OKC up 27 early. Which in these playoffs gives them a win probability of what - 5%? 4?

Trump's first 100 days brought chaos to Washington - but clarity to Congress.

His disregard for any power but his own has left the GOP to fall in line, while pushing wounded Democrats into a resistance posture:
bgov.com/news/SVIXQ8DWR…

Can you invoke a mercy rule for an entire playoff series?

Until this year, John Thune and Mike Johnson had almost no relationship.

Now, the GOP agenda hinges on if they can bridge the institutional and political divides that separate their chambers.
news.bgov.com/bloomberg-go...

Sen. Kennedy (R-La) says Putin is a “gangster” and “an evil person” with “Stalin’s taste for blood” and “makes Jeffrey Dahmer look like Mother Teresa”

“He is testing the limits of his power, and I don’t think any of us are surprised by it”

The through line binding Trump’s shock-and-awe start is cementing his own power, regardless of Congress, the Constitution, or possibly even the legal system.
bgov.com/next/news/SQUI…

Mike Johnson's creation of a new Jan 6 committee illustrates the central dilemma facing House Rs: Do they want to use their political capital attacking the issues that drove their victory in 2024?

Or satisfying Trump's desire for retribution?
news.bgov.com/bloomberg-go...

New NJ Sen Andy Kim (D) will vote to confirm Marco Rubio. His first confirmation vote

“Rubio’s qualifications + dedication … has earned him my vote … we had areas of disagreement no doubt, but I found him to be well versed in the deep challenges our nation faces globally”

Ron DeSantis - in the overflow hall at the Capitol - says the biggest difference in a 2d Trump admin will be “the approach to the bureaucracy”
“Now they’re going in and they know there’s going to be opposition and they’re going to be ready to deal with it”

Also here: Conor McGregor

NY Mayor Eric Adams is among the crowd here at Emancipation Hall in the Capitol for Trump’s inauguration
(this is the overflow space for guests who are not in the rotunda)

“It’s not possible to tell people that this is an authoritarian force that is bent on your destruction and also, ‘they have some great policy ideas and we’re going along with that,’” @anatosaurus.bsky.social with @jonathantamari.bsky.social

news.bgov.com/bloomberg-go...

Dem House Leader Hakeem Jeffries signals Dems will drive a hard bargain on Gov’t funding and debt ceiling - or force GOP to go alone:
Since Rs believe they won a significant mandate “the American people expect that House Republicans are going to conduct the business of the American people”