And what do we do if they don't?
We know what should be happening at the U.S. Capitol today: Congress is meant to meet and certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory, ensuring the 35th peaceful transfer of power (excluding deaths and resignations) since John Adams first handed over the reins to Thomas Jefferson in 1801. |
It is a predictable coda, then, to the Trump administration that this largely ceremonial event has been hijacked. |
First, by the president himself. On Sunday, Americans learned of one of the most audacious attacks on our country’s democracy from within since the attempted secession of the Confederate states 160 years ago. In a recording obtained by the Washington Post, President Trump is heard trying to extort Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia secretary of state, to help “find” 11,780 votes for Mr. Trump — one more than the margin by which he lost the state to Mr. Biden. As the editorial board writes, there is a strong case to be made that Mr. Trump deserves to be impeached for this phone call. |
Mr. Trump has poisoned American politics like no president before him, but he’ll be out of power soon. More worrying is the spectacle of more than 150 Republican lawmakers expected to reject the electoral count today, signing on to reject the votes of tens of millions of Americans. This raises the existential question, as the editorial board writes: What do you do about a political party that is no longer committed to representative democracy? |
The future of the nation may depend on the answer. |
Here’s what we’re focusing on today: |
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