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The US Congress opened its new session yesterday, kicking off an explosive week in Washington as Republican lawmakers vow to challenge Joe Biden’s election win while pro-Trump protesters gather and voters in Georgia decide who controls the Senate.

The rebel push by a group of 12 senators loyal to President Donald Trump to block formal certification of Biden’s November victory is all but certain to fail, but has raised tensions on Capitol Hill as lawmakers return to work.

Wednesday’s joint session – paired with a collection of rallies fuelled by Trump’s refusal to accept defeat – is certain to be the high point of a fraught week showcasing the deep political divisions roiling the country.

Yesterday, when lawmakers took their seats in the House of Representatives, top Democrat Nancy Pelosi faced a possibly tricky battle for reelection as speaker – an office that places her only two heartbeats from the presidency.

The 80-year-old Pelosi’s Democratic Party holds a slim majority in the 435-seat chamber and she is facing no open challenge, but she will need her caucus to remain firm.

Then today, Trump stages one of his big, boisterous rallies in Georgia to campaign for two Republican candidates in a fiercely fought pair of runoff elections that will determine the balance of power in the Senate.

Republicans hope he can fuel a surge in in-person voting, but the president – who narrowly lost to Biden in Georgia – has fanned confusion by tweeting that the races are “illegal and invalid.”

The special elections take place tomorrow, with Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler facing Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

“Georgia voters have so much power right now,” Ossoff told a campaign event in the small town of Eatonton on Saturday. “You have the power to make this happen.”

Victory by Ossoff and Warnock would give Democrats, and Biden, a major boost -seats would be evenly divided between the parties at 50 each, but incoming Vice President Kamala Harris would wield a tie-breaking vote.
Democrats already control the House.

“It is a tough battle but within the realm of likelihood that Democrats can win,” Stacey Abrams, the charismatic former Georgia lawmaker who has emerged as a party leader, told CNN yesterday.

Wednesday’s vote to certify the November election results, which Biden won handily with 306 Electoral College votes to 232 for Trump, would usually be a dry, pro-forma exercise.

But Trump has infused it with unprecedented drama as he continues to insist, without foundation, that the election was stolen from him, and as scores of Republican lawmakers back his efforts.

“An attempt to steal a landslide win. Can’t let it happen!” he tweeted. He has urged thousands of his supporters to come to Washington on Wednesday for protests. Similar past events have led to sporadic violence.

Beyond the 12 senators, more than 100 Trump loyalists in the House have vowed to join the last-ditch challenge, thereby forcing both houses of Congress to debate the objections raised before confirming Biden’s victory.

With Democrats controlling the House and many Republicans expected to vote to certify Biden’s election, the bid seems certain to fail.-AFP.