A real-time account of the hours when rioters breached the Capitol and brought the government to a halt.AP Photo/Andrew HarnikIt was an unusual session of Congress to start with, a piece of fractious political theater around the normally ceremonial moment when America finally ratifies its choice of president.Then came the shouts in the hallways. And broken glass, and panicky texts, and confusion—and an abrupt halt to the basic working of the government.On Wednesday, when the waves of pro-Trump rioters overwhelmed U.S. Capitol Police and surged through the building’s lobbies and stairways,...…A real-time account of the hours when rioters breached the Capitol and brought the government to a halt.AP Photo/Andrew HarnikIt was an unusual session of Congress to start with, a piece of fractious political theater around the normally ceremonial moment when America finally ratifies its choice of president.Then came the shouts in the hallways. And broken glass, and panicky texts, and confusion—and an abrupt halt to the basic working of the government.On Wednesday, when the waves of pro-Trump rioters overwhelmed U.S. Capitol Police and surged through the building’s lobbies and stairways,...WW…

How a state that was never in doubt became a "national embarrassment" and a symbol of the Republican Party’s fealty to Donald Trump.An elections worker rubs his head in the closing hours where absentee ballots were processed at the central counting board, Nov. 4, 2020, in Detroit. | AP Photo/Carlos OsorioAfter five years spent bullying the Republican Party into submission, President Donald Trump finally met his match in Aaron Van Langevelde.Who?That’s right. In the end, it wasn’t a senator or a judge or a general who stood up to the leader of the free world. There was no dramatic,...…How a state that was never in doubt became a "national embarrassment" and a symbol of the Republican Party’s fealty to Donald Trump.An elections worker rubs his head in the closing hours where absentee ballots were processed at the central counting board, Nov. 4, 2020, in Detroit. | AP Photo/Carlos OsorioAfter five years spent bullying the Republican Party into submission, President Donald Trump finally met his match in Aaron Van Langevelde.Who?That’s right. In the end, it wasn’t a senator or a judge or a general who stood up to the leader of the free world. There was no dramatic,...WW…

By lashing themselves to the president’s desperate conspiracies of fraud, GOP officials have undermined their own legitimacy.Rep. Jim Jordan stands with dozens of people calling for stopping the vote count in Pennsylvania due to alleged fraud against President Donald Trump. | Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesNever has the unprecedented been so utterly predictable.At the conclusion of a campaign that exceeded their expectations in almost every sense — picking up House seats, thwarting an outright Democratic takeover of the Senate, running competitively in every presidential battleground state —...…By lashing themselves to the president’s desperate conspiracies of fraud, GOP officials have undermined their own legitimacy.Rep. Jim Jordan stands with dozens of people calling for stopping the vote count in Pennsylvania due to alleged fraud against President Donald Trump. | Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesNever has the unprecedented been so utterly predictable.At the conclusion of a campaign that exceeded their expectations in almost every sense — picking up House seats, thwarting an outright Democratic takeover of the Senate, running competitively in every presidential battleground state —...WW…

For years, Democrats have tried to win the state by focusing on cities and suburbs. But that hasn’t been enough. Now, they think they can finally push Texas over the edge by targeting the reddest areas of the state.AP Photo/LM OteroIn late September, in downtown Odessa, Texas, five cars were parked in front of the Ector County Democratic Party headquarters, which shares a dusty office with the town’s first-ever Hispanic attorney. Driving around deep-red West Texas, it’s rare to see a vehicle that isn’t a pickup, but outside the office two of the five cars were hybrids. Inside, where...…For years, Democrats have tried to win the state by focusing on cities and suburbs. But that hasn’t been enough. Now, they think they can finally push Texas over the edge by targeting the reddest areas of the state.AP Photo/LM OteroIn late September, in downtown Odessa, Texas, five cars were parked in front of the Ector County Democratic Party headquarters, which shares a dusty office with the town’s first-ever Hispanic attorney. Driving around deep-red West Texas, it’s rare to see a vehicle that isn’t a pickup, but outside the office two of the five cars were hybrids. Inside, where...WW…

From profiting off his lifetime Secret Service protection to trolling the Biden administration by cozying up to dictators around the world, Trump’s stint as ex-president could be as disruptive and norm-busting as the last four years have been.Sarah Silbiger/Getty ImagesBeing an ex-president can be a cushy and quiet life for the most part. Jimmy Carter builds homes; George W. Bush paints. After leaving the White House, Barack Obama went kite-surfing with Richard Branson on his private island in the British Virgin Islands.None of that, though, seems likely to be in the cards for Donald Trump...…From profiting off his lifetime Secret Service protection to trolling the Biden administration by cozying up to dictators around the world, Trump’s stint as ex-president could be as disruptive and norm-busting as the last four years have been.Sarah Silbiger/Getty ImagesBeing an ex-president can be a cushy and quiet life for the most part. Jimmy Carter builds homes; George W. Bush paints. After leaving the White House, Barack Obama went kite-surfing with Richard Branson on his private island in the British Virgin Islands.None of that, though, seems likely to be in the cards for Donald Trump...WW…

Thursday’s debate was one more example of a candidate whose deficits have become assets at exactly the right moment.Photo by Jim Bourg-Pool/Getty ImagesIt was a frigid night in mid-Michigan on November 2, 2018, when Joe Biden jogged onto the stage inside an overheated gymnasium at Lansing Community College, a rowdy audience of several thousand people chanting his name. The former vice president wasn’t yet a declared candidate for president, and this occasion wasn’t about him. Biden had come to Michigan to headline a unity rally four days before the midterm election. After rousing remarks...…Thursday’s debate was one more example of a candidate whose deficits have become assets at exactly the right moment.Photo by Jim Bourg-Pool/Getty ImagesIt was a frigid night in mid-Michigan on November 2, 2018, when Joe Biden jogged onto the stage inside an overheated gymnasium at Lansing Community College, a rowdy audience of several thousand people chanting his name. The former vice president wasn’t yet a declared candidate for president, and this occasion wasn’t about him. Biden had come to Michigan to headline a unity rally four days before the midterm election. After rousing remarks...WW…

His belligerent debate performance revealed the president has lost the confidence he had four years ago, and it will cost him.President Donald Trump speaks during the first presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden. | Morry Gash-Pool/Getty ImagesDonald Trump believes, to his core, that a single event in 2016 clinched him the presidency.It wasn’t the FBI reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton. It wasn’t the Wikileaks dump of hacked DNC emails. It wasn’t the published list of potential Supreme Court nominees, or the selection of Mike Pence, or Clinton’s comment...…His belligerent debate performance revealed the president has lost the confidence he had four years ago, and it will cost him.President Donald Trump speaks during the first presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden. | Morry Gash-Pool/Getty ImagesDonald Trump believes, to his core, that a single event in 2016 clinched him the presidency.It wasn’t the FBI reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton. It wasn’t the Wikileaks dump of hacked DNC emails. It wasn’t the published list of potential Supreme Court nominees, or the selection of Mike Pence, or Clinton’s comment...WW…

What happens when a party gives up on ideas?Illustration by Matt ChaseEarlier this month, while speaking via Zoom to a promising group of politically inclined high school students, I was met with an abrupt line of inquiry. “I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand,” said one young man, his pitch a blend of curiosity and exasperation. “What do Republicans believe? What does it mean to be a Republican?”You could forgive a 17-year-old, who has come of age during Donald Trump’s reign, for failing to recognize a cohesive doctrine that guides the president’s party. The supposed canons of GOP...…What happens when a party gives up on ideas?Illustration by Matt ChaseEarlier this month, while speaking via Zoom to a promising group of politically inclined high school students, I was met with an abrupt line of inquiry. “I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand,” said one young man, his pitch a blend of curiosity and exasperation. “What do Republicans believe? What does it mean to be a Republican?”You could forgive a 17-year-old, who has come of age during Donald Trump’s reign, for failing to recognize a cohesive doctrine that guides the president’s party. The supposed canons of GOP...WW…

Abigail Spanberger catapults herself out of a chair, yanks on two desk drawers and pinches a stack of white notecards, plopping them onto the table between us. The gust of activity is a bit disorienting. We’ve been talking for all of two minutes, just long enough to state the preface for my forthcoming line of inquiry—whether the U.S. Congress is utterly hopeless, an irresponsible and dysfunctional body of unserious lawmakers with a talent only for self-preservation—but already the 40-year-old Spanberger seems distracted. Now she plunges both hands into her purse, grasping for a writing...…Abigail Spanberger catapults herself out of a chair, yanks on two desk drawers and pinches a stack of white notecards, plopping them onto the table between us. The gust of activity is a bit disorienting. We’ve been talking for all of two minutes, just long enough to state the preface for my forthcoming line of inquiry—whether the U.S. Congress is utterly hopeless, an irresponsible and dysfunctional body of unserious lawmakers with a talent only for self-preservation—but already the 40-year-old Spanberger seems distracted. Now she plunges both hands into her purse, grasping for a writing...WW…

Andrew Yang has thoughts on Trump’s handling of COVID-19, the administration’s proposed cash infusion, and why the current crisis is paving the road to universal basic income.Andrew Yang speaks to POLITICO after the Democratic Debate on December 19 in Los Angeles, CA. | Stephen Voss for POLITICOAndrew Yang takes no pleasure in looking prophetical.The tech entrepreneur and former candidate for president, who last month suspended his campaign after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, built his candidacy around the idea of universal basic income — that Americans should receive $1,000 each...…Andrew Yang has thoughts on Trump’s handling of COVID-19, the administration’s proposed cash infusion, and why the current crisis is paving the road to universal basic income.Andrew Yang speaks to POLITICO after the Democratic Debate on December 19 in Los Angeles, CA. | Stephen Voss for POLITICOAndrew Yang takes no pleasure in looking prophetical.The tech entrepreneur and former candidate for president, who last month suspended his campaign after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire, built his candidacy around the idea of universal basic income — that Americans should receive $1,000 each...WW…