One week before Inauguration Day, Vance rescinds President Trump’s promise to pardon January 6 rioters
Good morning, readers of the US Politics Blog. There’s a week left until Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, the day he vowed to act like a dictator, and among the long list of things he promised to do on his first day in office was The actual state of the crimes surrounding the January 6 riots, including pardons for those sentenced and those accused. Several surveys conducted on the issue have shown that blanket amnesty is unpopular with Americans, and in an interview Sunday, J.D. Vance appeared to go back on his boss’ promise. “If you protested peacefully on January 6th… you should be pardoned,” the vice president-elect told Fox News. “Obviously, if you were violent that day, you should not be forgiven, and there are some gray areas, but we are committed to equal administration of the law.”
Trump has broken all norms, but he is far from the first American president to make big promises during a campaign and then find reasons not to keep them once he takes office. What his supporters think of Vance’s comments will become clearer as the days go by.
Here’s what else is going on:
Confirmation hearings for President Trump’s cabinet nominees begin this week, with the first hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Some nominees, such as Sen. Marco Rubio, who heads the State Department, are expected to be confirmed with little tension. But some believe there will be a fight with Democrats if Pete Hegseth becomes secretary of defense, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. becomes secretary of Health and Human Services, and Tulsi Gabbard becomes director of national intelligence.
Joe Biden is trying to make the most of his final week as president. It begins at 2 p.m. ET with a speech at the State Department about the legacy of foreign policy.
Los Angeles firefighters continue to extinguish blazes in and around the city amid renewed gusty winds and intense heat, raising concerns that more fires could start. Follow our live blog for more information.
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Donald Trump will take over the government a week from today, giving him unprecedented power in Washington, The Guardian’s Ed Gargan reports. More details:
Donald Trump will come to power with a “triad” of government control after the Republicans win the House, Senate, and the presidency in the 2024 US elections.
It is not unusual for a US president to control both houses of Congress. Trump, like Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, achieved a trifecta in their first term.
But Trump has unusual advantages over his predecessor. Six of the nine members of the U.S. Supreme Court are appointees of Republican presidents.
Since World War II, only two other presidents have taken office with full control of both houses of Congress and a “super majority” of more than two-thirds of the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court justices have no formal allegiance to a political party or president, but the majority of conservative justices are likely to favor President Trump.
A historical comparison of these government majorities is as follows.
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President Trump slams former special counsel Jack Smith after stalling on January 6 report
If Jack Smith’s report on the failed prosecution of Donald Trump in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election is ever released, it will happen this week.
The report is currently held up by legal disputes, and Smith resigned over the weekend as the Justice Department’s special counsel tasked with prosecuting the former president.
Still, Trump attacked Smith yesterday in a post on Truth Social.
Why would a deranged Jack Smith issue a “report” on a complete and utter witch hunt against me for strictly political purposes, even though it was removed from the case and ultimately dismissed by the Department of Justice? Is that allowed? So, at best, he has been unfairly implicated in this political persecution, and the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by our hapless government have been, simply put, wasted. He has already filled thousands of rejected statements and documents against me, but it was a “joke” and the people voted me president in a landslide!
Here are the details of Mr. Smith’s modest announcement that he will end his public duties.
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Updated at 09:44 ET
President Trump has backed away from his promises on Ukraine and inflation since winning the election.
The Jan. 6 pardon for the defendants is far from the first campaign promise that Donald Trump has reversed since his reelection in November.
Republicans persuaded voters with promises to lower food prices, but in a late November interview with Time magazine, they said it would likely be impossible to undo what inflation had caused.
I would like to defeat them. It is difficult to bring down something once it has gone up. You know, that’s very difficult. But I think I would. I think that energy will defeat them. I think a better supply chain will break them up.
President Trump is similarly confused about brokering an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He had called for it to happen within 24 hours of taking office, but at a press conference last week he said it could now take up to six months.
Retired Army General Keith Kellogg, who was chosen by President Trump to be his special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, said over the weekend that he hoped the conflict between the two countries would be resolved within 100 days. Here are details of Kellogg’s interview with Fox News:
Set it to 100 days and go all the way back to make sure the solutions are solid and sustainable, and how we can do this in the short term to end this war and stop the genocide. Let’s consider. I think that’s very, very important. It will be important to our national security. It is part of our vital national interest and is good for Europe and good for the planet.
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Updated on 09.25 ET
One week before Inauguration Day, Vance rescinds President Trump’s promise to pardon January 6 rioters
Good morning, readers of the US Politics Blog. There’s a week left until Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, the day he vowed to act like a dictator, and among the long list of things he promised to do on his first day in office was The actual state of the crimes surrounding the January 6 riots, including pardons for those sentenced and those accused. Several studies conducted on the issue show that blanket pardons are unpopular with Americans, and in an interview Sunday, J.D. Vance appeared to go back on his boss’ promise. “If you protested peacefully on January 6th… you should be pardoned,” the vice president-elect told Fox News. “Obviously, if you were violent that day, you should not be forgiven, and there are some gray areas, but we are committed to equal administration of the law.”
Trump has broken all norms, but he is far from the first American president to make big promises during a campaign and then find reasons not to keep them once he takes office. What his supporters think of Vance’s comments will become clearer as the days go by.
Here’s what else is going on:
Confirmation hearings for President Trump’s Cabinet nominees begin this week, with the first hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Some nominees, such as Sen. Marco Rubio, who heads the State Department, are expected to be confirmed with little tension. But some believe there will be a fight with Democrats if Pete Hegseth becomes secretary of defense, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. becomes secretary of Health and Human Services, and Tulsi Gabbard becomes director of national intelligence.
Joe Biden is trying to make the most of his final week as president. It begins at 2 p.m. ET with a speech at the State Department about the legacy of foreign policy.
Los Angeles firefighters continue to extinguish blazes in and around the city amid renewed gusty winds and intense heat, raising concerns that more fires could start. Follow our live blog for more information.
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