This Week in Washington - January 7, 2021

This Week in Washington - January 7, 2021

January 7, 2021

I knew it would be a significant week. The big event was Tuesday’s runoff elections in Georgia because they were winner-take-all, the results set to determine the shape of government and the direction of federal policy for the next two years. The other event – Wednesday’s Congressional certification of the electoral college results – is typically ceremonial. A great number of speeches were planned and there were certainly questions about how Vice President Pence would handle his function, but we knew how the story would end. What I didn’t know is what would happen before the Presidential election results were certified.

I had planned an extensive discussion and analysis of the Georgia results for a future This Week. I really did not anticipate needing to comment much about the Congressional certification process of November’s election. But everything changes everything, and the combination of Republicans’ double loss in Georgia, the riots at the Capitol, and then Congress coming together to finally certify Joe Biden as our next President captured America’s attention.

There is plenty of time to think about everything that occurred this week, and about what comes next. I want to focus on what I heard in Georgia this week, and what I saw Wednesday in Washington.

Democracy in action, Democracy in meltdown, and Democracy restored.