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As tragic as the violence at the U.S. Capitol building last week was, the loss of the two Republican Senate seats in Georgia’s Jan. 5 runoff election is by far the more politically consequential event. What makes this twin loss so gut-wrenching for the GOP is that it could have easily been avoided, if during the eight weeks between the Nov. 3 national election and the January runoff President Trump had focused on the upcoming runoff instead of trying to overturn the results of the presidential election.
The immediate consequence of the losses suffered by Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler is to hand New York Democrat Chuck Schumer the keys to the senatorial kingdom. With an evenly divided Senate, this situation makes Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the de facto 101st senator and, at least for the next two years, one of the most powerful individuals in the U.S. government.
by Matt Baume • Jan 8, 2021 at 10:18 am
What have you done for us lately? Onnes / Getty Images
Okay, first things first: It’s looking good for you to get a $2,000 stimulus check sometime soon. How soon? Nobody knows, but maybe before the end of this month. (Still not soon enough.)
That’s just one of the top priorities cited by New York Democrat Chuck Schumer, who declared himself the new Senate Majority Leader before Ossoff was even a projected winner in Georgia. So who is this joker? And are we glad that he’s in charge now, or is he just the worst? Well, as is always the case with Democrats, a little of both.
Biden Wins Wide Berth On Judicial Picks With Senate Victory By By
Andrew Kragie Law360 (January 6, 2021, 4:31 PM EST) Democrats have secured a narrow Senate majority after winning the second of Georgia s two runoff elections, boosting President-elect Joe Biden s legislative agenda and giving him broad latitude when picking federal judges.
The Associated Press called the second race for Democrat Jon Ossoff about 4 p.m. Wednesday after his lead over Republican Sen. David Perdue widened to 0.6%, exceeding the recount threshold with about 98% of votes counted. The news service had declared Democrat Raphael Warnock the victor over incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler at 2 a.m. Wednesday as he led by more than a percentage point.
January 6, 2021
Democrats will control the entire executive branch for the first time since 2011 as Georgia sends two Democratic senators to Congress. The last time this happened, Barack Obama was entering the White House in 2009, backed by commanding Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.
What followed was a stimulus bill that transformed the US economy in ways that accelerated the clean-energy transition faster than anyone imagined.
The $831 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act earmarked $90 billion for clean energy and climate-related programs. Its massive size, more than 10 times larger than previous clean energy bills, placed thousands of bets on energy efficiency, grid modernization, transportation, and renewable energy technologies across the country. “And it worked, unbelievably,” said Michael Grunwald, a journalist who wrote a book on the 2009 stimulus plan.