stories in politics. Check back on Monday for the latest news.
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