Trump continues to keep the Jan. 6 urgency alive: The Note

Many Republicans seem content to look ahead, despite the dark days of uncertainty and unease that President Joe Biden has been observing and up until the midterms.

Trump continues to keep the Jan. 6 urgency alive: The Note

Trump wants to keep talking about 2020, as well as a particularly dark day in 2021. Trump's announcement that he will hold a Mar-a-Lago news conference on Jan. 6, the anniversary of the attack on the Capitol, in order to discuss the falsehood that he calls the "rigged electoral," adds urgency to accountability efforts.

Trump and his supporters aren't slowing down, The misleading and exaggerated claims of Trump's competitive primaries are not the only ones. Republicans in key battleground states have restructured certification and voting procedures. These efforts will continue well into 2022 as documented by a Brennan Center for Justice report.

The House Jan.6 committee faces critical questions due to the non-cooperation by at least one member of Congress, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa), and one former member, Mark Meadows (a former House member, North Carolina, who went on as a Trump chief staff officer).

Trump and his supporters love to call such scrutiny a witch hunt or worse. This suggests that Trump is trying to get even with Trump.

However, what happened in that year and the day before is still relevant. This is partly because the former president continues to make it so.

The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper

When asked about West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin on Tuesday, even after he abandoned plans to pass his "Build back Better" social spending program, President Biden responded with a more friendly tone than most in his party.

"Did Senator Manchin violate his promise to you?" Rachel Scott, ABC's congressional correspondent, was asked.

Biden replied, "Senator Manchin is going to get something done,"

This statement is contrary to the idea of taking the "kid gloves of" as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) suggested when dealing with Manchin who has repeatedly obstructed the passage of major parts of Biden’s agenda.

This raises the question whether Biden and Democrats will ever be able to continue playing nice with Manchin. In an effort to get Manchin on board, the White House has agreed to many of Manchin’s demands and has significantly reduced the "Build back Better" plan. It has clearly not been successful.

The White House and Democratic congressional leaders will have to decide how to carry out the Manchin agenda in the new year. Otherwise, they risk looking incapable of leading during an election year with high stakes.

Alisa Wiersema's TIP

California lost one congressional seat due to the results of 2020 Census. However, Democrats will still retain a majority of their congressional delegation after redistricting.

FiveThirtyEight reported that the independent citizen redistricting committee of California unanimously approved this week the new congressional map. It will be certified by end of year. Of the 52 new districts in California, 43 are Democratic-leaning, seven are Republican-leaning, and only two are highly competitive.

California is now on the same path as other states that are seeing fewer politically-competitive districts. However, this new map stands out from headlines about maps being changed in other states that have been criticized for reducing the political power of minorities. FiveThirtyEight found that approximately one-third of new districts are majority Hispanic, an increase of at most three districts over the previous map.

This changes gives California's Latino community greater political power and opens up the possibility for more Latino representation in national and local politics. The Los Angeles Times reported that advocates of Black and Asian voters were happy with the new map. The revised map may have a significant impact on how Democrats will work to strengthen their relations with Latino voters in the 2022 midterms.

A FINAL THING

The broad coalition of voters that Joe Biden gathered for his 2020 election is at risk of being lost. Independent voters spoke to ABC News to continue to question how Biden has handled domestic issues. Some are also asking if he can lead in a politically divided Washington.

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