A New Era in Washington

The circus never ends at the White House. Donald Trump is always blabbing about one thing or another, talking about himself in the third person and blaming the Democrats for the consequences of erratic decisions that he made to paralyze the federal government. This strategy of shameless blackmail, that aims to get funding for his wall at the border between Mexico and the United states, will lead nowhere.

The Democrats and centrist Republicans are in agreement about increasing funding for border security while adopting a more humane approach. Contrary to what President Trump has implied, it’s not a matter of national security. It would take good will and good faith on his part to end this futile government paralysis that is penalizing some 800,000 federal employees.

Whether he wants it or not, it’s the dawn of a new era in Washington with the confirmation of Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House of Representatives. The Democrats, who won control of the House during the midterm elections, intend to oppose the sulky, angry president who thought he was above the law. It’s about time!

One of the biggest tragedies of this presidency is not so much Trump himself as it is the decay of the Republican party. At first hesitant to accept this rogue actor, the Republicans have come to abandon all sense of any moral compass over the past two years. They do not know how to throw a safety net over the president’s inappropriate politics.

The swearing in of a House that has a Democratic majority is, therefore, good timing. Already, Speaker Pelosi has evoked the possibility of introducing articles of impeachment against President Trump for obstruction of justice. Without control of the Senate, in which Republicans remain the majority, that path is risky, perhaps premature, since Special Counsel Robert Mueller still hasn’t finished his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

That investigation, which Trump denounces and vilifies as illegal, will culminate in 2019. The investigation will be a prerequisite factor when either Congress or the voters review Trump’s presidency if he achieves the sad but plausible feat of remaining in office until 2020 and seeks a second term.