But refusing to meet now, in this moment of crisis, is an utter abdication of responsibility. The U.S. elects a president to represent us all. Congress provides a key check on the power of the presidency, which has only grown in my lifetime. Now it appears that one of our last lines of defense against tyranny is AWOL.
The arguments usually given for poorly timed congressional recesses are invalid. I appreciate the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday as much as the next Black man, but I have never taken a full week off for it. And the winter holiday season has just ended, giving lawmakers plenty of time to spend with their constituents. There are no bills on the floor to stump for and no elections to campaign in.
As ever, the pandemic complicates things — Covid-19 is spiking still, and in the aftermath of Wednesday's insurrection, Rep. Jake LaTurner, a freshman Republican from Kansas,. LaTurner had objected to Arizona's electoral votes from the House floor, potentially infecting his colleagues. And calling on the lawmakers who've already left Washington to turn around and come back is also a health risk — although that just highlights why none of them should have left town in the first place.
There can be nothing more important right now than protecting America from Trump during his final and most desperate days in office.
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