Republicans privately furious after Trump's post-election implosion blows Senate majority
06 January 2021
Republicans,who enabled President Trump with their silence and compliance, are privately furious with him for blowing their Senate majority.
Driving the news: Democrat Raphael Warnock was declared victor over Sen. Kelly Loeffler in one of the twin Georgia runoffs at 2 a.m., and will become the Southern state's first Black senator. Democrat Jon Ossoff is on track to beat former Sen. David Perdue in the other runoff, with most of the outstanding votes in Democratic strongholds.
That second victory would mean Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer becomes effective majority leader, taking power from Mitch McConnell.
- In a 50-50 Senate, Vice President-elect Harris would break ties.
Why it matters: It's a fitting and predictable end to Trump’s reign.
- The party has now lost the House, Senate and White House on his watch.
- He leaves Democrats in full control of Washington's agenda, with only the Supreme Court's conservative majority as a counterweight.
- As a curtain call for Trumpism, approximately a dozen senators and 100+ Republicans today will publicly support an idea that many of them think is idiotic and doomed to fail, as they protest congressional certification of President-elect Biden's victory.
What Senate control means for Dems and Joe Biden:
- They can try to do big spending and tax hikes via budget reconciliation, which requires only a simple majority.
- They can jam through nominees and judicial picks if they stay united.
- They control what comes to the floor and when.
Between the lines: It'd be tough to go big with a 50-50 Senate, so don't assume a substantial shift. But Democratic control would be a massive blow to Republican hopes of blowing up anything they truly loathe.
👀 What we're watching: Biden sources tell Axios he now can go more progressive on remaining Cabinet picks, notably attorney general and secretary of Labor.
- Sally Yates, the former acting attorney general who was fired by Trump, could now go back on the table to be Biden's attorney general.
A big winner: Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost her 2018 race for Georgia governor, galvanized Black voters and became the face of yesterday's massive Democratic turnout.
The big loser: Top Republicans blame Trump for sabotaging what should have been two easy wins — turning off suburban voters with his chaos and craziness, and sowing distrust of the Peach State election machinery with base voters.
Go deeper: Why AP declared Warnock the winner.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.