We begin today’s roundup with an analysis of Trump’s presidency and his Republican enablers from Timothy Egan at The New York Times:
It’s hard to work up much sympathy for the hollowed-out husk of a human being that is Mitch McConnell, or Lindsey Graham for that matter. This country is a harder, colder, more meanspirited place because these senators would rather bootlick a bully than stand for the principles they once espoused.
Surely, they know the price of their vassalage. To serve Donald Trump is to lose all self-respect. You lie for him. You cover for him. You hate for him. John Boehner, the former House speaker, has more honor as a mercenary for marijuana than the elected Republicans shoveling dirt over the grave of the Constitution.
But Americans should care about a more lasting and damaging corrosion — the destabilizing of venerable institutions. It’s one thing to corrupt a politician, the natural osmosis of the species. It’s quite another to debase the foundations of a great democracy.
Alana Abramson at The Week details how Democrats are responding to the administration’s obstruction:
Facing what they call unprecedented obstruction from the Trump Administration, House Democrats introduced a resolution Thursday to hold Attorney General William Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt of Congress. The resolution highlights that, if approved, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler can go to court to enforce compliance from McGahn and Barr. The resolution also emphasizes that House rules enable committee chairs to go directly to the courts to enforce subpoenas without holding a floor vote, paving the way for other committee chairs to follow Nadler’s lead. Congressional rules already allow committee chairs to bypass a floor vote, but aides say emphasizing that provision is a key part of making their case to both the White House and the Court.