Sunday shows – Capital locked down ahead of Biden’s inauguration
by The Hill staff
Multiple guests appeared on the Sunday morning political talk shows to discuss President-elect Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday amid fears of violence in Washington, D.C. and in state capitols across the country.
The historic House vote last week to impeach President Trump for a second time was also discussed, along with his Senate trial and the latest developments in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.
President-elect Joe Biden's spokesperson said on Sunday that he still plans to hold his inauguration at the U.S. Capitol, saying it will speak to the “resilience of American democracy” just weeks after the unprecedented violence at the complex.
“I think that will send an incredibly important visual image to the world about the resilience of American democracy. And so our plan and our expectation is that President-elect Biden will put his hand on the Bible with his family outside on the west side of the Capitol on the 20th,” Kate Bedingfield said.
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said Sunday that despite heavy security around federal facilities, she is concerned about potential terror attacks elsewhere in the city, particularly residential areas.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said his office is monitoring the potential for violence at planned protests at the state capitol but has not yet felt the need to deploy the National Guard.
“I may very well have,” Republican Rep. Peter Meijer (Mich.) said. “But I think it's also important that we have elected leaders who are not thinking solely about what's in their individual self-interest, not what is going to be politically expedient, but what we actually need for the country.”
“When it comes to an issue of this gravity and constitutional importance, members really have to follow their own conscience," Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.) told CNN's Jake Tapper. "It isn't a matter of saying, 'well, the team has to all vote together.'"
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said Sunday that the Senate has an “obligation” to conduct President Trump’s second impeachment trial even after he leaves office.
Republican strategist Karl Rove suggested on Sunday that President Trump is at higher risk of the Senate voting to convict the president in his second impeachment trial if Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, spearheads his defense.
The Democratic lawmaker who led the filing of the latest article of impeachment against President Trump spoke Sunday about the level of danger lawmakers faced from rioters during the Jan. 6 overtaking of the U.S. Capitol.
Newly seated Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said Sunday that President Trump “put all of our lives at risk” with his rhetoric before the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday President Trump should no longer receive daily intelligence briefings and be prohibited from receiving such briefings once he leaves office.
President Trump's former national security adviser H.R. McMaster said Sunday that he would not support another run for office by Trump following his 2020 election defeat and the riot at the U.S. Capitol, which left five people dead.
"We think there are things we can do to speed up the delivery of that vaccine, and make that vaccine supply go farther," Ron Klain said. "For example, one thing the president-elect mentioned yesterday was using the Defense Production Act to ramp up the production of a particular type of syringes that allow us to get six doses of the vaccine out of a vial instead of five."
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, was sanguine about the timeline for new coronavirus vaccine approvals, saying on Sunday that the clearance of new AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson shots is likely “weeks away.”
