Interregnum, week 8

[petrea_mitchell]

It was great to see the back of 2020, but now we're heading back into the workweek and having to face the facts that the pandemic is worse than ever, the federal vaccine rollout has consisted of dumping it on the states' doorsteps and declaring the job done, and the president is still looking for someone to humor him by enabling a coup.

This week, what is supposed to be the final act of the election happens on the 6th, except Georgia elects two senators on the 5th. Given how long it took for Georgia to count its November ballots, this means the Senate on the 6th will consist of 98 actual humans and two members in an indeterminate quantum state, which probably means procedural shenanigans the likes of which we cannot anticipate.

My remote corner of the world continues along quietly. Well, figuratively. I was sneezing like it was springtime yesterday. Thankfully, it's been raining on and off since last night and it's a whole lot easier to breathe today.

Comments

[kevin_standlee]

99 Humans; the one who is an interim appointee holds their seat until the end of the appointment term or until a successor is elected. The other one's term expired on Sunday when the 116th Congress adjourned sine die and even if re-elected won't be able to retake the seat until Georgia certifies the results. In any event, the Republicans will still hold a majority on January 6, I think, and even if somehow they could flip both seats, Pence still is VP and gets the casting vote in case of a tie.

[petrea_mitchell]

Oh, I forgot about the one carrying over. Or wasn't paying attention.

[kevin_standlee]

I'd only remembered it because both of the elections are in Georgia. It's unusual enough (because senators' terms are staggered so that normally a state elects either either one senator or none) that I looked it up. Also they were talking about it on C-SPAN on Sunday when the new Congress convened.