Lame duck or interregnum?

There’s something different about this period of transition. As we have learned to expect with matters involving Donald Trump, he has exerted a kind of gravitational pull on the levers of government. It’s almost as if Trump has replaced President Joe Biden before the Inauguration!

There’s no doubt the combination of Trump’s triumph and Biden’s diminution makes it appear that Mar-a-Lago is the “room where it happens.” That may turn out to be true in every respect, but for those still stirring the political tea leaves, the real show shifts to the lame duck Senate. What happens there—or does not—will have a lasting impact on government and politics in the coming years. It will also reveal the extent of Trump’s influence well before he is sworn in.

Last gasp or first step?

From K Street, Washington already looks like we are in an interregnum. There seems to be no power in D.C. Congress has the eerie feeling of a haunted house, filled with ghostly presences, all without substance. The whole world is looking to Palm Beach, not Capitol Hill.