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WASHINGTON (AP) – This time, the fury enveloping the Capitol is not coming from a crowd of insurgents but from within.
The anger on display is searing – Democrat versus Republican; Republican against republican; lawmakers on both sides against the catastrophic security failure that has left top government leaders vulnerable to violence last week as well as coronavirus in their ranks.
The rage is further exacerbated by passions sparked by Democrats’ new desire to oust President Donald Trump.
It’s a “powder keg” moment, said one Democrat. It is certainly historic.
The House is set to make Trump the first president to be impeached twice in an extraordinary effort to remove him from office ahead of Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration a week from Wednesday. The charge to be brought against him: “incitement to insurrection”.
Once again, the founders’ phrase, “great crimes and misdemeanors,” was turned against Trump, who was acquitted by the Senate in his first impeachment trial. And spirits are skyrocketing in the halls and offices of Congress, still cleaning up the garbage of the attackers.
The shaken members, long accustomed to protective bubbles, asked if they could spend their own bulletproof vests on taxpayers (yes, they can). Democrats assaulted a collection of still-Trumpers – Republicans who insisted on the president’s false accusations of a fraudulent election even after the mob, motivated by the same lies, was finally erased.
Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, among others, has called for the expulsion or censorship of Republican members who have defended Trump’s arguments for reversing the will of voters, if those lawmakers refuse to resign. Democrats were mainly after Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, and a selection of House lawmakers who had also tried to block Biden’s electoral certification.
“Failure to hold those responsible for the insurgency accountable would be a profound injustice and give the green light to future authoritarians,” Casey said.
Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland said, “They have an independent reality in their own right, totally cut off from the realm of facts, and this is the basis of fascism. When you add racism, anti-Semitism, conspiracy theory and magical thinking, it’s an absolute powder keg in terms of an attack on democracy.
There was also the Republican to Republican finger. Much was intended for Minority House Leader Kevin McCarthy of California for not showing enough leadership, according to some former lawmakers as well as GOP congressional aides who spoke under the guise of anonymity as they were not allowed to discuss the matter publicly.
Some House Republicans are upset that McCarthy, one of Trump’s staunchest supporters in Washington, defended him too forcefully and for too long, which made it harder to disassociate Trump after the Capitol siege .
In contrast, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has explicitly criticized Trump’s drive to overturn Biden’s election, saying it “will damage our republic forever.” He did so even as the crowds entered the Capitol and rushed to the rooms against outnumbered police.
McCarthy acknowledged his fellow Republicans’ outrage at the attack in a letter to them on Monday stating “I share your anger and your pain” and making sure they knew the mob threat was ‘was also approaching him.
“Zippered fasteners were found on the staff desks in my office,” he wrote. “Windows have been smashed. Goods have been stolen. These images will never leave us.
As if nerves weren’t sharp enough in the face of the actions of Trump and his die-hard loyalists, three Democrats who took refuge with members of the Republican House when excited in a secure room revealed they had since tested positive for COVID-19. Some Republicans in this room during those hours refused to wear masks.
Indeed, one of the newly infected, Representative Pramila Jayapal from Washington, said that “several Republicans not only cruelly refused to wear a mask, but recklessly laughed at their colleagues and employees who offered them one. “.
Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey and Brad Schneider of Illinois were the others who announced positive tests after passing through the room as everyone waited to see if more cases were to come.
Democrats were furious.
“In the midst of a deadly attack on our US Capitol, a number of our fellow Republicans scoffed at rules designed not only to keep their colleagues safe, but also to protect the lives of the teams of workers who get things done, law enforcement and staff across Capitol Hill, ”said Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich.
On Tuesday, the House Sergeant-at-Arms released a statement saying all members and others entering the chamber should be screened for prohibited items, including firearms, and anyone not wearing a mask on the floor of the Chamber will be expelled. The House also voted to impose fines on lawmakers without face masks.
The requirement for tracing comes as at least one lawmaker, first-year Rep Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Has spoken openly about carrying his gun around town and on Capitol Hill grounds, which has infuriated Democrats at gun control.
The new metal detectors outside the House chamber also angered some Republicans, some of whom profited from obscenities or ignored the devices, saying they were preventing them from voting.
In a virtual House Rules Committee meeting, Democrats pleaded with Republicans to stop peddling Trump’s myths about a stolen election. Trump’s accusations were refuted for weeks by judges and election officials, but stirred up crowds and are still believed by legions of Trump supporters.
“When does the service to Donald Trump end?” demanded Democratic Representative Joe Morelle from New York. “It should be easy to answer.”
“When people talk, it’s over,” he continued. Otherwise, “we have nothing. There is no America.
There were signs the top House Republican was reversing his steadfast loyalty to Trump.
McCarthy had joined most House Republicans in December in supporting a lawsuit to block Biden’s election, and again last week in two votes against Biden’s certification of victory. The trial and both votes failed. He has so far avoided castigating Trump publicly. But on a private conference call Monday with GOP colleagues, he expressed his willingness to censor Trump.
McCarthy “has amplified the president’s misinformation about large-scale electoral fraud,” former Senator Jeff Flake of R-Ariz, who has clashed with Trump often, said in an interview last week. “It was irresponsible. Mitch does not fall into this category. ”
“McCarthy agrees with Trump,” said Paul Cook, who retired in January as a California GOP congressman and has had disputes with him over the years. “I think sometimes you have the greatest good in the country, it’s not always the party.”
For Cook, it all comes down to the oath of office. “You take the oath, a lot of people kind of forget the words,” he said.
In their oath of office, legislators undertake to defend the Constitution “against all enemies, foreigners and nationals”.
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