Come January, Republicans can either peacefully reside in a nation under the control of Commerce Secretary Meg Whitman and Defense Secretary Tammy Duckworth, or be thrown in the gulags by Treasury Secretary Elizabeth Warren and Labor Secretary Bernie Sanders while Secretary of State Susan Rice illegally drones U.S. citizens. Whether we live in a slightly more liberal reboot of the Obama era or a neoleftist hellscape pockmarked from forever wars, the corrosion of commerce and capitalism, and blatant assaults on civil liberties is contingent on the upcoming Georgia Senate runoff elections.
If Sens. David Perdue or Kelly Loeffler win reelection in Georgia on Jan. 5, the most powerful woman in Washington, if not the world, will be Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine. The moderate Mainer would be the swing vote on the most divisive of Joe Biden’s priorities, meaning she could block unacceptable Cabinet appointees, judicial nominations, and bills passed with reconciliation. If Perdue and Loeffler lose, Kamala Harris becomes the swing vote.
Although Biden has spent nearly half a century in public life, the priorities and personnel of his administration are still unclear. The presumptive president-elect has a fairly detailed list of policies he wishes to pursue, but whether some of the positions and people his team has thrown around were mere lip service to gain the support of the Left or disaffected Republicans remains an enigma.
Biden could pack his administration with palatable, moderate Democrats and settle on infrastructure and coronavirus bills for his first 100 days in office. It’s also possible that he nominates the same people who brought us Benghazi, Russiagate, and endless lockdowns. If that’s the case, conservatives need to preserve their final bulwark in the capital.
President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell bought all liberty-loving Americans an insurance policy in the form of three Supreme Court justices and hundreds of federal judges to protect the Constitution and our rights. But judges can’t stop Cabinet confirmations, and even with seats gained in the House, it remains under Nancy Pelosi’s control.
Trump has spent the political capital of a better-than-expected election for Republicans on Twitter tirades claiming election fraud. The courts will do their thing, and it seems unlikely that hundreds of thousands of ballots will be thrown out. But he can preserve his legacy and his party by heading down to Georgia and ensuring that Harris is president of the Senate in name only.
